Bauer.com

[JunkyardAthletic 497]

21 hours ago, BenBreeg said:

Great discussion.  As a product manager I always love hearing about other case studies and behind the scenes stories.  The whole idea about letting the customer pick the solution vs. describing their problem and the expert designing a solution is great, and not unique to this situation.  I can't even count how many times I am pressured to "just put a button there" or "color code it" or some other solution proposed by the user (or sales) that seems innocuous on the surface but is really a bad idea if you understand the whole context of the design. 

And sometimes the customer just tells you that the "customer is always right" and they end up with a shitty looking product despite you telling them, in your professional opinion, that it WILL look shitty.

[Cavs019 702]

That’s spot on- except professional opinions are hard to come by in the old model. For every JR or Marcelo there’s 100 dolts out there sharing misinformation. 

Most shop employees I encounter will just tell me to put a Nexus on my C width foot because it “looks sick bro”.  

That said, I’m very excited about this program as it sounds like Bauer has “idiot proofed” this process to the extent feasible for both the consumer and the shop fitter. 

Edited August 3, 2018 by Cavs019

[VegasHockey 1256]

1 hour ago, Cavs019 said:

That’s spot on- except professional opinions are hard to come by in the old model. For every JR or Marcelo there’s 100 dolts out there sharing misinformation. 

Most shop employees I encounter will just tell me to put a Nexus on my C width foot because it “looks sick bro”.  

That said, I’m very excited about this program as it sounds like Bauer has “idiot proofed” this process to the extent feasible for both the consumer and the shop fitter. 

I wouldn't go as far to say they "idiot proofed" it, but Bauer/CCM/True are trying to eliminate some of the guesswork that shops previously had to do. 

[Vet88 673]

8 hours ago, Nicholas G said:

I wouldn't go as far to say they "idiot proofed" it, but Bauer/CCM/True are trying to eliminate some of the guesswork that shops previously had to do. 

Here's the rub for me. In another post a player got full CCM customs:- was scanned and fitted, got them made. When they turned up the volume was all wrong and there was no way he would fit in them as one is meant to, he was busting out of the top. So either the shop screwed up or CCM screwed up or both did. At the end of the day he had a pair of expensive CCM full customs that didn't fit. This is the part that has me nervous, I'm so far off a standard retail boot fitting me that most of the skate has to be custom shaped to fit my foot. So if it all goes tits up and it doesn't fit, will Bauer fix it for the $1k+ I would be spending?

[Leif 160]

3 hours ago, Vet88 said:

Here's the rub for me. In another post a player got full CCM customs:- was scanned and fitted, got them made. When they turned up the volume was all wrong and there was no way he would fit in them as one is meant to, he was busting out of the top. So either the shop screwed up or CCM screwed up or both did. At the end of the day he had a pair of expensive CCM full customs that didn't fit. This is the part that has me nervous, I'm so far off a standard retail boot fitting me that most of the skate has to be custom shaped to fit my foot. So if it all goes tits up and it doesn't fit, will Bauer fix it for the $1k+ I would be spending?

If you were in the U.K., then consumer law would most likely protect you, as a good has to be fit for purpose, and an ill fitting custom skate as you describe would not be. Do you have such laws in the US and Canada? Of course Bauer should do the decent thing, assuming such an event were to happen. I think in reality my concern is how good a fit you get in practice, and whether they are consistent. That said, Bauer is a big name, and given their NHL involvement, you’d expect quality. A friend has ordered Bauer Customs in the U.K. and I’m thinking about getting some, so it’ll be interesting to see what he makes of them. 

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

10 hours ago, Vet88 said:

Here's the rub for me. In another post a player got full CCM customs:- was scanned and fitted, got them made. When they turned up the volume was all wrong and there was no way he would fit in them as one is meant to, he was busting out of the top. So either the shop screwed up or CCM screwed up or both did. At the end of the day he had a pair of expensive CCM full customs that didn't fit. This is the part that has me nervous, I'm so far off a standard retail boot fitting me that most of the skate has to be custom shaped to fit my foot. So if it all goes tits up and it doesn't fit, will Bauer fix it for the $1k+ I would be spending?

Remember that whole "stay in family" thing?  That's where it went wrong for him.  Unfortunately, the rep "reassured" him it would work.

[Davideo 99]

27 minutes ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Remember that whole "stay in family" thing?  That's where it went wrong for him.  Unfortunately, the rep "reassured" him it would work.

So what is the answer to the question? Is the customer out a grand?

