Independent profile — not affiliated with Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops is a privately held American outdoor-recreation retailer founded in 1972 by Johnny Morris in Springfield, Missouri, where it remains headquartered. It operates 183 combined Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's retail locations across the U.S. and Canada, an online store at basspro.com, boat manufacturing through White River Marine Group (formerly Tracker Marine Group), and the Big Cedar Lodge resort. In September 2017 Bass Pro acquired rival retailer Cabela's for $61.50 per share in cash, an aggregate transaction value of approximately $5.0 billion per SEC filings; Cabela's continues to operate as a related but separately BBB-listed brand.
Bass Pro holds an A+ letter rating and has been a BBB-accredited business since 1984, though that letter grade does not incorporate BBB's own customer-review score, which currently stands at 1.27 out of 5 from 95 reviews; separately, Trustpilot's unclaimed profile for the company shows 1.9 out of 5 from 372 reviews (79% one-star), with Trustpilot's own caveat that the company doesn't invite reviews there, so that sample may not be representative. BBB has also logged 264 complaints against Bass Pro in the last three years, mostly over shipping delays, warranty disputes, and customer service. The company also settled a 2011 EEOC hiring-discrimination lawsuit for $10.5 million in 2017 under a consent decree that ran its course and expired by early 2021, and settled a 2019 breach-of-contract dispute with former in-store timeshare marketer Bluegreen Vacations for more than $40 million -- a settlement that, contrary to an earlier version of this summary, reinstated and extended Bluegreen's in-store marketing partnership for years afterward rather than ending it. Bass Pro currently faces a pending 2022 class action over discontinued sock warranties and is named in a pending, MDL-consolidated 2025 industry-wide antitrust suit over archery-equipment pricing.
Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints
USAComplaints currently maintains 20 historical complaints about Bass Pro Shops, published between 2008 and 2012. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.
- Cancelled order without notifying and deactivated gift card causing embarrassment
- Boat sales rep Idiot sales people
- Poor quality and dumb sales people
- Consumer Report
- Bass Pro Shops Won’t Hire Me
- Stay away
- Outdoor World uses Fake Sales and Predatory Practices to Overcharge Customers in
- The toes of the new boots were completely falling apart
- Trash Pro Shops
- Bad customer service
- Partial refund for full return. Approved return, but they would not refund $20.00 shipping! Don't order online!
- Worst customer service
- Outdoor world black people need not to apply for employment here
- Food purchase
- Food - food
- Rip off
- Tracker Marine salesmen grossly misrepresent product warranty to make a sale
- Hunting section
- Lying salespeople
- Late payment fee 3 week cycle vs 4 wk cycle
Complaint Themes
Independent Sources
Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.
Contacts
- Customer Service (national): 1-800-227-7776 2 complaints mention this number
- Website: https://www.basspro.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Corporate Headquarters (BBB-listed): (417) 873-5000
Locations
| Type | Address |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | 2500 E Kearney St Springfield MO 65803 |
Company Overview
Bass Pro Shops is a privately held outdoor-recreation retailer founded in 1972 by Johnny Morris, who began selling fishing tackle out of a corner of his father's Brown Derby liquor store in Springfield, Missouri. The company is still headquartered in Springfield today.
The corporate structure operates through several affiliated Missouri limited liability companies depending on the business line — including BPS Direct, LLC (catalog/e-commerce), Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC (retail stores and employment matters), and Bass Pro, LLC (marketing partnerships). This is a common structure for a large privately held retailer and is not evidence of a different or unrelated business.
Beyond 183 combined Bass Pro Shops and Cabela's retail locations in the U.S. and Canada (per the company's own live store locator), Bass Pro Shops also owns White River Marine Group -- the current name of the boat-manufacturing division formerly called Tracker Marine Group, including the Tracker and Nitro brands sold in-store -- and the Big Cedar Lodge resort near Branson, Missouri. In September 2017, Bass Pro completed its acquisition of competitor Cabela's Inc. for $61.50 per share in cash, an aggregate transaction value of approximately $5.0 billion according to SEC filings (not the ~$4.5 billion figure an earlier version of this page cited); Cabela's continues to operate under its own brand with its own separate BBB listing.
Is Bass Pro Shops Legitimate?
Bass Pro Shops has been a BBB-accredited business since February 1984 and currently holds an A+ rating. As of this review, the BBB profile shows 264 complaints closed in the last three years (90 in the last twelve months), most commonly about delivery delays, warranty/service issues, and general customer service — categories consistent with a retailer processing a very high volume of transactions nationwide.
