Or should I say a recent Bass Pro Shop ran Cabelas experience...

There is a house brand Cabelas Scope I have been thinking about getting..
it is their Convenant 7 Series, in a 3 x 21 power range, 50 mm objective, 34 mm tube...

I know some folks in the scope snob crowd would chuckle over a Cabelas scope, but having
several of these, they are more than enough scope to withstand the recoil of the cartridges I would
shoot out of the guns they would be mounted on... mainly chambered in 223, or 22.250 or 243...maybe 260 Rem..

Scope is normally $350.00 and its on sale for $250.00 so I made a nice leisurely trip 150 miles up I 5 to Eugene
to pick one up....escorted to the front register by one of their Optics Dept Employees.. stating security reasons..
Uhhhh. okay... sure...

Get to the register, show my I.D. if a military discount is offered....the zit faced millennial tells me "thank you for your service".
scans the scope.... and then asks... would you like to buy a 3 year protection plan for $89.95?"

Wait a minute young man.... sez right on the box... lifetime warranty.... why would I need a 3 year "service protection plan" for $90 on a scope with a lifetime warranty? I don't know sir, I'm just reading the computer screen...

Maybe I need to take this over to your customer service desk then and they can tell me over there, why your computer screen is trying to scam me out of $90.00...... Go over to customer service... middle aged gal, tells me, she has no idea why he asked me that question..... she scans it and gets the same message to ask the customer about a $90 three year warranty on it....
she says that makes no sense... it says lifetime warranty right here on the box... so she calls up some management type from the optics dept....

He comes up and tells us both, that Bass Pro made a policy change two weeks ago.... NOW ALL optics come with a 90 warranty, with a receipt... after that, there is no warranty... regardless of what the box says on the side....the customer's one option is the adittional 3 year warranty starting at $90 and going up as the price of the scope increases....Why would me or anyone want to buy a scope that has NO Warranty as soon as you leave the store?? I couldn't tel you sir, all I can tell you is its Bass Pro Shops policies now on all scopes...Do you want it or not? " let me think about it..."

Go outside and dial Cabelas 800 customer service number.. nice lady tells me this is Bass Pro's New Policy on ALL Cabelas products.. you have to purchase a warranty and 3 years is the life of the warranty, regardless of circumstances... ALL Cabelas products someone may have purchased before that time, that had a warranty, lifetime or less.. is NOW NULL & VOID....
Like my Alaskan Guide Tent for instance....plus the other Cabelas scopes I have purchased that have life time warranties...

any Name brand manufacturer for scopes, like Leupold Burris etc, come with NO warranty thru Cabelas or Bass Pro either, was what I was told.... you can purchase a 3 year warranty via Bass Pro, or you walk out the store with it, the warranty is between you and the manufacturer....

Bass Pro is not honoring ANY warranty on any products Cabelas had sold.... if not bought within the last 90 days, it has NO Warranty.....

Thought I'd share this with the campfire... needless to say, I didn't take the item home...now everything i have from them, bought in good faith, if it needs any repair, tough luck on you.....Instantly lost me as a customer.....

I've never bought anything from Bass Pro, as there are none around here..... closest one would be down in California...
but in my travels, I have been thru their stores... nothing much impressed me with the products they had on the shelves available, especially their house brand stuff....can see why they are trying to peddle an expense "warranty" for three years... kinda like who buys a scope to use for just 3 deer seasons?......

Locally I bet this is going to help Sportsman's Warehouse sales big time....we've got quite a few of those here up and down I 5 and over on the east side of the Cascades....

I work in retail at my second job. Almost all defects or problems get handled directly between the manufacturer and buyer after a couple months.

Sucks that they removed the layer of service between the two that they had given.

Same as GM. Lots of people were SOL when the bailout resulted in their "reorganization"

Very interesting.

Good to know. Thanks

Thanks for posting this John. I’ve generally stayed away from Cabelas since BP took em over but this really seals the deal for me.

Doesn't surprise me, but it certainly good that you followed up on it. I said Cabelas would be going down the toilet with Bass Pro Shops taking them over.

My son was at the Cabelas in PA. just prior to bow season, looking for camo clothing. He came home complaining that they had hardly anything in stock camo clothing wise at the store.

I have also seen they are cutting out a lot of Cabelas brand winter clothing and showing Red Head brand instead.

Cutting down inventory even of small items like fish hooks eliminating certain size hooks I always bought from them and used.

It's to the point that I really don't care to do any business with them anymore. While we don't have and Sportsman Warehouses out here, they are making small Mom and Pop shops way more inviting to the average sportsman !!!

