West Marine is losing my business

[Dan H]

Yes Don it's true

It was a custom order. They don't carry it on the shelf. It was custom made by the MFG and sold through WM. They could have easily shipped both 1" tracks in the 3" diameter tube for the shipping price of one item. I now had two orders to pay shipping on.As soon as I got the tracks home, I put them both in one tube and cut up the spare tube.Maybe it was a misunderstanding on my part but it still taste bad.

 

[BarryL]

Tent Sale

Hello,I live on Long Island, NY. Within a 30 minutes driveI could be at 3 WM's. For at least the last 4 years they have always a big Tent Sale in the spring atthe Bayshore store. Last year I bought their topnotch foul weather pants, with a list price of $195,for $15! The matching jacket was $65.This year I needed to redo my bottom - barrier coat andbottom paint. The sale price was great, buy a gallonof Pettit paint, get a gallon of Pettit barrier coat for $50. This is much cheaper than you can get at Defender or anywhere else. So I get the notice that the tent sale is starting and go to the store on thefirst day of the sale. The first thing I notice is thatthere is no tent. Then I find out that they have 1 gallonof Pettit Protect (barrier coat) and 2 gallons of paint.Hello, aren't you having a big sale? Anyway, they orderedthe paint and barrier coat for me, and it was in thestore a week later.I do like West Marine and shop there when it worksfor me. For big ticket items I usually buy from Defender(their big sale is next week).Barry

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Daryl has spoken and that confirms it!

If Daryl dislikes WM, that could only mean one thing - they must have some significantly redeeming feature(s)

 

[seadaddler]

Very Helpful

I do shop around for the best prices and have shopped at WMon Long Island many times and have found most of the people at WMare mostly boaters and can give good info in getting the bestproduct for the job and always go out of their way to save me money.I am sure they are having a hard time with the economy and everyone lookingto get boat equipment cheaper or on the internet cheaper.I repeat I also shop for the best price and I like having all the differentstores to choose from and WM does a pretty good job helping boaters.Nickmoron's

 

[Brian D]

My last experience with WM

Was a few weeks ago. I needed one screw to replace one that went overboard. So I went to the local WM and found what I was looking for. The price of the screw was such that I felt bad, so I got more. Not that I would ever need more but I did anyway.Went to the checkout counter and the clerk refused to sell them to me. She said it would throw her dollar average off. So she put the screws in a bag, handed them to me, and said "thanks for shopping at WM". Talk about feeling guilty.I am one who complaints about WM's pricing. I have even been know to complain about SBO's pricing. However, I use SBO probably more than WM or Defender. But, I will continue to use WM when I am in a pickle and need something right away.

 

[higgs]

I have had good experiences with West

I have always found them very helpful and willing to go the extra mile.

 

[sailortonyb Allied Mis]

I agree with Higgs

I have had only good experiences with West Marine. My only negative experiences with Worst Marine is the sticker shock, but they had what I needed at the time. Generally, WM is the last place I look for stuff because of the price. Now, living in Kemah, Tx., WM prices are pretty much in line with everyone elses high prices down here.

 

[Tim R.]

I have seen the descrepency

A few years ago I bought my boat in Mattapoisett, MA. I spent my 1st weekend on the boat installing my radar and chartplotter. We woke up Sunday morning to find both batteries were dead. I checked the fluid and found there was none. At the time of the survey, my surveyor said I would want to replace the batteries and I agreed. But we both thought I could make it home. Anyways, I went out to the local WM and they were rude, inexperienced and generally unhelpfull. I found out that there was another WM a few minutes down the road. They were great. They tested my batteries and helped me pick out new ones. They also told me that I get a "new boat" discount on top of the sale prices.So some are good and some are lousy.So you guys local to Mattapoisett, can you guess which was which?

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

Manson Supreme anchor $399 @ WM, $349 @ Defender

$50 difference. That's why I only use WM in an emergency. Never had a problem with their staff, but I can't stand to be ripped off.

 

[Phil Herring]

Sorry, I just have to play devil's advocate here

That $50 difference is probably going to be eaten in shipping, depending on where you live. Which may be why it costs more at WM... it has to get there.

 

[Brian D]

But Phil...

A delivery to WM is in bulk. Not piece meal. Shipping these days is getting outrageous. Ever notice that prices for products on Ebay are very good, but the vendor kills it with a shipping cost that is not justifiable. Even though I have had a good experience with WM, they still are trying to make an oil company profit off of a small community.Just my 2¢.

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

reality check

You can (and probably have) gone to multiple car dealers, received a different price at each one for the same car and accept this practice as typical but someohow take exception to a price disparity when shopping different marine suppliers.I assume everyone who berates any marine supplier is among the throng of people we all see protesting outside car dealerships.

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

The 8.25 state and local tax

the shipping a wash. $48 for shipping the anchor plus a rope/chain rode. Around $40 for state and local taxes on the same at my local WM store (plus the rode was about $30 cheaper at Defender). The taxes are the killer. I hope that the new WM management looks at some of this. I guess the store overhead is the big expense - especially in high dollar real estate areas like Chicago.

 

[Bad Obsession]

Just wait to see how prices soar.....

in the near future. Shipping is really going to go up with people paying over $4 for diesel. It is going to get really nasty soon. Inflation is getting out of control because of fuel prices. It is going to be a tough year! Mark my words!As far as WM, I find that it pays to shop around and I found that the WM store in Alexandria, VA off of Rt. 1, is a good store. There is an employee there who has been very helpful in the past and she knows her stuff. Yeah the prices can be high, but it pays to check everyone else out too.

 

[Ken Honeycutt]

Don't know if you notice, but truckers are slowing down

Maybe not a bad thing having higher diesel costs if it stops some of these cowboys from killing people.

 

[Phil Herring]

Good points

About sales tax and bulk shipping. But I suspect everything moves two or three times, from a distribution center to a warehouse to a store. Anyway, there must be some inefficiencies somewhere: 2004 they made a 5% profit, 2005 was basically break-even, and 2006 showed a small loss.