Loyalty Conflict

[MadMadWorld]

If everyone does that, pretty soon there will be nowhere to try boots anyway.

I always will give the shop the benefit of the doubt if I'm trying a boot on and taking up their time. But retail is a give and take especially with ski shops. I know these folks need to make a profit and cant compete with online pricing but they have to be willing to work with me. Give me something online doesn't. Blow me away with knowledge, recommend a different boot....anything. More often than not though it's a college kid making minimum wage and could care less. I overpaid for my wife's skis at a Killington shop because the guy found out we were skiing Pico the next day and drew a happy of all the off map stuff to hit up.

 

[Cornhead]

I'm all for supporting my local shop, but I don't know if I'm loyal to the tune of an additional $250 for a pair of boots. I'm hoping the owner is reasonable. Retail is usually marked up 100%, if he paid $200 for the boots, he'll charge $400. I know it is impossible for him to compete with the mass purchasing power of online, and/or large retail outlets. If he's willing to split the difference between the online price, and his asking price, I'll be happy. A tune thrown in would be icing on the cake. The shop has been good to me, and I to them, I have every intention of purchasing my boots from them, but what would you do? I don't think it's right for people to use local shops as their fitting room for boots when they have no intention of purchasing there, I don't want to be that guy. I hope the owner of the shop values my worth as a loyal customer as much as I value him as a source of service and expertise. It is a two way street.

 

[MadMadWorld]

I'm all for supporting my local shop, but I don't know if I'm loyal to the tune of an additional $250 for a pair of boots. I'm hoping the owner is reasonable. Retail is usually marked up 100%, if he paid $200 for the boots, he'll charge $400. I know it is impossible for him to compete with the mass purchasing power of online, and/or large retail outlets. If he's willing to split the difference between the online price, and his asking price, I'll be happy. A tune thrown in would be icing on the cake. The shop has been good to me, and I to them, I have every intention of purchasing my boots from them, but what would you do? I don't think it's right for people to use local shops as their fitting room for boots when they have no intention of purchasing there, I don't want to be that guy. I hope the owner of the shop values my worth as a loyal customer as much as I value him as a source of service and expertise. It is a two way street.

Here here

 

[steamboat1]

I don't doubt the difference in price you found in this instance but on a whole I've found that the shop I use has prices that not only meets the price I can find on line but often beats it. I bought new ski's two years ago & the price I paid in the shop was $100 less than any price I could find on line for the same ski's. Not only that but they mounted & adjusted the bindings free of charge.

 

[WWF-VT]

Double check that the price you see on the web is for this year's boot and your size. I have seen a lot of lowball pricing and when you look deeper the price was for last year's products and it's no longer in stock.

Check out this come on at Level Nine http://www.levelninesports.com/Head-Vector-110-Hf-Ski-Boots

Hell I could offer a 63% discount on a product and then say "Sorry this item is no longer available for purchase"

Ask the local guy to sharpen his pencil on the price. I always buy local and have a great relationship with my shop in VT. They are always there if you have any fit issues. I have had three buckles replaced on my now several year old Salomon Falcon CS Pro boots at no charge - try to get that done online for free.

 

[Cornhead]

Good news, bought the boots from my local shop, $100 off their original asking price, 50% off the base repair/tune I had done on my Mantras. Win, win. I can't wait to start wearing these boots out, bring it Ullr. Only thing I regret is giving NYS $38 in tax.

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[Cornhead]

Here's a link to the store selling the boots online http://www.sunandski.com/2013_Head_...56742300.htm?gclid=CJ6w1v_n_LsCFa9cMgodNWwAXw I called customer service they couldn't confirm that the boots weren't a warranty return, I'm glad my shop was willing to deal, much rather give the business to them.

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[fbrissette]

I always will give the shop the benefit of the doubt if I'm trying a boot on and taking up their time. But retail is a give and take especially with ski shops. I know these folks need to make a profit and cant compete with online pricing but they have to be willing to work with me. Give me something online doesn't. Blow me away with knowledge, recommend a different boot....anything. More often than not though it's a college kid making minimum wage and could care less. I overpaid for my wife's skis at a Killington shop because the guy found out we were skiing Pico the next day and drew a happy of all the off map stuff to hit up.

