West Marine Quality/Service??
exWestMarineCustomer
unanswered. Maybe there is no answer.
Dear West Marin:
When West marine first started out I thought it was absolutely
fantastic.
I have been so disillusioned over the years that I now feel mostly
resentment when I find myself in the position of having to purchase
anything from you.
A couple of reasons why:
You really do not care about the quality of the products you sell.
For example: For years you have been selling the Seaward hot water
heater. In my opinion this product is useless. It is impossible to
ever rid your water of the fowl odor that comes from the aluminum
tank Seaward uses. These heaters look great because of the stainless
steel on the outside but inside they use an alum. tank and this
technology is well known to produce foul taste and odor. One would
have expected that once you realized this through customer feedback
you would have, at the very least, stopped selling this item or forced
the manufacturer to discontinue the alum. tank for hot water.
Recently I bought a new Avon (not from West Marine) because the Zodiac
I purchased from you in 1990 was no longer in first class condition.
Since a mouse had chewed a hole in the Zodiac I decided to repair it
before offering it for sale on the used market. Well, West Marine,
despite the countless Zodiacs you have sold and continue to sell you
do not offer a single repair kit which contains fabric (PVC) for the
Zodiac. You do sell a kit containing fabric for the Avon but only
because that's the way Avon packages it. You do not offer it either
in your stores or in your catalog. The point is you simply do nothing
at all to meet the parts and service needs of your customers. Your
philosophy is to stock your shelves with the highest mark-up products
you can place there and to hell with the customer who might need
something to repair a product he/she bought from you. Because of your
indifference to your customer satisfaction I now go to great extremes
to avoid buying from you.
Incidentally, i found my Zodiac fabric--at an old fashioned marine
store that still cares about its customers. It's really sad what you
have become. Your business will eventually fail unless you change
your ways.
Sincerely,
Trent D. Sanders
give a damn about customers or quality. Just about their "bottom line".
What really "frosts" me is to be standing in line behind some guy who buys his
stuff with a "Port Supply" card [40% discount] while I'm paying full price!
T. Sanders
"Cimba"
Marina Del Rey
Southern California
q
"Trent D. Sanders" <gonzo...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20020815111951...@mb-cp.aol.com...
Den73740
>From: gonzo...@aol.com (Trent
>What really "frosts" me is to be standing in line behind some guy who buys
>his
>stuff with a "Port Supply" card [40% discount] while I'm paying full price!
>
The only thing worse than that is paying with the govt credit card, tax exempt,
40% discount for the ship and then paying retail for your purchase with tax. No
they wouldn't let me use the discount for cash or my credit card.
Dennis
Keith
good for two weeks from the first date you use it.
--
__________________
Keith
Grabel's Law: 2 is not equal to 3 -- not even for large values of 2.
Rafael Block
>
> Following is a recent letter I sent to West Marine. It remains
> unanswered. Maybe there is no answer.
>
> Dear West Marin:
>
> When West marine first started out I thought it was absolutely
> fantastic.
>
> I have been so disillusioned over the years that I now feel mostly
> resentment when I find myself in the position of having to purchase
> anything from you.
%< snip! angry letter deleted
> Sincerely,
You seem to be confusing 'corporate' with 'caring.' Admit it: the only
reason anybody goes to WM is for the low low price. You don't hear
anyone complaining about the [lack of] customer service at COSTCO or
Wallmart.
It's like my local Eagle Store [R.I.P.] where they sold the handle for
the tape gun, the knife for the plastic mask, but only the paper mask. I
STILL had to go to my local paint dealer to get the proper parts to do
the job. Did I save any $$$? Not after factoring in the time, gas, etc.
to go to two stores. To this day, if I want customer abuse and cheap
2x4s I go to SLOWES, if I want anything more complex I hit the lumber
yard [an ACE outlet] up the street. They have everything I need for 3%
more, but boy is it worth it.
My advice? Stick to your local chandlery before it gets swallowed up by
WM, and when you do shop WM, ask yourself what you are in there for and
remember, its all about price, so don't complain when they are fresh out
of compassion.
Keith
Lake.
--
__________________
Keith
"A government that is big enough to give you all you want is big enough
to take it all away."
