Am I being to sensitive regarding a prop sellers online selling policy?

[Sea Frog]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

I also said you shouldn't take it, because I was the only person that took the time to point out my annoyance at your site that I am the only one upset by it. You have no idea I am sure how many people just move on to another company.

Just send them the link to this thread and they can see themselves. Maybe this will change their mind.

I ALWAYS move to another company if price is not on the site, and I rarely write them about this fail of theirs. With the exception of truely unique product that is one of the kind and simply does not exist anywhere else, AND I desperately needing it. Then I can write to ask for a price.

The obvious exception is when the product is completely custom and you just can't give a price without knowing parameters. But not giving a price for off-the-shelf stuff is plain idiocy.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

You know in Australia about 20 years ago they passed anti price fixing legislation. They called it anti retail price maintenance. The reason for this piece of consumer protection legislation was to inject true market competition into the market place. A fundamental of a truly free market economy.

When you have price fixing at the retail level and such things as whole industries under monopolistic control you have a distortion of market forces that ultimately works against the capitalist free market economy.

Many economic historians point to the robber baron monopolies and the control they exercised over the economy as one of the biggest contributors to the Great Depression. Anti trust laws where then instituted along with laws such as the Glass Steagals Act which put restraint on Bank monopolies.

What we are now seeing in the digital economy is an attempt by manufacturers to exercise price "controls". It seems to be more prevalent in the marine industry. An industry that has tried more than most others to rig and control prices and not subject themselves to a free market.

Just my additional thoughts on this subject for what it's worth.

Chaya

The marine industry is also exploiting people's gullibility and more important their vanity. A set of heavy plastic bowls and platters which can be bought at Walmart or even a Dollar store for about $1 a piece are sold at WM for $7-10 a piece. Oh, yeah but at WM they have dolphins and anchors on them for a design. Like these will make the food taste more seaworthy.

Since becoming a boat owner 10 years ago I've been often tempted to make and publish a comprehensive list of things you can buy many times cheaper elsewhere than at WM's gouging prices. IKEA used to have a large ss round BBQ grill for $49.99. Same size grill at WM was around $200.00. And this is just one tiny sample of what I'm talking about.

[Sandero]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

....

Since becoming a boat owner 10 years ago I've been often tempted to make and publish a comprehensive list of things you can buy many times cheaper elsewhere than at WM's gouging prices.....

This is a great idea....

There should be a thread called the Hall of Shame or similar where people can post their inexpensive substitutes along side the marine industry offering.

And a serious searchable data base would be fabulous!

[EWOL Props]

Originally Posted by Going Walkabout

I clicked on an add by a propeller manufacturer on this site. I hardly ever click on adds on sites even this one but the propeller looked so shinny and nice I wanted to check out how much it would set me back. So I clicked on the add displayed on cruisers forum. The propeller site was nice. More great pics of the shinny stainless steel propeller. So I searched all over the site for a price. Nada. So I went to the sites checkout and and found that I had to register and give a lot of information before I could have the privilege of getting the price. Also the site popped up a message that it is using cookies to gather whatever information from my computer that it wants to.

I didn't like both. Am I being too sensitive? Am I overreacting to this intrusive practice?

I spent time out of my day to send an email to the company. Given their insensitivity to customers as already demonstrated i don't really expect a reply.

This is what I wrote.
I attempted to find out the price of your prop and searched unsuccessfully. I then went to the shopping cart and found that even there you do not give a price without me having to register. This is very poor. I will not register just to find out what the selling price of your product is. Don't you understand that this is very rude and offensive? It is like having a store, a potential customer walks in and before you answer how much a product is you insist they fill out a form giving information to you. I am sure you understand that your shop would close very quickly after offending a lot of your potential new customers. If you are proud and confident of your product why do you have to hide your prices. Very strange behavior indeed.

Good bye. You have lost me as a probable customer.