Fair enough. When I buy boots, I go to a knowledgeable shop, excellent boot fitter, and good prices. When I go buy boots, I fully expect to spend a few hours trying boots, walking in them for while and then go through the whole fitting process. I obviously expect to pay a bit more than the best online price for the services rendered.

Obviously if you go to a chain store with high prices and 17 year old salesperson knowing little, it is a whole different story. You got to support the former and not the latter.

 

[WWF-VT]

Here's a link to the store selling the boots online http://www.sunandski.com/2013_Head_...56742300.htm?gclid=CJ6w1v_n_LsCFa9cMgodNWwAXw I called customer service they couldn't confirm that the boots weren't a warranty return, I'm glad my shop was willing to deal, much rather give the business to them.

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The only size in stock is 28.5....probably blowing out the last of their inventory

 

[WWF-VT]

Good news, bought the boots from my local shop, $100 off their original asking price, 50% off the base repair/tune I had done on my Mantras. Win, win. I can't wait to start wearing these boots out, bring it Ullr. Only thing I regret is giving NYS $38 in tax.

Sun and Ski has a physical location in NY and is supposed to charge you the tax anyway

 

[Cornhead]

The only size in stock is 28.5....probably blowing out the last of their inventory

That's my size, happy things worked out the way they did, hey $100 is six lift tickets to Snow Ridge, and three casadias!

 

[fbrissette]

That's my size, happy things worked out the way they did, hey $100 is six lift tickets to Snow Ridge, and three casadias!

Never been to SnowRidge but that's 16$ a ticket ???? Are you under 5 ?

 

[Cornhead]

Never been to SnowRidge but that's 16$ a ticket ???? Are you under 5 ?

Mentally, yes, physically far from it. My home hill has a reciprocal deal with Snow Ridge, weekdays are $15 for me, casadias are $3.50. Whoops, guess I only get two.

 

[abc]

Glad it worked out for both the customer and the shop! Definitely a win-win situation, and definitely worth supporting such a shop.

 

[jimmywilson69]

+100

If you don't support the shop they may some day go away, then you'll really miss them!

 

[Cornhead]

I would've been surprised if the owner didn't budge on his price. I'm kind of a fixture in his shop, I even buy something every once in a while. When I do, I say, "Hey look, I'm spending money in your shop, mark it down on your calendar!" I'm off Friday, can't wait to hit the slopes, brand new boots and freshly tuned skis, it'll be great, even if I'm skiing on crap.

 

[drjeff]

Kind of floored me a bit when last Sunday me and the family stopped by my favorite local shop at Mount Snow about 5:30 on our way to dinner. The shop is always VERY well stocked. The owners, who I know very well both as customers (of each of our businesses) and socially were getting ready to go to Providence this week to check out some new clothing lines at a trade show, we're asking me + my wife for restaurant recommendations, joking said to me as he was holding a big stack of envelopes, "don't make it too expensive as there's almost $250,000 in bill payments going out in this stack!

Support your local businesses of all varieties!!

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[Smellytele]

Kind of floored me a bit when last Sunday me and the family stopped by my favorite local shop at Mount Snow about 5:30 on our way to dinner. The shop is always VERY well stocked. The owners, who I know very well both as customers (of each of our businesses) and socially were getting ready to go to Providence this week to check out some new clothing lines at a trade show, we're asking me + my wife for restaurant recommendations, joking said to me as he was holding a big stack of envelopes, "don't make it too expensive as there's almost $250,000 in bill payments going out in this stack!

Support your local businesses of all varieties!!

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They must be doing okay if they had 250k to pay bills

 

[drjeff]

They must be doing okay if they had 250k to pay bills

They have a great niche carved out with both the Mount Snow, and now also Hermitage Club, regulars as well as the day trip market.

VERY good customer service, VERY good kids season lease packages and pricing (even for racers) - this helps get many customers through the door for sure, and a large selection of excellent quality soft + hard goods along with great fitting and tuning.

If one is used to big box style stores for their ski wear (and let me 110% state that there's nothing wrong with that at all and its a HUGE part of this sport that I've loved so dearly for 35yrs now!!), you won't recognize too many brands in the store and especially with softgoods will likely have some sticker shock, but then if you take a look at what many regulars are wearing on the "challenging" weather days (real cold + windy, rain/sleet, etc) you see that they are the ones out on the hill for longer periods of time and are generally warmer and/or dryer!

There's some incredible soft goods out there, and a decent chunk of them come from companies that most folks have never heard of!

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