--Barry Goldwater
captk...@webtv.net
>so how do you get one of those "port
>supply" cards?
http://www.portsupply.com/webapp/commerce/command/ExecMacro/req_acct.d2w/report
I have had a port supply account since 1994, discounts are NOT a flat
40% (wishfull thinking) but VARY from product line to product line.
Boaters World offers a similar commercail account, to open the Boaters
world account I think I just showed them my USCG license & Business
flyers etc
Rafael Block
Well, there you go...I guess now all they have is their good looks...
Den73740
>> remember, its all about price, so don't complain when they are fresh out
>> > of compassion.
Do they wear those radios around you? I hate that, cellular rudeness is nothing
compared to a salesman that is talking to you and then switches topics and you
realize he's talking into his headset and ignoring you. It gives the place a
cheap sci fi movie feel.
Dennis
Steve
staff that they give it to.
Steve
Steve
paint. ( I think I loaned it to a friend).
Anyway, here I am in the woods of western Washington with the Hood Canal and
Puget Sound seperating me from most all of the West Marine stores. Every
store I called said they didn't have it in stock but one of the other stores
had it according to the central computer system.
Wrong!.. Before I started driving from store to store, I called store after
store and each showed they had it in stock, but when I ask the to verify it,
they would report they couldn't find it on the shelf. It turns out that of
the dozen or so WM stores in the western Washington area, the nearest store
that actually had this tranducer paint was in Bellvue WA. which would have
been 160 mile drive, round trip.
If I wanted to drive that far, I would got to the best chandlery on the west
coast. Fisheries Supply. Great customer service from a knowledgable staff,
easy to get a commercial account and good looking cashiers.
$crew them, I will use a little bit of my PETTIT "A to Z" inflatable paint.
(The only requirement for this tranducer, is that it be solvent free
anti-foul paint. A to Z is water base.)
Ok, another rant out of the way.
Steve
s/v Good Intentions
Den73740
>I call those "Nerd Phone" because it is usually the Nerdiest guy on the
>staff that they give it to.
No this is a whole shop full of headset folks babbling to each other
Dennis
James Johnson
If you just took possession of a 'new' boat (doesn't matter if new or used) you
can get most every item carried in their catalog at wholesale for 30 days. You
do have to show them the bill of sale, and the date of the purchase I believe
has to have been within the past 60? days. There were a few exceptions like
sails and inboard short blocks and special order items. When I bought an old
1961 Seafarer to restore I when out and purchased things that I knew needed
replacing or were going to upgrade anyway. Electronics had the smallest markup
at less than 10% while some plumbing and paint items went as high as 35%. The
markup over wholesale varied from item to item even within the same product
line. Just something to keep in mind if you acquire another boat.
James Johnson
1961 Seafarer Polaris (26' sloop)
1977 Newport-Lockley Albacore (15' racing dinghy)
1986 Avon Redcrest (inflatable dinghy)
1997 Chesapeake Light Craft Pokomoke (double kayak)
My wife thinks owning 4 boats is excessive. She isn't right is she?
Jim
If anyone from West Marine's management is reading these, the staff and
management of your San Pedro store has a problem, and it's causing your
customers to go elsewhere.
I'm sure you've recieved complaints, and they are 100% right, that store
is poorly run.
I've spent a lot of money there, but no more. I'll go elsewhere.
Jim
Terry K
Please tell us where to find such an old fashioned marine store,
where they provide this old fashioned service. I for one whould
love to make them rich.
Most retailers these days seem to be the same way. The small
essential repair parts are often impossible to find. What really
boils my juice is that it always seems to be a 3 cent part that
cripples the 100 dollar dingus.
I think it's called engineered obsolescence, a trick that nearly
killed some companies in a scandal 40 years ago. If I recall
correctly, it was some vacuum company who first designed their
machines to fail in 10 years.
It seems that some mfgrs of durable goods thought they found a
way to boost sales and profits.
Now, the stock market seems to bear like company, and some seem
to practice engineered deniability.
Who would buy anything from such a scurrilous operator? Do we
forgive and forget too easily? Or is such a company healed by the
dismissal of a single individual? Perhaps the malady is more
generally based, or has some life of it's own, derived from some
capitalistic, shareholder based meme? Has AI invented itself and
escaped our control long ago? Is AI the same as Artificial
sentience, or is A. Sentience simply lurking, waiting for
suitable opportunity before it declares itself superior and takes
control? How to fight such a plague?
