Re: [Paddlewise] Try before you buy?

-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Zen <canoeist_at_netbox.com>
To: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net <paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net>
Date: Thursday, July 29, 1999 4:44 PM
Subject: Re: [Paddlewise] Try before you buy?


<SNIP>

after lots of
research, and a few test paddles, he decided on the "mariner II"...
he contacted matt, through the mail, as he's not on the net. matt asked
what he was paddling, how tall, how much he weighed, how and where the boat
would be paddled, then said two things. the first was my dad's [then]
current
boat was designed for a bigger paddler [matt, i'd _love_ to hear how you
>really described it, off-line if you'd like, the seda viking] and the 2nd
>recommendation was to NOT buy the mariner II. he felt it wouldn't be a good
>choice.
<SNIP>
I don't recall how I described the Seda Viking, nor do I recall the details
of the conversation with your dad. I suspect that I thought your dad was
smaller than what was optimal for the 25" wide, very deep Viking and he
would
be better suited by a narrower and lower kayak. I think the Viking is a very
good kayak (for a much larger than average guy) and a great value as well so
I doubt I criticized anything about it but its suitability for him. I
happily sell Vikings to those suited to them. I suspect I recommended
against the Mariner II because your dad was smaller, or older, or a less
powerful paddler and might have more trouble handling the extra lever arm
handed to the wind by a longer kayak. Alternately, maybe based on our
conversation I realized that the Mariner II might not be as stable a kayak
as he needed for what he planned to do with it (photography, fishing, etc.).
I do not believe the customer is always right and try to get them into the
kayak that will be what they need, not necessarily what they think they
want.
Hopefully if I've done my job well we handle a kayak model well suited to
the
caller. However, that is not always the case, one retired customer who had
purchased an Escape from us in the early 80's called and needed a new kayak
because as the result of a hip (or some other) operation he could no longer
easily get into his Escape. None of the kayaks we sell would have been any
significant improvement on the Escape so I recommended that he look into a
Current Designs Pachena, as it had a huge cockpit and met his other modest
needs for paddling in Florida. I had paddled one years before and found its
handling seemed reasonable, I hated the huge cockpit, but remembered it.
He bought one somewhere and sent us a nice (although with a sexist picture)
postcard saying it was perfect for him. Even if a non-Mariner kayak we stock
and sell fit his bill perfectly I would probably have suggested he look for
a local dealer where he could try it out and buy it. If no local dealer had
one in stock and he wanted to buy from us (and we were sure it was what he
needed) then we would sell it and ship it to him. Our philosophy is that it
is better (even financially in the long run) to lose the sale and make a
friend than to make the sale but create a dissatisfied customer.

Matt Broze
http://www.marinerkayaks.com

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