Re: [Paddlewise] Try before you buy?

From: Dave Kruger <dkruger_at_pacifier.com>
Date: Thu, 29 Jul 1999 20:39:25 -0700
Mark Zen wrote [Kruger's editing in brackets]:

> [my father] was very satisfied by the way he was handled, [by Matt of
> Mariner Kayaks] and by the boat when he did
> finally receive it (i think he agonized a year over the purchase, it was shipped
> as soon as it was made, so the agony was because of him, not mariner kayaks)

Like your father, I tried to buy a kayak from Matt, but I wandered into their
retail outlet on Lake Union in Seattle (this was 1992, I believe) as a
complete, total ignoramus, babbling things like " ... well, I want a really
stable, wide kayak ...." and had never paddled one before.

I give Matt enormous credit for recognizing a mismatch in a flash.  He sent me
down the road to a more appropriate set of choices.  Today, I'd LOVE a Mariner
kayak, and could probably even make decent use of its capabilities.

Few retailers would be as candid and honest as Matt was.  "Blunt" is a better
descriptor of the reaction he gave me.  I think he is even a little above *my*
rating on the curmudgeon scale!  <g>

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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Received on Thu Jul 29 1999 - 20:42:15 PDT

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