Bass Pro Shops — Local services in Spanish Fort

Negligence, Assumptions, and Zero Accountability

We had our 2020 SunTracker Party Barge pontoon logs replaced in October 2024. After one single outing in April 2025, water intrusion and corrosion appeared. What should have been a straightforward warranty issue turned into five months of unnecessary delays, blame-shifting, and poor customer treatment, all due to the failure of the Spanish Fort Bass Pro Shops Tracker Marine service department to escalate our case appropriately.

Steven and Chris took it upon themselves to make assumptions and decisions on behalf of White River Marine, a corporate entity they had no business speaking for. When I pressed them for clarification, it became clear that no formal claim had ever been submitted. They chose not to escalate the issue through proper channels and instead gave me dismissive, incorrect explanations with zero documentation to back it up. It became evident they are simply there for a paycheck.

At one point, we were given two unacceptable options by Steven and Chris: either pay $15,000 out of pocket to replace the logs ourselves (despite them being just 5 months and 3 days old) or allow them to cut the existing logs in half and weld on a “half-cap” for $8,000. Neither option addressed the root issue of defective parts or workmanship, and both attempted to shift the burden onto us rather than taking accountability. I would rather spend $15,000 in attorney fees, which is exactly where we were headed.

When I finally bypassed them and contacted White River Marine Group, they were very responsive, professional, and transparent. Once I handled the escalation they (Steven, Chris and Sean) failed to do, replacement pontoons were built and shipped within five weeks. Imagine what could have happened if they’d simply done their job in April. We might have been back on the water by May or June.

Instead, they dragged their feet so long that it was mid-September before our boat was usable again, effectively wiping out our 2025 summer season.

Sean, the Sales Manager, promised better communication. But again, it was all talk. He once told me he has “20–30 customers a day,” as if that excused ignoring us. Meanwhile, nobody contacted us when the new pontoon logs were delivered. When I asked (repeatedly) for a delivery date, nobody could answer, only confirming once again that I was right about their continued negligence.

To top it off, when we arrived to pick up our boat, instead of handling the situation like a professional, Steven scurried around the building to “take a break” to avoid a simple conversation. That speaks volumes.

The only employee who showed consistent professionalism was Nick. He was respectful and helpful, the complete opposite of the team that left us hanging.

I had a great experience with this location years ago. But this time, the lack of communication, failure to escalate, and frankly hostile attitude from the service team made it very clear that customer advocacy is treated as an inconvenience.

If you expect integrity, transparency, or even basic follow-through; I highly recommend going elsewhere. Because this was a manufacturer defect, I was forced to have the work done through this abysmal location and could not take my business elsewhere. Otherwise, I would have gladly gone to Grander Marine in Orange Beach or Momentum Marine in Foley - both of which have never let me down. Their service is prompt, respectful, and professional, everything this Tracker Marine location is not.

And don’t worry, team! Your legacy doesn’t end here. I’ll be using this as a case study in an upcoming presentation on Customer Success and Resiliency for directors at a conference in Denver....