[stick9 881]

8 minutes ago, Davideo said:

So what is the answer to the question? Is the customer out a grand?

That ones on the customer. That said, the rep did tell him it would work so both parties share the blame.

If the process is telling you one thing and you demand another who’s to blame when it doesn’t work, you are. You’re the one who ultimately made the call to go against the recommendations. When you have problems, it’s on you.

Now if you follow the recommendations and there is a fit issue, well that’s on them.

[Davideo 99]

1 minute ago, stick9 said:

That ones on the customer. That said, the rep did tell him it would work so both parties share the blame.

If the process is telling you one thing and you demand another who’s to blame when it doesn’t work, you are. You’re the one who ultimately made the call to go against the recommendations. When you have problems, it’s on you.

Now if you follow the recommendations and there is a fit issue, well that’s on them.

Thanks. Exactly what happened in this situation is not clear.

But I am a little confused. Can't the skate manufacturer see the foot measurements and determine that the selected boot won't work? If I'm the manufacturer, I reach out directly to the customer to inform that their skates won't fit. If it is not possible, then I'm only taking custom orders that are signed off by trained fitters. Fair or not, it's the manufacturer's responsibility to ensure the entire process is done correctly. Now they likely have someone telling all their teammates that custom skates are a scam. There is no shortage of poorly trained hockey shop employees that could potentially make mistakes or provide incorrect information, which could make for a major failure point in the process. Again, not knowing the details of this scenario, if a customer says, "But I like the look of the Jetspeeds better, since it is custom, can't I get those instead of the Tacks?" and the uneducated employee says "yeah, no problem", then the customer gets screwed and CCM's reputation takes a hit.

It seems the board's opinion is that the customer should have some basic knowledge on the custom fitting process. I've never done customs, so I've never researched it beyond this board. But where can your average consumer who just goes to his LHS get educated on the basics and be warned that the kid working the scanner may give them bad information. The customer having basic knowledge is not an unreasonable position to have, as long as the manufacturer can clearly and obviously convey this knowledge to the customer.

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

26 minutes ago, stick9 said:

That ones on the customer. That said, the rep did tell him it would work so both parties share the blame.

If the process is telling you one thing and you demand another who’s to blame when it doesn’t work, you are. You’re the one who ultimately made the call to go against the recommendations. When you have problems, it’s on you.

Now if you follow the recommendations and there is a fit issue, well that’s on them.

I can't answer for him, but it sounded like it was the opposite.  Sounded like the rep assured him it would work.  I would imagine they would do something for him.

[VegasHockey 1256]

4 hours ago, Davideo said:

So what is the answer to the question? Is the customer out a grand?

 

4 hours ago, stick9 said:

That ones on the customer. That said, the rep did tell him it would work so both parties share the blame.

If the process is telling you one thing and you demand another who’s to blame when it doesn’t work, you are. You’re the one who ultimately made the call to go against the recommendations. When you have problems, it’s on you.

Now if you follow the recommendations and there is a fit issue, well that’s on them.

I think this is why companies like CCM are now offering more in-depth online training courses and rewarding those who complete training with chances to win goodies. 

[Vet88 673]

11 hours ago, JR Boucicaut said:

Remember that whole "stay in family" thing?  That's where it went wrong for him.  Unfortunately, the rep "reassured" him it would work.

One could take the CCM custom example as a great "stay in family" example, he chose the Jetspeed line because the length, width and heel fit was pretty good, it was just the volume that failed (and I'm not that far removed from this scenario). Now if I didn't know any better, I'd say that 3 out of 4 was a damn good start towards a custom.

But in the hockey boot world that isn't the way things are currently done. The one thing I'm getting out of the last few posts is that volume is the measurement that really matters and is what decides which family you should be in (and I can only surmise that the reason for this is that it can't easily be changed or altered at manufacturing time)?

[IPv6Freely 2082]

I’m with you. The room for error still worries me. I feel like you still need to hope that the fitter isn’t an idiot, which is definitely not a guarantee. And unfortunately the “make sure you go to a good fitter” idea doesn’t work because you have no way of knowing until you see the result.

I’m just a naturally pessimistic person when it comes to hoping somebody else does something right. We just bought a brand new construction home and pretty much everyone we have depended on has screwed up in one way or another. So the “hoping the person knows what they’re doing” concept is pretty difficult for me at this point. 

That said, as long as mistakes are on them, I’d take the plunge as soon as it becomes available to me. 

