The Things Customers Do

[nicksmission14 0]

I just have to ask, did he ever come back after that?

Nope, he did send someone in with his skates to get them sharpened though LOL.

[mhkehoe 1]

I don't work at the shop but I caught one guy looking at the junior replacement blades so I asked him about it. Said he was a goalie playing out this season. He was fully aware they were junior blades but wanted to buy them anyway because they were slightly cheaper. He also had no clue if the shaft he was going to use was standard or tapered. Hope whoever stands in front of that guy on a shot has full face protection.

[nicksmission14 0]

I don't work at the shop but I caught one guy looking at the junior replacement blades so I asked him about it. Said he was a goalie playing out this season. He was fully aware they were junior blades but wanted to buy them anyway because they were slightly cheaper. He also had no clue if the shaft he was going to use was standard or tapered. Hope whoever stands in front of that guy on a shot has full face protection.

Priceless. I laughed pretty hard when I read that.

[Vulcan7905 88]

Nope, he did send someone in with his skates to get them sharpened though LOL.

That's why I asked. I knew he had to get his skates sharpened at least. Lol

I don't work at the shop but I caught one guy looking at the junior replacement blades so I asked him about it. Said he was a goalie playing out this season. He was fully aware they were junior blades but wanted to buy them anyway because they were slightly cheaper. He also had no clue if the shaft he was going to use was standard or tapered. Hope whoever stands in front of that guy on a shot has full face protection.

Wow, that is going to suck for who ever is standing in front. But just wow.

[mickz 107]

How do you guys deter tire-kickers from flexing the shit out of all your sticks? I get guys that come in all the time who have no intentions of buying anything but love to give every stick we have in stock a good flex.

Also, can't believe most customers still don't have a sense of putting things back where they picked it up. There's always sticks that magically end up halfway across the store.

[Axxion89 32]

How do you guys deter tire-kickers from flexing the shit out of all your sticks? I get guys that come in all the time who have no intentions of buying anything but love to give every stick we have in stock a good flex.

Also, can't believe most customers still don't have a sense of putting things back where they picked it up. There's always sticks that magically end up halfway across the store.

My LHS just put up a sign that says "You flex it, you buy it", I haven't asked the owner how it has worked so far but I think it would deter most. When I started playing, I had no idea flexing could break/damage a stick (I would flex just a little to see nothing like a full out bend) but now I know not to.

[HockeySavants 5]

How do you guys deter tire-kickers from flexing the shit out of all your sticks? I get guys that come in all the time who have no intentions of buying anything but love to give every stick we have in stock a good flex.

Also, can't believe most customers still don't have a sense of putting things back where they picked it up. There's always sticks that magically end up halfway across the store.

Big Sign that says "PLEASE DO NOT FLEX STICKS" is what the shop used to have, however some people claimed it was 'rude' so we put another sign: "HAPPY TO LET YOU FLEX A STICK WITH VALID RECEIPT"

But some people claim they need to see how it flexes before they buy it, so we will often show them ourselves or if they look to be serious buyers try it themselves under supervision.

Apparently some people think that flexing sticks is necessary in their purchase, I guess whatever makes them kings of the hill

Edited April 15, 2011 by HockeySavants

[VakarLajos 5]

Big Sign that says "PLEASE DO NOT FLEX STICKS" is what the shop used to have, however some people claimed it was 'rude' so we put another sign: "HAPPY TO LET YOU FLEX A STICK WITH VALID RECEIPT"

But some people claim they need to see how it flexes before they buy it, so we will often show them ourselves or if they look to be serious buyers try it themselves under supervision.

Apparently some people think that flexing sticks is necessary in their purchase, I guess whatever makes them kings of the hill

I feel bad for the guys who actually know how to flex a stick to check the accuracy of the rating. Unfortunately those guys are few and far between. The ones who usually think it's "rude" are the ones who believe you need to put the entirety of your weight into your lower hand. Then they get pissed off and buy from HockeyMonkey because somehow you can flex the stick you're looking at on your MacBook.

My old shop has signs that say "Do Not Flex or Play With Sticks - Thank You".

[mickz 107]

I don't know if there is a happy medium to this. I don't mind when guys, who actually intend on making a purchase, come in and give a light flex on the pro stocks (since not all have the flexes stamped on them) but what I'm trying to avoid are guys who come in and flex every stick we have... or better yet, left handed shots who start putting their entire body weight on right handed sticks and vice-versa.

[danno25nh 3]

While I no longer flex sticks and when I did it was a fairly light push to get a feel for the stick, I will say that long ago, say the 1970s we would always flex sticks prior to purchase or use, sticks of the same model would often have significantly different flex characteristics. I recall in high school purchasing 50 sticks for the season and discarding at least 10 due to poor feel or flex. The discarded sticks would go to the pond hockey pile.

Some habits die hard.

[Harv 86]

Years ago me and teammate went into a Play It Again Sports. My teammate was a pretty small guy, about 5'7'' 140lbs.

He picks up a 5030 Sherwood and leans down it in. Thing snaps in half like a twig and is loud as hell. Guy at the counter saw it happen and my buddy was fully expecting to pay for it.

Manager come out and says no problem and accidents happen. Took it in the back and threw in the garbage.

[raganblink 82]

had a guy come in today looking at sticks, and i'm talking to him about curve and flex etc and the difference between the models. He says he's coming from 5030s and wants to get into composite, so to narrow the hunt down i ask how much he wants to spend, 100-150. So i show him one80 eq30 eq40 and he starts shooting with them seeing how they feel. So after about 15 minutes of doing this, he wonders around the store and picks up the totalone, and starts shooting with this. i explain they offer more curves on it compared to like the one80, so if you want a unique curve (p02 iirc) you'll need to get a more expensive stick.

