Sign of the Skier - Worst shop experience ever  

A customer like you should get the red carpet.

You should go to Whiteroom's shop in Stowe. Good place to ski too.
Check out this thread to see what a professional shop is all about:

http://forums.epicski.com/showthread.php?t=63694

You didn't notice the scratches on the poles when you bought them? If you paid with credit card and are that upset with customer service, you need to dispute the charges with VISA etc. and return everything you purchased and hit the road. You know what you need now.

Especially with ski shops, I think this is true. If they are small, closely-held shops, speaking to the owner is your best avenue. And mention your experience with each of his staff, too.

I find it interesting that customer service in our industry is SO SHITTY. The economy being what it is, my extra money for skiing is somewhat limited, and I could certainly spend the money on better things. If I wasn't such a junkie...

All the money I spend on skiing is discretionary income, and there's less and less of it. Sales & customer service being dickheads makes it a lot easier to spend that money in a bike shop...or an extra mortgage payment.

I got the "Boy Did They See Me Coming" ... or "Set Up Like the 8 Ball" award.

When my kid started racing, needless to say, being the competitive nature of the game and the quest for speed, the talk comes to wax and prep.

Our "Race Department" had an "association" with one of the local shops off Rt. 209 in Pennsylvania. One of the program "heavies" started talking up this magic go-fast stuff, but it was expensive and yada, yada.

Sooooooooo after training, down to the shop I go, intent on finding the magic potion that will cut 2 seconds off the time of even a crash dummy.

I go in and ask for this stuff and they have it "behind the counter" cause it's so expensive. The guy glances around and hunts and produces a plastic can and from the way he was acting you would have thought I had asked for the same steroids that Giambi and Bonds were using. Now they only have one can left of this magic sauce and this stuff is pure 100% teflon not like the other watered down formula .. it can be, though the retail price is like $75 it can be mine for like $65 since I "work at the hill" and have the PSIA and USSA cards ... real nice guys!

The following year at the start of the season, I am with a buddy in a very swank shop in a high priced town and he spots this stuff, Zardoz-Not Wax, and asks me about it. I know the shop owner and he hears me tell my pal that it's too much money.

He looks over at me and says ... hey, with your pro discount $6 is a lot of money? Exact same stuff!

Guess I bought steaks and brew for the whole shop that night ...

Fool me once ... shame on you .... Fool me twice, shame on me .. :

I drove down to Great Falls and bought a pair of K2 PE's and bindings on Sunday and was told the bindings would be mounted that day. But we went back at closing time and they weren't even started yet. I had family going through the town Tuesday and told them to pick them up, but again they still weren't done yet. So now, I'm waiting until Saturday when my brother goes through Great Falls again and will try to pick them up. If they are still not done, then we'll just tell them to keep everything and he'll pick up my boots. If so, then I'll try to buy a pair in Whitefish or Kalispell because we're going to Big Mountain on Sunday for a few days of skiing.

Wow! Thanks for the tip. I was looking at buying teflon for $100 last year and could not justify it. http://www.zardoznotwax.com/

About $15 now.

I guess just like anything else..especially business wise. Probablly best to focus on the good business's. Pass that word around..send them the business. Quickly mention the bad as you and others have when it comes up..and move on to better business's. Pass on Sign Of The Skier..ok. I had mentioned Kenmark in Richmond Hill as a good place. LOL Pass on them now. At least for base work,grinding,structure,brushing etc. knowledge of bases,grinding,structure,brushing,..haha..they ain't the people to go to( 2 of their techs anyway) for that anymore! LUCKILY!! after talking to them I didn't.
Sporting Life..right across the street from Sign Of The Skier..top shelf ski shop! Haven't heard about or had any bad about them.
Skiis And Bikes..again..haven't heard about or had any bad with any of their stores. Mississauga,Don Mills,Collingwood. Their Collingwood store is worth going into alone just to see their basement..wax rooom,hot box'r,piles of stuff and info..expertise,for diy tuners. At least 2 of the techs(the ones I have dealt with) in Collingwood have great knowledge.
Blue Mtn has a seriouslly top notch!! shop. Worth seeing too! I love how it is so open/exposed..right at the base of the hill..beside the lodge and lift.. with the huge windows that everyone can walk by..see them working. I think the staff there LOVE! doing what they do..plus when you go in you are right close to usually 2/3 techs working on skis. The place is pretty open!
Action Sports..whom I have bought about half a dozen pairs of skis from. They know ski equipment. They are I think some sort of affiliate with Corbetts. Corbetts is a top rated and HUGE!! ski shop. Ya just gotta check out the basement there! I haven't had work done or bought from them but I have only heard good and no bad.

