I tried to support my local tackle store: My Story

[Duyz72]

Here's a story from my glorious childhood . . . . . it shows how bad service can really stick to a stores reputation.

In my teens I had a brand new and, at the time, quite expensive 2 piece rod and reel combo bought for me for Christmas from Mossops (where I bought all my stuff back then) Within a few months I accidentally stepped on the rod just above the reel and broke the rod

So we called up the shop and they said to bring in the whole rod, they would send it away to be repaired [smiley=builder2.gif] [smiley=builder2.gif] and they would call when it comes back in (so far so good)

Time passes and no call. I hassle my Mum to call the shop and they say "sorry their mistake it has yet to be sent away" (OK you can accept that someome stuck it in the wrong spot)

More time passes, we call again, Ahhhh not long now, a few days at the most. And so it goes on and on, always just a few days at the most.
So many calls (at our cost) and quite a lot of time, I wonder if I am ever going to see that rod again
So I keep hassling my Mum to keep calling and finally . . . . . yes, it has been sitting there for ages and the guy says he was wondering if we were ever going to call and pick it up > (you what?)

So my Mum picks it up on her way home from work. She gets home and since I have two hands, and only one is full of rod I ask her where the other half is? She says, that's all they gave her [smiley=bomb.gif]

You can guess the rest, Mossops deny having the other half and since it has already been picked up and paid for they don't want to know or do diddly to help a kid with half a rod.

Well since that was well and truly over 18 years ago. I have NEVER stepped foot inside a Mossops again, plus I also steer everyone I know, meet, talk to away from them. 18 years of lost sales is a long time and a lot of money, plus I can't count the amount of people who would also have been steered away, not only from me direclty but via word of mouth, I would say thousands!

So bad service sure does stick for a long long time. They would have to do some darn good deals for me to step foot inside again and stop bagging them out to others, like an insanely good deal!

[Needmorerum]

I rocked down to one of our tackle stores this morning, they were having a 20% off everything in the shop sale. Here I am figuring that a TLD 20 would be about $200, as they were only $175 in the mart store the other day, and with the 20% off I would be looking at about $160. Well, got in there and they were $230.
Through shear principal, I wasn't going to buy one from them.

Will be looking at the price of them in a few weeks to see what they are then. I'm sure they were cheaper than this when I looked at them a few weeks back. Probably raised the price up, so on sale day, they were back to normal sale cost for the store.

Corry

[ba229]

yeh my local does that too.

10% off everything and it is generally up by 10% due to the sale.

My brand spanking new Stradic 2500 was delivered the next working day to my door for $195. Campbells all the way for reels from now on.

[wiseguy67]

I just purchased over the phone delivery included spooled with 10kg triline a TLD25 with backbone combo from a certain huge coffs harbour store; well stocked and helpful staff. Now i agree that one needs to support the local shop but sometimes the price is just too good. $249.00 and $20 for the line. That price applies to the tld20 as well corry

Service goes a long way, the customers that go away happy send other buyers in droves. The shop owner that has the extra little bit of customer relations worked into the operations aways wins in the end.

But its the big stores that don't always have the time for chitchat and thats what you get from the local owned and operated store, their knowleged is accurate when willing to share which most often they are if you take your wallet out befor asking questions and once your known as a regular with a few tales to tell and listen to you get better service and walk away knowing that your helping someone run a small shop rather than line the pockets of a few corparate suits that only care that fishing has got a spot in the ladder to the fortune 500 club...

still i look forward to my new TLD25 set up, I just got a bag of ready mix and a couple 60mm bits of pipe to set into my favorite spot out on the wall

[theoldlegend]

Interesting to read Wiseguy's comments about the shopowner who has the customer relations bit always wins in the end.

The previous shopowner in Wiseguy's patch had it all to himself, but in our opinion didn't have much going for him in the PR department, which was a shame. Haven't been down there since the new owners took over.

Now all I've got to do is look out for a couple of bits of gal pipe cemented into the wall the next time we're there. Spot X?

