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My brother was in there last week and even though he has pretty much given up fishing for golf he wandered into the fly fishing area. When the clerk asked if he could help him; Bob, who used to fish with a Leonard rod asked about available bamboo rods. He was told that that was just out of date. I'm not sure if it was ignorance or the kind of lying that some people call salesmanship. Either way I have lost all belief in the supposed expertise of their staff.
I have only been into one Cabelas store and the staff in the FF section was very knowledgeable and very familiar with products including those not carried by Cabelas.
I have been into several Bass Pro shops and encountered staff limited and extensive knowledge and everything in between.
You get a wide range of experience levels at the big stores, which by the way, I have also found at smaller dedicated fly shops. Not everyone employed as sales staff in sporting goods stores or even dedicated fly or tackle shops invests the same amount of their time learning about all the equipment available and techniques for employing that gear.
Amazingly some people don't know when to say, "I don't know ... but I'll find out for you", and then keep their mouth shut till they have the needed information!
I purchased a Cabela's anniversary edition fiberglass rob two years? ago. Before I did I wanted to cast it. A guy from the fly fishing area came outside with me to make certain everything was on the up and up. It was a nice rod and turned things over very nicely. I'm an average caster at best and the guy couldn't believe the distance I was getting. "Man, your really good...how long you been fly fishing," was all he said. I said "Long enough to know I like the rod, I'll take it." I lost a lot of faith in the quality of the sales people that day.
You can find some top-notch people working there...but you don't need to be top-notch to work there. I do best when I go in armed with my own knowledge.
Having a sales person in a fly shop who does know about the possible value and desirability of a bamboo rod is not the smartest thing I ever heard of, but sometimes you have to work with who is available. I think you had an uninformed sales person. I tell people all the time "Unless you know they used to work for NASA, don't expect them to be rocket sciencist."
I wouldn't go into a Cabela's looking for help with bamboo rods any more than I'd go into the Walmart electronics department looking for help with stereo equipment. If they have what you want at the price you want to pay, buy it. If you need expert help, go somewhere else.
I think he was just curious about what rods they carried. He was a bit of a bamboo snob when he fished and likely to judge a shop in part by what lines of rods they sold. I believe the reply was a variation on "We don't carry it so it can't be any good."
Dave hit the nail on the head!Quote:
Originally Posted by PA Dave
The sales people that you run into in different places are going to have different levels of experience, colored with their own opinions. And hopefully, they will know some facts about the products they are selling.
When I am going to buy something even mildly important to me, I will research it out to the Nth degree. I'll only go into a place shopping for something once I've done some research to compare things and to have a real look at things, side by side. Most times, a sales person will ask if they can help or ask if I have any questions. I can tell right away if the salesman is just throwing a pitch to sell something.
As far as Cabelas and bamboo rods. They used to sell some bamboo rods.....Highland Mills rods. I don't know when they stopped selling them. Most big box stores aren't going to sell something that's a slow mover and takes up valuable sales space.
I get ya...Quote:
Originally Posted by rainbowchaser
Turvy,Quote:
Originally Posted by turvy
Maybe the salesman believed you catch more "flies with honey" and decided that a bit of flattery would help to make a sale. I wasn't there and certainly don't know, but I've seen it before.
Ed