Has anyone visited a local dealer for his expertise and then ordered mail order?

[Sandman]

When I worked at a shop that stocked only treasure hunting equipment, we would have "customers" come in to learn about the detectors. They would pump me for information on settings, accessories, etc and then not do any purchase. This is OK, it is their choice. If I met them later somewhere they would mention that they bought their new detector mail order and ended up paying a couple dollars more in many cases, but they got a bunch of free stuff. What bothered me is while talking to them I couldn't help the person that was going to buy. This what you get by not having enough staff. Course the next hour there wasn't a soul to be seen on the sidewalk let alone ring the lil ding-dong bell above the door and all we had to do is dust shelves. For this they paid me real money......

On another note we would have customers come in and needed help with what ever detector they bought. Trouble was they didn't buy it from us the boss said so we were not supposed to help these poor newbies.

"Let them go to where they bought it", the boss said. I didn't like this policy, but what do you think?

 

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[Charlie P. (NY)]

Yes, I did.

I made a call to the closest metal detector dealer in our yellow pages, about 30 miles from home, and arranged to visit him (taking personal time off from work). He was not there when I arrived and his wife attempted to demonstrate some air tests with the White's units he had as demonstrators. I said "that's nice, can we try it outdoors on soil?"

No.

I tried again a week later and did find him at the shop and got to talk to him, endured another 20 minutes of having coins glued to plastic paddles waved through the air, did not get a response when I mentioned I seldom saw any flying coins where I hunted, and was told all detectors that are not Whites are trash (I had a Minelab Musketeer at the time which I had found used on a MD classifieds site - still have it) and, no, he would not let me take it outdoors to try beside the Minelab I had brought with me unless I signed up and paid for his four hour detector class!

I went home, thought on it for a month, read up, and bought a Fisher F-75.

 

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[Corben]

When I worked at a shop that stocked only treasure hunting equipment, we would have "customers" come in to learn about the detectors. They would pump me for information on settings, accessories, etc and then not do any purchase. This is OK, it is their choice. If I met them later somewhere they would mention that they bought their new detector mail order and ended up paying a couple dollars more in many cases, but they got a bunch of free stuff. What bothered me is while talking to them I couldn't help the person that was going to buy. This what you get by not having enough staff. Course the next hour there wasn't a soul to be seen on the sidewalk let alone ring the lil ding-dong bell above the door and all we had to do is dust shelves. For this they paid me real money......

On another note we would have customers come in and needed help with what ever detector they bought. Trouble was they didn't buy it from us the boss said so we were not supposed to help these poor newbies.

"Let them go to where they bought it", the boss said. I didn't like this policy, but what do you think?

I agree with your boss! I had a camera store up in Oak Harbor WA and was doing okay until Kmart showed up! I'd spend so much time showing different cameras and explain "depth of Field" to folks who would then thank me for my time and walk out to buy it at Kmart from a clerk who couldn't explain the difference between the focus ring and a lens cap. Sometimes they buy the camera at Kmart and then come to me for lessons on how to operate it. A year after I closed up shop and had to move to (yuck)
Sacramento. I had to move away from one of the most beautiful areas in the country to one of the most horrible place's to live. I sold my personal camera gear cuz it's so ugly around Sac I just lost my will to go out and shoot a roll or two. ( Yes this was years ago.)
But on the other hand I've come to know some small time mail order folks here on the forum(s) and have no problem with the idea doing business with them. I haven't yet but I might one day.
Bought a Minelab advantage from my local dealer a few years back. Something wasn't right with the battery pack and he got right on the line to minelab and gave me a loaner till a new pack arrived from minelab. Mail order can't do that. Car was broken into and my Whites was stolen along with all my gear. Had a backup detector and when the dealer heard what happened to me when went in to buy some replacement tools he just handed me a new bulls eye ll. Will mail order do something like that?
Unfortunately he no longer works there and the guy who's there now is so stupid he doesn't know a focus ring from a lens cap! Lucky for me I have a few more dealers to work with.

 

[OPUS1]

I have bought a BH QD II and need a pair of headphones. Now I have not had the MD long, and still can't seem to get the dis/notch settings down to get a noticible difference. Would it be wrong to go into a store and ask for help on how to determine the different settings while purchasing the headphones?

 

[cheese]

Re: Has anyone visited a local dealer for his expertise and then ordered mail or

I own a small engine repair service. I have folks I don't even know call sometimes and tell me what their engine is doing, and want me to tell them what is wrong and how to fix it. Sometimes I help, and sometimes I give an answer like "there's some problem in the ignition system or related wiring...I couldn't be able to tell without looking at it". I mean...people want me to stop what I'm doing and spend my time diagnosing their problem so they can fix it instead of paying me to do it. In essence, I'm paying with my time to talk myself out of a paying job. It costs me twice. The only problem is if I tell the person "no, I won't help you", then if they do decide the problem is over their head and take it to a shop, it probably won't be mine. Generally, I help... and in many cases, they bring it to me anyway after they've figured out they can't fix it. I figure helping people is the right thing to do anyway, even if it goes against business sense. I get blessed for it more than I would if I focused on the dollar aspect of it.

20 years ago, stores used to focus on customer service. The saying "the customer is always right" was usually posted somewhere near the register, and grocery stores had someone bag your groceries and even put them in your cart for you. Sometimes they would even push the cart out to the car for you. And back then, department stores had someone in each department that actually knew what they had, and where it was, and usually a bit on how to use it. Nowadays you get a blank stare and they say if it ain't on aisle 4, we must not have them. And the stores don't care...why? Because we'll go back there again tomorrow anyway for the next item we need. We have lowered our standards in order to get our can of beans 3 cents cheaper.

I'm not really going anywhere with this, so I'll shut up now, lol!

 

[longsocks]

When you go to a metal detector store and buy from that man , your not just buying the detector, your buying also service. When you have problems you go to him, when you need advice you go to him. When I bought my detector from the metal detector dealer, and the cable on my coil for what ever reason wore thru or shorted out, he replaced it for me at no charge... When I went there and shot the breeze for an hour and showed him my finds, he listened and also gave me idea's and places to go hunt also.. I have bought more than one detector from him and will buy others when the funds materialize.. A mail order house won't do all those things for you, once they have your money they could care less, and you also pay shipping and handling and have to wait after you send for it... nothing beats looking at it, holding it in your hands, and then walking out the door ready for use..