Ok, this surprised me... West Marine to match prices

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by B25Matt

My beef with West Marine (and most other retail outlets) is that you can't find a knowledgeable person to talk to. I'm prepared to pay a premium to talk to a human being so I can ask some questions about what I'm about to buy.

I've walked into a WM prepared to drop $5k in stuff. I finally got some 16 year old to look up from his phone, we walked over to the auto pilots, I asked a question, and he told me to look it up on line. I doubt the kid knew what a boat was! I walked out and ordered it online from somewhere else and save $1k.

Penny wise, pound foolish. In this industry, you need at least one knowledgeable person on staff at all time.

I hear what you are saying about inexperienced work staff, but then again doubt anyone could afford or want to keep specialized people on staff for the occasional person who is going to randomly walk in and ask about electronics and auto pilot systems. Will agree some general knowledge is good and have some experience/idea re:boating.

IMO its best to know what you want ahead of time and do comparisons, especially for electronic or an AP for your particular need. Let's face it salesman are not always that knowledgeable or 100% accurate (talk from the top of their head), so better to do your homework so you are satisfied and get what you need.

We call it "research" and probably do much more than many for each project we do, but that works for us.


Bill O.

[transmitterdan]

The few times I have called West Marine main support number I was able to talk to a knowledgeable person.

United States & Canada
Phone: 1 (800) 262-8464

You might wait on hold 15 minutes but probably takes that long to drive to a store.

[CaptTom]

A lot of WM stores I've been in actually hire boaters, often retired cruisers. Come to think of it, the younger salespeople seem to be fairly knowledgeable, too.

A number of times I've overheard a customer asking questions about something I'm familiar with, and I hung around pretending to look at some nearby product so I could listen. I've never felt the urge to butt in and contradict them. That says a lot.

I agree that you don't want to rely too heavily on salespeople, and you can't expect a store to be profitable if they hire experts on every topic.

But it does seem that WM does at least as well as, if not better than, most B&M stores.

[BlackHeron]

The new lame pricematch policy does suck.

I'm sure some of you know that I am a HUGE WestMarine fanboy and have spent tens of thousands of dollars there while doing our refit. I will still continue to shop there if that is the only choice but right now we are staying in Vero Beach and the WM here is an "express" store and carries very little in stock.

I can have Amazon or Defender or any other host of mail-order choices sent right to the marina office here and save a bus ride into the worst little lame WM where i will need to order it anyhow. Amazon comes in 2 days and Defender can get it here faster than the next WM truck arrives, and save two bus rides...

So why even bother with WestMarine?

Before the new policy we would drop by the Vero Beach WM at least once a week. Since then, why even bother? Maybe on the way migrating back up north we will need something and since we wont be staying in one place long enough to order online we might stop at a WM for boat-specific things.

But maybe we'll just stock up better while we still can order from Defender.

[Suijin]

The price match policy was a a godsend to me. As an itinerant cruiser, Amazon can be less than convenient as they almost universally ship UPS and the USPS won’t accept UPS deliveries to General Delivery.

I would walk into WM, open a new browser window on my phone for each product to price match, and usually walk out having saved 30%+ over WM shelf pricing.

I did not know the policy had changed. What is the policy now?

[motion30]

At the west marine here in key west. the shelves are half empty I asked one of the employees who the management was and why this store was so poorly stock he claimed there was a problem at the warehouse

[Bill O]

Originally Posted by Suijin

What is the policy now?

WM will price match:

• Local Stores within 50 miles
• Amazon, direct from Amazon only
• Sale and regular prices before shipping, handling and/or sales tax charges
• Retail prices for wholesale Customers
• will price match within 30 days of purchase

lots of other exclusions and details can be found here