Very good avice there mate, alot of thought for people.

The Tackle shack, for all your fishing needs
huge range of stock to suit any fisherperson.
PH:9248 3800 unit 3/11 Alexander drive Malaga

Email thetackleshack@bigpond.com

Good luck mate, and have fun on your trip!

I pulled up at a certain blue water tackle shop with my boat on the way back from fishing. Just wanted to buy some more bait for the next day, they were getting ready to close up. The two guys wouldn't sell me the bait and said try the petrol station. That branch has ruined it for all it's branches. I won't buy from any of them again.

hey BQ544, thats not good at all and i dont blame you, we had a car load of guys come in after we locked up last night so we opened up and sold the guys what they wanted, they were happy as

The Tackle shack, for all your fishing needs
huge range of stock to suit any fisherperson.
PH:9248 3800 unit 3/11 Alexander drive Malaga

Email thetackleshack@bigpond.com

certainly does as they say its the little things that matter

The Tackle shack, for all your fishing needs
huge range of stock to suit any fisherperson.
PH:9248 3800 unit 3/11 Alexander drive Malaga

Email thetackleshack@bigpond.com

Fair call mate and I don't blame you for having a vent, only fair after all. All the best in your travels mate, if you need a heads up for your career change when you get back, send me a msg and I'll see whats going on.

Cheers,

Adam

I run my own business and fully understand the day to day crap retail workers put up with. As for prices on reels and rods i fully agree. I have a good mate who runs a tackle store in Mandurah and he tells me all about the mark ups and profit. I fully understand when workers get the shits cos a customer has knocked you down on a reel which you make bugger all on anyway and then they ask you to throw some line on it for free! Also tackle stores have the added comp of online sellers. I have seen reels on the net that are cheaper even with postage then the tackles stores buy them for! It is good info that shizz has shared.

Great read shizz! most of us know that mate and those who dont are the ones who are going to give you the shits. In my opinion if there haggling over 10% they cant afford it anyway so tell them to piss off!lol. bet you wish you could at times.

Have fun Josh enjoy and dont forget to write.

Keep it tight, reeeeeeel tight!

*PROUD FISHWRECKED MEMBER*

its always the middle man who rips off the end user/buyer.

They are ripping the market - if a single entity can import an item from overseas and pay for freight and without even haggling its still cheaper than what you can buy locally, then the distributors/importers are having a lend. And this whole smaller market/higher prices doesn't wash anymore. Its a global market.

I will say it has improved, but its still not great.

Buy off e-bay, pay the postage and handling, wait till it arrives (or hope it does arrive if you bought from Hong Kong) - find the card in the mail box and drive to the courier base and then back home again - then hope its what you wanted and still in one piece.

I much prefer to pay a bit more at my local one man tackle shop (not the large "supermarkets" selling fishing tackle and tents) - Your paying for the blokes time and advice, you can see and handle the goods and know what your getting right away - If you work it all out there is not that much in it anyway - support the local bloke and give him a chance!

paulpowell3540

yeah agree with no worries, if its 525 and i am doing something that takes 3 minutes like buy bait i am still out the door by 530pm other wise close the door at 525

Accept the rest, except the don't buy overseas bull crap, someone is making money if i can buy the same reel overseas for half the price, it might not be you guys but it is some body. Ill take my chances on warranty if i save $400 on a stella 10000FA like i did recently .

Plus there are actually some overseas shops with a pretty good reputation, i have been to them while overseas, Not all reels / fishing gear bought overseas is a "fake imitation" piece of crap, reputable dealers still sell good gear in other countries believe it or not.

i try and support the small business where i can ,small bussinesses are small familys .help them stay together

RUSS & SANDY

"A family that fishes together stays together"

I was going to buy a Fin-Nor Ahab reel from the states online and remember seeing one at the local tackle store.

Now the US price including delivery was $220

So i went down to the tackle store and they wanted $450.

So you tell me which one i should buy.

This situation is not for all tackle but the mark up on some reels is stupid.

good to see the retailer telling it how it is nothing worse than being hustled by some clown telling u how cheap it is on the net or down the road, with the competition around at the moment u wont see your indepent store around in the future that means u will be dealing with your likes of kmarts bcfs anacondas rays outdoors etc we need to show alot more support for our tackleshacks and oceanside tackle etc we are allowing these eastern states companies to muscle out our locals.as for the middle man truth is there all a bunch of hoares some perth wholesalers or agents need to have a good look at themselves there not helping the matter and good on the ones who are helping the locals we need more like you!!!

ENJOY YOUR TRIP SHIZZ THANKS FOR THE INVITE?

