Gander Mountain

Reviews 3

AA

Aaron Otto

Over the last four years we have been patrons of this particular Gander. The number one reason was large stock of items we have interest in. Followed by easy to get in and out of quickly. Over that time we have purchased, handguns, rifles, ammo, a 48 gun safe, a half a dozen St. Croix Rods, Diawa Reels, tackle, augers, a Yeti cooler, Strike master auger, targets, and misc clothing. Conservatively in the neighborhood of $10,000 spent at this location as an estimate. The service outside the "gun-smith" who was really very helpful, has been the worst I have experienced year over year at any outdoor retailer. Numbers of times we have called and been put on hold to be dropped or sent to a voicemail which never gets returned. (like I said only the Gunsmith ever called us back from this location). In store, we have literally waited 30 minutes at the gun counter before being acknowledged by the staff. No joke, wife timed it last year. We started calling the front desk from our cell phone to get passed around while standing in the very store. Three visits ago went in to buy a Beretta Silver Pigeon at lunch time on a Tuesday. Trap season is warming up and wanted to give it a run with an O/U this year. We couldnt get anyone to even wave back at us. Had cash in hand, ready to buy. No one at the store would help us. Guessing this was right before they found they were closing. We tried to find anyone in the gun department...no one around. Asked a cashier if he could help. Told us he would call some one in the gun department. My wife and I just looked at each other and left. Its really too bad, gun is still on the shelf. Two visits ago we purchased a HK. $1000.00 gun. About $500.00 in ammo. The gun-counter attendant told us we dont honor the ads in our local paper at this store that we had brought in. The ad was picked up in the neighborhood with the very Gander we were in referenced. Despite our turn-down we bought the gun after the manager and the sales attendant got in a fight in front of us about the use of a discount. Was very uncomfortable. On many visits we have been treated arrogantly by the gun-counter staff. We were looking to by a SBE 2 two-ducks seasons ago. Walked in and waited. Asked someone at the returns counter after 15m if we could get help at the gun counter. When acknowledged with the help of the returns-girl we asked to look at the shotgun on the shelf. We were turned down even to hold it saying it was on hold for an employee who had paid for it. Thirty minutes later we bought one at Cabellas. Last visit, two new rods reels, line, humminbird parts (ethernet cables etc), Frabill net, tackle box etc. $500 bucks. Tried to buy a Helix 10 but even though it was in the ad from that mornings paper, they didnt have one five minutes after the store opened.....Best part of this trip was we realized after leaving and checking receipt the bill was low. On the way home my wife went through each purchase and checked line by line against the receipt. The guy at the checkout was so swamped he had accidentally missed to charge us for a $150.00 reel. We called the store to see if we could pay on the phone. It was jus the right thing to do. First time we got hung up on after being on hold for almost ten minutes. Second call we got the manager after being forwarded three times. He took payment via CC over phone. The irony is: I bet my wife dinner that we would be placed on endless hold or hung up on prior to placing call. We decided to try anyways because we were almost home by the time we figured it out and driving back would have ripple effects with my sons boy-scouts that day. Guessing at least a dozen more experiences we could share similar to the above. Not sure it matters given theyre going out of business. Its too bad stock was always there in calibers we wanted. As long as it wasnt a gun purchase and you didnt have questions you could go in and get what you need quickly which is why we went here over and over again vs. Cabellas right up the street.

XE

Xeev Xwm Vang

I have mixed feelings about this store. I visit about 1x a month. Each time I go, I can expect that no one will greet me or talk to me. This has been my experience going here for over 5 years. At times I like this because I do not want to be bothered. I was just at the store on 10/13/2014. I spent close to an hour browsing the fishing area. No one spoke to me or offered any support. There was another shopper that saw me browsing and asked me for help since he has been standing there for 30 minutes without any help. We talked about rod length, boat fishing versus pier/shore fishing, and rod type. I had a great conversation with him and cherish that, however he should have been given some attention from the store employees. What is interesting about this store is time and time again, they continue to do this even if customers complain. I am sure the managers have a protocol about this already. It is a tier system to weed out all complaints. The Gun Department is worse, especially if you are a minority. They will keep passing you down the line of managers until you are tired of pushing the issue. I can assure you that you will be tired of the issue and let it go. My advice for those wanting to buy a gun, if you are currently in the service, the employees will more than likely treat you with more respect especially if you wear the gear and provide proof. If you are interested in the possibility of purchasing a gun, but you just need to hold one and see it before purchasing, invite or ask a friend in the service to join you on this visit. That friend in the service will help make things go a bit smoother. In other words, more respect and more of the stores time and attention. If you are newbie like me that does not know much about guns and wants to browse through a few, then good luck. This is not the place to learn. More of a place to walk in, request for the gun you want, and purchase. My advice for those wanting to learn more about fishing, sometimes talking to another shopper would be more helpful. I met a fly fisherman last year, Dec 2013, there that I will never forget. He even offered to show me how to tie certain flies, invited me to a workshop at William OBrien State park with other fly fishermen from the area and he even offered to show me how to cast in the parking lot. If you ask another shopper and are not successful, then do some research on your own first.

TI

Tim Boehmke

I stopped in on my way home from a gun store in Hudson, WI, where I was unable to find a holster for my G34. The store had one, but it was priced at $72 and didnt feel any better then the leather one I made myself. I dropped in on an impulse, and Im glad I did. The store layout made it easy for me to walk straight to the firearms area, where I found the holsters after asking a passing employee. They just let me shop, without bothering me every 10 minutes, which I appreciate. They had a really expansive selection, and I was impressed. I found the exact same holster that the other gun store wanted $72 for, but it was only $50 here. There were several options that met my fairly exact standards, and nobody had a problem with me opening up the cases to really check the holsters. I found the one I liked the best, that met all of my needs, and decided that I would put it on right after I left the store, but it needed an adjustment first, which required a Phillips. Two minutes of waiting and a 5 second question later, I had the tools in my hands and was able to adjust it to fit perfectly right there. As I left to make my way to the registers, the gentleman behind the counter caught me and said that he could ring me up back there, since he just heard that they were swamped up front and looking for more cashiers. He saved me a line, which is great. He rang up the holster, and the price said $40, which was twice what the sticker said. We walked back to check it out, and found that it did say $20, but every other holster from that manufacturer was listed at $40. It was obvious that someone had just mislabeled it by accident, but Rick was still getting on the horn to his manager to get the price cleared. I told him $40 was fine (because I was really happy with the product, even at $40), so we went back to the register. He rang it up, but then gave me a $5 discount plus the $10 extended warranty for free, to make up for the price discrepancy. Rick made me feel like an MVP, and Ill be heading to this GM first next time I need anything that I think they might sell.