Price gouging?

[Anthony P. Jeske]

Something to consider:

Heat shrink butt connectors, 22-18 AWG, pkg. 25:
Evil Empire: $29.99 Ace Hardware: $14.99

#8 x 1" Flat head Phillips wood screw:
Evil Empire: $.50 Ace Hardware: $0.10

Gee, How can I get my Ace store to carry Harken prodlucts?

[Ron M.]

What else is new ? I avoid them like the plague unless I need something asap which I know they carry. I order most of my needs from online sources or local independent business. Seems on average you can do 20% better, sometimes more.
________
Drug test

[Cathy Monaghan]

Make sure those stainless fasteners that your getting from Ace are either 304 or 316 (preferably 316) stainless, and any bronze fasteners are silicon bronze.

[tartansailor]

Make sure those stainless fasteners that your getting from Ace are either 304 or 316 (preferably 316) stainless, and any bronze fasteners are silicon bronze.

That's right! learned that the hard way.

and

never buy galvanized chain from the big box stores.
Learned that painful lesson the hard way also.

Dick

[Oswego John]

Caveat Emptor

The only thing that I buy in those stores are big boxes.

Go sailing this weekend.
O J

[Larry McAnally]

I asked my local West Marine to match Defender's price on a quart of Cetol. He said they would but he wanted to add the SHIPPING charge that Defenders would have to charge. This made it more expensive than the original West price. Has anyone encountered this. Is it their policy or is my local dealer making his on rules?
tks
Larry

[Jim Davis]

They added shipping and of course sales tax. The only time I bother to do this is if there is a significant saving and I need it yesterday.

As I have said before, the sole "National Chain Marine Store" is a source of last resort.

[Sea Hunt]

My comment will probably not be received very well by folks on this board but I have really not had any problems with West Marine in the past 2-3 years. There are two local WMs that I use; one close to my house; one close to the sailing club.

When I have wanted to buy a particular item I have always first gone to WM to check local availability and price. Depending on the base cost I would then check with Defender. If there was a significant difference in total price (WM price + tax versus Defender price + shipping) I would bring this to the attention of the WM rep (printout of the web page). S/he would ALWAYS charge me the Defender base price + state and local sales tax. It may just be my experience but the WM reps were always gracious and polite.

As I have told WM, I much prefer to give my money to local businesses (even if they are part of a national chain) but I cannot afford to give my money away. If they come close to website prices, I buy local. If not, I buy website.

I well understand my experience may not be the experience of many (or most) on this board. However, it has been my experience. I am absolutely not a big fan of large national corps. that drive the Ma & Pa businesses into closing - Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. But I live on a small gov't pension that barely keeps me supplied with a reasonable stock of Guinness. When there is a significant disparity in price, I buy from the lower priced seller - whether national corp or "Ma & Pa". If not a significant price disparity I ALWAYS buy from "Ma & Pa".

[Jeff and Sarah]

The prices at West used to bother me more, but since I have moved aboard Prerequisite and there is a WM within 1/4 mile of my slip, the convenience alone is worth the extra cost. I do check with Jamestown Distributors online for most of my purchases though. I think their prices are fair and their customer service is excellent (unique in today's world). When I still lived in NJ (haven't ordered anything yet while living in FL), I always had the item delivered to my door in one or two days even though I always chose the cheap shipping option.

I do use the big box stores for tools though- they are always cheaper.

[RIKanaka]

My local WM does not add shipping to the price-match price. Number 1 son got a job this summer at WM so now I do all my shopping there and don't bother with the price-match . A co-worker (and sailor) is retiring in a few months and is considering working part-time at WM, after talking to my son about the employee discount.

[Tom Keevil]

West Marine is not the devil incarnate. Sea Hunt has an excellent point about spending your money in your local area. We try to do the same, though we prefer the local chandlery over the local West Marine.

This summer, visiting our son in Portland, West Marine was having a sale, and we bought a handheld depth sounder - something we didn't really need, but for which we could find good uses. When we arrived in British Columbia we tried it out, and it didn't work. We took it to West Marine in Nanaimo. They cheerfully gave us a new one, even though we had purchased it in a different country, and did not have a receipt.

We bought a pair of binoculars from them eight years ago. The seal became compromised, and they fogged up inside. Last year they gave us a new pair for free.

We bought a lifeline stud from Fisheries Supply in Seattle that turned out to be the wrong thread (right vs left). We went to West Marine in Nanaimo to see if they had the one we needed. They did, and offered to trade for the one we had, even though we bought it in a different country from a different retailer.

We also have found that they will match prices from other retailers, and in Washington will not charge us sales tax if we show our Oregon identification.

So West Marine takes a lot of grief on this board, but they also provide darn good service.

[gates_cliff]

Several years ago I was doing a big project on a Kittiwake 24. Needed substantial amounts of epoxy and hardener. got a quote from one online distributor, which was significantly less than WM. I printed it out took it to local WM and without hassle they matched it. In that case they did not bother with the shipping, so it was a really good deal for me.

On the other hand I recently bought a WM brand electrical panel, it was really a piece of junk. the terminals bent and broke when I was attaching wiring. Took it back to the store and they refunded price without question.

I like their customer service but I don't think the WM brand is all that great. Maybe it was just that particular item though.

[Joe CD MS 300]

A two year old Icom VHF 422 died well before its years from what Icom thought was a "hot" swap of the remote mike. Icom's response is another story. However in the process of shipping it back to Icom my wife inadverently shipped back to West Marine where it was purchased. WM gave me a full credit without even a phone call even though the return letter was addressed to Icom. I Just returned a $40 LED flashlight for a new one last Sunday without a receipt. Their return policy is a lot like Sears / Craftsman. I have no complaints.

Now Icom is another story. Their rep told me that I should have known not to plug in or out the remote mic while the VHF was on even though it does not give any instructions or warnings in the manual about that issue. I guess he never heard about plug and play.

[MFC]

Sorry for the thread drift . . .

BUT I just had to say . . . I am very unhappy with the ICOM 422 radio with remote Command Mic which I bought last year! ICOM's response to my complaints has been equally disappointing. The Standard Horizon VHF with remote which I replaced was a far better engineered piece of equipment. The cords were supple enough to work with and, most importantly, the remote plug-in connector was engineered to stand up to use in the cockpit. The ICOM remote adaptor (which I installed in the exact same location) broke within a week and a half. The ICOM reps response? "Well, you know if you put it in a high traffic location you can't expect it not to break . . . where did you put it? Are you certain you were connecting the mic properly?" Grrrr!!!!

As for WM, I hate it pretty much the way I hate Home Depot . . . I just find it hard to love a place where I part with so much cash!

Matt

[Bob L]

I bought some tubular webbing from Sailrite for about 60 cents a foot. A few weeks later, I decided to buy some more and went to WM which was faster than driving to Annapolis where Sailrite is. WM wanted something like $2.50 a foot. It was the same color, the same tubular construction, but a lower breaking strength. So I asked if they would match Sailrite's price and was told it had to be the same brand of tubing in order to match the price. I didn't know the brand since the webbing was just rolled off a spool at Sailrite. And, as it happened, the webbing they had was a West Marine brand...