 Poster: A snowHead
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Hi, this is my first post and I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right area.
Anyhow I just wanted to sing the praises of Ski Bartlett in Hillingdon. I was looking for a new par of ski boots and I new with my extra wide feet and big calves that it would be a problem. I spent over 10 hours over 2 days with Phil at Ski Bartlett, who in the end got me a pair of Atomics to fit. His patience and professionalism is something rarely found these days...if you need some boots it's worth the journey.
Paul
A very satisfied customer
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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nice to hear about service good enough for you to register and start a thread about it. bears out my experience of them
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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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Lots of stuff there. Really good if you know what you want. Advice and service? Mixed reports from my many contacts.
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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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I bought a pair of skis off them recently. They got the binding mounting wrong, which was a pain, but anyone can make a genuine mistake. To their credit they made a big effort to get it sorted quickly. So I would have no problem using them again.
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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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Could someone give me an example of pricing of such services. If the boot costs 300 pounds, or say 400 euro, how much would such an amount of time spent on the boots cost? Or how much would it take in a "normal" case?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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To my surprise I wasn't charged any extra...however I did leave a tip, particularly as they stayed open an extra hour to sort out my boots as I'm off this weekend. The cost of the boots were also below Snow & Rock and Ellis Brigham.
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I went in and got a new pair of footbeds for my boots (£35). It took about thirty minutes of tech time over a 90 minute period and a cup of coffee. I guess there is a mark-up on the 'beds of 100%, so the time has to be taken out of that £17.50. Or, it works as a loss-leader of sorts. Either way, excellent service.
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demos, generally ski and boot retailers don't charge for the time and only charge for the materials when offering the service of fitting boots. A specialist boot fitter quite rightly will charge for their time and effort as you will have gone to them for their professional expertise in getting things just right, when a high street retailer might fail to.
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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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Bought race skis for my daughter there and I can't fault the service. Besides, I don't need much of an excuse to hang out in an Aladdin's cave like that.
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slikedges, thanks, this is what I was after. I wouldn't expect a pro to sit with me for an hour and a half - not to speak of two days - for free. So if the pure boot is 400 euro, I could expect a fitting fee on top of that of 150 euro?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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demos, in the UK it depends on where you go. If you go to an outdoor/winter sports gear shop like Ellis Brigham or Snow & Rock, even if their "boot-fitter" sits with you for 1.5 hours, you won't be charged extra. However their boot-fitter may be quite good if you're lucky or quite not good if you're not! If you go somewhere like Solutions 4 Feet or Profeet you'll quite reasonably be charged for their specialist assessments and time. Various technical assessment packages may cost £50-£100, plus £50-£75 per hour for any work done on the boots. A small price to get it right if you've had problems before. Dunno how things are done in Athens though. 
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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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I've never bought boots outside Finland where I originate. However, they tend to sell things too large and bootfitting is by and large unknown apart from very few specialists. 
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You know it makes sense.
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I get some boots here recently. A mate of mine said they were excellent so I took a punt and drove 40 mins to see what they were like. If I were you I would ring ahead to see how busy they are because they do get very busy. The owner, I think he is called Terry was a great bloke with a Father Christmas like beard! He fitted my boots for me, he was simply excellent and he kept on asking questions on how the boots fitted and was happy to try all sorts of techniques to make boots comfortable. After 3 hours I finally found the boots that were for me, I was tired by the end, he must have been, anyway he kept the shop open an hour longer after closing time!
The boots I bought were a few seasons old but they were the best ones I tried. I didn’t realise how long it took to find the right boots. I really do think that boots should, first and foremost, be comfortable then look good, you really do need a specialist boot fitter in my opinion so you aren’t in agony or your skis aren’t all over the place!
I wasn’t charged for the three hours labour cost which is pretty awesome, I checked out Pro-feet in Fulham as they were nearer but they charged £159 for a two hour fitting session, so that can be added to a price of already expensive boots.
He made some insoles which were £40 and I used some ski socks in the shop which were £20, a small price to pay for his expertise. He said he had been there since the 1960’s!
He didn’t pressurise me to buy any particular boots and he was a pleasant experience. I got home and he unfortunately forgot to put in the allen key for the boots so I drove back the next day, he offered to give me a cool boot bag worth quite a lot for returning but I couldn’t take it!
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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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| Quote: |
I get some boots here recently. A mate of mine said they were excellent so I took a punt and drove 40 mins to see what they were like. If I were you I would ring ahead to see how busy they are because they do get very busy. The owner, I think he is called Terry was a great bloke with a Father Christmas like beard! He fitted my boots for me, he was simply excellent and he kept on asking questions on how the boots fitted and was happy to try all sorts of techniques to make boots comfortable. After 3 hours I finally found the boots that were for me, I was tired by the end, he must have been, anyway he kept the shop open an hour longer after closing time!
The boots I bought were a few seasons old but they were the best ones I tried. I didn’t realise how long it took to find the right boots. I really do think that boots should, first and foremost, be comfortable then look good, you really do need a specialist boot fitter in my opinion so you aren’t in agony or your skis aren’t all over the place!
I wasn’t charged for the three hours labour cost which is pretty awesome, I checked out Pro-feet in Fulham as they were nearer but they charged £159 for a two hour fitting session, so that can be added to a price of already expensive boots.
He made some insoles which were £40 and I used some ski socks in the shop which were £20, a small price to pay for his expertise. He said he had been there since the 1960’s!
He didn’t pressurise me to buy any particular boots and he was a pleasant experience. I got home and he unfortunately forgot to put in the allen key for the boots so I drove back the next day, he offered to give me a cool boot bag worth quite a lot for returning but I couldn’t take it!
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greyhoundIII looks like you've also found the benefits of using Ski Bartlett. It's been 4 years since I started this thread and although I've moved to a different area I still try and visit the 'Aladin's Cave' every so often. Next year I'll be in the market for new boots, I know I'll be getting them from 'Father Christmas'.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Just thought I'd bump the thread, having run into the shop at 1:30, handed them a broken boot requiring a replacement part, and a pair of braces that had broken before I got to use them.
Within 30 minutes they'd replaced the missing part from the boot, out of their stock (how much kit must they have back there?!) for a tenner and found a better pair of braces with more sturdy buckles to suit my, erm, slightly all-mountain shape (a bit fat in the middle) swapping the first pair without so much as a quibble.
Nice work once again. They even checked all the other fittings on the boots, some of which were fairly loose as well and needed tightening up properly. And I was back at my desk just after 2. I was expecting a "we'll have to get the bit from the manufacturer, it will be £20, plus fitting, and will take us a couple of weeks" response, well above expectation for any shop to sort it all out for me in a few minutes while I waited.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Monium wrote: |
| t my, erm, slightly all-mountain shape |
There's a companion to take on a flight over the Andes . . . nom nom nom 
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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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Masque, if you've ever seen Monium when he's hungry you wouldn't want to be in the Andes with him. 
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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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Thumbs up for Ski Bartlett. Their service and knowledge is great.
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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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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Just ordered a pair of mcconkey pontoons from them for only 199 pounds. Bargain.
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FAQ
