Bass Pro Shops — Local services in East Hartford

Avoid the Gun Counter at Cabela’s East Hartford — Rude, Unhelpful Staff

As a former Cabela’s employee, I used to have a lot of respect for the brand. Unfortunately, my recent experiences at the East Hartford location—particularly with the gun counter staff—have been beyond disappointing. In fact, they’ve been downright disrespectful. The staff at the gun counter are consistently rude and unprofessional. There’s no greeting, no courtesy—just a cold “Give me your ID.” They don’t introduce themselves or even attempt to engage politely. On multiple occasions, I’ve asked simple, reasonable questions only to be met with sarcastic or dismissive answers that left me feeling belittled for even asking. What’s worse is the confusion and arrogance around pistol permit verification. On two separate visits within the last six months, I was told—incorrectly—that my permit was invalid. The first time, they claimed my permit was wrong because it didn’t include my middle initial, even though my driver’s license did. I contacted the state, and they confirmed Cabela’s was mistaken. The issue stemmed from an outdated understanding of a software update from the state of Connecticut that Cabela’s apparently never caught up with. Despite correcting my permit, I returned later to purchase a firearm I’d ordered online. Again, the staff fixated on a minor, nearly invisible apostrophe in my address—something I hadn’t even noticed. Instead of calmly explaining the issue or offering next steps, the associate took my ID without a word, disappeared into the back with a magnifying glass, then returned only to say, “Too bad, can’t help you.” No guidance. No professionalism. Just dismissal. To be clear, the manager I spoke with afterward was respectful and handled the situation better. But the damage was done. The front-line staff were rude, unapproachable, and completely lacking in customer service skills. I had $75–$100 worth of other items in my cart that day, but I walked out without buying a thing. That’s how frustrating the experience was. If this is how they treat people looking to spend money at their store—especially on regular purchases—then I can no longer recommend Cabela’s East Hartford to anyone. If you're considering buying a firearm or anything else from this location, do yourself a favor and go elsewhere. You’ll get better service, more respect, and...

I went there today to get some Christmas shopping done with my wife and son. I noticed the atvs were on sale so I started looking at each of the models. I wanted to purchase the Tracker 300 so I went back to the powersports area and spoke with Lawrence about purchasing. I mentioned that we had property/land and my soon to be 10 year old son would be using it from time to time. This is a child that has a extensive background in driving racing karts in competition at local tracks here in the notheast and riding motorcross bikes. As soon as I told Lawrence this he told me he could not sell me the machine since I disclosed that my son would be using it on private land. This was federal law according to him. I reached out to Joan the general manager if this store. We walked over and spoke with Lawrence who showed us the decals on the machines stating minimal age for usage. I told Joan and Lawrence they are not selling this machine to a 10 year old they are selling it to a 43 year old father. Joan would not give me any explanation or show me where this law existed that she could not sell the machine to a 43 year old adult. She only kept repeating herself as I questioned her. She kept stating "sir we cannot sell you the atv" over and over as I asked for answers to my questions. What I choose to do with the atv on my private land is not their business or concern as stated in the federal laws pertaining to atv and minors. These statues and federal laws only adhere to state owned or public land NOT private land.. I contacted Cabela's corporate and filed a complaint for discrimination with a supervisor and was told they would get back to me within 24 hours. The supervisor I spoke to at corporate was absolutely shocked with the way the East Hartford staff was treating me and told me she had never heard of such a thing before pertaining to an adult purchasing an atv. My wife had to go and purchase the ATV for herself with a service representative by the name of Wade who was very kind and helpful. We're very disappointed with the way we were treated by staff at this location and if I had a closer store near us I would have taken my...

Well, I visited this store with the propose to align my sign from my bow (I know th as may not the best place on the area, but was all tune up), when I arrived, on the front desk I was welcome by 2 persons, store retailer and I believe that was the manager, I express my inquiry and both of them start contacting the people for the bow guy thst unfortunate he started a couple of hours later on the day, they're really nice, patient and helpful with the request and asked me to wait

If you have never been in Cabelas, waiting here whe you like outdoor IT IS NOT A PROBLEM, lol, you can spend hours just seeing things there, the store is just the paradise.

After wiping and getting a couple of things for my 3D archery due they have a nice sale with a brand that I like, so took my plastic Coyote and the guys thst welcome look at me on the store to aware that bow guy was there. Bow expertise mentioned that the product that I have was not too much familiar with the setup and say that he can try it happly, also suggested a good place "around" the area that specializes in bows. When you know a little bit about compound bows and tunning, you'll know that this advice is the best, plus he can make money "setup" my sight and figure out shoting later that is not properly done.

I really enjoyed the experience in the store and how they're committed to help people, the store has thousands or even millions of products, and even they don't know all of them, they'll figure out how to provide the information. I did a couple of online orders with different experiences than some visit.

Amazing job to Cabelas team, I do recommend...