530pm shop close but people still come in at 525pm....so what!! they are still customer. They are still paying to get something.It's not like they come in and then they don't want to buy.  Some people are just too busy. There is such thing as last minute purchase.
As for the overseas buying, yes it is not supporting the local market but hey...thats business. Customers will always search for the cheapest price unless the price diff is not much. There is no such thing as no competitors!! unless you are the monopoly, but in this case it's not.Just like what fishramma was saying $220 vs $450, which one would you buy?
Have a time Shizzz

90% of people who walk through the door are rednecks

talking BS and bragging about the amount of tailor fillets they have in the freezer....

You have a good trip mate, many thanks to you and J for the top service and friendship.....keep us informed of your conquests

and keep away from Backpacker hostels

This comment:

so please avoid coming in at 525 when the doors close at 530 to be shocked when we have to ask you to leave....



That's not good business practise..even my local tackle store would stay back 15-20mins if they knew i was spending $50-more no problems at all.

If i came in to your store at 5.25 i would expect service.Of coarse not sure of what I want to buy then I wouldn’t even bother coming in that late.



I too am in business for 28 years and my day starts some times with phone calls at 7 am to 9pm cause I need to survive.



I have been buying stock in from the US for the last 5 years (not fishing related) and do those guys know what customer service is.



As for Australian retail shops and customer service they wouldn’t have a clue compared to the USA.

With what I’ve read here no wonder shops are closing..

A CUSTOMER IS NOT AN INCONVENIENCE TO YOUR DAY THEY ARE THE REASON YOUR THERE.

Hi Ya,

Interesting read Shizz.  Allow me to ask one question though.  To what degree is the retailer (shop outlet) responsible for the attitudes of the customer?

Let me explain.

There is an overly used and incorrrect statement that goes like this "The customer is always right".  CRAP.  The customer is rarely right.  The saying should be "The customer deserves to be treated withrespect."  How many stores do you know of that advertise that they will exchange the item or give you your money back for any reason.  Wrong!!  When a customer walks into a store and makes a purchase, that act is the responsibility of the customer and there is no legitimate reason why the store should give you your money back or exchange the item simply because you don't want it any more or you don't like the colour or you want a different model ...

This sort of advertising is nothing more than a gimmic to drag potential customers into the store and it is the very same advertising that creates in the customer the piss poor attitudes they to often display.

I know of people who regularly buy an outfit on a Friday, use it on the weekend and take it back on Monday because they have changed their mind and get a full refund.  Personally, I'd like to wrap them n 50' of 1" chain and send them for a swim.

Just my rant and I'm NOT saying that all stores are like that.  But how often do you see stores that actually stand up for their rights being crucified by an angry customer that couldn't and wouldn't take responsibility for their own actions.

Yes, I know and acknowledge that there a re some legitimate circumstances under which a customer has a right to an exchange or refund.

End of rant.

Have a great trip Shizz - lucky bugger.

Cheers.

***** Proud RECFISHWEST member ****

I'm a retail manager & preach to my staff the customer may not always be right, just let them think they are!

 I also never close on time, much to my Mrs's dissapointment whos generally outside with a screaming baby waiting to pick me up! I also refuse do do closing calls etc...We spend millions of dollars each year trying to get customers through the door, I am not about to spend 10mins each day kicking them out!!

 & in my store, 100% exchange or money back guarantee (with proof of purchase), no  repair hassles, no ACCC complaints, you don't like it, try another one or I'll refund!

Have a great trip Shizz

one more little point from me

All the people that preach preach preach "support your local business" Which like i said before for 90% of my tackle purchases i do
You are contradicting yourselves every time you shop at coles, woolies, bunnings, shell servo with a discount voucher.
Some people (NOT all people) preach for the wrong reasons. It is like a status thing sometimes
If we were not living in a global market our economy would not be suffering in the shadows of the US at the moment.
Its 2008!

I do 8 days straight 12 hrs a day sometimes its 15 min to end of shift and a job comes in yeah its a piss off,but hey if we dont do it what is going to happen they will get someone who can and will.
Thats life the grass is always greener on the other side

NO PAIN NO GAIN!!!

why would you wanna work in the retail business if you cant handle a little customer pressure, shizz good on ya for getting out of there ..

And what if they don't have it and won't get it?????????????????

Check out Meltons or Cabella's or Mudhole or any other OS store .

Ask your local for some Bass lures to go catch brim with ???? or some big game trolling lures, yeah $199 here and $89 OS

Latest Meltons cat has Saltiga z6000gt for $799 us,Van Stal vs100 for$619 to the big bertha of the 300 at $749.

