I wrote directly to the manager about this, but without any return response. So I've decided to share my experience here on Yelp. Others need to know about this.
While on vacation from the East Coast, my wife and I decided to visit the Bass Pro shop in the Kodak area, near Pigeon Forge-Tennessee in the early afternoon of 11 September 2024. Upon entering and proceeding through the turnstile, we were greeted by a young red-haired man with blue eyes, a beard, and a full smile. Recognizing him as one of the solicitors you see at your entrance ways based on past visits to Bass Pro Shops in the country, I nodded to him in acknowledgement of him being right in front of me, then proceeded to move into the store. He recognized the look on my face as being one he probably should not approach (good call on his part). My wife, entering right behind me, was not so lucky. He immediately engaged her, talking about the Bass Pro Club Membership, to which my wife courteously said no thank you. But this was not enough for the young man. He asked her as she was walking away if she even knew what the program was, to which she answered yes. That ended our first encounter with the young solicitor.
About 20 minutes later, after checking out your wonderful aquarium, stuffed moose (a great photo opportunity), and walking about the store, I spotted some wool camping blankets in a large wagon just inside the entrance we had come in through not 20 minutes prior. As we were looking at the items, seriously contemplating buying them as I examined the various colors they came in, the young red-haired man started talking to my wife again about the club membership. With her back clearly turned to him, a sign she was not interested in what he had to sell, she said "No! No!" And now the young man takes offence to her attitude, saying she should calm down. Despite my interest in the camping blankets, I decided it was time to leave and tried to go out the entrance turnstiles. Not being successful in this, the lady monitoring the entrance way pointed to the exit on the left hand side of the store. It was at this time that I actually turned around and saw the red-haired solicitor again, with his hands in the air, saying "Whoa! Calm down!" As we walked towards the exit, he continued to address my wife, saying she should calm down. It was then that I made a 180 degree turn, returning to speak with the young solicitor. I told him, to his face, the reason my wife was annoyed with you was because this was the second time you approached her about something we were not interested in. He denied ever having spoken to her. I then slightly raised my voice, telling him you just spoke to her not 15-20 minutes ago as we came in! He now said we should calm down. We turned to leave, and he continued to engage us, calling us rude; both of us were incensed by this encounter and just wanted to leave.
Now, what conclusions can we draw from this. First, overly aggressive panhandler-like solicitors are not a welcome addition at your store entrance ways. In fact, you lost a potential sale over it. Second, it is an ineffective way to sell a product you should be advertising and making available in other forms. Third, the young man (and to be fair, others we've seen at the Bass Pro Shop entrances at other stores we've visited) are poorly trained and/or have unrealistic expectations concerning their sales encounters. Their ineffectiveness at making sales, coupled with the obvious frustrations they are experiencing from this, is pissing your customers off! This young man is upset at how we reacted to his aggressive solicitation advances, not understanding he's the one responsible for setting the proper tone and approach.
I would strongly suggest you find alternative forms to advertise your club membership and remove the young folks trying to sign people up. First, electronic billboards at the entrances, quickly flashing the benefits of a club membership. Second, have an abbreviated membership form stacked at the exit by the cashier. As people buy an item, the cashier can hand them their sale receipt and the club membership form. I at least think this way you'd have a better chance of folks signing up for this program. Just my two cents with.
We love your shop, love the products you have there, love the outdoor gear and environment you promote, but we've concluded the squeeze is no longer worth the juice here, namely the effort put forth in coming to your store and then encountering these solicitors is just not worth the aggravation for what should have been a wonderful experience in a Bass Pro Shop. read more