Re: [Paddlewise] Unintentional Deception

From: Luke Hoffman <lukeh_at_hiwaay.net>
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1999 11:09:05 -0500
At 07:36 AM 10/14/99 EDT, JCMARTIN43_at_aol.com wrote:
>A few years ago, our local (College Park, MD) REI rented out some kayaks
which wound up on a Chesapeake Paddler Association (CPA) beginnners' trip;
when working basic safety issues at the start of the trip with the newbies,
we discovered that REI had sent the boats out without any paddlefloats, and
we had to demo and instruct self rescues with spare equipment.  A letter to
REI College Park objecting to this business practice brought an immediate
written response which acknowledged our concern and agreed with our
conclusions --- and which also promised an immediate change in the store's
rental procedures.
>
<snip>
I'll go you one better.  I bought my recreational boat from a local outdoor
store.  The store mainly caters to hunters and fishermen.  They also have a
side line of canoes and kayaks, but they're mainly going after the
whitewater crowd.  They not only didn't have a paddle float in stock.  They
didn't know what one was.

I ended up ordering one from L.L. Bean.

                                Luke

--------------------------------------------------------
Luke Hoffman
lhoffman_at_colsa.com
COLSA Corporation
In the great human comedy, one day we're
spectators, the next day we're performers.
                  Garrison Keillor 

***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not
to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.paddlewise.net/
***************************************************************************
Received on Thu Oct 14 1999 - 09:13:00 PDT

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:30:14 PDT