False advertising. DA interested?
That walmart bushnell has a lifetime warranty

Yep - Cabellas/Bass Pro didn't make the item... The manufacturer did - the warranty is with them...



Yes... Buy a new Ford and bring to a GM service bay for 'warranty work' and they'll just laugh at ya... Ford built it - Ford services it under warranty..

Well why would one company honor a competitors warranty? Other than good customer relations. They get no? profit out of it- may even be a losing proposition, with an additional layer or two of paperwork. Just a thought - I know jack about this - disclaimer!

So if BasTid/Cabelas puts a NAME brand scope on sale, buy it. The warranty is then you and manufacturer. I wouldn't trust an "associate" as a middleman anyway. As to the house brand warranty BS- I too would have walked away, middle fingers in air. Waving good-by.

I have Cabelas binocs bought when they were. They sent me a new pair when it's center focus went funky for no good reason after several years use - oh- maybe 20 years ago. "New" ones worked just fine since, tho bouncing them off that bear at 3 yards a couple years back DID make this one's center focus just a little bit stiffer. No problem. Probably was never under warranty for that anyway, even originally.

Another reason I quit shopping at Cabelas. They used to have good customer service, but since the BP take over everything has been fugged up. I don't have their credit card anymore and I have not stepped foot in either store in over a year. Never will go back.

I can buy cheap Chinese/Vietnamese crap, with no customer service or warranty, off the internet, all day long. It’s unfortunate that Cabela’s sold out to Bass Pro. I appreciated their customer service on their credit card as much as their stores.

Bass Pro is doing for Cabela’s, what Kmart/Eddie Lampert did for Sears......

Just drove by the Sidney store a couple hours ago. 1st time I haven’t stopped in. No more

Haven't set foot in a Cabelas in more than a year. Bought some hiking socks on my way to elk camp last year, and browsed the gun library.

Have found no reason to go back.

I was disappointed in BPS taking over Cabela’s too as even on-line buying seemed more problematic and I had been a forty-year customer and a quite good one. But,..can’t blame the Cabela family for this. Still have our C cc’s but now primarily use a Scheel’s card.

Then I was gifted a $500 dollar C’s gift card and made my way to the Mitchell, SD store to redeem it. I burned it on a new cooler and some of the Red Head summer clothing as I needed nothing else at the time this past summer.

I was very disappointed in both the fit of the shirts and the shorts after washing the stuff all of which bunched and puckered up like a prune sucking on alum. Certainly at least clothing seems to have taken a dive, quality-wise.

It’s must be kind of sad for the Cabela family also I would think.

Yeah, I'm sure they cried all the way to the bank.

Went by there a couple of days ago. Heck 25 years ago a buddy and I were plotting driving there from western Oregon just to experience the awesomeness that Cabelas was in our minds....


What a waste. Bastids.

I honestly cannot see BassPro (and now Cabelas) making it. Prices have gone out of sight, no warranties, poor inventory selection. Better deals had online if you research a little.

When a privately-owned company charges excessive prices, it is viewed as greed.
When publicly-traded companies charge excessive prices, it is viewed differently because they can hide behind the "widows and orphans" screen.

Or you can buy the same product with an "American" brand on it for 4x the price - but, you'll get a "free" warranty.

Yes, the manufacturer warranties the product. So, all claims must be sent to the manufacturer since Bass Pro/Cabellas don't make their own products. Their extended warranty (Gear Guard) allows you to simply return it to the store for immediate replacement. It also covers damage not normally covered by the manufacturer's warranty.

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/gear-guard-landing-page

I had cabelas gift cards from before they were bought out, went to use the this past summer just to get rid of them, went to check out and was told the cards were no good

Cabelas is gone, I used to frequent the place quite a bit. I haven't been there in over a year.

When they took over and service became the traditional BPS crap, they changed their Cabela's CC company to Capital One, probably one of the worst financial institutions to deal with and one that has HIGH penalties for any late payment. It is just indicative of the whole BPS corporate mindset.

Fugg gem

Not true:
otherwise, Cabela would have to tell you something like:

Send defective product back to: Sum Gai Bing Wang Optical manufactory No. 1 224, Shang Dong 26, China

I have absolutely no personal issues with cabelas. If I can get something there for less money I buy it there.

I like free shipping and sales.

False advertising...that's so 1970s

And they just can't figure out why people buy over the internet.

They ought to rename them the Bob Sled stores. Because they're going downhill fast.

It’s funny how often you are on here complaining about people and their attitudes but you refer to a young man just trying to do his job, who has shown you nothing but respect... AND thanked you for your service... As a zit faced millennial

Most product warranties have always been between the buy & the manufacturer; in the case of Cabela's name branded product they were being represented as the manufacturer.