TOL

[grumpyoldman]

I think it's up to us to point out any gripes to our local store. There's a great motto they should follow "If you're happy with us, tell your friends - if you're not happy, tell us!!" Not may small tackle shops can compete with the "Big Boys" but when was the last time you got any useful advise from a "counter-jumper" in a chain-store"? Price is not everything - I get a buzz out of buying from guys who are on our side, even if it's a bit dearer. My shopping experience is usually an enjoyable exercise and I go away happy that I may just have helped a bit by supporting a good bloke. One thing I HAVE noticed in my area (Gold Coast) is that most smaller shops have the best frozen bait by a country mile. Some of the crap that is coming in from overseas, I wouldn't feed to my cat (if I had one, which I don't 'cos I HATE cats). I had my own bait business in Melbourne years ago and used to produce my own IQF pilchards, so I know the difference between good and bad - mine would leave WA pillies for dead but I could never get reliable supply so I had to fold up. Support your local guy whenever you can - you'll win in the long run.

[gcourt]

G'day All
I'll state upfront that I work for a Brissie tackle shop,no names,no pack drill as this is a public forum,not an advertising medium for all and sundry.I read with interest every time one of the local shops advertise's TLD's,TSS4's or Baitrunners at a price equal too or better than that certain mart we can't mention,most take the good price that the local shop is offering to the big chain for another 10% off.Now I know money is tight but if your local is willing to go into battle against the chain stores please try and support them.
As grumpyoldman said "If your happy tell your freinds,if your not tell us".
cheers
Glenn

[land-lubber]

iwent into one of my locals the other day, and was discussing certain topics with him. i was asing about how best to fish livies off of pt cartwright rock wall. well he proceeds to tell me that the float is the only way to go here due to the snaggy bottom. i said are u sure, he said yes, too snaggy to fish livies on the bottom. i promply told him that the bottom was at least 70% sand and only the shallower, less desirable fishing areas had rocks, (in direct line from tip of wall to tip of headland). to this he had no answer, and proceeded to treat me like an idiot (i may look younger, but im by no means ignorant about my home of 18 yrs!! > ) so i promply say thank u very much and walk out the door. talking to my fisho uncle later that day, he says yes the blokes a *&^%head if he hasnt sold much in the week, and will feed u anything to sell the most expencive item in the shop. he told me (the shop owner) that the shimano backbone?? offshore rods were crap (but he stocks them??)and proceeds to try and sell me the most expencive rod he has, even though it is not what i am after.

for the record, my local mart that shall not be named is very helpfull, and the bloke in the fishing section is really interested in what i hve to say and we have some great disscussions and swap stories and info regularly. he also told me, when i was looking for a more upmarket spinning reel for my sp gaer to go elswhere, as they had no way off getting this particular product or anything to compare and that he was very sorry.
being a uni student, i need to get the cheapest price possiable, but occatonally ill pay a bit more to get it from a good store.

[Somethn_Fishy]

hi everyone,

my 2 cents.

Buying fishing gear is all about money.. service is great but money wins in the end.. people will go on about how they want to support their local but i bet everyone has a price where they say .. stuff it...

I reached a point where i can to the conclusion that if the local tackle shop is selling stuff that is more expensive than the big shops then they should expect to lose some business.. its all about margins and there are 2 ways to go about doing that..1 is that you sell less for more and make a larger profit on small amounts or 2. you sell more for less and make the same but htrough more sales..

I don't think that even the big chains sell for less than they buy and that their mark-ups are very likely still under the cost price that the local shops are paying.. so.. if the locals want to mark up the cost then they should expect less sales... etc.

In addition to this i find that most ( i do not want to say all) the information i get from the local shops don't really pan out, this is because i rarely get bad fishing reports from them.. i also think they are sharing shared knowledge.. .Chinese whispers.. things get confused at times..

Anyhow i buy my gear at much cheaper prices off the net nowadays and save about 30% off!!!

Rick

[Kiktz]

Rick by the sounds of It I would be finding my self another Local to go to

[mattooty]

Rick, not having a go at u or anything, but its that attitude that will ultimately be the end of small shop owners. As much as we all like to think that our local store will be there forever, it wont if we never buy gear from them. They cant buy the products from the manufacturer for the same price as the larger chain stores as they cant buy in bulk.
And sure, we could all adopt that attitude of saving money but in time it will only affect us. When the time comes to buying good gear and asking around, sure, ausfish will help but we cant provide all the answers, a tackle store also has the gear to show you on site to compare and tell of other fishers experiences with product X.
When the time comes to buy gear and your standing there, frustrated because the little acne covered stereotypical teen is looking up at you with a blank expression as they dont know what a bail arm, drag, bearings or lever drag are, you will ony have yourself to blame.
Think about it. Is it worth paying the small bit extra and ensuring our local store stays open to get that more relaxed, friendly, environment?
Matt