So anyways he starts dicking around with those, and then, literally after 25 minutes of messing around with sticks and picking my brain, he writes down the stick and curve and leaves. its like really dude? You're clearly interested in buying a stick, why just not get this one? Same price same quality of product its not like online offers a better stick, and you're getting it now and supporting a local business. I really wish I would have seen him write the curve and stuff down without someone else in here... would have gone off.

-insert rant about online and their marketing techniques here- "normal price 20% higher than map" "our price is map" bugs the shit out of me. People are too stupid to go into a place, and look at their price, they just take their word for it. There is such a huge misconception that LHS = really expensive over priced etc (i know some are but that's not the point) and online = super cheap.

[VakarLajos 5]

"I was coming in to check out some sticks. I was going to get something but your selection sucks"

"Well, I we can always order something that you don't see on our shelves."

"Yeah, but you're prices are so high"

......So you're annoyed that we don't have a stick that you had no intention of buying. Brilliant.

Edited April 16, 2011 by VakarLajos

[raganblink 82]

Haha. Brilliant, i love idiots, they make my day. This thread is always good for a laugh.

I don't think people realize, if we were in this to get loaded, why have we been here for so long? Sooo many people think our mark-up is like 80%, because well kohl's has it that high, doesn't everybody? I mean that stick you sold me for 200 bucks, you guys clearly made like what, 120 on it, right? lol.

[VakarLajos 5]

You mean you pay for your product? Wow, Bauer is hosing you. We're 100% profit.

[jimmy 194]

Haha. Brilliant, i love idiots, they make my day. This thread is always good for a laugh.

I don't think people realize, if we were in this to get loaded, why have we been here for so long? Sooo many people think our mark-up is like 80%, because well kohl's has it that high, doesn't everybody? I mean that stick you sold me for 200 bucks, you guys clearly made like what, 120 on it, right? lol.

haha, your so wrong, Kohl's has a 400% markup, then they have a 80% off sale and send you a coupon for another 30% off. They still end up making 200%. This kind of retail really brainwashes the average customer into thinking all retail stores have an insane profit regardless of product. If that were the case, why do so many hockey shops go out of business. People often ask us why we never have a sale (after all Kohls has a sale every week). I'd love to tell them, well a-hole, we are forced to price our equipment at online prices because if we don't, you a-holes will just use us to size, then buy online. Our online price is the bare minimum we can sell something and make a little profit to pay our expenses and perhaps take a paycheck. That's just the way it is. The old saying, "Do you know how to make a million in the hockey business? Answer, "Start with 2 million". Well, that's not far from the truth.

[IPv6Freely 2092]

OT but.. jimmy I love your sig. So true. They always say "he had the goalie beat"... no he didnt, he missed the net. The goalie would have stopped it if it was going in ;)

Carry on.

[HockeySavants 5]

while putting some stuff away in street clothing I heard this guy talking to this other dude who was learning about hockey:

"I have about 10 Total Ones at home, only 3 are composite the rest are wood, that is the difference between pro stock and store"

[Vulcan7905 88]

I could fill five pages with the moronic things I've heard people say about equipment in a shop, locker room or on a bench at pick up hockey.

Do I smell a new thread in the making? :D

I support my LHS every chance I get. But man, these customers stories are just awesome. I'm sure to have one tomorrow when I get back from the rink.

[Chadd 916]

while putting some stuff away in street clothing I heard this guy talking to this other dude who was learning about hockey:

"I have about 10 Total Ones at home, only 3 are composite the rest are wood, that is the difference between pro stock and store"

I could fill five pages with the moronic things I've heard people say about equipment in a shop, locker room or on a bench at pick up hockey.

[dsjunior1388 81]

I could fill five pages with the moronic things I've heard people say about equipment in a shop, locker room or on a bench at pick up hockey.

I feel like the next time I hear something along the lines of "Check out Charas curve, I can't believe he uses that thing" Balloons and confetti should fall from the sky for the billionth dumbass.

[AIREAYE 248]

I feel like the next time I hear something along the lines of "Check out Charas curve, I can't believe he uses that thing" Balloons and confetti should fall from the sky for the billionth dumbass.

ok now that's just being arrogant. It's not like the manufactures put it out there that the pros dont ACTUALLY use the retail curves...heck even gear for that matter. It's just that we here at MSH are more knowledgeable

[dsjunior1388 81]

ok now that's just being arrogant. It's not like the manufactures put it out there that the pros dont ACTUALLY use the retail curves...heck even gear for that matter. It's just that we here at MSH are more knowledgeable

Well I personally figured it out when I was a kid. I think it was when the Modano became the Forsberg that I realized it was just a name.

[Gr8erade 1]

ok now that's just being arrogant. It's not like the manufactures put it out there that the pros dont ACTUALLY use the retail curves...heck even gear for that matter. It's just that we here at MSH are more knowledgeable

It might be more about what I bolded than anything, since I've encountered a lot of dumbasses who don't know anything about what products they're selling working at the LHS too. I've seen geniuses from the LHS pull the eyelets out of $800 skates because they haven't got a clue, so I'm pretty sure being "moronic" is not limited to the customers.

[Chadd 916]

It might be more about what I bolded than anything, since I've encountered a lot of dumbasses who don't know anything about what products they're selling working at the LHS too. I've seen geniuses from the LHS pull the eyelets out of $800 skates because they haven't got a clue, so I'm pretty sure being "moronic" is not limited to the customers.

Just for the record, many of those comments were made by 16-19 year old "experts" that also worked in shops.