 Poster: A snowHead
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Hadn't believed the doom & gloom on threads on here about the demise of S&R until this morning
Been to S&R at ChillFactore Manchester with clear plan to spend £s (expecting to spend > £500) - knew exactly which skis I wanted having spec it on website etc - there was even the opportunity to upsell me some new boots that were in sale!
What a bunch of muppets! ... Having waited 15 mins for initial contact with sales team ... They couldn't help ... I then waited 40 minutes for "specialist" sales person to come & see me ... I gave up after 40 mins having been promised "10 minutes" ... "10 minutes" three times ... There were lots of staff just that they weren't doing anything !
Absolute rubbish!
Rant over
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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feck em - though to be fair the busiest Saturday of the winter (inmmediately pre half term) isn't the day to expect lots of love and attention.
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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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My thoughts after 40 minutes ... to be clear though - there were loads of staff just none of them trained ... as I was there one guy shouted to another to give him guidance how to do initial fitting of ski boots ... another suggested that there was no difference between boots size 29 ... and 29.5 ? ... apparently its a con & makers do not do half sizes ? - first I knew about it
Just feels like it is sliding into the poo !
Lodas of stock & not many buyers too ... so look out for the sale - if you can bear the poor service
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I would suggest popping down the road 15 min to S&R Didsbury, or 25 min to Rivington Alpine. To be fair, popping in on both a Sat + on their test day isn't a recipe for getting the right level of attention.
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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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Forgive me .. you are right .. I thought they were a retailer what nonsense ... it was Saturday and their test day ... I am sure the administrator (I can only assume it is not far away!) will be very sympathetic. They need to wake up & get real - EB are far better at service
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Suggesting alternatives. It's like expecting a butchers to be quiet on Christmas eve..
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Phyllis Stein, 29 and 29.5 boot shells are indeed likely to be the same size, (with Scarpa it is I thing 28.5 and 29.0) even the liners mat be the same it could simply be that the foot plates on the 29 are thicker than the 29.5 those are the rigid plates that sit inside the boot beneath the liner.
However not being served even if the store is busy does seem stupid
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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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Thanks D G Orf, - thought the shells may be but thought the liners would differ - surely there is more difference between a 29.0 & 29.5 than a sticker on the box .. although maybe not.
Not sure that Ashley goes for the higher end retailer ... but cannot see how they are making any profit
trickygibbon, the shop was not busy .. just staffed with 1 "specialist" & 5 muppets 
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Phyllis Stein,
Not sure that Ashley goes for the higher end retailer ... but cannot see how they are making any profit
He already owns 10 percent of Salomon/Atomic (through Amer sports) He has had a SERIOUS look at House of Fraser and not forgetting that he bought Lillywhites. I think you can safely say that if he saw a profit, Snow and Rock would be right up his street and the fact that it's high end is what would make it even more appealing.
Watch this space......
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I once worked in an outdoor shop. Weekends in high season were a nightmare, we were run off our feet and we could only give a few minutes attention to each customer - while I was trying to explain pros and cons of a product to one, other customers would be barging in trying to get my attention. However at 10am on a Tuesday, we were bored out of our brains and more than happy to spend a couple of hours with the most picky gear-freak punter.
500 quid to spend? I'd take the morning off work and go shopping midweek.
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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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| Phyllis Stein wrote: |
Thanks D G Orf, - thought the shells may be but thought the liners would differ - surely there is more difference between a 29.0 & 29.5 than a sticker on the box .. although maybe not.
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I know that I will probably get stick for commenting however I wanted to clear this sentence up, Yes there is a difference between the 29.0 and 29.5 depending on the manufacturer the shells between full sizes and half sizes are the same, whether it is a 29.0 and 29.5 that share the same shell or the 28.5 and 29 depends on the manufacturer. The liner is different in them though they differ in shape and amount of padding
Kx
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| Phyllis Stein wrote: |
What a bunch of muppets! ... Having waited 15 mins for initial contact with sales team ... They couldn't help ... I then waited 40 minutes for "specialist" sales person to come & see me ... I gave up after 40 mins having been promised "10 minutes" ... "10 minutes" three times ... There were lots of staff just that they weren't doing anything !
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This kinda treatment absolutely winds me up. If a store cannot cope then they should hire more staff, simples. When assistants stand around or talk to each other when customers are waiting simply infuriates me, and i make sure the boss knows it.
It these assistants could not help this guy with his specific request then they should have at least tried to assist him with something else while he was waiting, perhaps make him a drink, help him browse the range or even just talk to him.
You will regularly see me storm out of shops if i do not get looked after, my money gets spent elsewhere
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You know it makes sense.
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[quote="Phyllis Stein" EB are far better at service[/quote]
If you are referring to the one in Manchester centre I totally agree, however I have I had similar experience to yours when I have visited EB at the various snow domes. They seem to be staffed with weekend staff who know nothing about the products they sell, whereas EB in Manchester has been there longer than I can remember and the staff are very knowledgeable.
The outlet they used to have at ski rossendale sometimes had some excellent gear at about 25% RRP
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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: |
Yes there is a difference between the 29.0 and 29.5 depending on the manufacturer the shells between full sizes and half sizes are the same, whether it is a 29.0 and 29.5 that share the same shell or the 28.5 and 29 depends on the manufacturer. The liner is different in them though they differ in shape and amount of padding
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Rubbish, there you go!
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Poster: A snowHead
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Worrying that this was stated by a boot fitter at S&R !
