The Cabela’s effect.

It is pretty common to hear people complain about Wal Mart and how they come to town, drive all the other businesses out of business, and then provide shitty products and shitty customer service once there is no other option left in town.


I haven’t necessarily experienced this with Wal Mart, because the products I buy usually are not in competition with Wal Mart, so the stores where I shop don’t go out of business when Wal Mart moves in. 

Cabelas, on the other hand, is the devil. 

Okay, so they’re not the devil, but they did succeed in driving every other decent sporting goods store in Spokane out of business, and now I’ve tried to call the store 5 times today, starting at 7 am to now, leaving messages on the store machine for a call back, with a question that I need answered before I venture over there and waste my time. 

Why am I doing business with Cabelas?  They’ve left me no other choice.  There aren’t any good alternatives left, and so, here is an open letter to everyone at Cabelas.   Hope they read it and I hope something changes.

Dear Cabelas:
 Your customer service sucks.  I am constantly finding myself begging for the attention of your non-existent and horribly unknowledgeable staff on my trips to your store, and when I call your customer service line, no one ever answers.  Worse still, when I leave messages on your machine, no one ever calls back.

 So why do I do business with you? 

 Because you’ve driven every other store in town out of business, and I have no choice.
 Cabelas, do you really want your customers doing business with you only because they have no other choice?  Is that really your business plan?  Destroy the competition, and then once your customers have no other choice, treat them like shit because you know they don’t have an alternative?  Is it really your goal that the only reason an avid outdoorsman such as myself spends money at your store is because there isn’t anyone else to go to?

 I’m really considering just driving the extra 20 miles to go to Wholesale Sports in Coeur d’Alene, or Black Sheep in Hayden, rather than put up with your shit.  Is it the goal of Cabelas to be such a shitty place to do business that your customers would rather drive an extra 40 minutes out of their way than do business with you? 

Because if so, you’re doing a bang-up job. 

 RETURN MY F@#$%*& PHONE CALL you dicks!
 Love always:
 Goober