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Woodinfliezz

Rude Fly Shop

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i made a trip back to the store this afternoon and there was an older lady inside she greeted me and talked to me a little while. i think shes the owner im saddened that this womans business is being bruised by her "employees" the time i went in it was younger guys so i am beginning to think the store would not be that bad if only the old lady was there at all times she was the only one in the store at the time so i am guessing that is the issue

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i also tried to explain my experience with her employees but i didnt really know how to bring it up being as one of the boys that was at the show and the store before might be related to her. so i kind of hinted around it hoping she got the jist.

 

the reason i stopped in was because i was on that side of town and i dont like to judge to quickly i was pleased to find out the older lady in there.

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Woody, she probably would have thanked you for letting her know you had a bad experience in her store, even if the guy turned out to be a relative. Maybe ESPECIALLY if he was a relative.

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My kind of Fly Shop...

 

STILLFLYSHOP-1-_zps57689347.jpg

 

Old guy tying flies behind the counter...no logos plastered on the walls...Nye, MT

 

 

PT/TB

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Some old codgers can be quite nasty. Years ago I walked into a booth at an outdoor show and commented on a fly – just that I had not seen one before and the old dude went off on me. Said I was dumb and didn’t know nothing and kept it up. I calmly replied, "well what you know about fly fishing, I could inscribe on head on a pin". Geez I thought the old guy would bust a vein but it was pretty funny! Another time, I was warned about fly shop owner. I think it was in the Adirondacks somewhere. I walked in prepared with my routine but it turned out the old guy was pretty cool.

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Hey, watch the way you talk about old codgers - keep that up and I'll go upside your head with my cane. Or better yet, I'll send Ditz down there to whip your young ass with his toupee. Seriously, there was a surly old coot who ran a well-known fly shop in southern Maine - this dude was not only cheap, (he'd keep the lights switched off until somebody came in) miserable and tight with information, but he'd lie through his teeth if he saw the slightest advantage in it. If it meant making a sale, he'd tell you a used reel had been handed down from Zane Grey to Ernest Hemingway to Lee Wulff to Lefty Kreh before he'd gotten his hands on it. Of course, it'd be priced at five times what it was worth, but that was only because he'd had to outbid Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey to get it. At first I thought the guy was losing his grip due to age, but some of the local guys told me he was even worse when he was young. Didn't seem to hurt his business though - I used to go there for the entertainment value alone.

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I have never worked in a fly shop but retail is retail. what I did and would do in a fly shop is greet a person and if I wasn't working with somebody ask them if they need help, If they said no I would go about other things but being nearby if they did need me. I don't like being followed either but I still let them know I was there for them when they were ready.

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Fortunately I have never had a bad experience in a fly shop, everyone I have met have been professional and very helpful in furthering my knowledge and cementing my desire to continue. Although, I have had the displeasure in an archery shop and feel your pain. I think I would broach the subject with the owner as Peterjay said, she'd probably appreciate the insight to her employees.

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I had a recent expierence at a shop just a couple weeks ago. I went in to look at some vises with the intent of buying one if I liked it and the price was right. I knew they carried renzetti and regal and was pretty interested in the traveler. Well anyway I walk in and he asks if he can help me, I said yes I want to look at some vises and he says "back there" and points to a shelf in the back and stands there behind the counter and I am the only person in the store. I walk back there looking for a display or something to check them out and there is nothing. So I look around some more and find them on a shelf to high to reach in their boxes. I asked the guy if he could show me some and he rudely said " well what do you want" so at this point I'm getting a little irritated but still kept my cool and told him I had around $200 to spend. So he comes over with a chair and grabs 2 boxes and hands them to me one is a basic regal and the other is a traveller. Sealed boxes. No prices on them. No big deal. So I asked again if I can see them. He lets out a sigh and walks to the counter and grabs a regal from underneath and says this is the regal and as I walk over he puts it back. I'm really getting sick of this guy but I am really thinking about the renzetti even though he won't show it to me, I've done some research online and I know what it is but I still would like to see it in person. So I asked him again if he could show it to me and he flat out said no I don't have one to show you just that one. So I asked him how much and he tells me I don't know I have to make a phone call to find out, do you really want it or not? So I was done with him and his rudeness at this point and I told him to forget it and walked out. Luckily there is another fly shop about 20 mins. drive away and that guy always goes out of his way to help you. He didn't have the renzetti but he showed me everything he had even the ones he knew I couldn't afford, took them out of the display, let me touch them and showed me all the features and things they came with. I ended up buying an anvil atlas from the second shop that day even though I really wanted that renzetti and probably would of bought it but that guy lost a sale that day because of his attitude and I believe it was like some of you guys have said that I didn't look like I had big money or was going to buy top shelf crap and that is why he treated me like that. I will never go back when that jerk is working I was there once before and was helped by another old guy who was really nice but he only works Mondays.

