Say you bought something online b/c you found it for less than you could buy it locally, but you could have bought it locally. Now you have a problem with it, can’t figure out how to use it, it breaks while under warranty, needs to be fine tuned, or maybe you just made a bad decision and don’t like it, whatever.
Would you take it to a local shop that carries the same item expecting help, warranty work, advice, replacement, etc?
And I’m not talking ordering from Dick’s online, then taking it to a local Dick’s brick and mortar for help. I’m talking ordering from ebay, amazon, some arbitrary website, etc. Then taking it to a local independently owned store for help. Or would you get in touch with the purchase place for help?
One other caveat - if you had to take your purchase to a local store for assistance, and they helped you, should they charge you for their time? Ex; You ordered a big cast net for cheap online and are having trouble throwing it. Would you go to a local shop for help? And if so, should they charge you for their time, or help you for free?
That’s a tough call sometimes. I’ll qualify my answer by saying that I also buy online when it saves me money. I’ll buy from local shops too when it suits my needs & finances. IMO, there’s no right or wrong here, as we all have limited resources.
Only thing I can think of that I’ve done similar was have a fly line I had purchased at one place put on a reel at the shop where I purchased the reel. I could have put the line on myself, but knew the shop would do it. I bought the reel & backing & the shop owner spooled up the reel at no charge. That service went with the reel. Sure he would have liked to sell me the line, but wasn’t going to turn down the reel sale because I had the line from another source. I was already a repeat customer of that shop.
In some cases, I guess I would expect to pay for a service, like teaching me how to throw a cast net, especially if I had bought it elsewhere. That might depend on the shops policies & attitude too.
I used to tie flies commercially & gave tying instruction for which I charged. But, I probably gave as much or more free instruction & advice than I charged for, particularly if the person had purchased from me.
I went into a place that sells appliances one time with a question, and looking to possibly buy parts & the guy was such an A-hole since I didn’t buy the appliance there, I took my business elsewhere. Afterwards, if the conversation was about appliances, I made a point to tell folks to not deal with that guy. That place closed a few years after that. My guess is that guy was an A-hole to everyone.
Sometimes tackle shop owners & employees can be the same way, and if so I won’t deal with the shop. However, the good ones will bend over backwards for your business, even if it means providing information/instruction without a purchase.
If they didn’t charge me for the service, I would still make a point of checking them out for something I wanted or needed & go ahead & purchase from them. Might pay a little more sometimes, but so what. Most often, th
Hoppy we understand that there are different avenues to buy stuff either online or locally. We do our best to assist our customers even if they have bought an item from another place. One disadvantage to buying it online from sites like that is that some companies don’t warranty those items. If you need any help or have question feel free to stop by one of our shop, we never charge you for helping with using a product even if you bought it from another place.
Our Family owned a local hardware store and if you bought something we sold from another location and were honest with us we would help you to the best of our ability, but if you tried to lie to us about where you got it then you were told to go back where you bought it and shown the door , if you lie then you will steal and we did not need your business, that was several years ago but in our store honesty was the best policy. and don’t think most small town stores would not know if you bought it from them, , so be honest about it and that way you have a clean conscience about it and can always go back in there and buy something else
Some People Create Their Own Storms And Then Cry When It Rains!
I think it’s always a good idea to buy enough from a local shop so that they at least recognize you. I doubt that any business owner expects any customer to buy only from them. But if they recognize your face and they know you are a paying customer at least occasionally, you are more likely to get the help you need. I enjoy visiting tackle stores and buying stuff, but sometimes it’s just easier to order online and avoid traffic.
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
I’ve got no problem paying someone to repair my reels i buy direct from the factory, and they have nevr had a problem charging me to repair them.
If you bought a pair of pants online and when they arrived you realized you needed 44/28 and there was a local store that carried them would you think they would exchange them for the proper size? This scenario could go both ways, on one hand they are not oblibated to exchange them at all, on the other hand if they say "yeah man I have the size you need and we can just swap them out since all the tags are still on, Guess who may just gained a customer in the long run?
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Down here is where a signature goes but they can confuse and anger some people so I don’t have one.
Valid points. If the zipper broke in your new trousers that you ordered online, after you had only worn them once, would you take them to the locally owned store to be replaced, or send them back to the online merchant?
Hadn’t thought about it, but keeping with the spirit of the thread, probably not a factory store or outlet. Locally owned. The kind of outfit where you can actually talk to someone who knows something. A decision maker sort of person
A factory store would have more flexibility. A local store will most likely have to tell you to gfy. In a nice way of course.
By the way, the pants scenario happened to me and I won’t shop in the store that wouldn’t exchange them. I purposely drove across town to get some ski socks before my recent Canada trip and had to drive by them to get to Time Out, which is where I should have gone anyway.
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Down here is where a signature goes but they can confuse and anger some people so I don’t have one.
Another angle, and not a direct answer to the question: If I find such a deal, I will sometimes print the webpage and take it to a local shop and see if they can match, or at least come close. Many times they will come below what the item and shipping together will cost you.
If you buy an item online and it breaks you should not expect a local shop to help with warranty, replacement, etc. but most shops probably will help if they have good customer service.
We all like our local shops for the services they provide; help with products, quality live or frozen bait, last minute items before heading out, ability to see an item in person before buying, etc. These would not be available to us if we always shopped online. I find it important to support the local shops so they are there when we need them. You may spend a few extra dollars but think about the extra money as your insurance if something breaks or in person instruction on how to (throw a cast net).
If you can’t afford to buy large ticket items locally it’s understandable but at least support the local guys with the small purchases.
