Jones tackle

[wayno60]

Daughter in law went rod and reel shopping..

[Prowl n Wolf]

That's a shame. I've only had great service an advice from these guys.

[bluefin59]

Once again I only get great service here and they are very competitive , I think some times it's hard to be everything for everyone in retail , that's why I am a construction worker I couldn't deal with the general public all the time I don't have the tolerance . I am sorry you had a bad experience .. Matt

[rayken1938]

Has Jones Tackle been made aware of this.
I find it upsetting that people can make allegations about a firm on a public forum without attempting to resolve the issue first,
Very rarely it ends with a positive outcome even though the firm may be entirely blameless.
Certainly if the firm refuses to look at an issue you are entitles to post all the facts.
Cheers
Ray
PS I have never been in their shop and have no connection with them

[therapy]

Haven't had allot to do with them. They serviced a Tyrnos for me last year and when I asked to upgrade washers in another reel they advised against it as the reel came with carbon fibre washers standard (Stradic 8000). Saved me some coin. The service on the Tyrnos was well priced and the guys were helpful. I worked in retail for allot of years and sometimes you just don't click with customers. More often the attitude they get is reflective of the attitude they gave. Have you contacted them and expressed your concerns on just got straight on here and started this thread? I don't miss retail in the slightest.

Terry

[wayno60]

There'll be no resolves here...you go to a store to buy stuff, the sales person doesn't listen to you, for what ever reason, your not happy about that so you go somewhere else, pretty easy. Ray you never done that before??

[aussiebasser]

I've done it, but never had someone text me about it and decide to make it public with no explanation at all. Pretty poor effort in my opinion.

[wayno60]

Ok so ill get it taken down, just passing on info to my fellow Ausfishers. If the same thing happens to anyone here I don't want to know about it...

[captain rednut]

hey wayno im not sure how to take this thread as i find it a bit harsh to post something that indirectly involves you DE-faming a bussiness like that??? i find the boys at jones are very helpful and always willing to help, i suggest you personally ring the owner and discuss this problem and im sure he will make sure your well catered for if its a genuine request.
Jimmy

[rayken1938]

There'll be no resolves here...you go to a store to buy stuff, the sales person doesn't listen to you, for what ever reason, your not happy about that so you go somewhere else, pretty easy. Ray you never done that before??
Yes i have gone elsewhere however if I feel strongly about the matter I write to the store to give them a chance to resolve the issue,
Then if i find their response unsatisfactory I will then tell people and also if the issue is resolved depending on the circumstances I will also tell what good response I received.
Cheers
Ray

[SHOOTER1]

No facts just someone saying the salesman was a ######. What is the point of this post? Maybe the customer had unrealistic expectations. I don"t think this forum should be used like this. This post should be pulled immediately.

[robfish 1]

Well - this IS an interesting thread, isn't it?
Having owned and operated a tackle shop many years ago, I've seen both sides of this debate - but my firm conviction and sales premise was that 'the customer is ALWAYS right - no matter how wrong!'
Essentially, every person walking thru my door was a potential customer, and deserved to be treated as I would want to be treated. They are, after all, the lifeblood and reason for my existence - without them, I'd have had no livelihood!
I'm not saying that everyone went away happy, but it was firmly in my best interests to make sure that they did.

I've had many. many, customer-facing roles in my life, and always, always, treated my clients/customers as I would want to be treated. It's just a basic tenet to anything that we do in life.

Having said that, there's also the fact that there are staff who just don't give a toss - and I'm sure that we've all experienced those, too.
Just last year, I was in the market for several travel rods, to take on my regular flights to QLD. After checking out what was available via the 'net, I visited several tackle shops to physically check them out.
In one tackle shop in particular, one I had often spent considerable sums of money with over the years, and who shall remain nameless, (suffice to say they have a "Compleat" range of tackle for the "Angler"), a member of staff was totally indifferent to my needs - not having any of the rods in stock, not bothering to consult his trade reference material, and informed me that what I wanted just wasn't available - and giving me the distinct impression that if he couldn't make a sale on the day, he just wasn't interested.
As mentioned earlier, I've spent many years in customer service, training staff as well - so I know indifference when I see it.

Needless to say, I was less than impressed - and after due consideration, emailed the store management to voice my complaint about the attitude and lack of service - something which said store prides itself on.
Weeks went by without a response, so another email was sent, flagged to ensure it was opened and viewed, which it duly was. Again, no reply.
For a retailer who claims to have impeccable customer service, they've demonstrated an abject lack of it.
I've since bought a variety of travel rods, 1-3kg, 2-5kg and 3-6kg, all in 3 or 4 pieces - all from smaller retailers who genuinely wanted my business.

