Another ski shop question of etiquette.

[jaywbigred]

So, I orig. posted this as an addendum to Dr. Jeff's Sunday TR from Mt. Snow. Some of you may recall that, last week, I was asking around for recommendations re: which Mt. Snow ski shop provides the best tune. Here is what happened:

I wound up getting the skis tuned at Sports Odyssey, as the place across from 7-11 (World's Best? or something like that) was closing and couldn't have the skis ready by the morning. Sports Odyssey was open and could have them ready, so I ran to the condo to get the skis and came back. The guys there (Terry and Steve, I believe) were very nice, friendly, and helpful. Before paying for the tune, I perused a little bit, and like a magical ray of light my eyes spied a used pair of 169 cm K2 Public Enemies on sale for $329! I took a good look at the bases and edges, which looked immaculate, and grabbed them. Terry said he put them out "that afternoon." I paid for them, and Terry asked if I had my boots with me so they could quickly adjust the bindings. I said no, so he said something like "no worries, just bring them back in the morning, we'll take care of it real quick for ya." My understanding was that it would be free. I came back in the morning around 9, and Terry told me that they had already had 2 people come in and ask "what happened to the Public Enemies?" I brought the skis downstairs for the binding adjust, where they told me it would take an hour. So I kicked around town for about 40 minutes, came back and perused the clothing section, looking for a midlayer (on direct orders from the gf that the blue EMS fleece half zip I've been wearing since 1999 would no longer be accepted under her regime). Found a nice North Face brown fleece half-zip on sale for $40, and grabbed one of the under-the-helmet beanie things for my buddy ($26), and went to check out. I was a little worried from things the shop guys were saying that Terry had forgotten that my binding adjust was going to be gratis, but I didn't know how to bring it up when he was ringing me up, esp. since he had been so nice the prior night and that morning. Sure enough, when I got in the car and looked at my receipt, he had charged me $25 for the adjustment. I was a little peeved...here I had spent $329 on skis, $80 on tunes, $66 on clothing in his store (not sure if he is the owner or manager), pushing $500 in total merchandise, and he couldn't throw in a $25 binding adjust on the new skis I bought?

He had been so friendly that I didn't want to go back in and complain, but still, it stuck in my craw a little bit. What would you guys do in that situation? Is it customary when you buy used skis to also pay for the ensuing binding adjust?

 

[mondeo]

I think it changes from shop to shop. I wouldn't be surprised if while he was ringing you up, you asked, "I thought the binding adjustment was included?" or something along those lines he just would've gone along with it. Might have just been a slip-up.

Without having asked directly or it being written somewhere, I wouldn't just expect it. Shouldn't be too hard to negotiate in, though.

 

[TheBEast]

I'd agree, a little "I thought the binding adjustment was included" would probably have worked at checkout, but I think on most used stuff like that they probably would charge for the adjustment, but given your situation and everything you bought they probably should have thrown it in. Live and learn I guess. I hate dealing with that kind of stuff, but my wife who is never shy to ask has really pushed me to be a little more aggressive with that kind of stuff and it generally works out. Won't know if you don't ask! Either way a good deal on the skis.

 

[wa-loaf]

Should have spoke up.

 

[Greg]

I would have clarified what the remount would or wouldn't cost before agreeing to buy the skis in the first place. $25 is cheap for a remount anyway so I would let it go.

 

[Dr Skimeister]

Were these demo skis/bindings? If so, the adjustment should have taken moments to do and charging you $25 to do so is excessive.

 

[Greg]

Were these demo skis/bindings? If so, the adjustment should have taken moments to do and charging you $25 to do so is excessive.

True. I was under the assumption it was a remount, and if so, $25 is fair.

 

[SkiDork]

even if they weren't demo bindings, they may have been within the travel of the normal screw adjustment most bindings have built into them these days. If no remount was necessary, $25 is a scam. All they need to do it turn a screwdriver a couple of times.

 

[jaywbigred]

To be clear, they were not demo bindings and there was no remount required. This was just turning the screw a few times, which is why I thought he would throw it in. Normally I'm pretty aggressive with things like this, but they had already done me a couple favors by taking the skis late for the tune the night before and so on, and I didn't want to seem petulant. Didn't want to burn any bridges with helpful shop guys on my first ski weekend at the new condo...there are only so many ski shops in the valley, after all.

 

[skidmarks]

The adjustment charge should have been part of the negotiation, not a don't ask don't tell.
Sometimes it gets thrown in sometimes not. A function test and adjust does take some time and effort on the shops part so if they want to charge for it I'm okay with it as long as that's what they did.

 

[DPhelan]

An adjust/test takes under 2 minutes to perform. Even when the shop i used to work at was slammed, we would always hammer out A/T's extremely quickly, even on the sales floor if there was no room to do it in the back.
That being said, it is the week before Christmas, and therefore, all bets are off.

 

[marcski]

You won't get nothing unless you ask!

 

[Robbski]

Shop should have comped the binder adjustment. It's easy goodwill, that wouldn't have cost them squat and probably would have started you on the path to becoming a "regular". They chose not to so you learned a little something about how they do business.

 

[crank]

Consider this. The skis sold so fast he felt like he should have charged more and thought why not charge a few bucks for the adjustment and see if he says anything. So by keeping your mouth shut you lose. By charging you the extra he made a few bucks but is now feeling guilty and has a hole in his karma into which he will pour a quantity of beer at some local joint using your 25 bucks.