Occasionally, a retailer like Cabela's (used to) would accept returns/replacements/repairs from customers directly for other branded products, on whatever life basis.............Cabela's used to have a lifetime replacement / return policy on everything, no questions asked. That was stopped a few years ago, IIRC.

I've pretty much been done with Cabela's for a while now for a few different reasons, even moreso since BP bought them...............only exception is the very rare case that they have something unique that I want. Most everything they sell, I can do better elsewhere.

They've outlived their usefullness & will not last long now by not warranting their own name branded muchandise.

MM

In the old days BP and Cabelas were competing with each other. Prices have been about the same for quite a few years now so I wonder when they really got into bed with each other. When they merged sportsmen lost plain and simple.

As is the case for consumers in just about every merger.

Cant blame them.

Back when this country was different before the 1980's a company could get away with those types of policies.

People bought for quality, paid a good price for it and kept the items or passed them down.

No longer. Its all about the most quality for the cheapest price and no more brand company loyalty

Ive seen a lot of people abuse those "lifetime" warranties over the decades.

Probably one of the reasons Cabalas needed to be bought out before having to close up shop.

Problem is most of us on this board remember that time in our society and probably still own a good amount of product from that time when our culture valued trustworthiness.

I struggle to understand how a retail store can legally negate the manufacturer's warranty.

Well sorry that offended you.. but it doesn't change the fact that is exactly what he was...
however, your point is well taken....only thing that bothered me, is he was trying to answer a question he didn't have an answer to....got more respect for someone who gives ya a straight answer, that try to snow me...

I've been a business person for a long time...if someone asked me a question about a product I couldn't answer, I would tell them I didn't know that answer, but I knew where to secure it in short order...

I ended up talking to 4 different people at the local store, and got a different explanation from each one...
The one that gave me the best answer, was the one that didn't try to make up one...
he was the guy back at the counter that showed the product to customers...

he told me with Bass Pro running the show, there was no warranty, period...he kinda referred to it as like buying a used car...
"AS IS"....

so yes, otherwise the young man was professional, was trained to read his computer screen and not think about it..
and wasn't schooled at all in any type of customer service....not even enough to refer me to the customer service desk, just about 10 to 12 paces away.....

as a consumer, most of us can bounce back on the manufacturer....n the case of house brands, Cabelas has just been in the business of replacement of a product if something goes wrong with it, when it was sold with a lifetime warranty....and the lifetime warranty didn't cover abuse etc....

Cabelas sold out to Bass Pro, mainly because the Cabelas family just wanted to cash out and retire...Bass Pro is who came up and did the buying...

its their decision to offer products with no warranty, unless the consumer purchaes it for $90.00 and then they only cover it for 3 years on this product... essentially 3 hunting seasons for the average consumer...
that's fine, its there store..... but the change will take many consumers by surprise based on how Cabelas name has done business for decades....

My reaction to it was to ask questions and get it verified.. then vote with my wallet by not purchasing the product...
Just passing on the 'surprise' at the register....The "surprise" was after I had driven 150 miles one way to make this purchase..

The other surprise is the products I have from Cabelas that have a lifetime warranty, now instantly have no warranty...

I don't do business with Bass Pro, and now with their policies installed into their new acquisition of Cabelas and their store, evidently won't be doing business with them either anymore....when any products I own from them now go bad and need repair, guess I just throw them in the trash now..... not exactly what I was planning on when I purchased them.....

I know Cabelas sucks now. I remember when it was awesome, and I feel sad about all the fun times I used to have there. They used to have a special where you could put a specific manufacturer's firearm on their credit card and not pay interest for a year. I bought a Beretta Extrema 2 and my wife goes how much was that? And I said $1378. Her face was so funny. It's too bad that today's kids dont get catalogs and dream about the day they could buy whatever they wanted out of their wishbooks. I remember my Dad and I dreaming about new gear and trips and all that. Those were the days. I think the people who really lost were the kids who dont get the excitement of going to the worlds foremost outfitter. Now it's some lame overpriced shadow of itself.

Maybe kids do get catalogs, I know I dont get them anymore.

They are going on the extinct species list just like Herter's did and for similar reasons. Cabela's used to carry some of the best cold weather gear around at reasonable prices. Not anymore. The crap they sell now will kill you in real cold.
I buy my cold weather gear elsewhere these days.

