Customer Service??????

[SloopJonB]

Originally Posted by bljones

And what's with donut shops having 30 seats, but only 6 parking spaces, eh?

Even dumber than that - how about a neighbourhood pub application in North Van that was turned down because it didn't have enough parking spaces?

Tax dollars at work.

[hellosailor]

The footlongs come 6/pack and the better franks are in the meat counter, sold by the piece in long sausage strings anyhow. Often sold as "Coney Islands" that way.

Not enough parking spaces for a pub? Heck, I'd require the parking be at least 1/2 mile away from where they sold the booze, and require that rooms be available upstairs in everyplace that served booze. Make it harder for the drunks to drive, and give 'em something else to do while they're there.

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by algee

This past weekend I purchased a real nice Autohelm 1000 (Raymarine) at a garage sale. Got it back to my garage and it tested out A-OK. Of course it was missing the pin and socket to install it on my boat, but I figured no problemo, I'll just pick them up at the local West Marine Store.

So today I looked up the parts in the W.M. catolog (page 40), and it says the pins are 5 to a package at $10 and the sockets are also five to a pack for $20. Wow- I'm thinking $30. Now, anybody that has ever installed a tillerpilot knows that it only takes 1 pin and 1 socket--right? So I figure there must be a mistake in the WM catolog, I'll run down to the local WM and buy 1 pin and 1 socket. WRONG!!! I must buy 5 of each and pay freight! I told the " associate" I would have to think this over, and he kind of gave me the, " What a cheapskate look".

I drove home and figured I'll call WM and solve this problem. I got the sales dept. and was told " Yep 5 to a package" Transfered to the CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPT. and was told " Yep 5 to a pack" --- but if I want a special order they would sell me 1 pin and 1 socket, but it would be more than the price of buying 5 and 5!! because they can't make money selling one at a time. I said Thank You, but no---and could I please talk to your Product Marketing guy, and I was told the marketing guys "don't talk to customers".

I worked in sales and marketing for 25 years, and had my own business for 15 years and can't imagine ever saying "I don't talk to customers".

Anyway, there is my rant and I guess I'll go to ACE Hardware and spend $3 on pipe a nipple and a SS screw. Problem solved!! WM and Raymarine won't get anymore of my $$$.

If $30 for parts annoys you, can't wait to see your blood pressure next time the boat needs a bottom job.

[algee]

I quit painting the bottom years ago. Now I put a vibrator in the bilge and turn it on every few days. Seems to keep the botton looking real good.

[bljones]

Originally Posted by algee

Now I put a vibrator in the bilge and turn it on every few days. Seems to keep the botton looking real good.

That also explains your sheepish smile.

[ArcherBowman]

Originally Posted by bljones

And what's with donut shops having 30 seats, but only 6 parking spaces, eh?

Yeah. I mean, that assumes five cops per car. And that's excessive even in the most well-policed areas. (Which do NOT include my marina.)

[LinekinBayCD]

Originally Posted by algee

You are probably right about "time and effort", but it gets to the point that it's called the PRINCIPLE OF THE THING. Besides that, I am retired, and have plenty of time and I don't mind the effort.

If this is the kind of nonsense that time gets spent on in retirement I may keep working.

[LinekinBayCD]

I think WM's custoner service is very good. Never had a problem retrning an item. On time I had asked my wife to ship off a 2+ yr old Icom VHF that was purchased from West Marine to Icom for repair. She inadvertently shipped it to WM rather than Icom. WM sent me a check for the original purchase price, no questions asked. I went back to the local WM and bought the same radio which by chance was on sale.

[fallard]

I hope Rangernewell wasn't kidding himself on the flywheel bolt. I had a flywheel bolt head break off on a 150 hp outboard several years ago. The motor was all original and only about 7 years old. Of course, the bolt head went into the magneto and chewed things up. That trip ended with SeaTow and a repair bill that came close to $2 grand. My dealer had never seen this kind of failure--as if that is any consolation! Nonetheless, it was a reminder that all bolts are not created equal--even if they have the same markings.

I don't know if Rangernewell matched the OEM bolt spec for $1.50, and it does seems like the $56 bolt was overpriced (unless they were removing the old one), but my guess is that this is and apples and oranges comparison. If the $1.50 bolt came from China, I wouldn't touch it.

Last year I had the starter motor on my sailboat diesel replaced and it was about $600 installed--including $200 for labor. I normally do my own work, but the mechanics earned their money on this one. So the motor was about $350. It seems like a lot of money, but we're talking about a low volume item, which was a step up from the comparably-priced original Hitachi OEM unit and assembled to order in the USA, so it didn't seem unreasonable. I don't know what you'd get for $60, but I can't believe it is equivalent. You might call $649. a rip off but unless you know you got an equivalent piece of hardware, you might be kidding yourself.

Going back to the original post about the pins and sockets, it doesn't seem unreasonable to pay $30 for specialty items in consideration of WM's costs to acquire hardware (probably from the UK), stock it, and spend customer service time explaining things to people who don't buy from them. It's folks like Algee who drive up the costs for people who actually buy qualified replacement parts from authorized sources.