Separately, Bass Pro has been party to several documented legal actions: a 2011–2017 federal hiring-discrimination lawsuit brought by the EEOC (settled for $10.5 million without an admission of liability), a 2019 breach-of-contract dispute with in-store timeshare marketer Bluegreen Vacations that ended in a settlement paying Bass Pro more than $40 million and reinstating (not ending) Bluegreen's in-store marketing partnership for years afterward, a pending 2022 class action over a discontinued sock warranty, and a pending 2025 industry-wide antitrust suit alleging price-fixing on archery equipment. None of this establishes that any individual complaint on this page is founded — see the Complaints section and the specific case entries below for sourced detail.
Complaint Patterns
USAComplaints has 20 published historical consumer allegations naming Bass Pro Shops directly, dated 2008–2012 (the specific claims within them are not independently verified), plus 3 additional complaints about a third-party timeshare kiosk (Bluegreen Vacations / Outdoor Traveler) that formerly operated inside Bass Pro stores — listed separately in Related Complaints since Bass Pro itself was not the seller in those transactions.
- Online orders — cancelled orders, a deactivated gift card, and refused shipping refunds on approved returns.
- Boat sales and warranty — complaints about Tracker Marine boat sales staff allegedly misrepresenting warranty coverage and poor after-sale service, a pattern consistent with the 2019 Bluegreen settlement's requirement that in-store sales partners improve complaint handling.
- In-store customer service and returns — footwear defects, a food-item return-policy dispute, and firearms-accessory stock/availability disagreements.
- Hiring practices — a 2011 complaint alleging discriminatory hiring at an “Outdoor World” location predates, and is consistent with, the EEOC's 2011 lawsuit over the same issue.
The BBB's own complaint categories over the last three years — service/repair (92), product issues (77), delivery (35), sales/advertising (30), billing (17) — broadly match this pattern.
How to Resolve a Problem With Bass Pro Shops
Bass Pro Shops' official customer service line is 1-800-227-7776 (Sun–Sat, 6 am–11 pm CT), or [email protected] — both verified directly on the company's own help center. For unresolved disputes, a complaint can also be filed with the Better Business Bureau, which the company has a long track record of responding to.
If a complaint involves hiring or employment discrimination, note that the 2011-2017 EEOC settlement required Bass Pro to maintain a dedicated Office of Diversity and Inclusion and updated EEO hiring/complaint procedures under a consent decree with a 42-month compliance term -- that decree ran its course and expired around early 2021, so it is historical context about a past legal requirement, not an ongoing current obligation, though it may still be worth citing for context in a complaint to the EEOC.
Employment & Hiring Record
In September 2011 the EEOC sued Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC, alleging a pattern of discriminatory hiring against Black and Hispanic applicants and retaliation against employees who objected. The case settled in July 2017 for $10.5 million, with Bass Pro required to appoint a director of diversity and inclusion, conduct annual EEO training, and expand recruiting outreach — without admitting liability.
Consumer-side complaints on this site from the same era include a similar allegation about a specific “Outdoor World” location, and a separate 2011 complaint from a rejected job applicant. Employee-review sites report a broadly mixed picture (positive comments on team culture and employee discounts, negative comments on pay and scheduling); specific aggregate rating figures were not independently verified this session and are omitted rather than estimated.