Since that time, I'm fortunate enough to have had a windfall, which has allowed me to update all my tackle, necessitating the spending of many thousands of dollars - guess which shop didn't receive a cracker?

In summary...there's just no excuse for poor service in a retail environment.

[rayken1938]

Robfish in the example you have quoted I would be sharing my experience.
Cheers
Ray

[robfish 1]

Robfish in the example you have quoted I would be sharing my experience.
Cheers
Ray

Thanks Ray - yes...I certainly feel like naming and shaming, but I won't lower myself to their petty standards. If you re-read my last post, there's a clue to the store's identity.
I can and do understand, the forces driving a member of staff whose salary may well be dependent upon sales generated. He's not entirely at fault here - management-driven policies dictate he sells or doesn't eat. It's that simple.

But for the same management/owners to ignore two emails from one disgruntled customer, clearly shows where the shop's mentality and attitudes are derived. And neither of those emails were defamatory or rude, but merely pointed out the lack of customer service exhibited on the day, and that it was a point of training which needed addressing.
A certain well-known Aussie angler must be squirming about the franchisees holding his tackle store's name!

As I now approach retirement age, I plan to do a lot more fishing, and correspondingly, buy more tackle as I can now afford a far higher calibre of equipment, so it's a bit of a shame that a certain chain will be missing out, isn't it?

Mind you, they are not the only tackle retailers I could take to task on this score - there are countless other Victorian tackle shops I've spent time in over the years, and unless you were a part of their immediate clique, you felt ostracized to the extent that it was uncomfortable. It's probably no surprise that more and more are purchasing online - there's no need to physically attend a store where you are made to feel inferior or ignorant.

I'm glad that although I no longer have my own business, I can still even now, run into past customers on the street, customers whom I regard as friends to this day, and reminisce about the times they did nothing more than call in for a coffee and a chat!

Damn...I MUST be getting old - I'm starting to ramble!

[Hi tide]

I'm with you Prowl. Never had a problem with these guys. Not a regular visitor when I do they've always been helpful and full of advice. Maybe just caught the guy on a bad day?

[Schulzy]

Thanks Ray - yes...I certainly feel like naming and shaming, but I won't lower myself to their petty standards. If you re-read my last post, there's a clue to the store's identity.
I can and do understand, the forces driving a member of staff whose salary may well be dependent upon sales generated. He's not entirely at fault here - management-driven policies dictate he sells or doesn't eat. It's that simple.

But for the same management/owners to ignore two emails from one disgruntled customer, clearly shows where the shop's mentality and attitudes are derived. And neither of those emails were defamatory or rude, but merely pointed out the lack of customer service exhibited on the day, and that it was a point of training which needed addressing.
A certain well-known Aussie angler must be squirming about the franchisees holding his tackle store's name!

As I now approach retirement age, I plan to do a lot more fishing, and correspondingly, buy more tackle as I can now afford a far higher calibre of equipment, so it's a bit of a shame that a certain chain will be missing out, isn't it?

Mind you, they are not the only tackle retailers I could take to task on this score - there are countless other Victorian tackle shops I've spent time in over the years, and unless you were a part of their immediate clique, you felt ostracized to the extent that it was uncomfortable. It's probably no surprise that more and more are purchasing online - there's no need to physically attend a store where you are made to feel inferior or ignorant.

I'm glad that although I no longer have my own business, I can still even now, run into past customers on the street, customers whom I regard as friends to this day, and reminisce about the times they did nothing more than call in for a coffee and a chat!

Damn...I MUST be getting old - I'm starting to ramble!

Spot on! I'll only go into certain stores or online now no point waiting for half an hour to blow money on something I didn't really need but interested in buying only to walk away and buy it on mo's

[robfish 1]

Spot on! I'll only go into certain stores or online now no point waiting for half an hour to blow money on something I didn't really need but interested in buying only to walk away and buy it on mo's

Schulzy - it's hard to understand the mentality that pervades many tackle stores. When online retailing is so prevalent and easy, you'd think that bricks and mortar retailers would be be bending over backwards to accommodate their clientele!

Even though we didn't have the internet 20 years ago, I still had far larger retailers I had to compete against - in terms of both range and price.
I vividly recall the instance of a larger tackle retailer being able to sell Shimano TLD 15's for a price I couldn't even buy them wholesale for!! AND from the same wholesaler, too!

