 Poster: A snowHead
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I hear through the grapevine (well their website) that Surefoot are heading towards London. Anyone know where their shop will be.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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tailskidder, Any shop is only as good as it's bootfitters, "Surefire" Marketting. Profeet and Lockwoods shouldn't worry, in my experience this should only strengthen their plight. This could be treated as "McDonalds" coming to Llamberis. 
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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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Smallzookeeper -
I always thought it was the quality of the boot press 
I've seen good bootfitters make a mess of a boot because they (the shop owners) haven't invested in the right kit. That said I have seen (S&R EB etc) produce some good boot fits because they make a reasonable job with the good tools at hand.
Now a good boot fitter with a good workshop and a decent range (and size depth) of boots, spares and some good engineering skills is just perfect. (Profeets and CEM's of this world)
Finally - anyone who offers a Big Mac and a few glasses of fine Merlot while fitting fitting my boots also scores highly in my books
Now - does anyone know where Sorefoot 'whoops' Surefoot is opening in London?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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tailskidder, No decent bootfitter would undertake a job with any tools, unless he\she could get the job done right. Could a poor bootfitter get the job done well given a great workshop? No, i've worked with those whom prove it. Surefoot's sucsess will be based on the quality of their staff, and then it's XY or Z who does the work, not Surefoot. Put a Shite Chef in a good kitchen and what do you get?
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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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Put a Shite Chef in a good kitchen and what do you get?
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Poo A la Mode?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Who is this X,Y and Z? Do I know them ?
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That Xavier.... 
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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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Smallzookeeper
I agree - but I haven't worked in Utopia
I understand where your coming from but the real world isn't like that - having worked for almost 20 years both north and southern hemisphere’s I can assure you not every resort has good workshops - but skiers still have the same foot/boot problems
Try and get a good work shop in Argentina/Chile/Andorra - even in some small French/Swiss and Austria resorts let alone small ski fields in NZ/Aus/Spain it's impossible.
I worked in Las Lenas during the 90's, you could have super rich Americans (who could buy the resort on there credit cards) - But if they where in agony it was practically impossible to help - but help you would. (Yes this might mean boiling the shell in a large pot in the kitchen, stealing the chefs knifes to cut the liners, making friends with the guys in the Pistey Beasty shed for silicon, making insoles/footbeds from layers of duck tape.). Therefore I would suggest that a decent boot fitter could work with many things and would do his best for the client - not ignore their plight because you do not have the right tools.
Alleviate 50% of pain – is still alleviating 50% the pain.
But a good chef in a road side cafe with burger flipper and a dozen eggs you'll get great omelette but it isn't going to be Cordon Blue is it? But there again you won’t starve.
Now where is that marketing giant Suerfoot opening in London –
PS Smallzookeeper – I am sure you agree with the above and I am not getting at you or anyone – but a good pair of ears and limitless imagination are the best tools a bootfitter could ever own.
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tailskidder, I agree with some of what you said above, but, IS LONDON A SKI RESORT? You're not getting at me Sinbad. There are i'm sure good guys working for Surefoot around the world, i know of some, but i reitterate, it's those guys that are good, not Surefoot, WH Smiths or any other sign outside a shop. Therefore to Answer your original question, I don't know where Surefoot are opening in London and without good bootfitters, why should anyone care?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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This is weird... I suspect I am missing the subtext here. Is surefoot a franchise operation? Do they have a bad rep? Can they @rse things up worse than S&R and EB etc? Is there something about their products we should know?
Ideally people would only ever buy boots in resort, but it is a risk, and I have seen reputable fitters in resort who do not have particular sizes by early March, and for many skiers what happens is buy in the UK, and sort the b@st@rds out in resort.
My next boots will be from Lockwoods by the way, but what if you live in Penzance?
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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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SMALLZOOKEEPER,
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IS LONDON A SKI RESORT?
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Is Bicester or Leamington Spa one?
Like you say though, It is the person using the tools, rather than the tools themselves, that counts.
Why London? Answer: MONEY.
I'll stick to CEM.