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Working in retail management, I've gotta say that so many of the behaviors listed here would get any one of my employees fired, or at the very least a final warning and a long discussion.

 

The worst part of some of the terrible experiences described here is that the workers in these fly shops violated the #1 essential rule of retail:

 

SALES.

 

Refraining from derogatory terms to describe these individuals and their behaviors is difficult, but I'll avoid it. They failed to act in the best interest of the business, heck they failed to show common decency towards other people.

 

My best advice to anyone who has this experience is to report it directly to the management. There may be some cynicism as to whether such comments are listened to, but at least in my business they are. In fact you may be doing them a favor, you never know when an employer is in need of an excuse to fire a poor employer but doesn't have documentation to do so safely.

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Mossy's Fly Shop and World Wide Angler are both very good in Anchorage, at least to me. However with the coming of Bass Pro Shop in north Anchorage this year and Cabelas, midtown next year, World Wide is not sure he will remain in business. He's afraid a lot of the non-resident purchases he sees will go to the big box stores when they open their doors.

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Mossy's Fly Shop and World Wide Angler are both very good in Anchorage, at least to me. However with the coming of Bass Pro Shop in north Anchorage this year and Cabelas, midtown next year, World Wide is not sure he will remain in business. He's afraid a lot of the non-resident purchases he sees will go to the big box stores when they open their doors.

thats a shame seriously the big box stores are great for what they offer but you cant get the same thing as local knowledge and expertise in a big box store

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thats a shame seriously the big box stores are great for what they offer but you cant get the same thing as local knowledge and expertise in a big box store

 

You can get local knowledge and expertise in a big box store, I have many times. People who work there are local and can be very knowledgeable. The problem I've found is that not everyone is. A department might have one or two people on staff who really know their stuff, and then people will a little knowledge or none at all who fill in the schedule. Get the right person and you are set. I think it is pretty common to staff a department with one or two strong folks and then fill in the gaps, have seen it in hardware stores too. A good, local fly shop, well stocked, staffed with friendly and knowledgeable folks is a wonderful thing. I've found some like this, but just because it's a small business staffed by local folks doesn't mean it is going to be better than Cabelas, which could have some great people on staff. I'm glad for the good shops I have found but have been in enough bad ones to know there aren't guarantees.

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Its not only toward customers! This actually happened and almost cost the shop their account with the tackle maker. I will change the names to protect the guilty as well as the innocent.

 

Owner of the fly shop asks the manager had he phoned Smith's Rod Builders to sort out the problem they had the other day.

"No, I'll get on to them now." Says the manager, and phones them. When he gets through he is greeted by a woman with the thickest Glaswegian accent he has ever heard. When asked what he wanted, he replied...

"First of all, luv, can you put me through to someone who speaks English."

The shop manager is a real gem of a guy but does have the habit of coming out with the first thing that pops into his head.

 

I once found both the owner and manager almost paralytic with laughter. They had explained that the shop ran courses on the first Monday of each month for newcomers to the sport. The reply they got was,

"We're from Rochdale, we can't do Mondays."

 

Cheers,

C.

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