The Things Customers Do

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Yeah, but eBay is a different monster altogether.

[beaver5 1]

Skating shoes.

ahahahaha i love it when they ask for those.

"you mean skates right?"

"no shoes, shoes you can go on ice to skate with, you know? Skating shoes?"

[Chadd 916]

Yeah, but eBay is a different monster altogether.

I'm still surprised that the shops who have eBay stores selling only via "buy it now" haven't been forced to stop by the brands who have MAP pricing.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Agreed. I had some Graf models go up a few wks ago.

[sogaduch 0]

Agreed. I had some Graf models go up a few wks ago.

really,weve had a few go down quite alot but there t-blade models.

to add to the thread had a goalie guy try to explain to me the proper way to sharpen his skates, keeping the same pitch on them and everything. but there is one thing i dont mind customers doing bringin in there hot g.fs/wives or kids running amuck when there moms a MILF but still theres only so much

[Larry54 243]

Short list

1. the OPS flexing is ridiculous. I put up a sign to say "don't do it. The flexing may damage the stick you decide to buy." Then I ask them if they can read English.

When I saw Martin St.Louis flex his stick 2 or 3 times in the Gatorade commercial, it reminded me of this thread. LOL, no wonder there are so many broken sticks in the NHL!

I thought that too...but at least HE's flexing HIS stick...not every stick on a rack.

But seriously, is there any scientific data that proves that flexing a stick damages it? Or is it just precautionary and being anal about it "in case" it damages it. After all, ever see a slow motion replay of how a stick bends during a slapshot? It's way more than one of those little flexes in a store. Just wondering.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

But the shaft actually unloads and follows through on the ice. On the store floor, it doesn't do that.

[RadioGaGa 162]

But the shaft actually unloads and follows through on the ice. On the store floor, it doesn't do that.

JR...do you have "Please do not flex the sticks" signs in the store?

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

No, I just scream at the kids.

We had one break last week...an adult flexed a youth XXX Lite and plowed through it.

[RadioGaGa 162]

No, I just scream at the kids.

We had one break last week...an adult flexed a youth XXX Lite and plowed through it.

Do you follow the "you break it, you bought it" rule.

[warrior37 0]

did you make him buy it?

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

I wasn't there, but he did buy it.

[Hidious 0]

Ask bauer a warranty replacement? Is it that easy? ;) Probably not :lol:

[Jason Harris 31]

After all, ever see a slow motion replay of how a stick bends during a slapshot? It's way more than one of those little flexes in a store.

I've seen kids bend the sticks WAY more than slo mo's I've seen of slapshots. They'll bend it as far as they can toward the floor, then they'll give it a last little push. I guess they won't to know whether it "bounces" at this point, but I'm convinced most of them do it because they think they're supposed to do it.

[defence18 1]

Gotta say I love this thread. I work with DarkStar, so a lot of my complaints are his, but I'll go through some of the ones that he hasn't touched on yet. As he mentioned before, we do a lot of figure skating business. One of our managers is exclusively devoted to high end figure stuff. So apparently, we're on Capezio's website as a dealer. Every once in a while, we get a phone call asking if we sell dancing shoes. That one drives me nuts. One day, they're gonna catch me on the wrong day and I'm gonna tell them we do. Another one is asking the sharpener for help fitting skates. The way our store is set up, you have to walk right past the counter to get into the store and our sharpener is in a little room behind the skate wall. Now at most, you can have 2 guys sharpening, and you probably have to walk past two or three employees to look at skates. Go ask one of them! The flexing the sticks issue is kind of a fine line to me. I can understand putting a little pressure on it, but don't put your freaking weight into it. Oh, one of my absolute favorites is parents buying kids OPS for floor hockey. Absolutely love it.

