Tyflier, I come to your town now and then (wish I had a place there btw). Last year during the Jazz Festival my wife and I dropped in to your local fly shop after breakfast to while away some time while browsing…the personnel in the shop were super friendly and very helpful. I had no intention of buying anything when we when in but due to the welcoming attitude we ended up spending 40 some odd bucks on some odds and ends for my fly tying bench. Just shows to go ya what a difference attitude makes. They’ll be in business a long time I believe.
It has been my experience that it is not the entire shop that has an attitude problem, but that it is certain individuals that work there that do. When buying some material for a certain pattern I like to tie and fish, this one employee kept telling me I was tying the wrong fly, and that I should be tying what he ties with the same, overpriced material. I had to ask that guy to leave me alone ,take a long walk off a short pier, and find the other guy I had talked with on several occasions before. LASt thing I want is for some dude to tell me what has worked well for me will not work well. As if he really knows. Now when i go into that shop, the dude I asked to leave me alone has a much better attitude with me than in the past. I guess telling him to take a hike let him know that I wont put up with that kind of behaviour, and perhaps i do have a small clue what I am doing. Having worked at a flyshop, and as a guide, it is A#%$*&%$# like that that give the rest of the ff’ing community a bad name. But the same can be said of beer drinking baitchuckers and gear fishers, and all other pursuits of passion for that matter. All we can do is be the best ambassadors for the sport we can, and have fun fishing. Fun is contagious.
Having fun, Jeff
Tis my time on the water, in the mountains, and in my driftboat where I can see things as they really are.
What an unpleasant experience. Some people are small, it makes it rough on the rest who have to interact with them in life.
Hopefully the percentages are better of folks you have met who were gracious and kind.
Whenever I have a run-in like that I try to remember later on to scan in my mind all the good experiences I have had in that same vein and get a good comparison fo how many more good and kind people there are in the world. There really are lots more good people than bad no matter what the Mainstream media would have us believe.
It’s not just in our sport that customer service has become bad. Retail customer service in general has really gone bad in the last couple of decades. When I was a general manager I screened employees during training to make certain they were able to perform friendly, polite and helpful customer service. If they didn’t measure up I would place them in a job that minimized their contact with the customers or just let them go. I think most of these problems spring from us becoming a nation of “me” when we were a nation of “we”. My dad ran a filling station in the late 60’s and as a young boy I used to watch people come in for gas. As soon as they stopped at the pump oil, radiator and tires were checked and the windows washed. All of this without the customer asking and high test gas was about 30 cents per gallon. Now you can’t even get them to pump your gas for you. When you do ask for help you get that look of “Who,me? You must be crazy!”. Stations that due offer so called “Full Sevice” usually add 5-10 cents to the price of the fuel.
It’s the same at the supermarket, discount store and the restaurants we eat at.
Eric,
There ARE some great “customer service” shops around. I have no qualms about driving 1 1/2 hours to “Books and Hooks” in Girard,OH (north of Youngstown)…They are THAT good! Lot’s of neat stuff, over 1,000 books & you’re always made to feel welcome to sit, read, shoot the bull, etc. Bud & his son Scott own it & the other employees are super too. In fact, Bud & wife Nancy are proud Grandparents to sextuplets who just turned 1 year old (same son also has a 4 year old son). Nancy gave me a piture of all of them…cute kids! That’s always another subject we “catch up” on a little.
This is a great shop, so if any of you get that way, stop in & see them! Let me know if you’re going…maybe we can meet & grab lunch or something.
Mike
I keep hearing these tales of mistreatment by fly shop owners from other people but this just doesn’t fit my experience at all. Our local shop is owned by two of the nicest guys you would find anywhere. They are unfailingly polite and helpful to everyone including newbies, women, teens and fat, old, bald guys like me. They even cheerfully help people rig rods from other sources such as Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shop.
One of the owners has a favorite story about a shabbily dressed old man and his son (or grandson) who went into the other fly shop (now closed) in town and wanted to buy a couple of fly fishing poles. The owner told him that there was no such thing as a “fly fishing pole” in an absolutely icy tone. They old man turned around without a word and left the shop. Later in the day, he showed up at my friends’ shop and bought two complete fly fishing "poles,"waders, boots, vests, fly boxes and flies. All in all, he paid almost $3000 in cash. Pays to be nice 8T
You had better learn to be a happy camper. You only get one try at this campground and it’s a real short camping season.
If you are ever in Ft. Smith, Arkansas go by The Woodsman in the Central Mall. Excellant Service and knowledge. I live in Tulsa now, about an hour and a half from there, and I gladly go back even though there are two local shops here in Tulsa.
The ost fun was a shop in colorado. wehn they found out I was from Iowa the just plain ignored me. Later in the day one of the guys was guiding somne folks.
I was catching some fish and they were not.
I gave the folks a fly to use but not the guide. I told him he was to snooty.
My experience goes as follows; walk into fly shop on busy Saturday and am ignored. I came back with my nine year old son on Tuesday afternoon and ask about an upcoming tying class. One of the people in the shop (tying instructor) spent half an hour going over the class and demonstrating things to me. The other worker struck up a conversation with my son and showed him all over the shop.
Vise, class, tools, equipment and I am now a regular customer. I also have a nine year old that asks to go by the fly shop all the time. My point is that if I had walked away after my first encounter I would have lost out on a valuable relationship with a good shop. Oh I also now have a nine year old that is learning to tie flys and fish with them. All in all I turned a negative into a positive.
