They release an ad showing a rifle ( savage 64) at 1/2 off in the current sales flyer.
Sales starts today. Go there at 5 minutes after opening. They hand you a number to stand in line at the gun counter. After a while a sales guy is sort of free and I ask him about the rifle.
Sold out! I say how about a rain check? They don’t do that. He tells me corporate headquarters puts out the flyer then allocates the sale items to each store. They got two of the sale rifle!
Sold to the first couple customers in the door.
Left empty handed. They had some decent sales on other stuff but this is the second time they pulled this- listing an item for sale go to the store early on the first day to be told they were allocated only a couple of the sale item. So instead of buying the rifle and possibly another $100+ worth of stuff, I leave spending nothing. On leaving I told the guy at the door handing out the numbers what a horrible situation this was, and how instead getting 2-300 in sales they got zip. He tells me they have no control what corporate puts in the sale ad or how many of each sale item the store is allocated. Probably true but results in me being happy to give my local independent dealer an extra few dollars to get and deliver what I want. Another big chain store screwing customers- from here on out another on the growing list of retailers not to support

Maybe a letter to the mother ship?

Sportsman’s Warehouse Holdings, Inc.
1475 West 9000 South Suite A
West Jordan, UT 84088

Truth in advertising: they advertise it, they're required to honor it. One can't make a promise, holding out to the public, then fail to honor; it's fraudulent.

If they said they have two rifles and only two, then so be it. If they didn't, and they didn't state in the ad that the sale is restricted to current stock only, then they owe you a rifle.

What they did is called "bait and switch" and is illegal in every state I know of.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Truth in advertising: they advertise it, they're required to honor it. One can't make a promise, holding out to the public, then fail to honor; it's fraudulent.

If they said they have two rifles and only two, then so be it. If they didn't, and they didn't state in the ad that the sale is restricted to current stock only, then they owe you a rifle.

Nope. Sorry. Not saying it’s a good business model or even an honest one, but that’s wildly incorrect as a matter of law. Barring the existence of a specific state statute to the contrary (which would have the necessary effect of eliminating most retail-level consumer product advertising), an ad is an invitation to do business or to make an offer, not an offer, and binding on nobody.

Nor does what the OP described constitute “bait & switch”.

-Rob

quote:

Go there at 5 minutes after opening.

Not saying it isn't chickenshit, but this is how these kinds of sales work, not much different than "Black Friday" sales. There is an element of gambling in it.

As for "bait and switch," if they had the item in stock, at that price, at the time the ad was placed, there isn't any. I haven't looked at a car dealership newspaper ad - or a newspaper - in a long time, so I don't know whether or not they still do it, but car dealers do something like this. They will offer a car at a sharply reduced, almost too good to be true, price, but the fine print says, "One [or sometimes more, but I've never seen more than five] at this price" and give the stock number. Almost nobody is able to actually get that car. But again, if the car was in stock at that price at the time they placed the ad, no B&S.

you go high enough , you always come to one man




Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkTP21NTcgM

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

The one and only time I ever stood in line for a Black Friday deal was at Sportsmans Warehouse. I was maybe 10 or 11 in line and the rumor was they had 10-12 of the sale item. A 1911 of some kind.

The first two people in line bought all of the items. Never again.

They do occasionally have decent sale prices on firearms that can be ordered online and picked up at the store.

I do not in any way think they did anything illegal just unethical. The ad stated limit 2 rifles per customer which certainly is suggestive of having more than one or two in stock. I have already fired off a communication to the company regarding this. This is the only store I have gone to (admittedly don’t shop a whole lot) where they won’t provide a rain check on a sale item out of stock. ( those limited crazy Black Friday things excepted)

Might want to remove "WTF" from the title.

My wife and I went there a while back. The 20 something behind the counter came around the counter to "correct" her grip, and called her "honey." My wife is 60, and started carrying a gun professionally in 1979. She said, "It's ma'am to you, go screw yurself" and we left. She spent her thousand dollars elsewhere.

Oh yeah, we met in the Army. She was my squad gunner.

Fred Myers tried this with us. We got the handout for a patio set. The day it started we we there at the opening. Sold out. Why? Seems the sale did start that day but the put the set out at the sale price a couple of days earlier. Sorry, no rain check as it was a special purchase. However for just a bit more...

With the sales manager there we discussed who’s turn it was. My wife won and I sat down. We worked our way up to the store manager. Then we discussed who his boss was. This lead to some calls.

The next day the regional manager called and had the patio set ready to be delivered. The store manager personally help set it up.

Seems a lot of this stuff goes on the the store level and the head shed doesn’t hear about it.

I saw a stripped AR lower in the flyer. I was planning to be there when they opened, but figured the same thing might happen.

So I went online and placed the order to be shipped to the store. Order went through at the sale price and is supposed to arrive at the local store on Tuesday. We shall see....

I don't think sportsman's cares. They have been doing it for years. Black Friday 2008 I had almost the exact experience. Can't even remember what rifle i was buying, but i was the 2nd in line at the gun counter as they opened, and the guy before me bought something else. Sales person said they didn't have any in stock, national ad...blah blah blah.

I haven't gotten up early for a black Friday since.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Go there at 5 minutes after opening.

Those ads were so annoying, but I was fixated by them. Pretty darn funny. That guy was the perfect face for the character.