Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

They really are the Kmart of the marine supply business with the
significant difference of not having Kmart's low prices.

They are totally indifferent to their customers, stocking only that
which occupies shelf space for their preset time period--usually very
short. No, indifferent is the wrong word. West Marine really is
contemptuous of its customers..

While one occasionally encounters a friendly, knowledeable sales
person they are usually staffed by underpaid people who neither know
anything about nor care a whit about what they are selling.

Since they are the only retailer left they control the products that
come to market and they are not at all receptive to innovation or new
products. Their market control actually stifles invention and
innovation in marine products.

They truly are a curse on all boaters and the sad part is I don't see
a single thing that can be done about it. Where are you going to
go--there is no more competition. Must be a nice position. No wonder
Wall Street is rating them so highly. No wonder their profits are
rising so astronomically--at your expense.

Glad to get it out.

Joe

nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Check out nospam's other posts and you will see he lives his life on the
negative side...sad but true. West Marine is very service oriented and is
staffed with cruisers like myself who have product knowledge gained from
real world experience. If you want to pay less for you products, get a
commercial account. They are the best place to buy electronics if you know
how to shop. They have a west advantage card to use for you first major
purchase. Sometimes this means that you will be buying electronics at or
near their cost.
Have a great day group
"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Check out nospam's other posts and you will see he lives his life on the
negative side...sad but true. West Marine is very service oriented and is
staffed with cruisers like myself who have product knowledge gained from
real world experience. If you want to pay less for you products, get a
commercial account. They are the best place to buy electronics if you know
how to shop. They have a west advantage card to use for you first major
purchase. Sometimes this means that you will be buying electronics at or
near their cost.
Have a great day group
"DSK" wrote in message
. ..
nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Subject: West Marine Really Sucks
From: nospam
Date: 2/2/2004 8:04 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

I remember those small operations and the prices I paid. Gotcha seemed to be
their marketing strategy.

Dennis

Subject: West Marine Really Sucks
From: nospam
Date: 2/2/2004 8:04 PM Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:

Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

I remember those small operations and the prices I paid. Gotcha seemed to be
their marketing strategy.

Dennis

DSK wrote in message ...
nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

I have had few problems with West Marine here in Tallahassee. I also
do not expect them to be complete experts on everything. Here, they
have one guy who knows sailboats and he is helpful. The store is
attractive and well run and is geared toward power boaters, as
expected. My boating needs are ussually sort of strange so I don't
expect them to really be able to help with everything.

David OHara

DSK wrote in message ...
nospam wrote:
Now they have driven all the small operations out of business and
consolidated their monopoly by buying Boats U.S. can West Marine
possibly get any worse?

Maybe I'm just lucky, but I have not had any of the problems you
describe in any of the West Marine stores. Their catalog sales staff has
gone downhill in the past five years, but then so has everything else.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

I have had few problems with West Marine here in Tallahassee. I also
do not expect them to be complete experts on everything. Here, they
have one guy who knows sailboats and he is helpful. The store is
attractive and well run and is geared toward power boaters, as
expected. My boating needs are ussually sort of strange so I don't
expect them to really be able to help with everything.

David OHara

"Parallax" wrote in message

as
expected. My boating needs are ussually sort of strange so I don't
expect them to really be able to help with everything.


)))