Accurate Twin spin 30 for $899 or penn 975 csld for $299 or Stella stl 20000FA for $699.99

I have never taken a reel back for a warranty claim ever, if I did break it then it's my own fault and I am stuck with the bill.

How about asking to look at the range of Tescata rods or the Saragosa line of reels from Shimano ????????? I would love to buy some Shimano Lucanus jigs but where do you go to see the range.

 How many times have we heard , ohh there not in aust yet or the aussie stock are sold out, we'll be getting some more in a few months that turns into 6 or 9 months.

I DO buy local and I also buy OS , I even had AQIS try and tell me off for importing soft plastics from the states, they said Ebay is making their life hard and wished everyone bought their gear from their local shop, when I told him they don't even stock the items he told me to ask them to get them in , how long do you recon I would have to wait till my local store brought in some Joe Peterson Slurpies in 3 inch baitfish tubes with sow sauce or a Fred Young Big "O" lure, or Zip bait lures.

 I bought some speed clips the other day ( locally) for $9 for 10 clips in a pack, same clip in US was only $3.49 ,  if you do like me and put in a decent order every few months then postage would work out to a few cents per item.

That is it from me , you all know my feelings about it.

There ya go Shizz a rant from the buyers side .

________________________________________________________________________

OFW   Agent 88 , the Scarecrow.

Geez Shizza, you type my rant to mates when i'm fishing....i swear i'm gonna write a book on retail ediquette...so i keep on saying

I've been in retail since 1992 and started in the Tackle trade in 1995....bloody long time when dealing with GP

I agree with everything you've said Shizza "Fully" but i always advocate "preventative maintenence" more so than "get a reel fixed when its completely stuffed or got an issue". Often that cost's more, takes longer and the parts wait as you know can render that reel useless!

If ppl rock up just before and/or on closing time we'll always serve but dont appreciate window shoping right on closing with "just looking at a rod & reel combo, not buying today but i'll come back".........we do have lives and fish often.....please remember that!

Shizza, your comment re GP asking a question then throwing it back at us....GOLD....i get educated often

The margins aren't the best in this game but things do ballance up across the table. The thing us business have is high overheads including shop front & staff versus O/S little unit & a phone etc...that makes a huge difference also....the middle man does play a part also.

I'm just getting a thicker skin after all these years, work in the fishing industry can be taxing (pardon the pun) but very rewarding in other ways.

All the best Shizza with your hols, "fully understand" and good onya for saying your bit. All the best with what ever you end up doing.....enjoy the otherside!

Fishing all the time is my way of retail theropy

* Oceanside- Advice, Knowledge, Experience....that's our difference *

Owner/Operator "Oceanside Tackle & Marine"
364 South Street, O'Connor, Perth Ph# 9337 5682

cheers for the comments guys, dont think im trying to be harsh by saying these things. Like I said, I loved worked in the trade talkin fishing all day to customers that enjoy it, but there is a few things that would make it alot more enjoyable experience for everyone.

Mav, fair call if its not stocked here or visa versa, hell even if there is a huge difference in price I can understand where you are coming from. As someone has said, the middleman is making the money, not the tacklestores. But buying as much here as you can will keep the smaller companies alive.

Anyhoo, T-minus 4 days and im outta here. Ads Ill be up your way in next 2 weeks.

I agree with you and Shizz mate,

I go where the service is good,

hell mate I have driven 50km just to give honsu sh!t and watch him be polite to me.... ;-) lol

but at the end of the day, I'm not going to try and save $2 going to online or bad service places... I'm going where people talk to me in fishermans language, know the sutff back to front and they catch fish ( lot better thgan I do) Too many punters think the specialised tackle shops owe them a big discount for buying $5 worth of hooks or two packs of bait, then spend their big dollars else where!!!!

Too all the good shops in Perth and around WA, keep it up and we the faithfull will still be coming in.

cheers

Tony

Full-time piscatorial-idiot, in The Vines. "It is always in season for old men to learn." Aeschylus (525-456 BC) Greek poet.
Supporter of Meals on Reels

Don't judge customers by how they are dressed.....

Six years ago when I was shopping for a new boat, I found this very interesting. The first time we went to the a boat shop, I had my wife and were dressed for shopping and the sales guys came out and spent time with us the whole time we were there. But over the next month or so I would go and look at different boats when I had time in between jobs during the day or after work. Doing mining and refinery maintenance I was pretty dirty and dressed in work clothes. I would go to some boat shops and the sales guys didn't even come out and see me. They obviously thought I was just a tyre kicker trying waste some time between jobs. But the funny part of the whole deal was that I had a $37,000.00 loan already approved and could have bought the boat on the spot. At the end the shop I bought the boat from always spoke to me when I went to their yard know matter how I looked.

like the saying goes don't judge a book by it's cover.

