Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Heads up on Cabela"s warranty

The 100% no questions asked lifetime warranties are definitely a double edged sword. Some folks abuse the schit out of it. Costco batteries were one. Folks would run a battery for 2 1/2 years and exchange it for no reason. Pretty sure they’ve done away with that now.

Shimano fishing poles are another.

Folks would go to Cabelas, buy boots, tents, bags, etc.....Go on their once a year elk trip, and return it a few months later for a full refund.

Pretty fuggin low life IMO.

I paid over $500 for an 8 man dome tent from Cabelas. This knowing that if one of the gazillion zippers on the thing broke they would replace it. No zippers have broken. Do you think I would have paid as much for a tent with no lifetime warranty? No. They put in good zippers, not "value engineered" crap, I paid a fair price for it. I have been more than pleased with the tent for over 20 years and Cabelas made a good profit.

What BPS is trying to do has been repeated time after time with mixed results. Companies with great brands (and lots of brand equity) are bought with lots of debt financing. The buyer then harvests the brand equity by lowering costs and quality. Over time, the brand equity is transferred to investors in the purchasing company. By the time the brand is run into the ground, the original buyers have made a decent profit then they look for another arbitrage opportunity.

[quote=BobMt]

^True statement.....

I really like my Cabela's "Guide Gear" g-tex "parka" (shell). It performs as well as (or better) any of the mountaineering/hiking oriented shell gear and i've had 'em all over the last 30 yrs.

However, with this corporate transfer to BPS i am confident the "life-time guarantee" will no longer be honored. In legal parlance, "life time" can include the lifetime of the company who sold it..... Cabela's original corporate "life time" has ended with the acquisition by BPS. Depending on the purchase contract BPS can choose to honor the Cabela's brand guarantee or not. Unfortunately, BPS is not willing to honor that guarantee and honest folks who only use that guarantee when actually needed are left out in the cold.

What’s with the name calling? That’s the kind of stuff that runs good people off. Have a sensible adult conversation without name calling or just don’t.

As for a detailed business analysis after starting and running a company of my own for 38 years that deals w the public and warranties daily I have a little more insight and expierence than some. I have seen 1st hand how greedy unethical people get over on businesses for their own gain over and over. This behavior only hurts fair and reasonable minded customers in the long run. Customer service is not free. Companies have to adjust prices or cut warranties/ guarantees to account for it. There are no free rides. Further I have been a loyal and faithful cableas customer, & credit card holder since the 1980s and a shareholder since the day they went public. I have stood in the return customer service lines at various Cabelas stores all over the US and been utterly amazed at the stuff people would try to return for refunds or exchanges. Cabelas customer service policy was badly abused by way to many which is exactly why BPS will change it. As for your question about how this will factor into BPS making a profit....... Watch and learn. I was in a local Cabelas last week and it had never been busier when I was in it. Had to hunt for parking. The place was a zoo with shoppers. I think BPS understands the game clearly. The Cabelas we once knew and loved is going or already gone. I am sad to see it go, but business is a constantly changing thing, adapt and change with it or someone else will.

Don’t tell me you own a car dealership!

LL Bean.

They have a lifetime warranty on the products they sell. I’m going to buy a pair of lightweight duck hunting waders and I’ll buy them through LL Bean because if they develop any leaks over the years I’ll just send them back to LL Bean and they’ll repair or replace for life. Another good company for quality waders with an excellent warranty I’d look at Simms. They are spendy but they’re quality waders with a company that stands behind their products.

I use LL Bean Waders. They’ve been good to me.

"That's the real answer--In my opinion they paid way too much for Cabelas" Quote old Kingston.
The kids wanted the money in their pockets. Kids, founders kids.

163,

that might be true, but from what I'm hearing Bass Pro is playing a game in which they turn into the WalMart/Dollar General/Grocery Outlet of the sporting goods world. Selling lower quality, mostly serviceable "sporting goods" of a sort to those who either prefer to spend their money that way, knowing what they are purchasing, or to those somewhat clueless souls who see a camo jacket on sale for $29.99 and expect it to keep them dry and warm for the rest of their lives.

And I'll be the first to tell you I have a couple of items from the WalMart sporting goods aisle that have served their purpose well. But they are not my Pendelton Wool, Filson, LL Bean, Vasque, RedWing, or other quality items that have performed and will last for years.

I'm seriously of the opinion that BPS/Cabelas will start shuttering doors in some markets within the next 5 years. That may be good for "business", but not so much for their loyal customers. Many of whom are no longer so loyal after the takeover.

Geno

They already went tits up once.....

