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West Marine makes enemies

8K views 46 replies 30 participants last post by  blt2ski 
#1 ·
Yeah, I know a big company has to act cutthroat to stay ahead and they prob have small profit margins in spite of having a huge markup on all their stuff but do they have to try to make enemies?
Here in Tallahassee, the local West MArine store was in a poor location and needed upsizing. So,corporate did the right thing by relocating and increasing the store size, maybe by too much though. However, in the process, they managed to piss off a lot of local people by their attitude toward employees who are also boaters.
Tallahassee is not Fort Lauderdale where any random boater prob does not know any other random boater. Here, any random boater prob knows about 25% of the others. Here, if you screw a few employees, you've prob alienated a majority of your market.
Being long accustomed to buying stuff online (Due to the inadequate West Store) from cheaper sources, local boaters now have a very strong incentive to buy online rather than from West Marine. Even worse for West MArine, a Bass Pro, Dicks Sporting Goods and Academy Sporting Goods are all opening nearby.
It's too bad cuz I liked browsing (and I always bought stuff) whenever I was nearby but West Marine has committed retail suicide.
 
#2 ·
It gets worse than that. They do not even care about their OWN employees opinions.
Case and point: I went into West Marine in Ortega to buy some specialty bolt or something other and I got to speaking with an older sales associate who told me he had upgraded his bilge pump or some pump (im sorry it was awhile ago)
however the new pump from west marine was garbage. When he called his own company for help and parts they basically told him to kick rocks it was his faulty installation or his improper this or that. Not the product.

Anyway, this guy works in there store and he told me he always tells customers not to buy that item.

Now thats good advertising.
 
#16 ·
I'll tell you my story with west marine.

I had a taylor boat fender (they come with taylor lifetime warranty) I had bought from WM online. After 3 years of use the fender developed a splot hole and leaked. I called up WM online store. They told me they would mail out a fender no charge. 10 minutes later WM called and said they made a mistake, I would need to go through Taylor for warranty. I knew if I needed to mail the fender to Taylor it would cost me the price of a new fender ($90), so I took the fender to my local WM and they exchange no problem.

Sometimes one needs to keep "working" a retailer to receive good service. Unfortunately, most retailers are like this.
 
#3 ·
I remember back a few years when hanging out on SN a member here was in management at WM. He was knowledgable and a good contributer here. He was always defending WM's business practices here.

I don't remember the exact details but he got demoted or fired because his employees were not pushing high end GPS's or some other electronics as dictated by the company. With poor treatment of the employees it has to be hard to get people who either care or know their stuff, which is often evident when asking for help.
 
#10 ·
Do any other countries even have a nation chain chandlery? OZ? France? SA?
The Caribbean has two: Budget Marine and Island Water World.
Its imperative IMHO that the sailors in this region support the locals and in doing so we benifit in a) having them and b) their competing against each other keeping prices low.

If you guys in the USA lose Westmarine you will never get to touch a marine product before you order it on-line. You will never get to hold it, inspect it, measure it, look at the fine print on the bottom of it, ogal it for months before you can afford it. The best you will have is some stingy photo on the internet.

You will never be able to take it into the next aisle and buy the correct tubing for it, the right connectors, the wiring you need to install it, the correct tackle for the block or visa versa.

Yes you may save money on buying off the internet but how do you KNOW you are ordering the exact correct thing?

How do people 'help' Westmarine when they lack direction or some other obvious malaise or management error? I don't know. But I guess its its important to try by emailing their Head Office (etc) every time you are dissatisfied. At least then they have the benifit of your knowledge of their shop.
 
#11 ·
I like West Marine. Here in Hawaii the sales people are knowledgeable and freindly. Thursday I return a 3 year old leaking Taylor $90 fender and they exchange with no problem. They have a lot of merchandise in stock. I can order as much material from West Marine on line and pay a flat $20 dollars for shipping- no other on-line retailer can match that (all items go air frieght to my location).

Yea, I hope West Marine stays in business or I am in big trouble. There prices do not really seem out of line with other (even on-line) marine stores. And there catalog is best by far with quite a bit of useful information in the technical sections.
 
#13 ·
I cant say else were BUT on Long Island the independent marine store is alive and appears to be quite healthy in both mom/pop and not west marine size BUT big enough to have a large catalogue

Between Lighthouse Marine out east and Freeport Marine supply there has to 10 good size places along with a bunch of west marine

I can walk into many of those places and they will still be staffed with people how have at least some if not a large knowable of boats
 
#14 ·
I cant say else were BUT on Long Island the independent marine store is alive and appears to be quite healthy in both mom/pop and not west marine size BUT big enough to have a large catalogue

Between Lighthouse Marine out east and Freeport Marine supply there has to 10 good size places along with a bunch of west marine

I can walk into many of those places and they will still be staffed with people how have at least some if not a large knowable of boats
Must be nice. Here in hawaii we only have west marine for sailboat gear. The cost of shipping an item from a mainland source is generally the cost of whatever you are buying. So West Marine fills a huge void for local and transient sailors. If WM leaves, boating maintenance expenses will double in cost.
 
