This past spring, since my 4000 Mk 2 wheelpilot's belt was approaching the limits of its adjustment range (in its 5th season), I bought a spare drive belt at my nearby West Marine store in (Seabrook, NH) for the West Marine catalog price of $49.99.
My as-usual helpful salesman advised me that if I was willing to wait 2 weeks for their next Raymarine shipment, I could avoid Raymarine's obnoxious $40 "shipping and handling fee" they impose to discourage individual direct orders.
During this year's Maine cruise in September, the old belt became too stretched out to function and I happily (and easily) replaced it with my onboard spare.
Today I went back to the store to order another one to have as an onboard spare, but was "served" by the store manager (like a stallion "serves" a mare).
He informed me that he'd "have to get a quote for (me)" since "it wasn't an item (they) stocked." When I protested that I'd gotten one from his store at the catalog price in the spring, he said I "must have gotten special treatment, since it violated (his) store policy."
As John McCain says, "one shouldn't mud wrestle with a pig, since (a) you get dirty too, and (b) the pig enjoys it," so I went home and easily placed the order at westmarine.com.
Apparently this guy thinks being a Raymarine dealer doesn't obligate him to sell standard Raymarine items listed in the West Marine catalog, and can allow him to create "special order quotes" at his whim.
The one guy who works for him that knows what a sailboat is has been very helpful and gotten them/him some respectable revenues from me (such as $2k worth of Harken jib cars and control blocks earlier this season). I'm hesitant to cut off that guy's nose just to spite his "manager's" face, but I'll never make another purchase from that store manager.
That, however, leaves my appetite for payback unsatisfied. What would you guys do in this situation?
Al
s/v Persephone
My as-usual helpful salesman advised me that if I was willing to wait 2 weeks for their next Raymarine shipment, I could avoid Raymarine's obnoxious $40 "shipping and handling fee" they impose to discourage individual direct orders.
During this year's Maine cruise in September, the old belt became too stretched out to function and I happily (and easily) replaced it with my onboard spare.
Today I went back to the store to order another one to have as an onboard spare, but was "served" by the store manager (like a stallion "serves" a mare).
He informed me that he'd "have to get a quote for (me)" since "it wasn't an item (they) stocked." When I protested that I'd gotten one from his store at the catalog price in the spring, he said I "must have gotten special treatment, since it violated (his) store policy."
As John McCain says, "one shouldn't mud wrestle with a pig, since (a) you get dirty too, and (b) the pig enjoys it," so I went home and easily placed the order at westmarine.com.
Apparently this guy thinks being a Raymarine dealer doesn't obligate him to sell standard Raymarine items listed in the West Marine catalog, and can allow him to create "special order quotes" at his whim.
The one guy who works for him that knows what a sailboat is has been very helpful and gotten them/him some respectable revenues from me (such as $2k worth of Harken jib cars and control blocks earlier this season). I'm hesitant to cut off that guy's nose just to spite his "manager's" face, but I'll never make another purchase from that store manager.
That, however, leaves my appetite for payback unsatisfied. What would you guys do in this situation?
Al
s/v Persephone
Hamilton would have ordered that part for me at my wholesale discount, no questions asked, and called me the minute it was in.
