Poster: A snowHead
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@Gaza, It is, but take a look at the front page, There's a message from @scottydog. Such a shame, it was a great shop. Hopefully their suppliers aren't too negatively impacted and can either reclaim goods or payment.
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Tue 7-06-16 11:34; edited 1 time in total
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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and everything in the shop is zero stock. all very sad. Almost feel a bit dirty having just taken advantage of the 25% off coupon - the bindings were already half price before the voucher!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Nowt in stock now really apart from the odd glove. Shame...as they were just down the road from us. Good service. Mr P and I spent a few hundred quid there over the last few years. Though I confess I never bought skis there. Nearest ski shops to us now are probably Slush and Rubble in Brighton or Chertsey.
I can't help but think that the cost of trying to be "high profile" came at the expense of profit, with increasingly tiny margins in what is such a price sensitive business (Yes, I have bought skis from Blue Tomato and boots at Snowinn..shame on me!). Being based on a small trading estate in a village in West Sussex meant limited passing trade too.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Such a shame for any business to go into admin. To work hard and then have to watch your business close must be heart breaking.
So is there any future for independent ski shops? And does this closure reflect a trend of declining numbers? Its weird that as my family and I are really getting into skiing there seems to be lowered numbers overall, is it because less people own their own gear?
Living in Kinross means we go up to Glenshee when we can so we all own our own kit now as renting doesn't make sense but maybe more people hire on holiday nowadays?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Sadly I think the future is bleak for these shops .... market too small and unless you live locally what's the difference between buying from Telemark Pyrenees, Bergzeit or Conrad. Sure Edge and Wax is UK and the others in Europe but its still an internet order.
Still a market for the small niche specialist .... but the others need to be selling lots of kit all year round so need a much broader product range.
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And yet... Spyderjon's little ski-tuning 'hobby' forced him to go part time in his day job, then leave it altogether to set up The Piste Office in the village Post Office, which seems to be ticking over rather nicely.
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@davidhammy , I agree about the independent ski shops, the best by far is Freeze Pro in Edinburgh me thinks. There was a place in Dundee I was told about that also recently went under. Ran by a bunch of absolute cowboys but it was an independent shop that sold (pretty crap) gear, another one bites the dust.
My uncle stays down there and used to use it, said some kit was ok but way too far for a trip from Inverness for me, so it's online all the way!
How long does it take to hit Glenshee from you, not go to Aviemore? @PBJ,
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When we all started out Aviemore was where used to travel to as we felt the experience was better in the town/lodge etc but we have found the queues in Cairngorm just sooooo long we gave up and headed to Glenshee instead, not the same vibe but as it's bigger we seem to get more skiing done but we have ventured elsewhere and Glencoe was good fun this winter and we fancy trying out one of those old things next year if I can convince my wife that outdoor lavies are the way to go..
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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finches in forest hill london is great shop very good selection of hard and soft goods .will order bits in if you have specific needs .full ski servicing and terrific service
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admin wrote: |
And yet... Spyderjon's little ski-tuning 'hobby' forced him to go part time in his day job, then leave it altogether to set up The Piste Office in the village Post Office, which seems to be ticking over rather nicely. |
Agreed, but then it is all about the service, and Jon provides a cracking one!!
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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SkiBartlett in Hillingdon and Anything Technical in Kendal are great with very good service.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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davidhammy wrote: |
So is there any future for independent ski shops? And does this closure reflect a trend of declining numbers? Its weird that as my family and I are really getting into skiing there seems to be lowered numbers overall, is it because less people own their own gear?
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Some seem to be doing well - Black Sheep Sports in Munich just moved their shop from a basement to a much nicer location in Munich's French Quarter, which I understand is one of the nicer (more expensive? no idea personally) parts of the city.
They concentrate on selling niche/indie freeride/style skis which are otherwise hard to get hold of in Europe (unusual as it's a pretty tiny segment of the market) and boot fitting: http://www.blacksheepsports.de
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clarky999 wrote: |
davidhammy wrote: |
So is there any future for independent ski shops? And does this closure reflect a trend of declining numbers? Its weird that as my family and I are really getting into skiing there seems to be lowered numbers overall, is it because less people own their own gear?
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Some seem to be doing well - Black Sheep Sports in Munich just moved their shop from a basement to a much nicer location in Munich's French Quarter, which I understand is one of the nicer (more expensive? no idea personally) parts of the city.
They concentrate on selling niche/indie freeride/style skis which are otherwise hard to get hold of in Europe (unusual as it's a pretty tiny segment of the market) and boot fitting: http://www.blacksheepsports.de |
I don't know too much about the German market as I was more talking about the UK market but glad to hear an independent doing well.
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You know it makes sense.
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Best indie ski shop in Otley W.yorks Glide &Slide, is still going strong. Family business with Internet sales - couldn't manage without them and their great service Have been known to call in on my way to the airport for an extra pair of gloves or socks 😀
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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I have to put in a shout for Snowtrax. They seem to go from strength to strength and their service is every bit as good as Scott's was. Colin has just installed two new magic carpets for beginners, the shop & bar have just been improved and the kids Alpine play park is being extended (looks like they are building a pirate ship ).
