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Stuff heard at a ski shop's service desk....

Tricia

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In 2019, when NASTAR was having their Nationals at Squaw, we had a woman come into the shop to get a race tune on her skis because, "I'm pretty high in the rankings but my skis skidded out on the course today so I need a complete race tune. Can I get them back first thing in the morning?"

She brings her skis in and :geek:
Nastar XScream.jpeg

Conversation:
Me: We can't get them tuned for you by morning because we're backed up in the shop, but I'd suggest you take one of our demos out insetad. I can put you on a Head Supershape which will be better than these XScreams.
Her: But I love these skis so much. They are my favorite race skis.
Me: Let me get my boss and see what he can do.

Boss comes down and explains the same things I did. No edges left to tune, dated equipment and bindings, better off with a demo...
He gave her a discount on a demo to help her out and though I never heard a follow up, I'mm guessing she did a lot better on the demo ski than those.

Reference NASTAR thread.
2019 NASTAR Nationals Returns to Squaw Valley|Alpine Meadows
 

Wendy

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In 2019, when NASTAR was having their Nationals at Squaw, we had a woman come into the shop to get a race tune on her skis because, "I'm pretty high in the rankings but my skis skidded out on the course today so I need a complete race tune. Can I get them back first thing in the morning?"

She brings her skis in and :geek:
View attachment 153300
Conversation:
Me: We can't get them tuned for you by morning because we're backed up in the shop, but I'd suggest you take one of our demos out insetad. I can put you on a Head Supershape which will be better than these XScreams.
Her: But I love these skis so much. They are my favorite race skis.
Me: Let me get my boss and see what he can do.

Boss comes down and explains the same things I did. No edges left to tune, dated equipment and bindings, better off with a demo...
He gave her a discount on a demo to help her out and though I never heard a follow up, I'mm guessing she did a lot better on the demo ski than those.

Reference NASTAR thread.
2019 NASTAR Nationals Returns to Squaw Valley|Alpine Meadows
Are those like 20 years old??
 

crgildart

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NO, not at all. The fitter needs to communicate how the new boots should feel. “Firm handshake” or something like that. And discuss that they will pack out and that there may be hot spots at first.
See below.. and after they try to communicate this the customer still believes they know better..

crgildart said:
So the boot fitter should sell her boots that are too big if the ones they recommended really do fit like brand new boots should.. a little tight at first..?? And tried to communicate that to them... but they still want to talk to the manager? I bet that happens a lot..

And if they just give them a bigger boot they're back in 3 weeks after it packs out saying it's too big
 

Mel

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The line that was most interesting was: “This year, we will fly home with MOST of this, as we have a newer, bigger, plane. Last year we left it here to be donated to those who need it…”
We’ve seen a version of this camping - years ago we were camping in Banff, and there was a family visiting from Korea on the site next to ours. We were chatting with them and they mentioned they were having trouble with the firewood available since it was huge pieces and they didn’t have an axe. So my husband lent them ours and told them to use it anytime they needed it.

when they were packing up a few days later, they came over and gave us a whole lot of their camping gear! High end stuff too - not Canadian Tire! They were heading back to Seoul the next day, and they had worked out that it was cheaper to fly out to Calgary, buy everything they needed for 4 weeks, then give most of it away before they went home than it was to ship it home and store it! They worked their way around the campground offering gear to any staff or campers who could use it. Much better than it never getting used, I guess
 

tch

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^^^^ THIS. When I checked out at the shop where the woman bought the "matching" skis, I remarked on that purchase.
The salesman laughed and said that was nothing. He had worked for a condo company doing change-over clean-up. Found a huge stack of high-end skis in a condo with a brief note attached -- essentially the same story. Rich South American group found it easier to just buy new every year rather than schlep the stuff home to wherever they lived.
 

crgildart

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We’ve seen a version of this camping - years ago we were camping in Banff, and there was a family visiting from Korea on the site next to ours. We were chatting with them and they mentioned they were having trouble with the firewood available since it was huge pieces and they didn’t have an axe. So my husband lent them ours and told them to use it anytime they needed it.

when they were packing up a few days later, they came over and gave us a whole lot of their camping gear! High end stuff too - not Canadian Tire! They were heading back to Seoul the next day, and they had worked out that it was cheaper to fly out to Calgary, buy everything they needed for 4 weeks, then give most of it away before they went home than it was to ship it home and store it! They worked their way around the campground offering gear to any staff or campers who could use it. Much better than it never getting used, I guess
This is exactly what we did at the end of our Yellowstone trip a couple years ago.. Flew in to SLC and rented an RV. Went to WallyWorld to get all the gear, grill, chairs, fishing stuff, etc.. Stopped overnight at Bear Lake on the way back to SLC and gave all the excess gear away to other campers around us so we didn't have to try to add all that extra baggage for the flight back to RDU.
 