[JR Boucicaut 3759]

Yet you (and others) placed orders for custom skates from a manufacturer that required fewer measurements taken than what pre-scanner Bauer required, in some cases less fitting experience than store employees, lastly with a boot that you couldn’t try on before you bought it.  Talk about making a plunge...

Once again (and I don’t know why we keep on bouncing back to this) Bauer is going to analyze the scan and build the skate.  You don’t need to have any input from the store employee. On the other hand, someone who has experience fitting custom skates can chime in and add to the mix by denoting areas on the scan (with you present.)  If you don’t want the person who scanned you to not have any input, that is possible - just get scanned and buy the skates and leave.

1 hour ago, IPv6Freely said:

I’m with you. The room for error still worries me. I feel like you still need to hope that the fitter isn’t an idiot, which is definitely not a guarantee. And unfortunately the “make sure you go to a good fitter” idea doesn’t work because you have no way of knowing until you see the result.

I’m just a naturally pessimistic person when it comes to hoping somebody else does something right. We just bought a brand new construction home and pretty much everyone we have depended on has screwed up in one way or another. So the “hoping the person knows what they’re doing” concept is pretty difficult for me at this point. 

That said, as long as mistakes are on them, I’d take the plunge as soon as it becomes available to me. 

 

[beerleaguecaptain 999]

Love what Bauer is doing here.  Almost can't wait for my current Bauer customs to go but I have more than a few years left in them!

[mojo122 529]

So, has anyone gotten scanned since this went live and customized the skate?  And better yet, has anyone taken the plunge and ordered?

[sharkshockey20 0]

So is the scan and mybauer the only option for custom skates, or do they still have the from where you select your own options and have many other tongues and options to choose from?

[mojo122 529]

What is it that you're looking for or what is that you want?

[sharkshockey20 0]

21 minutes ago, mojo122 said:

What is it that you're looking for or what is that you want?

In the past I've used the 1S Pro Stock Felt tongue, oversize holders with heel lifts, and oversized & double thick ankle padding. 

[mojo122 529]

Probably best to be answered by @JDub, but you currently have customs and therefore a unique custom skate number as well.  I would think you could get the same skate specs  so long as the factory still has the components available to them.  If that's not the case I'm sure someone will chime in.

I actually did a MyBauer order for a customer where we did a custom skate for just about a year ago.  What I thought was a pretty good validation of the 3D Skate Lab was that it put that customer in the same exact skate as they are currently wearing, and their right and left scan measurements were identical to that of their current custom skates.  What I did was referenced their unique custom skate number along with their the MyBauer spec sheet.  Can't wait to see the finished product.  

I think the addition of 3D printing the individual foot scans is huge and allows for more skaters the opportunity to get a great fitting custom skate without having to go through highly experienced fitters.  

I've done lifts in the past on my customs, but I've been using stock skates for the past few years and just profiled the steel to pitch it forward.  Not sure that if I went custom that I'd go back to the lifts, but it would be something I'd consider.  

[d963258 0]

It's here....

[GoalForFun 169]

On 9/6/2018 at 7:57 PM, d963258 said:

It's here....

to clarify, Bauer's direct-to-consumer shop is now live.

[BlueNux 17]

9 hours ago, GoalForFun said:

to clarify, Bauer's direct-to-consumer shop is now live.

Such a low effort shop. They don't even have free shipping (only to nearby retailer) and custom option pretty much only for stick. Likely much more difficult to deal with when you have issues versus dedicated retailers like HM or IW. Why would anyone buy on their platform? STX is exclusive and have deep savings, but I don't see the point of Bauer's from a consumer standpoint. I imagine this is to setup for the future - maybe Bauer may have some products in the future that are exclusive to their own store. 

[stick9 881]

5 hours ago, BlueNux said:

Such a low effort shop. They don't even have free shipping (only to nearby retailer) and custom option pretty much only for stick. Likely much more difficult to deal with when you have issues versus dedicated retailers like HM or IW. Why would anyone buy on their platform? STX is exclusive and have deep savings, but I don't see the point of Bauer's from a consumer standpoint. I imagine this is to setup for the future - maybe Bauer may have some products in the future that are exclusive to their own store. 

I think value comes when you want something that your local store doesn't have, or when there is no local store. I was a bit surprised by the pricing and shipping rates.

Edited September 10, 2018 by stick9

[mojo122 529]

I think they need to work on the standard shipping timeframe.  7 - 10 days is a longtime.  Especially when most of the bigger online shops are normally 3 - 5 days.