When i started out, i looked at a number of stores and found SOS and Pelican Point both helpfull ... however Ive made all my purchases at Surf_Sail_Australia. Found the service, support and advice to be great and the staff are genuine and always happy to spend time with me in my purchase.

Thats my experience :)

Windsurfing shops? What are those?

Think yourselves lucky you WA'ers

QLD has 2. The GoldCoast has none. Aparently the goldcoast had 5-10 at one stage.

DAMN YOU GLOBAL WARMING!! (throws fist in air)

Hey Guys

Has anyone considered how it would feel for the shop owners, who sponsor this fantastic live wind speed resource and this chat room, to have people bagging their shop on a site they pay for ?

I've tried every shop in Perth, and I travel a lot over East, and make no mistake we are blessed by the choice, range and experience of shop staff available in Perth. If you want more choice, get your friends and family on the water - the more $ that get spent in the industry, the more choice we all get.

As for which shop is "best", we all have a personality, and so do the shop owners. Just like real life, you will get on and communicate better with some more than others. Most of them have been in the game for a long time, so obviously they must have a band of regular, happy customers, or they would have gone broke. Take the time to get to know them, have a chat with their customers on the beach about their experiences, and you'll soon work it out.

Chad

Bagging shop = negative feedback

and you keep saying "Give it to me, give it to me"

I agree that a site that is paid for by the shops, probably needn't be used to bag them.

However, the way you were treated is certainly unacceptable.

Has the shop tried to make it up to you in some way, it seems like an act of goodwill might make up for stuff up.

Joseph Presti

I have tended to repeat shop where I feel I have been very well looked after, and have spent many thousands at these shops, previously mentioned here (SOS, PEli Point, WSP, SECOND Wind) Been in Perth 10 years so the mentioned 4 have had different times in favour usually dependent on my needs, product availability, and my residence location work or home. Been to 1 or 2 others where received bad service, Grumpy retailers trying to bag my equipment "Windtechs are ****, why do you buy that crap for etc", and never went back becuase they were rude to me. Spent my Thousands elsewhere. Have spent over $40,000+ over 20yrs of w/surfing about $2000+ a year, so it doesn't pay to be rude to me (Under-estimated just in case wife sees this, woops!!).

I also shop to buy specialist needs, so will go custom if that's what I need, particularly in the area of boards. I used to have customs made by Neil Scheltema, when I was into slalom, and now that I'm into wavesailing have my boards built by a specialist custom designer, I gather it's not ethical to post a name of a non-sponsoring shop so won't mention names. That Proprietor is top notch as are some of the sponsor's of this site. But there are A'holes in the world, unavoidable I'm afraid, even in my profession of Psychology where one would expect better, wouldn't one!!!!!

Prez

Silverback....not time to put me out to pasture just yet....sail saftey Bay with 9.8 in 12/18 and 1.5 to 2m swell on a f/board......sheet in and hang on......so the lawn bowls might be a few years off just yet. Good to hear some real reponses to the critical issue in the initial thread. What is good service and where do you get it? And vice versa. Unfortunaetly, or course you hear more bad than good, and yes we do tell ten times more people when we get bad service rather than good. I won't mention any names as to where i go, only that i shop around and have realised what suits me and my sailing. There are some shops that i would not frequent, as i work in retail and i deem that person not a worthy recipiant of my dollar(s). This makes it difficult at times, as some good equipment is sold by these poor/unprofessional operators. This is also a public forum, so this topic is very topical......I have not as of yet heard anything that i would deem ofensive to any proprietors....we could mention names but that is not what the question of good/bad service is about........(they know who i am and do want to shop there again....hehehe).
Silvero1 i'm lost as to where you want the feedback or not......"don't bag the shops, but give positive and negative feedback" You're sounding like mark everyday...by the way, any chance of fixing that uni joint i dropped off friday?

Gotta go
There must be a deep feeling to this issue with the number of respones......i doubt whether we have acheived anything....????
Frustration

quote:

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Originally posted by Tom_

quote:

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Originally posted by silvec01

Greenroom
Posted - 06/02/2004 : 22:43:43
stuff all this survice and lovey duddy crap im not kissing a shop owners butt to become one of his groupies im looking for the the bloke who sells the cheapest gear... ...
The customers who are happy to do their own research pick their own gear, dont take up any of our time usually get the best prices.
The customers who we try to offer service to, then buy half from us and half from an opposition shop to save $50 then expect us to rig it up and make it work really do frustrate us.

We often spend 60-90 minutes with some customers telling them what they need make it fit into their budget then they go else where. Who is going to pay for this time,

So many people want us to be a charity for their hobby, making old gear work etc.

SO MANY PEOPLE WANT EVERYTHING FOR NOTHING.

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This guy works at Windsurfing Perth and i think he has a very bad attitude towards customer service, helping people is part of your JOB! dude thats wat your paid to do.