Mel

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I’ve never worked in a shop, but have been a fly on the wall for a few interesting interactions. When I was getting my boots, there was a young teen racer getting race boots. She was very disengaged in the whole process, giving monosyllabic answers, tossing her hair around, and texting the whole time (I have a teen of my own, so I know this doesn’t sound unusual :) but it was a LOT of attitude). When the fitter had her in the right pair, she took them off and just dumped them in front of the fitter, expecting him to pick them up, buckle them, and pack them up for her to take home. The fitter just looked down at them, then said very clearly to her, “Your parents are paying a lot of money for all of your equipment, passes, and racing. I’ve just spent an hour getting you fitted into the right gear. Then only person who hasn’t done anything productive yet is you, so you can pick up your expensive boots, buckle them properly, and bring them to the till. And every time you take them off, you should be doing that”. It was amazing to see.
 

tch

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^^^ YES!!!!
 

Pat AKA mustski

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I almost bought new skis the year we went to Europe. We could have bought new skis and paid to ship them back for less money than paying the airline for our skis which qualified as “oversized luggage.” We were staying at club med so rented through them instead; though it did take a few tries to get some in the right length with a good tune. They had some very nice skis but wanted to put me on a mid 140!
 

AlpsSkidad

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About 10 years ago, we {for some unknown reason} decided to spend Christmas week in Vail and Aspen, where our kids lived and worked. It was impossible for them to get more than a few days off, and fly East. So we, despite their saying “DON’T!” went to see them and visit more family.

Our son was begged to help out in the backroom of one of the big shops, mounting and prepping skis. He’s a coach. Knows what he is doing and money always “works.” We had plans to meet up, at the shop. He asks us to give him 15 minutes. So, we hang out.

And we see three generations of a South American family, being attended to by 2-3 sales people, buying very high end everything. I think the youngest grandchild was about 6. About 12-14 people.

Think about the very best, most “high end” base layers and socks, then work on out. Mid layers, a lot of Kjus, Arcteryx. Spyder for the little kids, Bogner for the ladies. Everybody got a helmet, hats, everybody got high end goggles. They bought A LOT of Hestra and Reusch mitts and gloves. Patagonia neck ups. Dermatone. You name it.

So our son takes more like a half hour to wrap up. Turns out that he was installing boot heaters in the new boots that Grandma bought for all. 12-14 pairs.

As we left, Grandma thanked him, very genuinelyfor his help, and tipped him a crisp $100 bill. Which she did to everybody who “helped.”

Our son said that his buddies on the benches were mounting a new pair of Kastles, which were the rage then, for every one of them. Doing very quick “tunes”. Two days later our son told us that one of his friends said Grandma spent a bit more than $50K with her black card.

The line that was most interesting was: “This year, we will fly home with MOST of this, as we have a newer, bigger, plane. Last year we left it here to be donated to those who need it…”

The large whales spend. Gross as it is, very good for business. And nobody was arguing on choices. Yep, they all Need Kastle and LEKI. Must have. I DO think they listened about boots. Maybe.

Very interesting to observe. Crazy.
We’ve seen this a lot in Courchevel 1850 as well. It’s super expensive for lodging , and ski/boot package rentals through many shops/hotels can easily run $1500 or more per week. People figured out they can come to town, buy whatever new boots and skis they want for near that price and just leave them at the end of their stay (or keep them if they really want to) The first time we stayed there 7 years ago, we had the same thought-that who would bother renting any of this gear when you can just buy new stuff on site for that much.
 

