Had trouble getting Gander Mountain to honor a sale price

[Todd in NY]

I'm posting this because the sale ends tomorrow, and it has a happy ending.

 

I do a lot of bass fishing with my 16ft Sears row boat, and I've been looking for a fish finder with side imaging and GPS. I found a Humminbird 698ci HD SI on sale on Gander's web site. The sale price was $399, when normal price is $699. The sale was NOT limited to online purchases, so I called the Watertown store to see if they had any in stock. They told me all they had was the display model and that it was $699, not $399. I drove to the store anyway and spent a half hour talking to 2 different employees about the sale price. One guy scanned the FF tag and said there's four units in the store, then went on to tell me that they wouldn't honor the web site price in the store. I then showed him the sale ad on their web site to show him that it is NOT an online sale price. I finally got to talk to the store manager, who found me a boxed FF (the one I went there for) and he gave me the sale price without any fuss at all.

 

I didn't get the managers name but he was extremely professional and had no problem honoring the sale price. The sale ends January 27th, so if you're in the market for a new FF with side imaging and GPS for a fair price, Gander has them for $399 for one more day.

[Frogger]

Great tip Todd!

[Todd in NY]

Thanks Frogger! According to the Humminbird web site, they appear to be keeping only the Helix models, the Onix models, the 500 series and lesser models. So it's just a matter of time before they sell all of their remaining inventory of discontinued 1100, 900, 800 and 600 series fish finders. That's also why I've been keeping an eye on hummingbird sale prices.

[Chas0218]

I'm posting this because the sale ends tomorrow, and it has a happy ending.

 

I do a lot of bass fishing with my 16ft Sears row boat, and I've been looking for a fish finder with side imaging and GPS. I found a Humminbird 698ci HD SI on sale on Gander's web site. The sale price was $399, when normal price is $699. The sale was NOT limited to online purchases, so I called the Watertown store to see if they had any in stock. They told me all they had was the display model and that it was $699, not $399. I drove to the store anyway and spent a half hour talking to 2 different employees about the sale price. One guy scanned the FF tag and said there's four units in the store, then went on to tell me that they wouldn't honor the web site price in the store. I then showed him the sale ad on their web site to show him that it is NOT an online sale price. I finally got to talk to the store manager, who found me a boxed FF (the one I went there for) and he gave me the sale price without any fuss at all.

 

I didn't get the managers name but he was extremely professional and had no problem honoring the sale price. The sale ends January 27th, so if you're in the market for a new FF with side imaging and GPS for a fair price, Gander has them for $399 for one more day.

Same thing happened to me at Field and Stream. I went in to buy one of those Eskimo tripod ice fishing chairs (great chair for a hub shanty). It was marked 20% off online but is not an online only sale. I asked before I showed up if there was any in stock and there were 2 and if they would honor the online price. They said no problem, I get there and they tell me no.  Well I said "How is it that your mother store (dicks sporting goods) will honor a price online but you won't. There is something wrong here can I talk to your manager?" She then walked herself over to the computer and looked it up. Came over and told me "it's an online sale but I will do it for you this one time."  What a crock even more reason I will be shopping at bass pro shops or cabelas. Both of those companies will honor it no questions asked.

[BSmaster]

Field and Stream and Dick's have different prices on same equipment.  Usually I just goto Dick's to get it cheaper but I got a smoke pole this year and Field and Stream had the stock I wanted and Dick's had the price I wanted.  I went to F&S, then to Dicks (They would honor lowest price) & back to F&S and asked if they would honor it and they did.  Took me about an hour, a couple of managers & several associates but Saved me $70 which I proceeded to spend justifyably.

 

One thing to remember about Gander - check them at the register.  I have caught them not ringing up not what they say on the tag or the rack.  Dick's and F&S tried to get me this year with their racks of clothing that had 50% off and then I get to the register and "sorry that's not on sale" which prompted me to say that it should be on the rack with the full sheet of paper that says 50% off then.  That it is a ****ty trick.  If you don't pay attention you get burned.  I always be direct in those situations and they keep it -Should never be rude but I don't reward that behavior.  It was not like it was one article of clothing misplaced by a shopper.  It was dozens of articles not on sale with the paper (50% OFF) attached to it.  When I worked at Dick's we never did things like that.  Our discontinued sales were phenomenol and we went above and beyond to make the customer happy - even in situations where it was undeserved.

 

My issue with Bass Pro (Auburn) is it just seems smaller than it should be.  I am looking forward to the super store in Victor.  I Like Cabelas too but not as much as I use to.  I think the big outfitters are having difficulty defending their sales when there are so many small businesses availlable on the internet now with superior products.  I have also reverted back to the small businesses that I can drive to.  I like to know what they carry so I can stop when I am in the area and pick stuff up.

[Todd in NY]

The employee that told me there were 4 units in the store, and that they don't honor the web site sales, I asked him where the FF would come from if I purchased it online and had it shipped to the store for the free pick-up. He told me that Gander would ship it from a warehouse at the sale price instead of filling the order with one of the units already on hand. That same employee has given me a line of BS a few times in the past. This Humminbird 698 is the 3rd FF I've bought at the Watertown Gander Mountain in the last 10 months (I've had to outfit 2 boats), and they've all been on sale on the web site, but the store was advertising full price. Being able to use a smart phone to prove that it's not limited to online sales has been a big advantage.

 

Am I starting to see a trend here...? I don't remember having that problem at any other sporting goods store, to include Dick's.

[Chas0218]

I don't see how it would any different than a price match.

[Todd in NY]

I don't see how it would any different than a price match.

You would think so. But that one employee tried to convince me that those sale items come from a different warehouse, not from the stores. Heck, why would I pay $699 for the 698 SI model when I could've spent another $100 and got a new Helix 9 DI GPS model? Some of these retail places have lost their minds.