Bite Radius, I almost missed reading your thread as I am from the Northeast and am typically only concerned with the things happening up here. When it comes to web sites, there is no geographical boundary. One of the more useful purposes of this form, as I have found out, is the sharing of information about fishing both good and bad. Your thread is useful to all fishermen/boaters.
In addition, I am a part time West Marine Associate. Should you see something on any web site that you need at an attractive price, print out the page and take it to your local West Marine Store. While the acting store manager cannot always match the web site price, the manager knows a sale will be lost if something is not done for you price wise. At least, you started a process where you just might get what you wanted and at a price that you can live with. While sometimes my customers complain about boating prices, who doesn't, I do not ever recall anyone ever complaining about anything else. Today, one has to be very careful about what is being sold out there as large amount of inventory comes from China, and all of the large boating retail stores are moving in this direction as well as many web sites. I have found that in general, items imported from China are far cheaper in price and quality than the American made counterpart. At least when you purchase from a trusted supplier like West Marine, they have a no argument policy letting you return the item if it does not meet your expectations. There are a few obvious exceptions such as opened software, but even then, I have seen store managers bend over backwards to keep boating customers happy. |