Cabela's Review 2026: An A+ BBB Rating, a 1.4-Star Customer Score, and Which One to Believe

The practical lesson generalises: never take an A+ BBB rating as a satisfaction score, and never take it as accreditation either — Cabela's is A+ and not accredited, which is a perfectly normal combination. When a company advertises its BBB grade, it is advertising that it answers complaint letters. That is worth something. It is not worth what the badge implies.

We saw a third-party claim that CLUB members get 90 days rather than 60. That extension does not appear in the official policy document we read, which sets a flat 60-day window with no membership carve-out. Do not plan a return around it. If a member extension exists, get it confirmed in writing before you rely on it.

One nuance in Cabela's favour, so this is not one-sided: a 60-day window at a retailer with hundreds of large physical stores is more usable than a 60-day window at a pure e-tailer. You can walk a return in rather than pay to post it, and you can try boots on in person before buying — which removes most of the reason you would need the longer window in the first place. If a Cabela's is near you, the policy gap matters much less than the table suggests.

Do not pay for expedited shipping here if the date actually matters, and do not order something you need for a specific trip without a buffer. If a departure date depends on the gear arriving, buy it in a store or from a retailer whose delivery you trust. Paid expedited shipping that lands outside the paid window is the single most repeated complaint in this retailer's public reviews.

That second line is the one to sit with. A card marketed as a 9.99% card can charge you up to 25.99% variable on any purchase made outside Cabela's and Bass Pro — which, for a general-purpose Mastercard in your wallet, will be most of what you spend on it. At 25.99%, the 1% back on non-store purchases is worth about a fortnight of the interest it costs to carry the balance for a year. This card only makes sense if you clear it in full every month, or if you use it exclusively in-store.

Two health notes worth more than any gear tip. First, heat: if you are new to activity or on medication that affects appetite, thirst or fluid balance, plan hydration deliberately rather than by thirst, and build up gradually in hot weather. Second, tick-borne illness is a real and rising risk for anyone newly spending time in long grass and woodland — insect repellent and a tick check after every outing are the cheapest protective equipment in the store. Neither of these is medical advice; both are worth raising with your clinician if you are significantly increasing your activity.

What to watch out for: (1) 1.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot across 452 reviews, with consistent complaints about slow fulfilment, paid expedited shipping missing its window, breakages in transit and website problems. (2) 60-day returns, then inspection-basis only — against REI's 365 days for members. (3) Bargain Cave clearance items are excluded from returns. (4) No receipt means the lowest sale price, as store credit rather than a refund. (5) A third-party claim of 90-day CLUB member returns is not in the official policy — do not rely on it. (6) The CLUB card charges up to 25.99% variable outside Cabela's and Bass Pro, and "up to 5%" back in-store is a 2–5% tier. (7) Reviewers describe credit-card promotional messaging as deceiving. (8) Oversized-item surcharges apply regardless of the free-shipping threshold.