Re: [Cal_Boats] West Marine (was too many topics to list)
I guess people are moree savvy than they used to be and expect a minimum aoumt of customer service. I live in Miami and have shop on the two remaining WM stores and the big Ft Lauderdale store close to Sailorman.
I stop going there favoring local stores such a Shell Lumber, Sailorman, and even Crook & Crook (they don't live up to their name - they are good) - for DIY people those stores have knowleadgeble salty people and well stocked ailes. After requesting 3 times on 3 different visits to the WM store manager to stock enough bolts, nuts, and washers of a certain lenght and being promissed that it would be there in 5 days......nothing happened. I did get a customer satisfaction representative asking me to rate the store. The bottom line is that most of the old knowledgeable people are gone from my local stores - we have now yong people that are not doing their homework on the pros and cons of the various electronic and gears - a shame - so I chose not doing business there unless they are the cheapest and I know exactly what I want
Reporting from Miami (the latest third world country)
Carlos
From: Scott Sauvageot <rx… [at] hotmail.com>
To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 12:31:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] West Marine (was too many topics to list)
Ok, I understand that it's frustrating to go to the store and not find what
you want or need. I experience the same thing here in Annapolis. The
bottom line, however is that there are always other options for getting what
you want. if WM is plainly unreliable, then research the other options and
stop shopping there. I find them great for all sorts of odds & ends, but
don't shop for fasteners there any longer.
I also don't think it's fair to pick on the bean counters or Wall Street for
the problems of the selection at West Marine. I'm an accountant and an avid
sailor. You can blame the boating public for settling for their second
choice instead of going out and finding what they want. If people stopped
shopping at West, then the shareholders would take notice. I am an
accountant, so I resent the notion that it's my peers fault that WM has
changed it's focus from sailors to powerboaters. Most powerboaters don't do
their own work on their boat, except to add cutsie cushions or drink
holders. They enjoy the "smack the throttle and go" mentality as if they
were driving a car. As the power gemagraphic is increasing at a faster rate
than sailing, WM is simply going with where the $$$$ are. It's the sailing
communities fault for not promoting ourselves and winning people over to
sailing instead of powerboating.
Just my $.02.
Scott S.
Accountant/Sailor
Cal 25 #1651 Indefatigable
Annapolis, MD
>From: Chris Campbell <clcampbell@charteri nternet.com>
>Reply-To: Cal_Boats@yahoogrou ps.com
>To: Cal_Boats@yahoogrou ps.com
>Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Internet matching (was MOB discussion )
>Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2006 15:48:22 -0500
>
>John Dawson wrote:
>>Unfortunately I have to report that WM (or the retailers in charge of it
>>now) is absolutely putting the screws to EVERYTHING they can find in order
>>to make Wall Street happy. The return policy is changing, the associate
>>discounts have been reduced, time off will be altered, Internet matching
>>(even for their own site) will soon be a thing of the past, inventory is
>>being 'simplified' to make your shopping choices easier, and the
>>experiment with lower prices is over. Sorry.
>>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Old-time listoids will be rolling their eyes when Chris begins his biennial
>West Marine rant but here goes. This is the difference between your old
>local chandlery and West Marine. WM must answer to Wall Street, which
>means attaining what the bean-counters regard as a proper return on
>investment and all that. Your local boat-stuff peddler only has to answer
>to his own need for income, his creditors, and maybe some partners. If
>he's making a comfortable living, he's happy. He can afford to do things
>that make his local customers happy and that bring them back to the store.
>
>He can even decide who his customers are! He can target people who own
>boats and make a business of meeting their needs--a local niche. Wall
>Street doesn't ask if WM is making the boat folks happy. If they can make
>gobs of money selling boat-themed casual clothing to people who hang out on
>the docks or on the beach, that's good enough for Wall Street. Wall Street
>doesn't care if you find your favorite varnish, or that cool Harken block,
>or the bottom paint you need on the shelves or in the catalog.
>
>The free-market theory is that you can choose to go to the local guy if WM
>doesn't meet your needs. Problem is, WM is like that other big player with
>the same initials, Wal-Mart. Once they've run all the local competitors
>out of business, you're stuck with what they choose to offer. Your choices
>have gone out of business. West Marine has done that in the communities
>where I live and sail.
>
>I still maintain that organizations like West Marine owe something to
>their customers. One thing they owe is certain levels of service, and one
>component of service is offering stuff that the customers need, even if
>it's not a high-volume item. Efficiency is not the only criterion for
>performance.
>
>West Marine's inventory has been shrinking for years, offering less and
>less choice, fewer and fewer options. Those cool little doo-dads that we
>sailors need from time to time have disappeared from the shelves. A number
>of years ago in an unguarded moment a clerk ("associate" ) explained that
>most people don't know what they're doing, and all those choices just
>confused them (so West diminished the choices to satisfy the dim-witted).
>Frankly, I like choices when choosing allows me to meet my boat's specific
>needs. And I dislike being taken for dim-witted. Even if I am.
>
>I have been searching West's shelves in two locations for the nice waxed
>whipping twine they used to carry. It was exactly the right form and
>weight for my uses. After multiple trips, and "associate" caught me before
>I trotted out the door in disgust. I explained what they were
>lacking--still- -and he explained that some big corporate reorganization of
>the sailing stock was going on, and they were not refilling inventory until
>that was done. Now I know the whole story.
>
>So West Marine has been Milton-Friedmanized , and we are all the losers for
>it. Makes me grumpy as hell, in case you didn't notice.
>
>Harrumph.
>
>Chris Campbell
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