if the retailer won't let you try i'd question their committment to sea kayakers and their needs. I can't imagine not buying a sea kayak I hadn't paddled - they're all so different and expensive. Will this attitude also prevade their after sales service? retailers and manufacturers here actively promote and provide for trials, I gather this is often the case in the US as well. why not let the manufacturer know of the rotten retail service their boats are associated with? This might get you some action. nick *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Nick Gill wrote: > if the retailer won't let you try i'd question their committment > to sea kayakers and their needs. I can't imagine not buying a sea > kayak I hadn't paddled - they're all so different and expensive. > Will this attitude also prevade their after sales service? I can agree, but at the same time see the retailer's position as well. The retailer has many kayaks in their rental/demo fleet, but none from Seaward, even though they sell them. The Seaward is a higher end, more expensive kayak and from my up close inspection, appear to be very high quality (If someone has had any bad experiences with Seaward, I'd also like to hear that as well). > why not let the manufacturer know of the rotten retail service > their boats are associated with? This might get you some action. I've already written Seaward asking for their recommendation on dealing with the retailer. I doubt they can do much. Seaward is in BC, and I'm in Virginia. As I said, I'm very interested but NOT willing to buy before I try (lessons learned and all that). There are no other Seaward dealers within 2 states of me. As an additional incentive there is a 30% off sale (about $650 off), which makes it a done deal in my book IF I like how either one paddles. I got the owner's phone number today so tomorrow I can try and badger him into letting me take them out. Woody *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 08:53 PM 8/30/99 -0400, Robert Woodard wrote: >Nick Gill wrote: > >> if the retailer won't let you try i'd question their committment >> to sea kayakers and their needs. I can't imagine not buying a sea >> kayak I hadn't paddled - they're all so different and expensive. >> Will this attitude also prevade their after sales service? > >I can agree, but at the same time see the retailer's position as well. The >retailer has many kayaks in their rental/demo fleet, but none from Seaward, >even though they sell them. The Seaward is a higher end, more expensive >kayak and from my up close inspection, appear to be very high quality (If >someone has had any bad experiences with Seaward, I'd also like to hear that >as well). I agree with Robert. I help out at a friends kayak shop almost every weekend and during the week helping teach lessons. He opened the shop in May of this year and has a rental fleet of plastic boats and sells boat from Prijon and Seaward. He bought four of their models at the beginning of the season. He really wanted to try out the Endeavor as he was thinking he might like it as a personal boat. The first time he tried it, it got a scratch from the loading dock. He can't really sell it as new so the decision to keep it as a personal boat was made for him. He also has a Quest, a Navigator, and a Passat but so far nobody has been serious about buying one. As a new business he just can't afford to let any casual shopper demo one because if it gets scratched he can't sell it as new. He is reducing the prices on all his new boats in a week or so and wouldn't hesitate to let someone try one of the new boats if they seemed serious about buying. BTW, the shop is in Ithaca, NY if the originator of the thread is interested. I have paddled the endeavor a few times and it's a really nice boat. The Seaward boats are very well made and have all the finishing touches and options you'd expect from a top of the line boat. I also demo'd both the Quest and the Ascente at the sea kayaking symposium in Maine. They're two very different boats. I really didn't care for the Ascente all that much but the Quest is an amazing boat. At 19' it tracks as well as anything I've ever paddled and the extra length gives good initial stability without compromising speed. The boat seems to glide forever and is quite fast. Once you put it on edge it carves a nice turn. I thought that overall it felt a lot like the Current Designs Extreme but I think it felt faster. For a long distance expedition the Quest would be hard to beat. The Ascente on the other hand would make a better day boat. I probably wouldn't consider the Ascente without demoing the Vision, Navigator, Endeavor, and Tyee as well. They're all just a little bit different (especially the Endeavor) so trying all off them would be a good idea to determine what you like best. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Really! Olympic Outdoor Center has them in WA, and some are on the website - http://www.kayakproshop.com/ They do allow demos; where are you located? Maybe we can find you a different shop. (EThey sell both Necky and Seaward, which I find interesting.) On Tue, 31 Aug 1999, Nick Gill wrote: > if the retailer won't let you try i'd question their committment to sea kayakers and their needs. I can't imagine not buying a sea kayak I hadn't paddled - they're all so different and expensive. Will this attitude also prevade their after sales service? > > retailers and manufacturers here actively promote and provide for trials, I gather this is often the case in the US as well. > > why not let the manufacturer know of the rotten retail service their boats are associated with? This might get you some action. > > nick > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > *************************************************************************** > Andree Hurley Hurley Design Communications - ICQ# 27469637 On-line Editor - http://www.canoekayak.com Other Kayaking - http://www.onwatersports.com Web Sites for Specialty Businesses - http://www.viewit.com/HDC/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:02 PDT