Cabela's Purchase

[Interceptor]

You guys must be going at the wrong time. I went there on a Friday night two weeks ago. I got there at 9 PM. I spent at least 20 minutes looking around before going to the gun counter. I looked at three guns, bought one, and left the store with it before 10:00.

[Krichardson]

It's the draw of the store. People go there because it's like an amusement park. It's big, it has a huge inventory, it's easy to get to.

I will give them props for the inventory. I go for the reloading supplies which usually are cheaper than any of my local shops.

I have the weekend off so the wife and I took a drive out to the place and I was thoroughly impressed with the layout of the store.I mostly enjoyed the stuffed animal displays and the aquariums.I spent about five minutes in the gun area before turning away since it was so crowded and I was not up to wrestling with other customers who seemed to be camped out at the counter.

[pa350z]

I recently (12/31-1/3) purchased a new pistol from Cabela's. I normally wouldn't have because the nearest in-state location is Hamburg and is a good haul from Pittsburgh, but we were passing through and I had a rather large gift card for them. So I stopped in. I will never shop there again. I don't like 6 hours of waiting for a firearm.
The good:

• They price matched a competitor's ad without issue.
• The staff were very knowledgeable and friendly.
• Selection was good.

The bad:

• It took nearly 3 hours to get to the point where I could talk to a salesman. When I finally got to the case and said. I want to buy that one the manager said that there will be no more sales today since they close in two hours everything would be layaway. That meant a return trip. Fortunately I was already planning on coming back but it took another 45 minutes to put it on layaway.
• It took nearly 3 hours to pick up the gun. 1/2 hour for the paperwork to start, 2 hours for background check, 45 minutes to pay for it. I asked if this is normal and apparently it is. I can't say since I will never shop there again.
• The prices are higher than competitors.

This was ABOUT to happen to me today. Luckily, I remember posts on this forum. Just before I said to the salesman lets do the purchase, I paused and went over to the "wait and pay" area and asked how long some were sitting. 2-3 fing hours I was told. No way, no how. I will make my purchases at local shops and gun shows. This is rediculous. Concerning the reason I was at Cabelas was to spend a bunch of really good gift cards and to use some cash I have. Was looking to walk out with a SW Performance Center Shield 9mm. Ended up using the gift cards for some accessories and clothing. Oh well.

[wellcraft]

I went to Cabelas on a weekday, the gun counter was empty but I still waited more than 30 minutes to see a sales person. I would have left but I made a special trip just to use some gift cards and didn't want to have wasted time and gas. Turns out the red dot scope I wanted to buy was out of stock :-( So I ended up wasting my time anyway, I would never buy a gun their because of the ridiculous wait times and all the LGS near me crush cabelas when it comes to prices.

[JAKIII]

I would have left but I made a special trip just to use some gift cards and didn't want to have wasted time and gas.

Best to redeem them online.

[STBear]

Last trip there I called ahead to make sure They had what I wanted. Asked them to set it aside. Went around 1:30 on a Tuesday afternoon in and out in less than an hour for a firearms purchase. Wasn't bad considering I always spend a couple of hours looking at stuff. Gift cards and points got me another gun with no out of pocket cash.

[KCJones]

Last trip there I called ahead to make sure They had what I wanted. Asked them to set it aside. Went around 1:30 on a Tuesday afternoon in and out in less than an hour for a firearms purchase. Wasn't bad considering I always spend a couple of hours looking at stuff. Gift cards and points got me another gun with no out of pocket cash.

Though I'm not a fan-boy of theirs, I'm not a detractor either. I shop there when I happen to be in the area and if they have decent ammo on sale for a good price (which they do periodically), I give 'em my money. I do have to say I bought two guns there (one for me, one for wife) a couple years back (like 2015) and never had excessive wait-times.

Then again, being 'self employed' and all, I was able to go during the day on a weekday both times. That might have impacted it.

[markshere2]

Never will I ever wait 6 hours to exchange my hard-earned after-tax dollars for a commodity.

[Rosco the Iroc]

WTF are they thinking?
I've gotten far better off here then the one there. It was nothing special.
$250-275 tops.


Fuck the EE bonds I had. I should of cleaned out Roses and Laneco back in the 80-90's when they were $50.

[Marcus99]

I bought a rifle there a few months ago on a Friday morning. Same experience, waited 1hr to see a salesman, 2 hours+ for the transaction to go through. Granted there was a sale going on.

I went back this past weekend, a Sunday afternoon around 1pm. You would think it would be a crazy madhouse right? NOPE. There was plenty of people in the store but there was NO wait at all at the gun counter. There was even a few employees behind the counter just BSing amongst themselves.