Court & Public Records
| Case | Authority | Dates | Type | Outcome | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EEOC v. Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC | U.S. District Court (EEOC pattern-or-practice lawsuit, EEOC Houston District Office) | Settled | Settled The EEOC sued Bass Pro Outdoor World, LLC on Sept. 21, 2011, alleging a nationwide pattern of discriminatory hiring against Black and Hispanic applicants and retaliation against employees who objected. The case settled on July 25, 2017: Bass Pro agreed to pay $10.5 million and to a consent decree requiring appointment of a director of diversity and inclusion, updated EEO hiring policies, expanded recruiting outreach in minority communities, and annual EEO training for management and non-management staff, under a consent decree with a 42-month compliance term that has since run its course and expired (around early 2021) -- it is no longer a current, ongoing legal obligation. Bass Pro did not admit liability as part of the settlement. | Source | |
| Bass Pro, LLC and Big Cedar, LLC v. Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited, Inc. | U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri | — | Settled | Settled In April 2019, Bass Pro, LLC and its affiliate Big Cedar, LLC sued in-store timeshare marketer Bluegreen Vacations Unlimited, Inc. in the Western District of Missouri, alleging breach of contract — including “high-pressure salesmanship,” improperly charged fees, and unpaid commissions — and seeking at least $10 million in damages. Bass Pro terminated Bluegreen's in-store marketing agreement in May 2019 amid the litigation. The parties settled on June 13, 2019: Bluegreen agreed to pay Bass Pro $20 million within 15 days plus five annual payments of $4 million (2020–2024), Bass Pro was entitled to keep roughly $1.5 million already prepaid to it, Bluegreen agreed to ongoing per-store and per-sale fees, a minimum $700,000 annual donation to the Wonders of Wildlife Foundation, and to “put a complaint resolution process in place” and enhance customer service practices — without either side admitting wrongdoing. Critically, the settlement also amended the parties' Marketing and Promotions Agreement to reinstate Bluegreen's in-store marketing access at Bass Pro (and extend it to Cabela's stores) — Bluegreen itself stated the settlement “reinstated all of our marketing activities in Bass Pro retail stores.” A 2024 SEC filing shows the exclusive marketing agreement continued for years afterward, scheduled to expire in 2024 — this was a restored, extended partnership, not a termination. | Source |
| Slaughter v. Bass Pro, Inc. Docket 6:22-cv-03174 | U.S. District Court, Western District of Missouri | Filed | Filed, no ruling yet A Missouri customer filed a proposed class action alleging Bass Pro advertised a “lifetime guarantee” on Redhead-brand wool socks but stopped honoring it around January 2021, offering only a 60-day warranty on replacements instead. The complaint, filed July 8, 2022, seeks class-wide damages reported by several outlets at approximately $5 million. In January 2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri denied Bass Pro's motion to dismiss at least one count of the complaint, meaning the case proceeded past the initial dismissal stage. This is an allegation, not an established finding — no verified final case resolution (settlement, judgment, or class certification) was found as of this review. | Source | |
| Janochoski v. Hoyt et al. (Bass Pro Shops named as a defendant) Docket 0:25-cv-02788 | U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota | — | Filed | Filed, no ruling yet A 2025 proposed class action, Janochoski v. Hoyt et al., originally filed in the District of Minnesota, names Bass Pro Shops (BPS Direct, LLC) as one of several archery-industry retailers and manufacturers -- alongside Hoyt Archery, Bowtech, Cabela's, Dick's Sporting Goods, and the Archery Trade Association -- alleged to have coordinated Minimum Advertised Price policies in violation of federal antitrust law. On October 16, 2025, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated this and several related suits into MDL No. 3160, In re: Archery Products Antitrust Litigation, transferred to the District of Colorado before Chief Judge Philip A. Brimmer; the Minnesota case was assigned docket number 1:25-cv-03544 in that court. BPS Direct d/b/a Bass Pro Shops remains listed as a defendant in the consolidated proceeding. The case is pending; this is an allegation, not an established finding. | Source |
Related Complaints
Names this company in a role other than the primary subject — not necessarily current or complete.
Company Relationships
- Affiliated with: Cabela's Inc.
- Affiliated with: White River Marine Group (formerly Tracker Marine Group)
- Affiliated with: Bluegreen Vacations (in-store timeshare marketing partner; relationship reinstated by 2019 settlement, not ended)
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bass Pro Shops a legitimate company?
Yes — Bass Pro Shops is a large, established retailer founded in 1972, headquartered in Springfield, Missouri, and BBB-accredited since 1984 with an A+ rating. That doesn't mean every transaction goes smoothly: the BBB shows 264 complaints in the last three years, mostly over shipping delays and warranty disputes, and the company has settled both an EEOC hiring-discrimination case (2017) and a contract dispute with a former in-store timeshare marketer (2019). See the sections above for sourced details.
Does Bass Pro Shops own Cabela's?
Yes. Bass Pro Shops completed its acquisition of Cabela's Inc. in September 2017 for approximately $4.5 billion. Cabela's continues to operate under its own name with its own store locations and its own separate BBB listing.
How do I file a complaint against Bass Pro Shops?
Contact Bass Pro's customer service directly at 1-800-227-7776 or [email protected]. If that doesn't resolve the issue, complaints can also be filed with the Better Business Bureau, which the company has historically responded to.