Used to make periodic trips to Cabelas, about 4 hours each way. Even took my new Chinese gal to one on our way to JFK once before the takeover. No more. Powder and primers, and some guns come from a couple of LGSs. Everything else is online, best price. Eventually the Disneyland outdoor store business model will probably crumble just like Sears. Think of the overhead involved with all that stuff, and what it does to prices.

If it's adequate for southern Missouri ...

Ours has guns for sale, but they’re not in the business of selling guns. Take a number, trigger locks won’t be removed, bargain rifles only.

I looked at boots a couple weeks back, and everything was Chinese crap. They used to carry Lowa & Meindl, but no more.

I’m not sure why they exist.

FC

Which retailer offers a better warranty on their private-label Chinese-sourced stuff?

I caught that too.

Good thing the kid wasn’t a vaper. Double whammy!

If the manufacturer made it for Cabelas to sell as a store brand with Cabelas name on it they may not have to honor any warranty. It would depend on the supply agreement.

So they sell scopes that are probably made in China they get fo 3 bucks or less....then sell them for 300 and won't stand behind it....I certnly hope you walked away....most of my scopes are leupold for good reason...a fantastic co who never did sell out...no recent needed you don't even have to be origonal owner..
By the way cabelas sucks...if you haven't already figured that out..

I drove by the one in Lubbock on my way to Academy.

Random ramblings....

If you thought BPS was going to cover pre-BPS purchased Cabelas items forever, you haven’t been involved in many company buyouts.

If you thought BPS would continue offering Cabelas lifetime warranty, you’re really naive.

You’ve got a right to be pissed about them selling a product stating lifetime warranty under the shrink wrap and not even pretending like they’d honor it though.

I never buy anything “name brand” and expect the retailer to do the legwork on warranty issues. That’s between me and the oem. Cabelas labeled stuff makes Cabelas the OEM on paper. But I’m sure the purchase contract had language in it that they didnt have to honor any warranties.

I still go to various Cabelas and BPS around the country. If the item is what I want at the price I want to pay, I’ll buy it. I bought $600 worth of dog training collars at one last weekend. Their price matched everybody else and it was convenient to get. I’d have preferred ordering from gun dog supply or other small guys, but I’d have had to wait 4 or 5 days to get it.

Inventory sucks at BPS now.

I’m local to their flagship store in Springfield. It’s alwsys packed with cars. Always. Johnny Morris is buying up every piece of land in the area he can. Currently renovating the town south of Branson. I believe I heard putting in a distillery. Wants it to be a destination, but in doing so got rid of some parks and walkways with arm twisting of the city to make it more ‘tourism attractive”. Not sure all the details. But locals aren’t pleased.

The only thing I have bought from Cabelas or Bass Pro in the past 10 years has been guns. Seriously, I check their rack of cheapo used guns about 3 or 4 times a year and occasionally find a pearl. In the past year I have found a BC Miroku Kodensha 20ga in 95% condition for less than $400, and a pre-64 Model 70 standard weight in 30-06 with 95% metal and 90% wood, and with a Lyman Challenger scope and vintage JR mounts for less than $550. This while the racks are full of junk stuff at higher prices. I dont even look around the rest of the store, I just take advantage of their ignorance.

Bass Pro is hot garbage.

The warranty issue doesn’t surprise me at all. Folks were fugging Cabelas over for years.

If you guys buy something and wear it out....do you turn it in for warranty?

Companies like REI, Cabelas, Fenwick, and Orvis did at one time honor life time warranties. Leupold still does and I'm pretty loyal to their gear. That lifetime stuff was also an era where most folks were honorable. I once met an Alaska outfitter as well as an Oregon fishing guide/outfitter that proudly bragged of equipping their camps midsummer and then returning everything to Cabelas for a refund at the end of the season. Talk about taking advantage, and they are the type that I'd never knowingly go to for services. With a few exceptions, I'm leery of most warranties. Shipping and documentation hassles make most of them worthless. At my age, I'd need a warehouse and administrative clerk to track every proof of purchase receipt if I had in fact retained them all.

With the advent of fabric waders, I remember Orvis offering a lifetime warranty. Even though they were horridly expensive, I thought them insane for such an idea and never went that route. After about 4 exchanges in 4 seasons, they informed a buddy that the program was going extinct.

Warranties on "store" labels should be honored by the retailer. All else, get with the manufacturer.

Recently just bought the same scope. Got the national Bass Pro headquarters in Springfield Missouri. Never got asked no such questions or nothing I'd say it's local management issue

Read through many of the statements on this thread and I am amazed at the amount of low IQ statements made here holy s*** you people need some help

Why would you not? If it's lifetime warrantied, that means everything is supposed to last you out.

Only socks and underwear.

