Bass Pro Shops — Local services in Port Saint Lucie

Good evening… I don’t want to be long winded but I do want to share my experience. Many factors influenced my experience today and I’m hoping the shop uses this as an opportunity to make improvements.

First time Santa goer at Bass Pro. I usually partake in the Wellington Mall Santa but this year I wanted something different. I booked an appointment online at 4:30pm on Saturday at the Port St. Lucie location. The booking online was smooth. However, I have two girls that needed two separate photos and 1 together. I tried to make another appointment online but the system would not let me use the same email to book another appointment. So I called the store via telephone and spoke with customer service and explained this… they said two girls are fine as long as it’s not like 8 kids. Okay great! Moving forward….

Got to Bass Pro at 4:22pm, checked in with the helper elf at 4:27pm and she showed us the appointment line (no one in it- just us). The walk in line was seriously long. The photographer kept going and taking pictures of 3-4 walk-ins and by that time the helper elf told us to push through so we could be next because the photographer wasn’t directing accordingly.

Our turn: I told the photographer I would like a photo of each of the girls and one together and that I’d pay for each package.

Photos: Together photo: photographer took a picture. The fan to keep Santa cool was blowing one girls hair. I asked the photographer if her hair showed in her face and he said no. I went to pay for it and her hair was in her face. I asked if we could retake it and customer service said we have to get back in the walk in line. (Which was huge). Paid $25 for the package.

Red dress girl: I wasn’t impressed with her smile so I only got the digital copy. $20 for that.

Green dress girl: Went to fix her hair before the picture to ensure and bought the $25 package.

Paid the $76 and went on to take pictures infront of the fish tank and shopped around. There was a floor attendant that assisted us with clothes. The kids girl section is very sparse. But the girls wanted matching bass pro outfits. We asked about clearance and other items since we usually go to the Ft Lauderdale shop because we live near Palm Beach International Airport. During this time I explained to the floor attendant what happened and he did get me back into take her picture without her hair in her face. He did that and he said there was no line so we could go right in.

Photo again: We went back over to Santa. I made sure to keep her hair behind her shoulders. Took another picture. I asked if the other girl could retake hers since we only bought the $20 and we weren’t happy with her smile. The photographer said “we weren’t even suppose to do what we did before”. I said oh actually I called to verify it. He then asked who I spoke with which I don’t remember but it was a gentleman who told me it’s not a big deal if it’s not like 8 kids. The photographer didn’t say anything back to me. I guess he just wanted me to go away …with now a tearing child. I had to re-purchase the photo that did not have hair in her face for another $25. The other child went home in tears wanting another chance with Santa and was basically told no. It was not busy at this time so I don’t know why it was a big deal to turn me away and refuse my next purchase. Is it because I complained about the hair in the face? I didn’t even complain about him taking walkins before us. And I paid for it all.

Overall I’m just very disappointed and I will not recommend this special event. I did everything I was suppose to, booked ahead of time. Called with my concerns and questions and verified my appointment. Arrived on time- rushed, lied to about my picture, questioned and then refused service again when I asked for something reasonable. Maybe I have high expectations?

I’m not looking for anything in return. Im done. I just want to provide feedback to hopefully improve the operation for future patrons. Whatever they need.. more breaks, help with the...

DO NOT PURCHASE A WEAPON FORM THIS BASS PRO. I had a terrible experience purchasing a weapon from this Bass Pro. Terrible customer service. Called because they had a weapon in stock, one of the few in the state of Florida (Henry Model X 45/70) which there happened to be one in the “back” so I DROVE DOWN 3 HOURS to get the gun after speaking to a Michael who assured me there wouldn’t be any problems and I would be good to go once I got there. Got paired up with a gentleman other than Michael for some reason even after asking for him never saw or met him a face to face. This other man had no idea what he was doing. I was thinking about purchasing a second high end rifle but when asked to see other calibers he was very reluctant to walk in the back and look (turns out there were 4 more then on display). After the long draw out process he brought the gun out in the box already taped up. I asked to see it before they shipped it to my home town. He responded “well I just taped it up”. I wasn’t going to blindly send it away without looking at the actually gun first. GOOD THING I DID. There was a reason it was “sitting” in the back. After inspecting the gun it was clear they dropped it directly on the end of the barrel. Very clear to me and the people around them to the point the thread cover would almost not twist off because the threads had been smashed. My options were to not buy it after driving what would be a 6 hour round trip, send it to Henry for a 102 turn around or take 5 percent off (almost same turn around as new rifle). Considering you cannot find this gun at MSRP, I bit the bullet purchased the gun and will do the repairs on my own. There is a reason that desired gun was sitting in the back and they knew it. Long story short these guys don’t know a handgun from a squirt gun and have no motivation to help, with their no commission based system. Clearly aren’t trained or familiar with a majority of the major hunting brands. DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS WHERE THEY ACTUALLY CARE!!!! happy to provide pictures after the probation period. Hope someone learns...

The store is great and they usually have what i am looking for, but the staff is sometimes pushy! They want you to sign up for this and that, but all I wanna do is shop for what I went in there for!! If I want to know about your credit card or vacations, I'D ASK!! I went in there today looking for a specific firearm that I was ready to buy, but the guy behind the counter (I believe his name was Tony), was highly annoying! He was telling me his life story of how he doesn't get paid a lot, but he gets to play with guns all day so he's happy. He then went on to tell me that his wife makes all the money and she gives him a "honey do" list on his days off, but he beat her to it since he mowed his half acre yesterday and weed wacked "IN SHORTS" because it was too hot outside. He even told me how he pulls his cars and trailer in his driveway so no one steals them!! I then had to hear about how he is driving to Bradenton Monday morning to trailer his friends $100,000 race car up to Indiana in the guys brand new diesel truck. I learned that Tony gets paid to drive his rich friend down to Miami when he flys out and leaves his car in Tonys garage with guns in it. His friend who has a "much more expensive gun collection, but he's jealous of mine". I was doing my best to not be rude, but show no interest by keeping my head down and looking in the display cases, but he just kept talking. I finally said, "Have a good day" and walked away. I left there and went to another local gun shop. When i walked in, they simply said, "Let me know if there is anything I can show you." I browsed around looking for what I wanted, IN PEACE! No one asking me to sign up for their credit card! No one hassling me to sign up for a vacation club! And most importantly, no one telling me their life story!! I found what I was looking for, asked to handle it, and bought it. It was a very pleasant experience!! From now on, if I know I can find what i need somewhere else, I'll go...