Hey..I remember when Cuppolos WAS a great shop!
Ouch.

They already have.

:Wow.

I guess things change.

I hope the owner is reading this thread.

Somebody should tell him...

My two cents worth:
1. You say you weren't happy because it would take 2 or 3 days for the shop to adjust your bindings to fit your boots. If a shop is busy, a 2-3 day wait for servicing is not unusual.
2. After 10 years away from skiing, you drop a cool $185.00 on Leki poles. Does not compute. I have paid less for new skis.
3. You said it seemed strange that when you went to pick up your boots, you were served by another guy, not the original guy you dealt with. If you really wanted to deal with the first guy, it may have been better to call ahead and see if he was working that day. I have a tech that I prefer to deal with at my local ski shop, but I don't expect him to be there waiting for me just because I decided to go ski shopping that day.
4. You felt that the salesperson was too pushy with the fancy footbeds. So maybe the guy is sold on footbeds and wants his customers to share the benefits. Enthusiasm can be misinterpreted as pushiness. If you haven't tried footbeds, get some. Transformed my skiing, and I highly recommend them.
5. If you want to be treated like royalty every time you set foot in a ski shop, find one that you like, get to know the staff, and spend a lot of money. Works for me. I have supporting Mad Dog's in Abbotsford, BC for many years and I always feel welcome when I go there.

Here's hoping that your future ski shopping experiences are more fulfilling.

My Worst Experience:

Me working on someone's special order race stock skis.

In my earliest days as a lowly tech working in the basement of a shop doing tunes and mounts, a hot-shot teenage ski racer had us order special race-stock GS and Super-G skis ("Pre" brand skis if you must know and want to know how looooong ago that was..they were kinda rare then).

Skis were delivered late friday night at the shop....
The race was the next morning....
He HAD to have these skis NOW....
I rushed to get them mounted and tuned in minutes flat...go,go,go...
I did the deed....
He rushed home with them...

He raced the next day and won GS...got second or third in the Super G....
He brought them back to be tuned the next week....("I want them exactly like last week's tune...")

I discovered I had used the midsole mark as the toe-mark (many skis had toemarks in those days)...his precious, rare, expensive race-stock skis were mounted waaaayyy to far back....BOTH PAIRS.

(I remounted them and the bindings luckily covered up the old holes...)

He never knew. Came back year after year....

Beware.

Maybe that position was good for him- or it really doesn't matter.

Apparently didn't matter as he kept coming back after the binding was repositioned, presumably happy as ever. My mistake is examining the mount. I would probably never know a problem if I didn't look carefully.

The very reason I do my own mounts.

Even experienced guys screw up, but it's really too bad you didn't fess up to it. That's pretty weak. If I found out someone mis-mounted my gear and then tried to hide it... :

Exactly my thoughts now. I was a foolish youngster then. Now, I would immediately 'fess up :and offer to buy replacement skis at my expense...as I would expect any competent shop to do...


Ahh... If only I could go back in time and do it all over again...

Kid, Thanks for the heads up.

As mentioned in my earlier post, I'm in the market for boots. I was going to go to 'Sign of the Skier' only because 'Skiis and Biikes' don't sell Dalbello's and I wanted to check them out , but after reading your thread, I won't bother now.

I have been very happy with S&B's and highly recommend them. For bootfittings see Kevin at the Don Mills store. Call ahead or wait around if you have to, it's worth it.

...actually, I was talking about the area that I ski at. But I hear ya, man. The shop I *USED TO* spend time/money at had all full-time employees, and they were paid well. But they got dickhead-itis all the same.

Oh, you were 100% correct on that!!! Stan has no idea what he was talking about.

My story:

I broke a pair of Nordica's years ago, and got a replacement pair from them. I proceeded to break them too (rear entry's). I went on e-bay and bought a used pair of Salomon's (not my brightest move, but I was real low on cash). Imessed around with the canting to the point that after about 1 hour of use, the whole front half of my foot would be numb. I took them to my local shop, fully expecting to pay through the nose. The owner looked at them, and asked me if I messed with the canting. I told him yes, and he just shook his head and smiled. He adjusted the canting back where it should have been, moved the top two buckles out, and put a heel lift in. for are you ready for this? No charge! He knew I bought them on e-bay too! He got a customer for life. Since then I bet I have spent at least $5,000 in his shop for me, my wife and two kids. This is guy is pretty much the only game in town and still takes care of his customers. I'd stack the customer service in this little shop in Richmond, VA up against any shop around.

Next time I'm in Toronto I'll keep that in mind if I check the place out (and forget to buy there!).