This review is based on my personal experience. I live in Pensacola. We came over to buy a smoker. At entrance, the greeter was amazing, and to tell you the truth, every employee was friendly (maybe TOO friendly - lol). Except for the woman at the Customer Service Desk on May 16th around noon. She was the only one at the desk with a customer at the entrance side of the desk. We walked up to the counter from the inside store side to pick up an online order that was ready. She didn't even acknowledge us, which is one of my pet peeves being in retail. All she had to do was look over, SMILE, and say she'd be right with us. Nope. Another customer came right after us, and he got no acknowledgment either. When she finally did finish with the other customer, there was no thanks for waiting, a smile or anything - bottom line, she was rude. What a horrible and poor representation of the experience we had just had throughout our entire hour visit at the store, and she was CUSTOMER SERVICE. Mgmt needs to replace this/her. She didn't seem happy with her job or working with customers. But that's not where it ended. She didn't ask me for my ID, so anyone could have picked up this $300+ smoker. She just asked for the order number. Anyway, she said that the item would be delivered soon up front. 10 minutes passed, and I asked if it was gonna be soon because we were on a time crunch back to Pensacola. She said that they had to get it out of the "warehouse" to bring it down. Another 10 minutes passed, and a guy came with it on a rolling cart that he just rolled up in front of the desk and split. He didn't ask if we wanted him to bring it out. He didn't even offer it, and she didn't even come over to tell us that it had arrived. What? After I saw this, I went to the counter, I confronted her and asked why there was no offer to bring it out for us so that he could bring the cart back in. She just looked at me like she wanted to start something, so I just walked off. We rolled this thing out to our vehicle and took it back with help from outside customers! No employee helped, no employees offered, nothing. There were so many working that day too, so this was unacceptable. Unbelievable. It's like this store is dying. I went to the women's section and was interested in so many of the clothes but no price tags (except for the clearance racks). Not on the tennis dresses, shorts, nothing. I might have purchased something, but I'm not gonna blindly buy something that might ring up to $80. Even the candles. I was shopping for a birthday gift for a friend and no prices on the candles? Again, I might have purchased one but didn't want to get to the checkout to see that they were $30. The reason I'm writing this review is because of the woman at the Customer Service desk. What a downer. She's paid to serve customers with a smile? Obviously, not enough from what it seems. If I go to another Bass Pro, it'll be in Destin. Let me add that my son had a hard time getting away from a woman who tried to sell him a vacation or something like that. He was on his way up the steps to go to the upper level. He must have said to her that he wasn't interested three times. He didn't wanna come across rude, but she wouldn't give up until I came along saving him. What's going on with this pressure sales stuff? RESPONSE FROM BASS MGMT - I'll leave it up to mgmt to look into this further without my having to contact anyone. I wanted to give my experience. Possibly find out who worked on the day and time I mentioned and send in a few secret shoppers so they can see for themselves. Have staff check out tags without prices and change that. I really don't have any...

For years, I have loved Bass Pro Shop. Never had any issues, always had a good selection and solid items. Then I made a mistake that no one should ever fall victim to...do NOT EVER order online. We decided to go camping to surprise my 8 year old son. Since the trip was going to be the next day, we decided to do "store pickup" and grab some sleeping cots and supplies. Since I had to work, this would make it convenient for my wife to pop in and pick up the items. I made sure to select "In Stock" items only on the website and paid for my items. Later that morning she popped in and a few of the items were ready so she picked them up. They told her the rest of the items (except one) would be ready later that day (we were fine with the one item being later). So I dropped in after work to check on what was ready. Easy, right? WRONG. First off, they now told me most of the items were now shipping and wouldn't be in for weeks! Here's where it gets frustrating and why you should be wary...THE ITEMS ARE IN STOCK. And I was told I couldn't get them, they couldn't go pick them up and my only option was to PAY FOR THEM AGAIN and later get another refund! To give you an idea of how ridiculous this was...it was a $1300 order! So, I literally could've taken $1300 cash and walked in this morning and bought every item and been done in 30 mins, but me being "smart" decided to use their website and save some time. Yeah, right. I repeatedly told the store and their phone line that if ANYWHERE on the website had said "Items might be delayed" or "Low stock", I would've just gone to the store. Instead, I got a 2 hour lecture about how their retail stores, their website, and their shipping services all work apparently independently and don't have a clue what they're doing. I was told "we know it's a problem" so many times it was laughable and "we've been complaining about this for a long time." Well, never again. Whole order is cancelled (which of course, I have to wait for all the items to arrive at the store because they can't even cancel your order fast). I guess they figure there's plenty of people dropping $1300 on stuff to just wait for it to arrive a few weeks later that there's no reason to change. Sad, because before today, taking my kid to Bass Pro Shop to get some gear was a real treat. Way to...