C-A-L Ranch Stores — Local services in North Logan

I was disappointed by Cal Ranch last night we'll likely not go back. Having grown up in Cache Valley I was there when Cal Ranch came to Logan. I have shopped there since and spent thousands there. I bought hunting, fishing, farming, trapping and camping gear. Much of our wood cutting supplies there, chains saws, chains, bars etc. Over the years I have bought several firearms there. years ago we moved to Bear Lake Valley but sill come to Logan to shop and see family. My daughter is going to buy a 20 gauge shotgun for her son for Christmas. I told her to call Cals, and Al's. Al's sent her to the gun department 3 times no one answered, go figure. Cals told her they had several youth models on special they would hold one for her for 24 hours. I told her to make sure they could sell us one since we were from Idaho, they told her yes they could they can sell long guns to bordering states. We didn't get there until probably 30 hours later, that's all good. The guy she talked to was obviously not there. But there was two very uniformed guys and a kid that looked like he just wanted to hang out by the guns and should have been crushing boxes. We explain what we want, they have no more guns like the one the guy told us on the phone (fine), so, we look for a different one. The guys helping us had no answers save what they could see on the sales tags, seriously, at least they didn't pretend to know, the tags weren't that accurate. So they didn't seem to know much, they had no idea what's in stock, when i asked they'd say they'd to go to the back and check in a way that made me think they didn't want to. So, we tell them what were doing and one says "I didn't get my first gun until I was 18". My grandson has been through hunters safety and scored 100% on the test, and he has hunted likely more than both those associates put together. They lecture us about age to have a shotgun, I finally just tell them my daughter had already been through boot camp by her senior year and had been an MP in the army and I have a LEO son. We raise our kids a little differently out in the country in Idaho apparently. I ask if they have a military discount, my daughter pulls out her military ID to which they laugh. The lurking kid at the end of the counter says, "On the 4th of July". We finally decided on a shotgun and they try to talk us out of it and into a more expensive one of course (the one actually said "nobody buys Mossberg over Remington" lol, I kind of agree but we were on a budget.) After convincing them we know what we want, and I dont need them to show me how to assemble it, they get the paperwork out. Several times they get busy talking to "browsers" a couple of which are surely not buying anything so we have to wait to ask questions. Paperwork complete, they spend 5 or 10 mins trying to decide if they even know how to do the BIC check, I'm loosing confidence fast. 45 mins later he comes out and says the phone number is now down for the night and he cant get the computer to work, can we "stop back by on our way through". They knew we live hours drive, the reason we came to Logan was the shotgun. We cleared up that they could sell it to us over the phone the day before. I start walking away and I tell my daughter lets go. The guy is all "hey, am I loosing a sale here?" Are you kidding me?? I say "what do you think we are going to do? you cant sell it to us now!" I get if the system was down they couldn't do it but from the way they were acting I don't even know if it was or their ability to do it was the problem. Had they seemed kind of good I would have gone back the next day, to be honest the price was really good. So, Cal Ranch Logan, I'm heading to Pocatello to get the shotgun, I'll stop by the Cal's there, but, likely to go to Sportsman's warehouse where they give a military discount, and I know the guys working the gun counter might be jerks, but they know what they are doing, they know just about as much about firearms lol. as we walked in we saw the woodsplitters we need for sale won't be...

I've been a loyal customer for several years, but since their moving to the new store, I'm tempted to go the few extra blocks to IFA. Lately, I've found C-A-L Ranch lines at the cashier are not only long, they're also slow. Other employees will be buzzing around the checkout area, but for some reason don't bother to man another register.

The other day when the cashier asked, "Did you find everything you wanted?" I replied, "No, unfortunately I didn't." She just gave me a dumb look as though she had no idea what to say. Then she smiled and quickly responded, "Well...uh...have a good one!"

Sadly, this isn't the only time it has happened in the recent few weeks.

Also, have you ever tried to give them a call? I don't know how many times I've called during business hours and they never bother to answer the phone.

Of course, the manager will undoubtedly respond with the canned, "Chip, I'm sorry for your experience, ....yahda, yahda, yahda." But probably nothing will get done. They'll still have cashiers and other employees wandering around not knowing where anything is.

UPDATE: June 22, 2022 Dang! Just when things seemed like they were turning around. In my opinion, C.A.L. Ranch had definitely improved over the last several months. But...maybe tonight just wasn't my night. I went in this evening around 5:30 to pick up a fence wire crimping tool. I wandered around the store for a while, but couldn't seem to find the right area.

Then I spotted three employees, a man and two women, visiting around a rack of clothing. I approached and they continued visiting. Finally I said, "Excuse me, but could you tell me where the fencing supplies are?"

The two women gave me a blank stare. It was obvious they didn't know what I was talking about. They then both looked at the guy. He pointed and said, "Over there towards the back."

I still wasn't sure where he meant, then he said, "Y'know, when you go back there and it opens up...well, it's around there."

I guess he could tell I was still somewhat perplexed so he said, "Uh, I'll show ya."

We got to the area and he pointed, "Over there." I saw what I thought was the right tool, checked it out and found out that it wasn't what I was looking for and started to ask the employee....but he had vanished.

At this point, I figured, "Forget it!" and walked out of the store.

As I was leaving, the girl behind the counter called, "Thanks for shopping with us!"

But no problem. This story has a happy ending. I went a couple blocks north to IFA. I walked in the door and saw a high school-aged-looking young lady behind the counter. I asked, "I'm looking for a fence wire crimping tool."

Without batting an eye, she said, "Isle 23. Drew will help you find what you want." What a difference!!!...

My overall experiences at this store has been mostly very positive, but the recent visit with employee 'Hannah' at the gun counter was horrendous.

I wanted to explore small CC pistols for my wife, seeking options without intending an immediate purchase. Despite conveying my knowledge of firearms to politely signal that we wanted to be left alone, Hannah insisted on cutting me off mid-conversation multiple times with a loud voice to my wife who didn’t even want to talk to her. She recommended a heavier mid-size pistol to my wife, implying it must be over $400 for reliability. This interrupting, unsolicited advice, coupled with a demeaning undertone, left a very negative impression for both of us. I literally just wanted her to hand me a few guns to hold, and that’s the only thing I asked initially. Yikes!!!

Train your gun counter staff, especially Hannah, not to assume customers' knowledge levels and avoid pushing unsolicited opinions just because they want to for some odd reason. People will ask directly if they want your opinion or don’t know firearms.

As a result, I won't be returning for the planned gun purchases, opting for...