I have met people out fishing and then found out they were multi millionaires,  you wouldn't of known it by their clothes or how they acted.

________________________________________________________________________

OFW   Agent 88 , the Scarecrow.

I had a friend who was a cray fisherman,,always dressed in the oldest shorts and singlet,,getting money out at the bank the teller in a shocked voice whispered "do you know theres more than a millon dollars in this account"? "yes" he whispered back ,

It was his wife that left 100's worth of grocerys in a trolley at the shopping center,,she remembered a few hours later and went back,,all was all still sitting there untouched,,,lol

Colin 3 > long standing and highly respect member of the prestigous Colin's club.

come to karratha, most people on a min of 100k and everyone looks like shit walking through the shops after work

hehe

It's nice to get some incite from 'the other side of the counter'. I totally apluad Mako's willingness to go that extra mile (onya mate) and appreciate that there are times when people's circumstances leaves them no option but to get to 'the shop' in the last 10 minutes. But having worked on many public service counters, it's frustrating when you see the same people come in at the last minute and want to take up another 30 minutes. As you say Shizz, people in the tackle industry have the right to a life balance too.

I left my job in local government last year because I was working 14-15 hours per day and 12 hours both days at weekends - where's the life balance there.

I don't (can't) buy a lot of fishing gear, but when I do, I target the 'little guys' because I wan't to see them stay in business.

Have a great trip Shizz!

Colin Molloy

(Colin 2 - Co-founding member of the prestigious Colin Club)

Yup, shops are there to sell, customers are customers. bread and butter.

I have worked in different types of retail, hotels, resorts.
You are employed as customer service. your job is to serve.

I was running late and pulled into Carry on camping in Gosnells. The bloke had locked up the door and was getting into his car.
I was chasing bait for my weekend away.

"No probs mate come in." and he reopened the store.
when i asked him what would be the easiest way for me to pay. his reply was what ever I wanted to use and no problem with him. even when it took him 10 mins to go get the change.

A disgruntled customer will tell 90% of people he comes in contact with.
A happy customer will tell 10%.

Hard to regain customers once they walk away.

when you live in a regional setting then choice is limited.........

if you live south like I do then when you want to head north there is little option for tackle locally. so support the locals or online......well both! you wont get some stuff local; so go online.

when in (for example) exmouth the local shops are big on knowledge but low on stock (my experience only) so call in to chat and buy basic terminal stuff but I usually have to source gear well in advance. but when i was last in broome the local shop would freight tackle overnight if you were willing to pay for the freight, simple choice really.

everyone has there good/bad days in the "shop" but cant beat the friendly service; but best option in a democratic country is freedom of choice....if you dont like move on. 

having said this; two major fishing chain shops will never get my $$ as i was treated like Sh#t when i first went in. a polite question should be returned with a polite answer, it not hard!

 unfortunately the ignorant boffins in canberra impact my choice on where i spend my $$. dont get any service if ya got stuff all $$ left in pocket to spend!!!! 

from my travels word of mouth is your best busniess magnet and this world is very small so be careful what you say....

 Im down every wednesday/Thursday at the gozzy tackle shop (payday :p) and the the service is what keeps me there spending 20$ a week there.

_________________________________________________________ 

You couln't wipe that grin fom my face even with a hammer.

The chain is as strong as the weakest link, or in this case the market is as strong as the cheapest retailer. Being in the automotive performance industry I have seen products cut to the bone by retailers just so they can stay competitive and get the sale. Doing this forces the other retailers to lower their prices also which sets a market value and a low profit margin. At the end of the day the big fish always wins due to having more buying power. Unfortunately I dont simpithize with Shizz and his comments as we shop owners know that you have to get that extra sale even if it means a customer coming in at 5.25, other wise our hours would be 8 till 5.25 wouldnt it. Those willing to put in the harder yards will always been seen as the winner by the customer. If you dont have good HR capabilities then you shouldnt be in bussiness.

My 2 cents

Tez

Get your heart racing get a PACEMAKER

Is said by an employee, not someone who owns/runs a business. Its a different story when its your money/name/reputation/livelihood on the line.

I cant count the number of times I have gone above and beyond the norm to help out a customer. Thats just what you do.

at the end of the day the best service provider will have the healthiest profit margin 

it's all about positive energy

well spoken HuggyB we all go above and beyond to help each other regardless what side of the fence you serve.

from Exmouth , spent over a grand and a bit at Bluewater with Matt , Ben and the boys and couldn't be happier , great local service and advice , just as happy to shop with Ryan over the phone , whatever floats your boat, holy crap it's not rocket science , keep the customers happy and spread the love around.