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stoatsbrother, Spyderman, No London's not a ski resort  it was in reply to the tread title and poster using their resort expierence to add some kind of Weight to this post. I have nothing against Surefoot or any other Retail Group. However, my boss opened a second Footworks and due to incontinuity, has damaged our shop a little. Above and beyond all, i guess my point has to be, forget the brand, S&R, Brighams or Surefoot, whatever, it's the Bootfitters expierence that will decide if any store is a sucsess or not. If some of this site's Bootfitters were working at "FISH-FEET" then left to work at "HORSE and PONY" would you follow the tradesman or continue using the store with another guy/gal? Surefoot might work in London, but they'll have to find better guys than Profeet or get the guys from Profeet to defect. Either way, it's about the people not the Marketting. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Spyderman, Are you going to Bicester or Leamington Spa, or to see Colin or John's Team?
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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 for one will despair.
I already see countless Brits here, who have been badly fitted in the UK by stores with more marketing power than bootfitting skills.
I regularly fish out footbeds that look worse than limp lettuce, badly sized boots, awful cuff alignment etc.
"But they had really state-of-the art equipment that they used to analyse my feet" they cry.
With all the fancy toys and gadgets that large outfits have, customers are more inclined to get the impression that they are getting a first class fitting service.
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Poster: A snowHead
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So how do we stop this?
I think we all would agree that there are all sorts of twits doing all sorts of bizarre things to feet in the UK, (and also elsewhere - I got sold a pretty bizarre pair of boots in Sydney once and got sorted by someone at Vail). I don't believe I can recall seeing in any ski mag of any description a report of what happened when a mystery shopper (say... a Zookeeper...) went into a mainstream UK ski shop. Outside those who look here and on other forums and know that you should go to Profeet/lockwoods/precision/footworks etc how is yer average punter to know? I suspect it isn't just about training or experience, and that there are some people in resort shops who the locals quietly avoid and have been making the same mistakes for years...
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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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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SMALLZOOKEEPER,
I've been sorted by Colin at Solutions4feet, so has Mrs. and now the Boywonder has seen Colin, had the consultation, Colin organised the boots from Bartletts and then back to Bicester, to make them fit. A lot of time & miles, but the end result is worth all the trouble and every penny. Especially since I teach at Hemel, where there is a S&R on site.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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While I symphathise with the artisans on here I can't see why Surefoot in Central London wouldn't be a great success. Some decent marketing , a few column inches in the weekend travel supplements and hey presto an endless stream of punters who think there ought to be something better than bullshooters working in slush & rubble but wouldn't necessarily follow an individual bootfitter.
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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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Talking to one of the staff in their place in Courchevel a couple of weeks ago they haven't sorted the location yet. Aiming to open in Autumn (well, they said "fall").
Staff member was slightly worried he might end up having to sort their mistakes - would be interesting to know how they compensate branches for that sort of thing, would be hard to do if it is a franchise, I would think.
NB they already have one in NYC, which I suppose has the same set of problems.
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Thanks JD
I guess she'll have to wait and see - mind you wouldn't you rather be in the Alps sorting out Londons mistakes rather than being in London sorting out all the european franchise mistakes. Staffing will be a huge problem - maybe they will send time in the alps and london
Compenstation - interesting but i'll leave that with their senior management team to deal with.
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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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SMALLZOOKEEPER, Surefoot, never 'erd of 'em - is it a kind of Goat?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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dme, no, it's an insurance company for walkers.
eSurefoot is their web division (which is for ducks, and other web-footed creatures)
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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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You rang?
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You know it makes sense.
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Skiing with a client for the past 2 days........ boot problems....... recent purchase at Sorefoot Vail.....
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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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Surefoot doesn't have a positive rep here in Colorado. But, as SZK says, it's not the store, but the individuals. Of course, Surefoot offers a lifetime, worldwide guarantee, and that leads a lot of people to buy from them as a result. I'll stick with Jeff Bergeron--who doesn't even sell boots--myself.
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FAQ
She cannot afford to fly back to Verb - I am sure the guys made a genuine mistake; the foam just went down one side of her left boot. Her right boot fits perfectly.
jong! Love it.