There has been some questions as to attitudes of customers/employees. Basically, it's a give-take relationship. There are so many people who come into our shop that we know, so many that are great people to talk to. These are the customers that keep guys like me and DarkStar coming back each day with enthusiasm. Be one of those customers. We had a guy came into the shop the other day saying he left his kid's skates to be sharpened, and he doesn't have an edge on one side. One of the guys looked at it, and sure enough, faint line of crossgrind. We re-did the skates right there, no problem, and the while I was sharpening them, the guy kept saying how it usually doesn't happen, and he's glad we're taking care of it. Next thing I know, he's disappeared. When he comes back, he tells me that he's paid for the sharpening. I didn't want to take up anymore of his time, but there is no way he should have paid. Most people would have rightfully so stated that they are not paying, but without even asking went ahead and did it. I'm gonna remember that. He's already a regular, and I'm gonna give him the free sharpening next time he needs it, but my point is, he took the high road. All of us at the shop are more than willing to help you out and do whatever is necessary to make you leave knowing that you got the best product for you. We're not making sales, we're making customers. But, we're only going to make a customer out of you if we want you back. Attitude can run both ways. Just my 2 cents.

[JR Boucicaut 3797]

Well-said...and that's how we feel. We're trying to build relationships, not take you for as much as we can.

[Hooah4 12]

Man I wish I had a good shop in my area. The Gearzone in Bethlehem is closing...supposedly going to be under new management. There was only one guy there I trusted to sharpen my skates. Plus he was truthful when it came to marketing hype.

[jbgordon 0]

In terms of breaking sticks I do not believe that you all are correct in assuming that loading a stick in the store and not allowing it to also unload will cause it to break versus the loading/unloading that occurs when a shot is taken. While I agree with you about the fact that if an adult flexes a junior stick, or if sticks are flexed "all the way down to the floor" it may very well damage it, because these conditions are not what the stick is designed for.

However, if a stick is loaded to a point under it's critical loading limit, it will not make a difference whether or not it is unloaded. This type of loading and unloading evenly is only beneficial in terms of fatigue, which really doesn't come into play until these loading/unloading cycles have reached somwhere on the order of thousands or millions.

The reasons that sticks may break quickly is due to flaws which exist in the materials. When a stick is loaded, this flaw will propogate, whether or not, the stick is unloaded. When a stick is loaded, the stress is still lower than that of the yield strength of the material, and therefore the materials do not deform plastically, but will return to their original states the same way a rubber band will return to its original form after it is stretched. Therefore, unloading the stick will not reverse the flaw propogation process.

In sum, yes, you should ask people to stop flexing sticks if they are putting their entire weight onto it, or if an adult is flexing a junior stick. But, flexing a stick a normal amount will not decrease the life of the stick.

[DarkStar50 679]

Nobody ever bothered to flex wood sticks like they do with OPS. So, please explain the fascination with flexing OPS and exactly what are you learning that you probably did not already know? Why flex OPS if you have no intention of buying it? Brett Hull has yet to walk in and buy a OPS in the shop, or anyone else who could skate on his line............

[Oberon 0]

Nobody ever bothered to flex wood sticks like they do with OPS. So, please explain the fascination with flexing OPS and exactly what are you learning that you probably did not already know?

When many of us were growing up, there were nothing but wood sticks and they didn't have flex ratings printed on them. I just don't think anyone ever gave it much thought. Now, people see "Flex ##" on the shaft and it's almost a subliminal command to take it off the rack and flex the stick. Seeing the different numbers sparks their curiosity, and they think flexing the stick on the floor will tell them something...

[jbgordon 0]

The reason that wood sticks didn't have flex ratings is because you can't control the properties of wood as well as those of man-made materials. Wood is very inconsistent, as can be seen by looking at the variation among the different wood blades for a particular pattern.

I agree that flexing OPS's is pointless because, not only do you not get an idea of what it will feel like until you shoot a puck with it, but composite sticks will loosen up as they are used. I remember getting a second duplicate shaft to one that I had been using for a year, at the same stiffness, and it felt very stiff the first couple times I used it, but after a couple of months there was no noticeable difference between the two.