Again, I hope I am not being over sensitive and just plain argumentative in my old age. What do you all think of this type of behavior from online sellers?

Hi Going Walkabout and all,
Wow !! we did not know we were hurting so many people by not posting our prices without an e-mail reference….
It was one of those things like….”we do like this or like that ?? Well…. let’s do like this and then we see if it’s OK”.
And that was OK for some few years before yesterday and then……big problem apparently !
Well….OK it's simple... if so many people have a problem with that let’s change it ! So now you can all see our prices without telling us who you are, and we hope now you’ll be many people looking at our pricing which by the way are very attractive !

I just want to add a couple of other points:
1) We were not and will not sell any of the e-mail addresses cause we are a serious company
2) We are known to be a serious, supportive and transparent company
3) There was not and there is not any hidden agenda, just the willingness to better support our customers but we still can do it, good support to customers is certainly one of our strong points in addition to the good products we have, and our customers know it already
4) I don’t believe that there should be people shouting STUPID for this silly issue, I believe we should always maintain a good level of respect, either if we are customers or suppliers.

That’s all….Happy Thanksgiving to all of you !

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by GoingWalkabout

You have no idea I am sure how many people just move on to another company.

Once again, an indication of how stupid the people are who are running the business. Must be okay, because no one complains? No, you idiot, 99.9% of the people who don't like the policy just move on without telling you that they are never again going to consider doing business with you.

This is what happens when the people who run a business think more about what they want, and what is important to them, than about what the customer wants.

And, no, we don't need any more laws. This is a self-correcting problem. Stupid businesses lose out to not-stupid businesses, and then soon they are out of business. Survival of the fittest applies to most things, not just the evolution of species.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by EWOL Props

Hi Going Walkabout and all,
Wow !! we did not know we were hurting so many people by not posting our prices without an e-mail reference….
It was one of those things like….”we do like this or like that ?? Well…. let’s do like this and then we see if it’s OK”.
And that was OK for some few years before yesterday and then……big problem apparently !
Well….OK it's simple... if so many people have a problem with that let’s change it ! So now you can all see our prices without telling us who you are, and we hope now you’ll be many people looking at our pricing which by the way are very attractive !

I just want to add a couple of other points:
1) We were not and will not sell any of the e-mail addresses cause we are a serious company
2) We are known to be a serious, supportive and transparent company
3) There was not and there is not any hidden agenda, just the willingness to better support our customers but we still can do it, good support to customers is certainly one of our strong points in addition to the good products we have, and our customers know it already
4) I don’t believe that there should be people shouting STUPID for this silly issue, I believe we should always maintain a good level of respect, either if we are customers or suppliers.

That’s all….Happy Thanksgiving to all of you !

HI EWOL Props,

Thanks for your response. You are now being smart in changing your policy. It is obvious that I have done your business a great service even though you propably think I was a pain in the rear for bringing this up as an issue. It would have been easier for me just to ignore your company but I knew this would not have helped your business. And since you are an advertising supporter of CF which I value very highly, I felt it a good thing to instruct you by going public in order to let you see what others thought. I was surprised myself at how universal and strong the feelings are against the online pricing policy you had.

Yes it was stupid of your company to have such a policy. It is now smart of you to have reacted so quickly and change your policy to a more customer friendly one. Bravo.

By the way buying decisions are NOT usually made on price alone. After the pretty pictures have done their work on getting customers to look at your product you should provide easily to see the specifications and advantages of your product. The clearer and more relevant to boaters your information the more I am sure your sales will increase.

Finally. I'm not even going to charge you for consulting. :-)

I wish you and your company great success. Fair winds.

Chaya

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by Sea Frog

Just send them the link to this thread and they can see themselves. Maybe this will change their mind.

I ALWAYS move to another company if price is not on the site, and I rarely write them about this fail of theirs. With the exception of truely unique product that is one of the kind and simply does not exist anywhere else, AND I desperately needing it. Then I can write to ask for a price.