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TOM
I am happy to help the best i can. I do get paid to serve people. but my wage paid out of the revenue we make, but when people expect everything for nothing, how can i expect to be paid. Would you work for free.
my point was more along the lines of: If someone came into your business, talked to you about what you specialise in for an hour or so, then either want it at a charitable price, or go else where to buy what you recommended how would you honestly feel?
How would you feel if someone else did it to?
Would you protect yourself from this issue in the future??
put yourself in the shops shoes?


heres a true example of what people expect from us.
a customer wanted a sail from us second hand for about $200
he didnt have any money on him, he wanted us to drive out of our way in our own time to his place to deliver it to him...
Would you do this if you were us? what if you arrived and he wasnt home so you waited an hour, how would you feel?
Would you put it aside for him with no deposit, would any other shop do this? What if he changes his mind about the sail? we would lose out, how long do we wait before we try and sell it again?

put yourself in our shoes Tom.


SILVERBACK
Bagging shop = negative feedback === help needed to improve service/
complimenting shop = positive feedback === comments needed to make us feel good about what we do. Surely if you have good experiences with shops why not recommend them to others.


SHUEE
Silvec01 i'm lost as to where you want the feedback or not......"don't bag the shops, but give positive and negative feedback"
I believe that bagging someone/something is personal, exagerated, emotion and unfair whereas feedback is honest,responsible,fairer and can be used to improve.
eg your driving is crap, --- bagging- what is the point of a comment like this
You need to work on your clutch work- feedback ie one can learn from this comment.
also have not yet heard about your uj but will chase it up.

Come on you mob - settle down. These forums are for enjoyment, and it's clear this isn't much fun for some of the people.

This whole idea of giving feedback on shops in a forum is bogus, and I hoped that it could remain civil...

I know there's been no wind, so keep you cool - there's a fresh seabreeze predicted for thursday..looks weird though - there are so many 'low' cells over the synoptic chart (see www.seabreeze.com.au/info.current.stm ) it looks like swiss cheese!

Enjoy .. Laurie

Silverback
There is a fine line between when business is pleasurable and when business become unpleasurable.


kecksoff
Thankyou for your post.
This is what i was hoping we would get more of.

Laurie
If people just posted the information required by the whole point of this topic, i think it would be civil.
Also if people are not willing to express their problems/sucesses about our service, when will they ever be able to? When will we ever learn where we went wrong/good.

quote:

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Originally posted by silvec01
..if people are not willing to express their problems/sucesses about our service, when will they ever be able to?

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Haha! That's true, and it's all part of running a business/being a human. But if you want to know if people like you, is it best to conduct a survey in a website? If someone does complain, and you couldn't solve it previously face to face, the chances of solving it using emails in a forum are probably much less, and worse still, no-one comes out looking good...just read up above!

Given that most of the shops in Perth have been going 15+ years, they must be doing most things right, or they would have gone belly up by now and you wouldn't have a job!

quote:

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When will we ever learn where we went wrong/good.

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Wrong: Can't pay the bills.
Good: Customers come back and buy more.

Have Fun .. Laurie

quote:

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Originally posted by laurie

Come on you mob - settle down. These forums are for enjoyment, and it's clear this isn't much fun for some of the people.

Enjoy .. Laurie

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Props to the guy that actually built the site and maintains it. I'm guessing Laurie heard the voice ("Build it and they will come") long before any of the shops started advertising on it.

You Da Man Laurie!!!

quote:

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Originally posted by bob

TOM_:
i think he has a very bad attitude towards customer service, helping people is part of your JOB! dude thats wat your paid to do.



TOM
YOU ARE BAGGING SOMEONE WHO HAS PROBABLY NEVER SERVED YOU, THIS ISNT FEEDBACK ABOU A SHOP.YOU HAVE JUST BAGGED HIM PERSONALLY WITHOUT KNOWING HIM WHICH IS EVEN WORSE. IM AM SURE HE COULD KICK YOU BUTT ON THE WATER. I WOULDNT BLAME HIM IF HE SAILED PAST YOU AND COMPLETELY IGNORES YOU WHEN YOU ARE PADDLING HOPELESSLY AS YOU DRIFT AWAY AFTER SUFFERING A BROKEN MAST,FATIGUE,BROKEN BOOM, OR KITE PROBLEMS DEPENDING ON WHAT YOU CHOOSE.
THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAY YOU ARE ONLY 17.
YOU NEVER KNOW YOU MIGHT WANT THE SHOP SPONSER YOU IN THE FUTURE.

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hahahaha i didnt event write the post and ive already got a sponsor

I agree with Laurie:

>Wrong: Can't pay the bills.
> Good: Customers come back and buy more.

full stop.


after 58 replies which I have to admit is pretty impressive...I just wanted to add another 59th one
although this discussion sounds more and more like : "What do you think of Silvec01"

I hope it 's been usefull for someone...????

OK! I can't resist any more.....

Greenroom - woolworths is sh1t, the food is never fresh and they never scan the right price at the checkout. I'M SICK OF BEING RIPPED BY THOSE BASTARDS!!!!

(my AUD $0.02c)