#17 ·
I don't believe that its fairly handled on SN to bash a retailer on here since certain retailers have a protection bubble around them because they are SN sponsors and as soon as you start bashing them the posse rides up and stops you. There is no fair play.

If you don't like WM don't shop there simple as that.

WM maintain a good business model and have managed to stay solvent and expand despite the crush in the economy. Many areas in Canada as well as areas in the US WISH they had a WM store close to them. Comparing them as a stand alone store of mortor to a catalogue internet business is not a fair comparison from a price point. I have found a mixed bag of informed employees from many on line vendors including WM and the vaunted Defender.

WM catalogue and its how to videos are a great service to many do it yourselfers. They had advanced technological items, or models of equipment you can lay your hands on and look at for quality that many local chandleries cannot afford to stock.

Ill bet many of you WM bashers have their catalogue stashed in your bathrooms to look at.:)

If you don't like them just don't shop there. Wait for the postman/ UPS driver to bring you your hose clamp or marine wax.
 
#19 ·
Its funny how things change with time. In many areas of the consumer market people oppose Big Box retailers citing concerns that they will crush the small independent retailers. Most of the time the big corporate retailers succeed in moving into an area, and many times they do indeed destroy the mom and pop businesses in the area.

Westmarine is the Bg Box "Walmart" of the marine industry, and what i am hearing some of you say is "don't badmouth Westmarine, if they go under where would you get your marine supplies?"! I guess some have forgotten about all of the independant chandlers that served their local boating communities long before Westmarine came along. Now that they have been driven under and Westmarine dominates the market, they want you to forget all about what real service is.

I guess we are all to blame for demanding the absolute lowest prices no matter what the cost. Often that cost is quality and service.

I admit, I do go to Westmarine for some things, but I will always go to one of the independant stores first, and i always give them a chance to match the WM price. I don't even mind paying a couple of dollars more for something to support my local businesses. As a result i can walk in to the stores and they are genuinely happy to see me and go the extra mile to help me get what I need.

Maybe I am just old fashioned, but I prefer shopping in a rustic old marine store rather than a glitzy big box store.
 
#21 ·
Like many cruisers I work for West Marine. I can't say the compensation is great but the discounts are and the company is a very good employer. We're hiring!

We should all recognize that people who have a bad experience are much more vocal than those that have a good experience.

Still, the stories I hear don't sound like the company I work for. We have a technical knowledge expectation that is really something else. If you see Tech 5, Tech 10, or Tech 15 on an Associates name badge those people have passed some pretty rigorous tests to earn that label.

In terms of customer service it is not unusual for Associates to drop something off at another store to support a customer or even deliver directly to a cruiser that has no ground transportation. We have Port Supply vans running between stores. On top of that, employees driving to and from work pick things up and drop things off all the time. When you're in a West Marine and the person on the other side of the counter says "we'll have that for you tomorrow" it may be because a motivated Associate is making sure you get what you need.

If you have a bad experience at West Marine I KNOW the company doesn't want that to have happened.

I am not an authorized spokesman for West Marine. I'm just a guy that works in a store. I'm active in SSCA and serve on a USCG committee. I have a small business trying to keep its head above water. I simply have a different perspective than some of the posters on this thread.

I can say with great assurance that West Marine is all about customer service. The company expects us to delight the customer. I take research projects home to find parts. I'm not alone. West Marine knows that the boating customer has alternatives. West Marine wants to be the dependable, responsive, and supportive source for your boating needs.
 
#23 ·
Sweet! Another WM bashing thread.

I'm thankful for their business most of the time. Yes, they charge a lot, but they still price match for local competition which is what what should be the case. They normally carry much more products than other local businesses and have a nice return policy. All the bashing WM takes can be made against other stores in different industries too. If you don't like them, just don't shop there. Get all your stuff online and wait days to get it.
 
#26 ·
Sweet! Another WM bashing thread.
Who is bashing? People are commenting on their experiences and how it impacts their shopping decisions. Why is that not fair? People commented on Defender and the ownership / management responded directly to the thread. I am sure WM would want to hear that it's inventory control policy of following customers around the store also has a downside (less likely to browse and buy). I would imagine they are also interested in hearing about how price matching impacts buying habits. That costs them a significant portion of my business. Like I said, I really hope they make it.