The obvious exception is when the product is completely custom and you just can't give a price without knowing parameters. But not giving a price for off-the-shelf stuff is plain idiocy.

HI SeaFrog. Looks like I don't have to send them a link. Good suggestion though. They have changed their policy.

Regards,
Chaya

[Tellie]

Originally Posted by EWOL Props

Hi Going Walkabout and all,
Wow !! we did not know we were hurting so many people by not posting our prices without an e-mail reference….
It was one of those things like….”we do like this or like that ?? Well…. let’s do like this and then we see if it’s OK”.
And that was OK for some few years before yesterday and then……big problem apparently !
Well….OK it's simple... if so many people have a problem with that let’s change it ! So now you can all see our prices without telling us who you are, and we hope now you’ll be many people looking at our pricing which by the way are very attractive !

I just want to add a couple of other points:
1) We were not and will not sell any of the e-mail addresses cause we are a serious company
2) We are known to be a serious, supportive and transparent company
3) There was not and there is not any hidden agenda, just the willingness to better support our customers but we still can do it, good support to customers is certainly one of our strong points in addition to the good products we have, and our customers know it already
4) I don’t believe that there should be people shouting STUPID for this silly issue, I believe we should always maintain a good level of respect, either if we are customers or suppliers.

That’s all….Happy Thanksgiving to all of you !

Bravo and Kudos on you.

The fact that you cared to answer this thread and in the light you did speaks volumes as to your concern for how your business is perceived. And on Thanksgiving no less. Being in business myself I understand we try to do the right thing to grow our business as responsible as we can. I would not use the word "Stupid" or any variation of it as have others, at all. As business owners we try new and different things based on the best information we have available at the time. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not. Business, especially the marketing side is a constant zig and zag thing and no matter how hard you try, and with the best of intentions, you will not always make everyone happy all the time.
So again, good on you and have a great day sir.

Halden Marine Services | Marine Watermakers, Solar Panels, Wind Generators

[Snowpetrel]

Looks like the prices are up on the site now, they look very reasonable for a stainless steel prop. Thanks Ewol.

Sent from my HTC_0PCV2 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by EWOL Props

Hi Going Walkabout and all,
Wow !! we did not know we were hurting so many people by not posting our prices without an e-mail reference….
It was one of those things like….”we do like this or like that ?? Well…. let’s do like this and then we see if it’s OK”.
And that was OK for some few years before yesterday and then……big problem apparently !
Well….OK it's simple... if so many people have a problem with that let’s change it ! So now you can all see our prices without telling us who you are, and we hope now you’ll be many people looking at our pricing which by the way are very attractive !

I just want to add a couple of other points:
1) We were not and will not sell any of the e-mail addresses cause we are a serious company
2) We are known to be a serious, supportive and transparent company
3) There was not and there is not any hidden agenda, just the willingness to better support our customers but we still can do it, good support to customers is certainly one of our strong points in addition to the good products we have, and our customers know it already
4) I don’t believe that there should be people shouting STUPID for this silly issue, I believe we should always maintain a good level of respect, either if we are customers or suppliers.

That’s all….Happy Thanksgiving to all of you !

Hi EWOP Props

Very impressed that you care enough about your customers or potential customers to respond on this forum. Will have to add you to the list when I start shopping for a new prop.

[GoingWalkabout]

Originally Posted by skipmac

Hi EWOP Props

Very impressed that you care enough about your customers or potential customers to respond on this forum. Will have to add you to the list when I start shopping for a new prop.

[SV THIRD DAY]

As an online retailer myself....
I despise the game some sites play.
If I can't get the price online I know it is because even the comlanh knows its too high, but wants to try and suck you in. The call for pricing means "let ls fry to get a salesman to talk to you and push the sale". Total BS.

[Sandero]

This was a good outcome. All's well that ends well. Wm Shakespeare