Dr. Fish…
Maybe it isn’t quite the time but you can rest assured it is coming, unfortunately, to that shop owner. If his retail space is desireable, I would keep my eye on it, I would say it will be available before too long. such a shame…
Fly Fishing is not very common where I live but 60 miles to south of me in Wichita, the sport seems to be growing. Most of the gear I own was purchased from Cabela’s, Bass Pro and Ebay. It’s not very practical to drive 120 miles to pick up supplies. I do visit fly shops and the Harley dealer in Wichita once in a great while and I’m always treated with respect (even by the Harley dealer).
I’m sure if I had access to local fly shops, I would probably do a lot of business with them.
The last job I had took me through a large portion of upstate New York and I made it a point to visit some of the fly shops along my route. I’ve tried to determine why some owners and employees display what is perceived to be the “attitudes” you have described. I can think of a lot of reasons but can’t nail it down.
This one stands out though,IMHO the shop owners, particularly new ones and the fisher are actually intimidated by eachother, at least for a while. Selling fishing tackle is not like selling hamburger…Its more like selling aged tenderloin steaks. The butcher is darn shure that he knows his business better than his customer. He exudes confidence and is always in control…and that’s what the customer wants. Occasionally he’ll come up against a customer that knows or thinks he knows tenderloin steaks and intimidation results but the butcher has the cleaver.
In most cases, the tackle shop owner does not know everything…he knows he doesn’t and he feels intimidated by the fisher who heaven fobid might know something that he doesn’t. IMHO a wise owner will take a laid back attitude and pick the customers brain. (assuming that he has one) he can learn something new and the customer will get a feeling of importance. The customer also learns from this exchange.
Woe to the shopkeeper who makes the mistake of trying to hide his ignorance by piling on the BS. It doesn’t take a knowledgeable fisher long to spot that attitude. If he learns he over comensates and takes on the familiar haughty attitude. (he’s now afraid to say anything for fear of making a mistake)
A lesser fisher will probably try to pile it higher and deeper than the owner was able to do and both become flustered…bad feelings result and if the condition is not nipped in the bud a shop can spiral down into oblivion.
I have seen this scenario a good number of times and it is usually followed by the owners mistaken notion that someone is underselling him and he begins to offer deep discounts. He gives away his profits then finds that the work he is putting in is not worth the time spent. And another shop slides into the frog pond.
If the new shop owner is the only one around we should be thankful that he’s there and treat him with kid gloves. He’ll become an asset to our fraternity if supported.
Snipe, call me old fashioned. I think the seller bears the burden of being friendly, helpful, respectful and cooperative. The customer’s only obligatory role is to be civil. It’s the seller’s responsibility for the success of his business, not the customer’s, IMHO.
Nowindknots,
Yes, agreed but these guys can be made of ice and they are not too good at accepting criticism. As sales personnel they stink! As knowledgeable fishers they might be great or not so great but that matters not! They should be upfront about it. They can say “I don’t know from experience but this is what has been working lately”. “This line has been our best seller for a year now, and the boss still thinks its the one!” “Go ahead and open that drawer, there are alot more nymphs in there”. “I don’t know what’s the best leader material but our biggest seller is…and thats what most of the guides around here use”. “No,that hatch has wound down I wouldn’t buy too many of those now. Better take a few stone flies instead, The fly tiers can hardly keep up with the demand for them now”.
I think that you might better hire a girl from the 5 and 10 cent store to do your selling than pull a non sales type from the fishing fraternity!
About the pigeon. My wifes cousin has a house we stay in a couple times a year that’s in a resort town . A few years ago I wanted to start flyfishing during these trips so I went to the store with the fancy outdoor gear, ready to buy. I knew nothing at all what I was in for with the prices but when the salesman (a guide) learned my budget he came up with a package for me and recommended some flies and where to fish. I was out of there for about $250. After fishing for three years with this equipment, meeting other fishers,loving it and learning alot more about it I realize he did me a huge favor. I stop in and spend a few bucks whenever we’re in town. That $250 was probably more dear to me than the couple G’s the guy in the Cadilac spent.
I live fairly close to a lot of good fly fishing, and there are quite a few flyshops within an hour of my home. There was one in town, but it closed shortly before I moved here. I found one that I really liked, (it was run by a very pleasant, very attractive young woman,) but it also closed. Now I divide my time between shops in the Scranton area, the upper Delaware, or in Roscoe. I have had no complaints about any of them, including the one in Roscoe mentioned previously. Maybe it’s because I’m old and gray.
Bob
There is a fine line between fly fishing, and standing in the water waving a stick.
I guees I’ve been lucky. I’ve never had that type of experience. Of course, there are no Fly Shops anywhere close to here. There are no stores that carry much Fly-Fishing equipment or supplies. Except for my 2 Fly Rods, everything I have or get is all on-line or mail order. The only place around here that even sells any fishing or hunting equipment is at the bottom of Grassy Mountain. It’s a small convieneince-type store run by one man and his wife. They sell bait, ammunition, some eats, and most of us here gather there at 5:00 am to drink coffee and talk about ‘The Ones That Got Away’. Fly-Fishers are rare here. In fact, I believe I am the only one, and considered a bit odd.
