My ski shop experience (venting)

[skijay]

I went to a ski shop last week and dropped of my boards for sharpening and Ptex. I was promised a certain date and when I went after that date to pick them up they were not there, they were shipped to another location.
No problem as I was not going to use them.

I pick the boards up today and noted the bottoms look exactly as they were when I dropped them off including the dirt, the edges look like someone just cleaned off some of the rust with a cloth, they feel the same and the bindings were not cleaned.

I was informed that they do not ptex, however I was given a rate that included Ptex. So basically to me it looks as if I paid $$ for someone to clean some rust spots off the edges.

The flip side to this is that I saw the skis that I wanted at this shop. I was going to buy them today, however, I decided to look elsewhere for them after my experience.. I did find them and purchased for $50 cheaper somewhere else..

I will be calling the manager on Monday and telling him exactly what happened and the fact that the attitude of his staff is bad and the condition of my gear and the price I paid for services quoted and not done caused a loss sale and all future business.

Has anybody else had bad experience at a ski shop?

[Charlie Schuessler]

Originally Posted by skijay

...Has anybody else had bad experience at a ski shop?

Yes, twice. Once with a shop about which bindings I purchased as part of the deal (with receipt confirming that I was right) to put on the new ski's I purchased. They rectified the matter but I had to leave skis with wrong bindings and my boots another week...the shop went out of business at the end of that season.

The second time was with the "Best Ski Shop in NH" where they claimed to test my son's ski's bindings for his school program. They never adjusted the bindings to fit his boots nor did they adjust the mechanism from 0, which is where I set them the previous spring. I picked them up assured that everything was set. We noticed that nothing was done when we went skiing a few days later at the mountain. I paid the mountain shop to complete the work and we skied the rest of the day and season.

However, that night I wrote a letter to the "Best Ski Shop in NH" owner and copied the NH Attorney General's office. I submitted a copy of his shop's invoice as well as the mountain shop invoice and requested a full refund including the additional difference in the shop's differing costs.

I received the refund as requested. I am not aware of any legal actions by the State. Since then I have never been back to that shop nor refered them to anyone.

[riverc0il]

sucks about those experiences! the shops i trust most are the one's on the mountains i frequent most, though that's generally for quick work they will do in front of me. generally i wouldn't trust a shop that asked for money up front on repair work. i always pay when i pick up after i have inspected the work done. also, i wouldn't drop off my skis at a shop unless i saw the needed tuning gear in the shop and knew tuning was being done on site.

i have had to wait a long time for repair work with local shops. i try to avoid the local urban ski shops because they close up ski shop repairs before the season is even over, then they are mobbed once the season starts. it boggles my mind why any one would have to wait more than a day for most repair jobs. maybe a few days for ptex at best, it isn't that hard of a job for the money your shelling out.

[ChileMass]

For those in the Worcester area, I highly recommend Strand's on West Boylston Street. As noted here in other posts, they are friendly, helpful, well-informed, have a HUGE stock of equipment and gear, and I've never seen them miss a date/time they promised for service to be completed. Granted, their prices are high, but all ski shops charge an arm/leg. But in all other criteria, Strand's is tops. Worth the drive from Boston or Springfield as well.

I know Strand's, Lief and his Bro are well known amongst those in the Industry. I was curious about their service. I know they charge for everything and often a good price. I have a lot of shop experience, I worked in four of them. You are taking a chance with the big shops with lots of part timers and young kids. I do my own repairs and tune-ups usually. Strand's has been recommended highly to me, though, for complicated work. When I worked slopeside, I had a number of part time assistants (all of which did good work), but sometimes we had to work very late to get all the work done on a busy weekend. That's the real problem, many of these shops get swamped with work for people who want it stat. They'll hire anyone part-time. Their skill level can be very low, their sense of responsibility even lower. When I managed a ski department for Herman's (the sporting good's chain that went belly up), the high school kids they gave me for help made more work than they did. I wound up quiting in disgust. Kid's equipment surprisingly takes more skill and expertise to mount, adjust and tune than adult. Your equipment can be set aside by those who don't know how to do the work or just neglected by those who have too much to do.

[teachski]

A couple things about Strands, they don't sell Rossignol or Solomon equipment and look down on Technica boots. They also are very opinionated about certain products and companies. As long as what you are looking for fits in their plans they are great, otherwise, forget it! They often want to put you in the ski they want you in, even if it is not the ski you should be in (after demoing) and it takes a lot to convince them otherwise.

Service is good and usually fast. They do know a lot about skiing (but as I said, are opinionated).

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by ChileMass

For those in the Worcester area, I highly recommend Strand's on West Boylston Street. As noted here in other posts, they are friendly, helpful, well-informed, have a HUGE stock of equipment and gear, and I've never seen them miss a date/time they promised for service to be completed. Granted, their prices are high, but all ski shops charge an arm/leg. But in all other criteria, Strand's is tops. Worth the drive from Boston or Springfield as well.

I had a very good experience with Strand's as well and I have no qualms about suggesting that you visit them

My biggest gripe lately have been same experiences with ski shops--one in Middlebury, VT and S. Burlington and another in Princeton, MA. After you drop in excess of $600 of skis and bindings, they have the ba^%$ to ask you for a BINDING MOUNTING fee. Having a family business that sold farm machinery, we never charged someone to put the tires on their new tractor! I was really steamed the first time the VT shop tried to slip this one, they lost a sure sale. As for the other store, Strand's sold me my boots and mounted my skis for me for Free. NOW THAT'S service!

As for tuning....the Burke Mtn Ski Shop does a nice job.

That's standard to charge for mounting. With a large shop that often would be a book-keeping reason. The gear would be accounted in the hard goods while the mounting would be a repair shop charge. Believe me, if someone cuts you the slack on a mounting, they are getting their fee in the mark-up on the equipment. Either way you pay for the mounting. Don't be so naive. A lot of equipment sells with a mounting so a large shop has to stay competitive in their shelf pricing. The small guy usually marks the goods up higher and then plays the good buddy deception by throwing the mount in for free.

[thetrailboss]

Originally Posted by beswift

That's standard to charge for mounting. Don't be so naive. A lot of equipment sells with a mounting so a large shop has to stay competitive in their shelf pricing. The small guy usually marks the goods up higher and then plays the good buddy deception by throwing the mount in for free.

I have no problem having them cover the expenses in a higher retail price.

Again, if you read the rest of my posts, you will see that I'm not a "naive" person and I take offense to this comment .

When it comes to customer service, I appreciate it when somebody helps me out as opposed to trying to play "bait and switch" or the "hidden cost" games. I don't call building a relationship with a ski shop a bad thing, in fact, they should return to the "keep the customer satisfied" routine.

[Bob R]

I buy everything I own and family uses at Ski fanatics in Campton, Very highly rated. Good people. I agree that this is like every other business if a relationship is built everyone is happier in the end.( Kind of like finding a car mechanic you trust .)