As an aside, there are some spectacularly good WM employees (3 come to mind right off) . . ..
 
#25 ·
I think the real issue (and the reason these threads keep popping up) is so many of us have a love/hate relationship with West Marine.

Part of that is inconsistency. This weekend I needed a 6" 3M buffing wheel to start MaineSail's hull polishing routine. My local guy didn't have the pad in stock so I called West Marine in Brick, waited while they checked, "yep we got 'em". Drove 30 minutes and no pads and no one willing to admit they talked to me on the phone. Asked if they had TefGel in stock. No one in the store knew what it was and according to the computer none in stock. So I get home and check and West is DOUBLE the price of Defender and Jamestown. I get that brick and mortar needs a little more markup - but double is a bit extreme and I've run into this on other parts - a Shurflo pump and a water filter in the past two months. I price check anything before buying it there.

Don't get me wrong. I buy a lot of stuff in West and I would miss them if they were gone. But sometimes it seems like they're going out of their way to tick off the customer. More than one WM employee has remarked on this new CEO and the changes in direction. One local manager told me he couldn't believe how many pissed off people had walked out over the new price matching policy.

His point was simple: if Defender or Jamestown can sell at that price West isn't losing money on the sale, they're just not making as much. And chances are that customer is buying multiple items, not just the one they're price matching. The fact that most other brick and mortar stores like Best Buy are moving to a price matching policy just makes it stand out as that much more short sighted.
 
#29 ·
Here's my issue with WM.
I hate losing money, but I also hate online shopping. Typically when I need something for the boat, it is needed now - not in a week, not hopefully the right thing.
I also prefer to look you in the eye when i buy from you.

For that privilege I'm willing to pay a small premium - not double.

I recently pulled my boat for a bottom job. The lift operator asked me to point out where my speed probe is to make sure it's not destroyed in the process.
Well, I got it wrong and the little impeller was broken.
No worries - i drive right past the WM on my way to the yard, and even better - if they don't have it in stock, I actually have a week to wait.

Well, the "friendly" WM associate first tried to convince me that the impeller can't be ordered separately. When I gave him the Airmar/Raymarine part number for the replacement kit, he insisted that the number is wrong. I asked him to check the internet (I got the part number on the net the previous night) when he told me he doesnt have time to search for it and that he cant help me.

Well, I just happened to also need a lot of other items for the boat.

I took my business to Defender.....

This is not the first run in for me with this specific store. Previously their store manager was really out to PISS everyone off - same attitude - "I dont have time for you"
Fortunately, she was either promoted out of harms way or she PISSED off one customer to many.

Now, when I do stop by the WM, I specifically go search out individuals that want to help - even if they are not the most knowledgeable, as long as they have a "You're my customer - I want to serve you" attitude.
 
#32 ·
When I first bought my boat over 10 years ago, there were four chandleries within 5 miles of my marina, and only one of them was a West Marine. Now, there's only WM and an "independent" chandlery at the Brewer's marina in town (not really "independent"; Brewer's is a big chain of marinas that stretch from Maine to NY). My favorite was the BoatUS store; when WM bought out the BoatUS retail operation, they kept most of the staff at that store. Those guys knew their stuff and were crazy helpful. Eventually (and inevitably), WM realized that they didn't need two stores in the same town and closed up the smaller former BoatUS location. And that staff didn't seem to find its way to the surviving store.

Like many others here, I prefer to shop for boat stuff in person, and I'm willing to pay a premium over an internet site's prices for the privilege. I don't hate WM at all; I have been occasionally frustrated because my experiences there are inconsistent; sometimes I find someone knowledgeable, sometimes not. And sometimes I find just plain fools. But its a really cool thing to be able to drive over to the store (a new "superstore" opened last year a couple of towns over) and pick up just about anything without having to wait for the shipper. WM may not stock everything, but I can count on one hand the number of times I walked out of there without what I had been looking for.

I think WM and the other brick and mortar stores are going to get a big boost soon. It won't be long before the major internet retailers are forced to collect sales tax from their customers. Those of us who are Connecticut residents have been paying the tax for our Defender purchases for years. Once that key advantage is gone, I wouldn't be surprised to see the growth in internet sales flatten out a bit.
 
#34 ·
If you get a bit further away, WM has the best shipping and delivery of ANY marine supplier I've purchased from. They understand the ins and outs of the international shipping of part and supplies to "Yachts in Transit". Maybe not always the best price, but the service and delivery goes a long way.
 
#35 ·
After a great weekend of sailing, yesterday was a washout. So I went out for errands and stopped in our Newport (Middletown) West Marine on my way to lunch. Browsed the entire store and left with basket full of odds and ends that I had no list to get. Best hour spent of my entire Monday.