Unfortunately, while the ideal is "service" the priority seems to be "sales".

And totally agree with Dawgcatching on the barista parallel.
It's hard to find, keep and RETAIN quality staff who aren't paid that well.

Dawgcatching:
Thanks for your post. I read this thread with varying amounts of anger, amusement, surprise and disgust.

Kid eh, that you would so easily take advantage of the freedom of the internet to so quickly and publicly condemn a business over a relatively small matter is irresponsible. Definitely they should have taken a different tact regarding the poles. Too have someone else help you other than the guy you started with is hardly unusual. Especially at a busy business.

I own and run a shop myself. I won't try and judge its quality or my knowledge, but I am an adviser here at the "Ask the Boot Guys" site so some out there other than me must at least think I have something to offer. Despite my presumed expertise I actually make mistakes. Sorry about that. I try to keep the numbers low, but it does happen. My staff make mistakes also. Goal is the same as mine. We try and learn from our mistakes and make changes to eliminate them.

My store is busy. Especially for boot fitting. We are sought out. My store is not old and it is named for me. People come to the store seeking me out. I can't be available to everyone all the time. So I have trained my staff to replace me. I think it is any business owner's goal to have staff that can step in for them with the same level of expertise. As a result people may start with me and end with my staff or vice versa. It is not the best system but it is the only functional one.

You should have stepped back and spent more time reflecting before you publicly attacked them. That you are now to the point where it is no big deal or water over the damn reflects the fact that losing you as a customer should have been enough punishment.

Every business has weaknesses. Mine certainly does. Fortunately in general our strengths far overshadow our weakness, but every now and again someone walks directly into our weakness. Hopefully them still emerge with a good experience. It is our goal. But as I said we occassionally screw up. But in general to be so publicly burned they way you skewered Sign of the Skier would be inappropriate. Especially given that much of what you are complaining about is standard business practice.

The name of my store is Lou's Skiing Performance Centre. If you have heard that we are knowledgeable about boot fit, alignment and performance that is correct. However, if you are thinking of coming there I suggest one of the other stores in town would serve you better.

Lou

Lou, no offense, but the internet make the world a VERY small place. Kid Eh's experience is not unusual, and does it deserve the attention it got? Well, let the people decide. What may seem like "small stuff" to some is a BIG DEAL to others, but again, $185 for blem'd ski poles, poor treatment, disinterest by the staff, etc...ALL factors for an "Irritated, Unhappy, Don't Go There" review. The fact that he's "over it" now doesn't mean it wasn't a big deal; it just means that life moves on, and some things need not be dwelled upon. I wish I could just "let go" of the little things some times...

With that said, you calling him out on his experience doesn't make you look too good in my eyes. Dawg said basically the same thing you did - without the "Don't bother coming to my shop" attitude. You $.02 wasn't needed or necessary. Sometimes better off left alone, you know? You don't know how long he thought about it before he posted here, and who are you to tell him he had no business in doing so?

Some shops do it right - all the time. I hope yours is one of those, or at least one who can "make things right" should an issue arise. It sounds like that is the case. Your store sounds like one I would like to do business with. However, some don't have that attitude - those have been the ones I've found lately. I don't ask for "the royal treatment", but I do ask that the fact I choose to spend my money in someone's establishment makes me worth a couple minutes of their time, and some thoughtful answers to questions I may have... I now shop for ALL my ski gear on the internet. I'll look at gear at the "bad stores", maybe try it on for size, but I won't buy from them. I try not to bother the "help" there, and take care of myself to try things for size. Yes, I'm using them - no doubt. I have given them their chances though, and they continually come up short.

Skiing is a "Good Time Business", and it's EXPENSIVE. I make a living, but don't have a lot of spare cash. If I get treated like my money doesn't matter, I take it somewhere else. Act like you don't need it -- no worry, you won't get it... Case in point: I have a back injury that may have ended my season before it started, and it's doubtful I can ski this year. I asked the area I bought my season pass from if they would help me out by crediting me for next year (I'd pay the difference). They basically told me to cram it. I'll trash them every chance I get. I wasn't asking for much. Certainly not out of line. I gave them every opportunity to make it right. They didn't. I'll never buy another pass there, I'll never spend another cent there. I'll suggest any other area over theirs (yes, people ask me where to ski, since I'm "the skier" where I work - company of about 200 people). When I take friends skiing, we'll never go there. I'll make mention of this to church & school groups. I'll mention them here!! (FWIW - Welch Village in MN - poor CS in the highest order...) It's a snowball effect. No matter how small the issue, it can be big to someone.

It's a small world.