 

[vcunning]

Oddly enough, I stopped in this same shop over the weekend to buy my 3-year old a pair of goggles (to mostly protect from all the wind). I picked out a pair that were $20. When they rang up, the cashier said "hold on, let me give you a discount". It was like 20%. I was surprised and thanked him. It was the first time I ever stopped at Sports Odyssey, but I'm inclined to stop back again.

 

[Lostone]

Were they the shop's skis, or were they selling them on consignment? The only time I've ever been charged for a binding adjustment when I purchased the skis there was when they were selling the skis on consignment. In that case, the shop got (I believe) 10% of the sale price, so you can't argue with them making a little on the binding adjustment. Of course it was also a great price on the skis, due to the consignment deal.

 

[thetrailboss]

I will echo that it varies from shop to shop, but my bottom line is that something like that should be included in the sale. You should politely say, "now that is included, yes?"

The last time I bought skis I had this issue come up. I dropped a serious chunk of change and was insulted when the shop guy stated that they would charge $30 to adjust the DIN on the skis (the bindings were a system and ON the ski). I spoke with the manager, who basically cried about how they make no money, etc. I rolled my eyes, kept on the pressure, and got the guy to cave in.

I left feeling really bad and to be honest odd. I won't ID that shop.

But then I went to a shop that got it right. That was Strand's in Worcester. I tried on some boots and fell in love with them. The guys sold me the boots and then said, "hey do you have your skis?" I did. They offered to adjust them. When they saw the skis, I asked how much it would cost, "free of course. You are a customer of ours." I only bought the boots, but they wanted me to be happy (I did not have to push at all). So end result: go to Strand's. The job probably took them 20 minutes or so, and cost them nothing, but it has led me to refer them to many people.

There is another shop in VT that lost my business because they pulled the same crap...I think that unless you got a real bargain basement deal, the mount/adjustment of equipment bought at that store should be gratis.

You should have said something.

 

[JD]

I doubt these guys are driving porches. You got a great deal on the skiis and fleece it sounds like, even with the extra 25 bucks for a binding adjustment. The nice thing about service charges it they go right in the bank. Who know if they made anything on the fleece and skiis...
My philosophy is look for deals on gear. I realize service charges can be bread and butter for bike and ski shops. The don't really make shit on big items. I know on complete bikes and frames the mark up is less the 20 percent sometimes. I imagine the same is true for skis...feel good about supporting the local economy where you are recreating, it all we got these days...

 

[jaywbigred]

Consider this. The skis sold so fast he felt like he should have charged more and thought why not charge a few bucks for the adjustment and see if he says anything. So by keeping your mouth shut you lose. By charging you the extra he made a few bucks but is now feeling guilty and has a hole in his karma into which he will pour a quantity of beer at some local joint using your 25 bucks.

I think this was def. a big component. The night before, when I bought them, he realized they moved quickly, but still was willing to do the adjust gratis. Then, after a few people came in prior to 9 am to ask about those exact skis, he started to feel like maybe he should have priced them higher...If he used the $25 to buy beer (even if to fill his karma hole), then I feel better about it...I prob would have used that $25 for the same thing...hope he bought something yummy from a smaller brewery, and not Bud or Coors.

Oddly enough, I stopped in this same shop over the weekend to buy my 3-year old a pair of goggles (to mostly protect from all the wind). I picked out a pair that were $20. When they rang up, the cashier said "hold on, let me give you a discount". It was like 20%. I was surprised and thanked him. It was the first time I ever stopped at Sports Odyssey, but I'm inclined to stop back again.

Vince, he did the same thing for me, same exact quote, when I bought the fleece...but it was already on a rack that said 20% off. That made me pause...like he was trying to earn goodwill for doing something extra, whereas the sign should already have accomplished it...trying to double the goodwill from the same 20% off. It felt a little like a salesman's trick to me. I mean, I only bought the thing because it was on the 20% of rack to begin with. Still, he was super nice, so I didn't say anything.

Were they the shop's skis, or were they selling them on consignment? The only time I've ever been charged for a binding adjustment when I purchased the skis there was when they were selling the skis on consignment. In that case, the shop got (I believe) 10% of the sale price, so you can't argue with them making a little on the binding adjustment. Of course it was also a great price on the skis, due to the consignment deal.

I think they were shop skis. He said something about bringing them over from their Okemo store that morning because they had too much inventory over there. But I'm not sure.

I doubt these guys are driving porches. You got a great deal on the skiis and fleece it sounds like, even with the extra 25 bucks for a binding adjustment. The nice thing about service charges it they go right in the bank. Who know if they made anything on the fleece and skiis...
My philosophy is look for deals on gear. I realize service charges can be bread and butter for bike and ski shops. The don't really make shit on big items. I know on complete bikes and frames the mark up is less the 20 percent sometimes. I imagine the same is true for skis...feel good about supporting the local economy where you are recreating, it all we got these days...

I agree, which is why I didn't make a stink. But the flip-side is, it was my first ski weekend at my new home mountain, and up until that point, the shop had done a really good job at making me want to start using them as my home shop...i.e. become a regular. Now, while I still grade the overall experience as a positive, I have to say I am 100% open to other shops earning my business. I'll continue to support the local economy/shops, but not necessarily that one.

 

[deadheadskier]

I'm wondering how many shops just charge because they realize that 90% of the skiing population doesn't know better and just assumes that charging is par for the course.