 Poster: A snowHead
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At Snow and Rock Bristol at least!
I took my all mountain skis into S+R for a base grind and edge sharpen on Friday the 28th, wanted them cleaned up before heading to Austria this Monday. I did this because I didn't have the time to work on them myself and it seemed like less hassle to get it done there than drop them into Ellis Brighams in the centre of town because parking is a serious hassle near their shop. This being despite the fact EB had done a superb job on a pair of skis for me last season. I also had the option of getting them done for free at Gloucester Ski Slope but again that could be a hassle to pick up this last week so it seemed easier to get S+R to do them even though I had to pay.
So far so good, except the earliest they told me I could pick them up was today, a total of 9 days later! Anyway, I was advised a basic service would do the job despite my making it clear I wanted the bases properly ground to take off anything standing proud of the surface. I have another coupl of weeks worth of on snow skiing before the season ends and Ptexing etc is something I can do in a few weeks time or I can get the tech at Gloucester to do - as far as I'm concerned the skis are running great anyway, I just wanted some basic maintenance and the edges done.
Picked them up today and was surprised to find that very little, if any, grinding looked to have been done - it looked to me as if a basic edge sharpen and wax (flouro I believe  ) had been done. When I suggested this I was handed over to the manager, who I have to say like a politician argued very well, but took nothing I said on board. According to him a basic service was what I got, when I pointed out I wasn't interested in a basic service or whatever but had asked for specific jobs to be done it didn't seem to register and I gave up after a while. To give him his due he offered to gring the bases 'again', which he did in less than 5 minutes (why the hell this job took 9 days I do not know) and produced results far closer to what I was expecting in the first place. However I have left the shop with a very sour taste in my mouth and absolutely will not, even if there seems like no other option which it did this time, take any of my skis back there for any sort of work.
The moral is don't take your equipment into shops like S+R Bristol that don't listen to individual customer requests and do this kind of work on a conveyor belt basis. EB last time I had a service there used their on the site tech to do the skis and he talked to me about exactly what I wanted, which I got and more, and did some proper hot waxing on the skis too - it was out of season so a one off job and I'm not sure if this is their usual service but I was very impressed at the time.
Oh, it snowed when I got back home with them which was nice 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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roga, Just interested why you wanted the skis ground when they were running great? I know you didn't get what you wanted but usually the problem with shop tuning is them performing grinds that aren't required.
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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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| spyderjon wrote: |
| roga, Just interested why you wanted the skis ground when they were running great? |
Surface scratches and some deeper ones - thought I might as well get a grind to get rid of the cosmetic scratches and take off the rougher edges of the deeper ones. As far as I was concerned there were no problems with the skis in use apart from the edges getting a wee bit blunt.
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| I know you didn't get what you wanted but usually the problem with shop tuning is them performing grinds that aren't required. |
Yes, that's what surprised me to be honest because I've heard this from others. If they had bothered to grind them (and I don't think they had) the grind had had very little affect indeed apart from to clean off some wax, most if not all of the scratches were still there as well as signs of old wax (I use the graphite stuff and the black steaks of graphite were still apparent on some areas of the base. When the manager did a grind after my complaints the skis were far better, actually about what I expected in the first place.
What now rankles is the way he handled it, making out I'd made an error in asking for a basic service, which I hadn't, I told them what I wanted and they assured me a basic would cover it, despite my being obviously sceptical and that they'd done me a favour by grinding the bases, which they hadn't!. He also told me they'd done me a favour by grinding the base because a basic didn't cover a grind, well thinking about it they hadn't done the base grind at all because it was a basic, he did that after I'd expressed my dissatisfaction at the job they'd done. Despite that he told me what I needed was a full service and ptex but that wasn't what they'd advised and, to be honest, I can do ptex myself and don't consider even the deeper scratches as desperately needing that at the moment - sorry to shock you by saying that spyderjon 
Thinking about it it seems to me the problem here is that I asked for one thing, their staff advised me wrongly and put me down for the basic service, and their tech did just that, namely an edge sharpen and wax. What was unnecessary was for their manager to then effectively blame me for asking for the basic service, but at least he did then grind the base so I now have the result I wanted.
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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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Was there at no point any conceivable indication that you actually agreed to 'basic service'?
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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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^ Not sure what constitutes agreement but I guess yeah.
A rough transcript as follows (I remember it well actually because I was reluctant to accept a basic service but foolishly deferred to their assurances):
After I explained what I wanted they said "all of that's covered by a basic service", I said (having a sneaking suspicion it wasn't) "are you sure?", they said "Yes", I said "well if you're sure I'll get the base grind and edge sharpen then that's fine", they said "yes, and you'll get a wax", I said "not bothered about the wax, can do that myself so don't bother", they said "but the flouro wax will act as a base for your waxing" (not sure that's correct btw) and I said , "whatever, as long as I get the edges and bases done".
I then got a piece of paper saying they were doing a basic service and that's what I got - 9 days and no base grind included!
Anyway, I'm writing a letter (to be printed and posted) to their head office explaining why I'm a wee bit miffed, this is actually the second time I've had service there that's below par, but last time they didn't have the cheek to blame me lol - at the very least writing it is therapeutic! 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The fluoro bit is bollox but getting a grind for cosmetic reasons is unnecessarily removing life from your skis as well as the wax within the lost material. You only need a grind if your bases are high/low, or the base edges are knackered or the structure is worn out. At this time of the season with the spring conditions a few battle scars on the base adds to the structure.
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roga, How much did they charge you for the Basic then how much for a grind ?
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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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Dwarf Vader, basic was £18, the grind today was free 'coz they wanted to get rid of me and my moaning on at them
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roga, bargain on the Grind then
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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