LL Bean also changed their warranty position last year


No longer


https://m.llbean.com/llb/shop/513705?page=null&pn=cp&skCatId=513705

Yes, while they are expensive, Simms is a great company with unbeatable customer service. I've had occasion to use their warranty, and to say they went above and beyond would be a huge understatement. I will never purchase any other brand of wader. They've already given me my money's worth many times over.

I used to be a pretty fair Cabelas fan but BPS really has killed that. but its not the warranty its the quality.

Personally I could care less about the warranty ( same way I feel about Beans warranty) what I liked was that a good portion of what they sold was reasonably good stuff. I don't mind assuming some risk with a product, but I really don't have the patience for crap most of the time. What I see is more and more of the BPS type of crap and less of the better Cabelas and name brand stuff.

I really feel like the unconditional lifetime warranties are often abused and it spreads the cost from the few that use or overuse the warranties to folks like me who almost never use them. If you could buy a product ( lets say a scope) and the lifetime warranty was an add on, we could really see and decide what the cost of that type of warranty is. I mean would you buy the $800 scope with a 1 year warranty or the same scope for $1200 with a lifetime warranty?

Geno, I agree BPS will soon start closing stores but I think it will mostly be Cabelas/BPS that are in close proximity to one another. I am sad to see Cabelas go. I loved their quality. I am not a fan of BPS.

Sad😂

Parking lot full of Subarus, inside: rock and ice climbing gear, cross country ski stuff and Patagonia. This is one place any shooter/hunter should never enter...

Hmmm. I recently received a flier from Cabela's, with a product I was interested in marked down to a good price level. This was a Herter's branded product - remember Herter's, who also got taken over by Cabela's/Bass Pro? I checked online, and was told that had been a Christmas sale only, and the price was nearly doubled now. Since it was still less than list, I ordered one of the items. Never got it. When I complained to their "Customer Service" Dept, they told me I had received it, and sent me paperwork showing it was delivered - TO MY SON'S ADDRESS - 200 miles north of my home. I did not put my son's address on the order, Cabela's maybe got it off an old order of his, but it was not on my order. The item finally did show up to his address, but I had to pay to have it "re-shipped" to me! In the meantime, Cabela's CS told me they had the item in stock at their nearest store to me - about 40 miles from my home. Again, I was told the "sale" price was expired, even though there was no such mention on the sales flier I received. I drove to the store, found the item I wanted in a glass display case, priced at the original list price! I wanted one, so asked if they had the box for it? A sales guy went into the back area to look for it, but in the meantime, I saw a whole rack of the same product, in packaging - and priced at the SALES PRICE I had originally seen! When I told the sales guy to stop his search, and took one of the lower priced items to checkout, they tried to charge me the full, list price. When I showed them the sales rack and price, they conferred a bit, then decided an employee had marked the price wrong - AFTER SEEING THE SAME SALES FLIER THAT ORIGINALLY GOT ME INTERESTED! After a considerable discussion, in which I made threats, and their personnel squirmed, I finally got the product for the marked price.

The Cabela's Customer Service folks I spoke to by phone and email were rude, not at all helpful- and didn't seem to care. VERY unprofessional attitude for such a large company. If this is their "normal" way of doing business, I can see them closing down soon - due to lawsuits files by customers!

To be fair, I must mention that I finally did receive a "gift card" from Cabela's for close to the difference in price between the "sale" price and what they wanted to charge me - but this was after my purchase, and would require another trip to their rip-off establishment to redeem it. When they offered me this card while we were arguing over the price online, I asked to have it applied to the purchase I was making, but was told that wasn't possible.

Not sure It's worth the value of the gift card to deal with these crooks again? Sorry my post was NOT about Cabela's warranty, but I just wanted to mention they have other problems with their business model.

Mike Holmes

Have you ever tried the Redhead label? I have, and found it's hard to wear the stuff out.
Anyway Cabelas is gone, for whatever reason it's gone. Maybe like Sears they could no longer compete, or maybe just didn't want to anymore.
At some point they will all be gone, and maybe we can look for that happening when Johnnie quits running the place.

Sorry about that. On the opposite side of things when my dad passed away three years ago I found out he had run up a 12K balance on a USAA credit card. When I called up to ask about terms to close the account and to make arrangements to pay it off. Someone went and talked to the manager then came back and said, " Dr. Harrierwood, USAA would like to express our condolences and as a thanks to your fathers service as a navy pilot, and as a USAA member for the past forty years we will close out the account and no payment is necessary." I still shake my head to this day about this.

I also cancelled my cabelas card this week. There is just no value in their brand anymore. The only thing good about about BPS is the cheap soft fishing baits, too many items there are just marginally better than walmart.

I have tried the RedHead label. The items I bought were crap. Zippers failed, seams let go, material was not the quality I expected in canvas hunting products.