But...I believe thanks to nothing more than service and attitude, my business continued to prosper and grow - treating my customers as I expected to be treated when I walked into a retail establishment, and offering honest, practical advice. I'd often advise a potential customer that they could buy better elsewhere on a particular item - that didn't stop them coming back, as they might have found a better price on one item, but the service behind it was sadly lacking, and everyone that walked across my threshold was warmly greeted and assisted to the best of my ability. If an item was wanted, I did my level best to source it - and that included ringing around suppliers, consulting tackle catalogues from wholesalers, basically what ever it took. The coffee machine was always brewing, and the seating was always occupied.

Today's mentality seems to be - 'if I ain't got it, it ain't available. Buy something else.'

It's sad to see that retail is going this way - as a past shopowner, I still have the desire to see bricks and mortar retail exist - but with the likes of some of the online dealers, and the lengths they'll go to accommodate a sale, it's not hard to see the writing on the wall. I've made quite a few purchases from online stores over the past 12 months, and the effort they'll go to accommodate is outstanding. I honestly believe I'd be hard-pressed to find the same in a retail store - at least down here in Mexico.

If retail establishments would offer the level of service that some of the online guys do, I wouldn't even bother with online!

[aussiebasser]

Schulzy - it's hard to understand the mentality that pervades many tackle stores. When online retailing is so prevalent and easy, you'd think that bricks and mortar retailers would be be bending over backwards to accommodate their clientele!

Even though we didn't have the internet 20 years ago, I still had far larger retailers I had to compete against - in terms of both range and price.
I vividly recall the instance of a larger tackle retailer being able to sell Shimano TLD 15's for a price I couldn't even buy them wholesale for!! AND from the same wholesaler, too!

But...I believe thanks to nothing more than service and attitude, my business continued to prosper and grow - treating my customers as I expected to be treated when I walked into a retail establishment, and offering honest, practical advice. I'd often advise a potential customer that they could buy better elsewhere on a particular item - that didn't stop them coming back, as they might have found a better price on one item, but the service behind it was sadly lacking, and everyone that walked across my threshold was warmly greeted and assisted to the best of my ability. If an item was wanted, I did my level best to source it - and that included ringing around suppliers, consulting tackle catalogues from wholesalers, basically what ever it took. The coffee machine was always brewing, and the seating was always occupied.

Today's mentality seems to be - 'if I ain't got it, it ain't available. Buy something else.'

It's sad to see that retail is going this way - as a past shopowner, I still have the desire to see bricks and mortar retail exist - but with the likes of some of the online dealers, and the lengths they'll go to accommodate a sale, it's not hard to see the writing on the wall. I've made quite a few purchases from online stores over the past 12 months, and the effort they'll go to accommodate is outstanding. I honestly believe I'd be hard-pressed to find the same in a retail store - at least down here in Mexico.

If retail establishments would offer the level of service that some of the online guys do, I wouldn't even bother with online!

While I'm fine with some of your criticism Rob, this has nothing to do with your experience at Jones's Tackle does it, you're still referring to the Complete Angler chain of stores I gather? Just don't want the casual reader to confuse the original poster's experience with yours.

[robfish 1]

While I'm fine with some of your criticism Rob, this has nothing to do with your experience at Jones's Tackle does it, you're still referring to the Complete Angler chain of stores I gather? Just don't want the casual reader to confuse the original poster's experience with yours.

Dale - you're absolutely right in that my beef is not with Jones Tackle - I'd never even heard of them until this thread. Sorry if I hijacked it!
And sorry to Jones Tackle if they saw it this way.
But my criticism of retailers still stands - not just in the tackle industry, but in all areas of retail.
A little customer service and attention to the customers' needs, goes a long way.

This last weekend, I was shopping for a new computer desk chair, and despite indicating clearly to many salepeople that I wanted a chair to accommodate my biothermally-padded frame, (my wife calls it fat - but she's wrong!), I was repeatedly shown chairs unable to withstand my weight - even though I was happy to spend the extra couple of hundred to get the right chair.
I've since bought online, as I was able to source exactly what I required, without sales jargon and waffle. I should know - I coached sales teams for a number of years.
And the single most important point I taught? LISTEN to your clients/customers needs - not what YOU want to sell them.

So I still stand by what I said earlier - there's no excuse for poor service within the retail sector.