Terry K
PS. I checked, 'meme' does not appear in my "Pocket Oxford"
dictionaty, usually used to govern my utterrances, and I have
lost the url for the online service.
If I recall correctly, "meme" is an abstract noun, meaning a
persistant, transmissable idea governing systems of thought,
something like an urban legend undeniably affecting subsequent
thought processes of those made aware of it.
The concept of religion in general may be considered a meme. Even
opposition to the existance of religion constitutes the meme,
since it incorperates the concept itself, which demonstrates the
nature of it's persistance. How can there be opposition to a
concept unstated? That is part of the persistant nature of the
meme. It shares some of the sense included in the concept of
memory.
I'm sorry I can't remember the classic statement of it's
definition, my memory may be too clutterd. I can not afford a
better dictionary, in more senses than the obvious one. I can
easily get lost in a dictionary.
--
Terry K - My email address is MY PROPERTY, and is protected by
copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce it is
specifically denied for mass mailing and unrequested
solicitations. Reproduction or conveyance for any unauthorised
purpose is THEFT and PLAGIARISM. Abuse is Invasion of privacy
and harassment. Abusers will be prosecuted.
Rafael Block
>
> Wrong!.. Before I started driving from store to store, I called store after
> store and each showed they had it in stock, but when I ask the to verify it,
> they would report they couldn't find it on the shelf. It turns out that of
> the dozen or so WM stores in the western Washington area, the nearest store
> that actually had this tranducer paint was in Bellvue WA. which would have
> been 160 mile drive, round trip.
>
> If I wanted to drive that far, I would got to the best chandlery on the west
> coast. Fisheries Supply. Great customer service from a knowledgable staff,
> easy to get a commercial account and good looking cashiers.
>
> s/v Good Intentions
I _love_ those guys, and I still call them The Crows Nest even though
it's been years since they went by that name....
Jere Lull
>Bravo, for doing what more should do.
>
>Please tell us where to find such an old fashioned marine store,
>where they provide this old fashioned service. I for one whould
>love to make them rich.
>
In Annapolis, Fawcetts (sp?).
I also have to add the Delaware BOAT/U.S. store, since it seems most of
the personnel have their own boats. A couple current employees have been
our dockmates; a couple of our past favorites are now "out there". Come
to think of it, the few times I've had to use their special orders line,
they've not let me down....
Used to be a couple of old fashioned marine stores in the Philly area
(Barnes-Wright and SailGear), but they've closed up. E&B in NJ and DE,
same. They had such wonderful junk drawers where you could find the most
amazing things. The first two were lunchtime haunts when I worked
nearby, and both eventually started giving me "business" discounts as
good or better than the discount chains because while *I* didn't think I
was buying much for the amount of brain-picking I was doing (trying to
figure out how to do it properly for cheaper, most times), I was told I
actually was one of their best customers.
BTW, the original post mentioned West selling inferior water heaters. If
they are the only versions West has, I say "have at 'em", but I suspect
you can also get the better ones. If you have to order them, that only
takes a day or two most times. No store will have everything in stock;
only the rapid movers, or they'll go out of business sooner or later
(see the above list). That they didn't have a proper repair kit in the
store OR catalog for the Zodiac dinks they're selling is a different story.
--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 sailing from Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ annotated pics) http://members.dca.net/jerelull/BVI.html
EJBleendreeble
> West Marine is probably the highest priced place around here in Clear
> Lake.
Amen to that. See our comparison of Clear Lake, Texas, chandleries
at:
http://www.casualsailor.com/BoatingSupplyStores.shtml
Our experience has been that the big chain stores serve a single
purpose: to keep downward price pressure on local chandleries. Our
practice is to start at the local chandlery. We visit West Marine
only if all else fails.
EJ Bleendreeble
http://www.casualsailor.com
Keith
--
__________________
Keith
If at first you don't succeed, try management.
Lfreefall
inventory and service level is soooooo varied from store to store that some
times it drives you crazy. We are, however, very pleased with WM. Of course
like every thing else, you have to shop for price and make your best deal. If
you have a "local" store near your home port where you have a relationship with
the store manager, call them & they will bend over backwards for you.
L.P.