Look up West Marine's stock price over the past 5 years (WMAR) It's better than doubled, they appear anything but rudderless.
 
#41 ·
I went out for errands and stopped in our Newport (Middletown) West Marine on my way to lunch. Browsed the entire store and left with basket full of odds and ends that I had no list to get. Best hour spent of my entire Monday.
Probably a lot of stuff you do not really need. I do the same thing- just don't tell the wife. But I guess it is better money spent than going to a strip bar.
 
#37 ·
I know of one place a lot recomend, including here, that buys a bunch of there stuff from WM, resells on internet! Some of the mom and pops many talk about, also buy some of there stock thru the port supply, ie wholesale side of WM also.

As much as many of us do not like the larger stores, many thankfully will hopefully be here to stay. ALong with the mom and pop and middle sized stores also. As we need both styles of merchants to survive, be it marine, hardway, grocery, lumber etc.

Marty
 
#38 · (Edited)
I use our downtown Toronto WM because:
1. it was convenient to where my boat was stored.
2) It has an older employee who is a wealth of information and has a willingness to share it. He will also suggest non-WM products if I push back on pricing.

While my boat is in the water I use a local chandlery, The Rigging Shoppe, that is closer to my marina than WM. The Rigging Shoppe actually has better pricing on certain products and rather than push WM to match those prices I give some business to The Rigging Shoppe to support them. For example a quart of Brightside is $5 less.

I also use TheBinnacle.com and have gotten the best deal from them on Mustang PFD's. Shipping is usually free if >$100.

I also use a non-chandlerly store for other items. Lee Valley Tools - Woodworking Tools, Gardening Tools, Hardware had the best price on a West Systems kit of resin, hardener and pumps. Lee Valley is a fantastic place to browse for specialty tools and although most are premium priced they do have some specials.
 
#39 ·
Here in Alaska mail/internet ordering is a way of life. The local WM store was poorly stocked (especially for sailboat items) and pretty much not worth stopping at. A few weeks ago they opened their new store in Anchorage and wow, what a change. The store is much, much larger and very well stocked. There is an entire aisle of sailboat hardware!! There is also a good selection of clothing and foul-weather gear. (I really hate buying clothing online, I want to be able to try things on first). They have also repriced and dropped prices to match Lower 48 prices --- about $4 on a $35 item.

Last week returning from the boat (150 miles from home) I stopped at WM to order some sound deading material. WM and Defender were priced close to each other, was going to have it shipped to WM store for no shipping. When I asked the salesperson about ordering he replied "I think we have some in stock." The down side is now I had a project to do right away!! :laugher

As for staff knowledge I don't know that WM staff is any worse than Lowe's or Walmart or Sears or any other business. Some are very good, some are O2 wasters...fact of life.

I've been comparing prices and so far WM is competitive especially when I figure in shipping. A few weeks ago when setting up the running backs on the boat we had line and blocks overnighted up shipping cost over $200 on those items so it's something you have to figure in.
 
#40 ·
Are West Marine stores independently owned or does the "company" own them all? For a while here in Hawaii the local WM store had in store prices higher than the catalog. The higer price was to cover added shipping costs. A few weeks ago the store annouced their prices would be same as catalog. This is good. I was ordering on-line just to get a better price. Was wondering if WM did the price increase or the local francise- if there is one.

Also wonder on returns, does the local store care if you buy on-line from WM and return to a local WM store? I have done this without a problem, but does it cut into the local stores profit margin?
 
#47 ·
Casey,

As I understand it, ALL stores are corporate owned. You can find WM products in local chandlery's, that get supplied by WM and will match or in some cases, be a bit lower than WM.

Local store does not care if you order online, pickup at the store, as you will probably pay at that store upon pickup, so that $$ goes towards that mgrs sale volume.

Then as northoceanbeach says, sometimes WM is in smaller towns. Granted small stores. but PT is a largish town vs say Blaine wa, probably less than 3-5K people, Gig Harbor to name a couple of local smaller towns with WM's in them. The smaller stores frankly, probably finding a mgr or employee that knows something more is higher than larger stores. BUT, like ALL business's, there are smart people floating around, one needs to find them.

The quote if you are a hobby'est, one needs to know a lot! that is probably true. In my landscape biz, I have run into a few folks that have special interests in some plants, Rhody's, roses, iris's.....among some, to be frank, If I had to know ALL 5000 someodd varieties of rhodys, colors, shapes etc......along with ALL the varieties of Iris's, roses etc I'd be in school and forgetting more than I learned in school getting my two horticulture degree's!

In some cases, yes, we as buyers may know more than the person helping us, no matter the store we are in. BUT if that person is willing to learn, help you get the part, be happy!

Marty
 
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