RE: [Paddlewise] Nearly Fatal

>The thing with dealers is that they seem to be afraid --- and I'm afraid 
>they're correct in being afraid, in our lawsuit-conscious world --- that if 
>they provide *any* advice, other than a recommendation to join a paddling 
>club or read a book and become aware of what paddling's all about, that 
>they'll be sued for missing something or providing incorrect advice.  It's 
>stupid, but I think there's something to that --- they don't carry the 
>insurance they'd need to be instructors, so they feel the least bad thing 
>they can do is to do nothing.  And, unfortunately, for the sake of their 
>ongoing business, they may be right. SNIP
>Jack Martin

Jack has put his finger on a really important issue. I work for a major 
outdoor retailer (thought I stress I'm on PaddleWise as a "civilian" and I 
am in no way a spokesgeek for my employer). We have to do a major balancing 
act on the retail floor and in our catalogue, since we need to explain what 
the benefits of an item are (i.e. why you might want to buy it). This of 
course, usually entails explaining what the item does. The tricky part is 
explaining what it does without crossing the line into offering instruction 
in to how to do the activity itself, which has major legal implications!
A couple of other factors enter into the equation as well:
As noted, some customers think that when you suggest they get the 
paddlefloat, wetsuit, PFD, and so on to go with their kayak, that you're 
doing the car salesman thing of starting out with a cheap base price, and 
adding on the whitewalls, the power steering, the air-conditioning, etc 
(though buying a kayak without proper floatation is more like buying a car 
without brakes than one without whitewalls). As it happens our staff are not 
on commission, but not all our customers are aware of that, so I can't blame 
them for wondering about a possible conflict of interest. I think the same 
suspicion might enter a newbie's mind if the retailer happens to offer both 
products and instruction. The retailer might be suggesting courses out of a 
genuine concern for the beginner's safety and to get them off on the right 
foot in a sport the retailer loves (and I believe most smaller retailers do 
what they do out of a real passion for the sport - there are certainly 
easier ways to just make money if that was your goal). However the newbie 
may see the course suggestions as just more add-ons and upsells.
A second interesting factor can be ego: In the course of a conversation with 
a customer about a piece of gear, it may become very apparent that the 
person has little idea what they're doing. Try suggesting a course to them, 
particularly if they've brought their buddy, girlfriend, or boyfriend along 
so they can show off their mastery, and they can be deeply angered and 
embarrassed. (I've trying pitching the idea that the two of them would learn 
faster if they both took the same courses, but separately!) On a few 
occasions, we have actually declined to sell climbing gear to people when it 
was clear they would be a danger to themselves and their partners (these 
were folks with absolutely no climbing experience, except perhaps having 
watched "Cliff-hanger" sixteen times, who were determined to just go out and 
do it without instruction). It was astonishing how abusive these folks were 
that we were concerned for their lives!

Philip Torrens
N49°16' W123°06'


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