I've heard of people returning auto batteries to Wal-Mart @4 years, 11 months on a 5 year warranty battery.

Most batteries' warranties would only allow like $10 on that return, so you'd pay $90 on a $100 battery. If it had a full five-year warranty, there would have to be something wrong with it. Same with the first one. The warranty is a bet that the item will last longer than the warranty. If it doesn't, the manufacturer or seller lost the bet. Big deal. They have plenty of items they don't lose the bet on and plenty that they do, but the buyer never shows back up for whatever reason.

IMO returning used stuff like the aforementioned outfitter did, is dishonorable. In this case, there is no way to be dishonorable unless you somehow sabotage the battery yourself so you can return it in the eleventh hour.

That’s what nixed Costco’s battery warranty.

IMO on Seafire's OP...He should've went ahead and bought it. They are running a bluff as they are responsible for any Cabela's merchandise so advertised and packaged as to the original warranty. They bought Cabela's and are now responsible for Cabela's warranties or anything so marked. I'm not a lawyer and don't know the law on this directly, but that's common sense. If BPS doesn't want to warranty that stuff in that manner, they need to pull it and re-package it without the warranty, not have some pogue standing around the customer service area hassling people about stuff that's plainly printed on the package.

How? How can you turn in something for warranty that still works? And if it doesn't, how do a bunch of batteries show up on the last month of their warranty dead? How is that the customer's fault? Did all these guys somehow kill their batteries with one month to go so they could take advantage of that sweet deal? Hell, every time I take a battery in to Walmart it takes about a half hour for them to run a thousand tests on it to determine what I knew when I walked in...the battery is no good.

I understand pro-rating a product but that's not how it was presented here.

I'm not trying to be argumentative with you Ironbender. No offense intended. The OP was about scopes and somebody said something about batteries and I offered my own experience with them. I don't know about Costco. Walmart is very likely the biggest retailer of batteries in the country (though I won't look it up) and that's how they do it. Most auto parts stores do it the same way. As I said, sometimes the battery is pro-rated and sometimes it's not. If it's pro-rated there's little advantage in turning in a battery with only one month left. If it's a different type of warranty, the battery would have to be bad, in which case there's nothing dishonorable about getting a full new battery for one that only has a day left on a five year warranty because that's how it is. If somebody shorts the battery out intentionally in order to get a new one with little left on the warranty...well, that's on them.

Costco used to be 3 years 100% replacement. They simply swapped it out if a customer came in and claimed it was dead.

Now they have a typical pro-rated warranty. Policy change was a result of folks bringing in batteries that were 2+ years old and just swapping them.

They certainly could of managed their warranty program better, but folks always find a way to take advantage. It’s just kinda douchey.

That's because in general people are douche bags..........

Douchbaggery is epidemic.

I’ve bought a rifle or two, but not in years

Seems to me that if they sell a current item with lifetime warranty on it, they should have to honor it. Now if it was one sold before the merger, that may be different. At the least, they should have to repackage them or cover up the lifetime warranty statement on the package. If you want a current lifetime warranty from a retailer, I believe Scheels still does it with their brand. That is if you have one close to you.

Last time I went to the Delaware Cabela's was about two years ago. Saw that they had done away with the Bargain Cave, and I haven't been back. I called them earlier this year to find out when the "NRA Weekend" event was going to be held - renew your membership and receive a $25 gift card. The customer service rep acted if she had never heard of such a thing. Cabela's, you have been added with Dick's to my 'never again' list.

The short answer is one shouldn't. The longer answer is a whole lot of folks do. When Cabelas stores had Bargain Caves it was appalling how "used" some of the stuff was.

There's an enormous number of people that buy stuff (guns, optics, clothes, backpacks, etc, etc, etc) right before season and return said gear after they've filled their tag or season is over. It's disgraceful and disgusting, but it happens A LOT. It's not just hunting stuff. Fishing stuff, camping, kids sports equipment, etc, etc, etc.

There's an astounding number of people who believe to their core that they shouldn't ever have to really pay for anything, just lease it for free and return as necessary as seasons end and new seasons begin.

That's not what was asked. You're talking about people just using stuff and then returning it, ostensibly with nothing wrong with it other than wear. Under such a warranty, it shouldn't be returned or honored unless there is something wrong with the item.

OTOH, if something is truly warrantied forever and it wears out due to honest wear after say, twenty years, it's still bound to be warrantied and replaced. The implication is that the item will outlast the buyer and it didn't. End of story. There's nothing dishonorable about returning it if it doesn't work.

They just sent me an email survey asking what I think. I told them. Don't think that was what they wanted to hear.