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Poster: A snowHead
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Baxter Sports in Stirling is thriving Alain is an incredible boot fitter, Freeze Pro and Boardwise in Edinburgh are doing very well too. There are plenty of interdependent ski shops thriving in the UK. They all cater very well for their local markets up here as do the smaller shops like Banks of Perth.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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So with Edge and Wax gone, are there any good independents left in Sussex or am I now stuck with Snow & Rock in Brighton?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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@RichClark,http://www.snowlab.co.uk/
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@vipul, Thanks - is that a recommendation or a Google based on location? I had heard to them, but don't know anyone that uses them.
Cheers
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@RichClark, snowlab is a good solid store giving great advice, I know Ed who owns it pretty well, hopefully he will have in increase in trade due to recent events rather than it all going to the chains and abroad
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@CEM, thanks CEM, nice to have a recommendation. I've always tried to support local/independent or at the very least domestic so I'm sure I'll use them.
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So I've lost about £400, thanks to them going bust ! Don't usually venture on here in the summer but due to my skis never turning up, I tried calling them today, disgusting in my opinion as I only called them the other week...
I also ordered some bindings to be fitted to said skis, which they mistakenly sent to me, so I posted them back to be fitted to the skis.
Absolutely fuming now
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@2planks, did you pay by credit card?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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For the skis yes, but not the bindings, which I sent back to them, so they effectively have stolen them !
I even called them three weeks ago and was told the skis were still in the warehouse, lying scum !
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Oh no. You may still find that the credit card company will still cover it? Not 100% but certainly you get the credit protection on a holiday even if you only pay the deposit by credit card.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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@2planks, if you have paid for the bindings i would struggle to see how they are not yours. I would advise contacting the administrators. Keep any documents you may have the prove they belong to you
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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@2planks, upsetting but in no way are edge and wax lying scum. The skis might well have been in the warehouse but once they had to stop trading then that was that. Scott and his team were decent people whose business and jobs have just gone down the pan. There are no winners in this situation.
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The Administrators are Begbies Traynor in Brighton and their contact is Chris Hopper on 01273 322960 or christopher.hopper at Begbies-Traynor.com
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You know it makes sense.
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holidayloverxx wrote: |
@2planks, upsetting but in no way are edge and wax lying scum.......Scott and his team were decent people whose business and jobs have just gone down the pan. There are no winners in this situation. |
So when I (and I'm presuming other suppliers as well) received correspondence from E&W reassuring me that my invoice would be paid soon & which then never materialised is that not a lie? The rumour in the trade is that they went down owning £500k-£1m against a recent turnover of £1.7m. If that's true then they must have been well in the $hit for some time. And when they placed an order with me they must have been in so deep in that one could speculate that they new they probably wouldn't be able to pay. It may not be illegal but IMO it's immoral.
And it's a real pi$$ take that whilst I'm in correspondence with the Administrators re monies owed that the business owner is posting pics of his holiday in San Francisco on Facebook
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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@spyderjon, hmmm..that is galling. I can only say what my experience was of scott going the extra mile for me more than once.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I see on facebook he says he took the holiday as his insurance claim was denied....doesn't make it right though. A low profile or decent privacy settings might have been a good idea rather than publicly showing what a good time he's having
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@holidayloverxx, They did lie to me, as when asked whether I was prepared to wait for the skis, I replied yes. No refund offered, unlike other customers I see on the Google reviews, also they could of posted my bindings back to me as legally they were mine.
All they had to do, was to be honest and tell me they could not get hold of the skis but no, they kept my money and that is dishonest.
I'm contemplating calling the police over the bindings, pathetic, I know but will make me feel better, especially if the owner can afford holidays to San Fran.
Oh and thanks spyderjon, small beer compared to what you are trying to recover.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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On the contrary, I had some very good experience with E&W right up to the last remaining days. They sent me the replacement Quiver Killer binding screws (they gave me the wrong type of screws) and refunded my VAT (for the bindings I bought) only days before they went down.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Would that be the same Quiver Killer screws that they had not paid @spyderjon, for.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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spyderjon wrote: |
...................when they placed an order with me they must have been in so deep in that one could speculate that they new they probably wouldn't be able to pay. |
IF you can prove that at the time of the order the directors knew that the company wasn't able to meet its liabilities as they arose, then the directors can be personally liable.
It's a very big IF though.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@2planks, how far are you from them? You could always pop down with your receipt and pick em up.
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Mosha Marc wrote: |
@2planks, how far are you from them? You could always pop down with your receipt and pick em up. |
I'm down that way next week, surely they are closed, as website and phone off the air !
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They have administrators in, so there will be a skeleton staff dealing with stuff - mainly trying to get money in that's due to them and flogging off anything they can.
They tend to be fairly pragmatic, so if you wave receipts you're likely to get your bindings. Wave some more cash and you could get those skis for less!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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Be quick. They will sell anything thats not nailed down to anyone so hopefully your property has not already gone. Good luck.
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Perhaps stake your claim to the administrators.
This arrived just this morning.
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