Jack skis

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Years ago when Travelers Checks were still a thing, and credit cards hadn't been invented, a Texan who stopped by the shop every year on his annual family ski trip to Colorado and bought much gear and clothing from us started to pay up and bought out his Travelers Checks, I said I could take his personal check if he wanted to save signing all those Travelers Checks. He told me it was no problem, his Cadillac trunk was full of Travelers Checks. I believed him.
 

Slemers

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[See disclaimer above]

Our 16-year-old, would-be shop rat who has proclaimed it his life's mission to work at this store, interrupts me selling helmets. The customer has asked how they are priced and I have begun to answer. "They're all about the same," says Young Genius.

I shoo him off and later give him what-for.
A neighbor from down the street and I went to a local Harley shop in Concord or Walnut Creek Ca. I had on all my riding gear and a Arai fullface helmet. My neighbor was being snarky about my full face fairly expensive Aria. The sales guy shut him down with "He's got a $800 head , What's yours worth ?" But yeah, they are all about the same :)
 

MikeW Philly

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A neighbor from down the street and I went to a local Harley shop in Concord or Walnut Creek Ca. I had on all my riding gear and a Arai fullface helmet. My neighbor was being snarky about my full face fairly expensive Aria. The sales guy shut him down with "He's got a $800 head , What's yours worth ?" But yeah, they are all about the same :)

Harley shop, yeah the Arai wouldn’t go down well (although I use that on my triumph). A brain bucket on the other hand…..
 

Tricia

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A neighbor from down the street and I went to a local Harley shop in Concord or Walnut Creek Ca. I had on all my riding gear and a Arai fullface helmet. My neighbor was being snarky about my full face fairly expensive Aria. The sales guy shut him down with "He's got a $800 head , What's yours worth ?" But yeah, they are all about the same :)
I remember the Bell helmet campaign several years ago(like 30??)
If you have a $10 head, buy a $10 helmet.
I think of that quite often when I sell ski helmets for kids.

True story:
I was waiting on a family at a resort shop a few years ago to find a kid a helmet. We found one with a good fit, and the kid liked the color. It was $60.00. The dad asked...."Do you have anything less expensive?"
Meanwhile his kid was wearing a pair of $75.00 Hestra gloves that you KNOW the kid is going to lose in 10 minutes.

After the family checked out and left the store a woman who was witnessing the situation approached me and said. "They're worried about spending $60 on a helmet for their kid who's fiddling around on a $1,000.00 iPhone???"
 

Delicious

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We had a customer who objected to a five dollar extra charge because of a serious issue he failed to disclose when he brought his bike in. My boss threw his bike into traffic.

Another customer didn't want to pay $10 instead of $7 for his wheel true. It had a few issues and was a problem. So my boss smashed his wheel against the ground flat spotting it nicely and said "back to original condition. Have a nice day.."

So many great disasters... :roflmao:
I think I may have worked for this guy!
 

Delicious

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My favorite is when I was getting some insoles made in Steamboat Springs. A woman next to me was buying boots -- black boots with purple accents and lettering it so happened Her friend was roaming the shop while she was getting fit and found a pair of black and purple skis on the rack. "These would go perfect with those boots!" she proclaimed and brought them over for inspection. The boot buyer decided to buy them on the spot, not knowing the width, characteristics, or type of ski.... SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY WOULD MATCH HER BOOTS!

Salesman didn't even try; he just rang up the package and ushered them out.
"Marry the boots, date the skis"...?
At least she knew WHY she was choosing the skis!
 

Fuller

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There is more to this story.
The couple walks into the shop and he asks Phil how long to get his skis waxed because he was planning on skiing the next day.
@Philpug took one look at the skis and said: "You want some new skis to go with that wax?"

The rest of it went pretty much like Phil said, with the exception of the one thing that piqued our boss's interest.
The guy started hemming and hawing about what he may like in a new ski and said, "Maybe I should demo a few pair before buying."
Phil said: "You're not qualified to demo skis. You are coming off a ski that was worn out long ago. Anything you get on is going to feel so different you have no idea what you're looking for. Trust me."

All our boss heard was "You're not qualified to demo skis." from a window just above where Phil was talking to the customer. He ran down stairs to save the sale from Phil's tactics only to find Phil at the register with the guy, new boots(with custom footbeds) new Kästle's, and bindings.
The boss couldn't believe it.

All of this goes to show, if you know how to read the room you can get away with saying a lot.
 

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