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Phyllis Stein, ummm, any decent boot fitter (yes, I know you were after skis but principle applies) is by appointment only in busy periods.
Why didn't you just say I want to buy whatever, surely they don't need a specialist to scan a bar code?
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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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| Corduroy wrote: |
| Phyllis Stein wrote: |
What a bunch of muppets! ... Having waited 15 mins for initial contact with sales team ... They couldn't help ... I then waited 40 minutes for "specialist" sales person to come & see me ... I gave up after 40 mins having been promised "10 minutes" ... "10 minutes" three times ... There were lots of staff just that they weren't doing anything !
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This kinda treatment absolutely winds me up. If a store cannot cope then they should hire more staff, simples. When assistants stand around or talk to each other when customers are waiting simply infuriates me, and i make sure the boss knows it.
It these assistants could not help this guy with his specific request then they should have at least tried to assist him with something else while he was waiting, perhaps make him a drink, help him browse the range or even just talk to him.
You will regularly see me storm out of shops if i do not get looked after, my money gets spent elsewhere |
Retailers have to make hard decisions if they want to stay in business these days. I don't think its financially viable to have a enough staff on probably the busiest day of the year. How many boot/ski fitters would they have needed ? 5, 6, even more ? Because of the training they would need to employ them full time, that means a extra wage bill of 75k per year, that would pretty much wipe out the profit on the hardwear for that store.
The idea that any old staff member should have come and helped you is just as stupid. Imagine a well meaning but untrained/inexperienced member of shop staff came to give you advice, you could easily spend £500 on gear that's unsuitable and you would be even more unhappy than you are now. I would agree that they should try and cross train more staff, but I bet most of the ones standing around yesterday were part timers doing 1 or 2 shifts a week.
I don't have connection with S&R, but I do think its important that you have realistic expectations.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Clearly we can all have opinion - yours differs from mine though
My logic is ... it may have been the busiest day of the year (BTW the store wasn't that busy) but the service was still poor & given the economic climate I would have thought that S&R should at least try to take peoples £s.
I knew what I was buying by the way ... & I am not as "stupid" as you suggest landlockedpirate - it was a question of taking a quick order & noting some (already taken) measurements .. oh & some cash
I agree under a new name ... boot fitting by appointment ...
Point of the thread (rant) was to highlight to S&R / others my experience ... frankly if S&R don't want my £s there are plenty of other businesses that do ...
My expectations are realistic landlockedpirate BTW - If S&R cannot get a member of staff to deal with a simple request in a major store in a major city - they have some problems.
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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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| Phyllis Stein wrote: |
| another suggested that there was no difference between boots size 29 ... and 29.5 ? ... apparently its a con & makers do not do half sizes ? - first I knew about it |
That's true. Turn a pair over and look at the base, it will be marked in .0 and .5.
In the giant sizes such as 32 , 33 and 34, one shell often does three sizes.
Even with the difference in liners they wil be padded out after a few weeks skiing, so in the end they are exactly the same.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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Sounds like Harwoods Audi who couldn`t be bothered to phone me back today, to arrange an appointment to potentially spend £ 40 000 !!
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| albinomountainbadger wrote: |
| Phyllis Stein wrote: |
| another suggested that there was no difference between boots size 29 ... and 29.5 ? ... apparently its a con & makers do not do half sizes ? - first I knew about it |
That's true... |
+1 !!!
It is a con, but the plastic moulding tool costs are too high to make a new shell for every size.
Using a thicker inner boot to make up the difference is NOT a good substitute for an correctly fitting shell - it is no better than wearing an extra pair of socks - worse in fact because after a few weeks skiing the extra padding on the inner boot will have compressed.
That is why a good boot fitter will also have you try your foot in the shell without the inner boot. This way you can find the best shell for your foot size and shape. You may not end up with the boot brand you lusted after, but you will get the best boot for your feet.
And all this takes time, so it's better to choose a day when the shop is quiet.
It's worth taking time on bootfitting because having a less than perfect boot will p*ss you off every day of your ski holiday for the next 10 years.
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For those sticking up for S&R I'd like to say the following, in the past I have walked in to very busy alpine resort sports shops again with only a single experienced boot fitter and again on busy days, on both occasions there were people ahead of me in the queue to see the boot fitter, on both occasions I was told there would be a delay whilst the person or people ahead of me were dealt with I was asked if I could wait, offered a seat and asked if I would like anything to drink, the fact that the other shop staff were polite and courteous meant I waited my turn and didn't go to one of the two other ski shops in the village, because I'd been introduced to the boot fitter he knew I was waiting and as soon as the person in front of me was at a stage where he could come and start dealing with me he did, this is called courtesy and efficiency, it is how a well run shop deals with a member of the public, you don't leave them standing around for more than 40 mins whilst telling them 10 mins, 10 mins, 10 mins.
Sadly in my experience the British who were once labelled a nation of shop keepers are now often sadly lacking in (once) common courtesy or politeness, now perhaps due in part to impersonal supermarkets and a lack of discipline are no longer that same nation. Instead people want to be famous for being famous, they hero worship footballers many of whom have the moral values of alley cats, and are often more than happy to get one over on the next person.
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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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D G Orf, Fair comment that the art of service in British retail has by & large been lost e.g. supermarket customer service staff basically treat you as if you are trying to steal if you dare to question the fact that you've been overcharged on an on shelf offer, but it has very little to do with footballers I feel. Just low margin high volume business.
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Phyllis Stein, Presumably you went home and bought the skis you wanted on their website then??
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FAQ