Nevertheless, I do not believe in the claim that OPS's break when they are flexed in the store because they are not able to unload. If they do break, it is because they were loaded past the point they were designed to be loaded to, or because there was a flaw in the materials imposed during manufacturing, that propogated by flexing, and that would have propogated if it was used on the ice as well.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Nobody ever bothered to flex wood sticks like they do with OPS. So, please explain the fascination with flexing OPS and exactly what are you learning that you probably did not already know?

Well, for one thing, wood sticks cost a fraction of what an OPS costs, so you'd expect buyers to scrutinize them a little less.

Last year I had never had an intermediate stick/shaft before, always played senior, but decided to try a CCM V50 int stick, which I liked. Later I decided I wanted to try something even whippier. And, by flexing one in a store, I learned that an RL XN10 intermediate shaft is a lot whippier than the V50. I then proceeded to buy TWO of these shafts.

Where else would have I learned this from ? Not from the product literature. Not even from the MSH flex chart which doesn't list intermediates.

Would you expect someone to lay out 2 x $150 Canadian for two shafts just on your say-so about their flex properties ?

If I wasn't able to flex the shaft for myself, I would not have bought one, let alone two of them. You in turn might figure that I was just some dumbass with no money in his pockets and no intention to buy the shafts. You would have been dead wrong, but you would never find that out.

[DarkStar50 679]

When I mention nobody ever bothered to flex wood sticks I am talking about before shafts and OPS were in the marketplace. Most stick buyers back in the day went with weight and balance off the stick rack when choosing a woodie. I know the flex fixation is here to stay. As long as customers don't abuse the product, it is not a big problem. Flex the shaft, the stick, learn about the feel. Just don't be an idiot and abuse the privilege.

BTW, the dumbasses tend to distinguish themselves from the customers ready to purchase or those that ask questions and learn something before purchasing.

[jimmy 194]

There was only one guy there I trusted to sharpen my skates. Plus he was truthful when it came to marketing hype.

Well he wouldn't survive on this board where HYPE is gospel. ;)

[mrusse01 0]

Interesting thread...I must admit I never thought of the hassle it must be to organize equipment in the store, so I'll be sure to be a bit more careful when putting gloves back on the rack.

As far a flexing sticks, I usually give them a little flex like some were saying to see how much it takes to load the stick. If you go in there trying to see how far you can flex the stick by leaning on it you are just dumb.

One point I have is that it has been established that cheap labour (i.e. kids) are usually working on the floor in a retail store, and I assume the turnover rate for these workers is fairly high. Therefore, I doubt that many of them are 'experts' or really even that knowledgable on the products they are selling. So, 99% of the time when I go to buy equipment I get the feeling that this kid I'm talking to doesn't really know 100% what he is talking about.

I guess you guys are referring to the smaller stores where you get a chance to actually interact with the owner/manager, but I haven't been able to find any stores around here that are small enough that the owner/manager is working the floor while at the same time being large enough to carry higher end products. There is a local store in my area that I often go to for skate repairs or sharpening, and the guy there is obviously the owner and treats me well and knows his stuff, but he maybe has 3 or 4 Synergy's and a couple CCM's and that is it for OPS, no decent gloves, skates or anything else really. Therefore, it is impossible for me to make big purchases there really.

So when I bought my Vapor XXXs this year I had to go to the big chain (National Sports), where I was served by a kid who looked to be about 16 or 17. I must admit though that he was really helpful and everything, but he just didnt seem to be able to offer me any information I didn't already know when comparing the XXXs to the XXs or even the 8090s, and really how much expertise can you expect from someone making 7 or 8 bucks an hour? The 'fitting' process was basically just putting my foot in one of those Bauer shoe style sizing devices and trying on 2 or 3 pairs until it felt comfortable. I guess there is some value in that, but I probably could have saved a fair bit if I turned to eBay.