The loft

[Shadows]

yea so heres my little rant about the loft and the experience/lack of.

 

i went up today to pick up some boots.

 

i get there, walk in go towards the boots and wait for this guy to finish helping someone else. i looked around and everyone else was busy helping people. so i waited. he finally got done with the one customer and walked away, even when he knew i was there waiting to be fitted and what not. i even looked him in the eye and started to talk, but he walked off. yea, so he walked off and im thinkin hes gonna come back. i waited a little more, he didnt come back. i go over to the tech desk/shop area. hes standing there talking to some people. i asked him if i could get some boots. he said, "ok" and then kinda turned the other direction. "so, yea, i would like to get some boots". he replied after he turned back towards me, "do you know who youre dealing with?" "no, who am i (was gonna say supposed to talk to)..." he interupted saying "ok, hold on" but it was in a somewhat disgusted/annoyed voice.

 

so finally i get to the right person who is helping people witg boots, i guess they have a person for kids boots, adult boots, skis, bindings, hats, shirts, helmets, poles etc... a person for each different item in the store. i dont know, the guy that i was originally waiting for was infact helping with boots, but i guess he didnt want to help.

 

so i get over there, and i say, i want these boots, in this size. he goes off (to check if he has the size) and does it in a way like he doesnt want to deal with me or even be helping.

 

he comes back with my size and all.

puts them in a box and says " maybe this will be the last time you come here." (i came there previously and got the same boots in a different size, i came this time to change the size i wanted because they would fit my mom better if she ever used them.

 

i said "yea maybe"

he said, and get this... "this WILL be the last time you come here"

he didnt really put that much emphasis on WILL, but it was noticable (sp?)

 

so i picked up my boots and left disgusted with that shop, i didnt even bother asking if they would resize my bindings (which i paid and got mounted to my skis there) i really didnt feel like dealing with them again.

 

so yea, that was my little rant on the loft, i hate that store with passion. everytime i went in there, they always seem to push me back out the door, and not help me buy anything at all.

 

except for the ladies, they are nice.

 

Nestors doesnt even compare to the loft, they are so much better in service/quality/care etc...

 

i love nestors

 

thats all

[librider]

The one snowboard guy is great. He know his stuff and likes to talk. That guy sounded like a dick though.

[skifreak]

Ha, that guy sounds like a dickwaud. That sucks I hate people that are only there to collect a paycheck and are miserable to you.

Edited December 7, 2005 by skifreak

[sibhusky]

Personally, if someone treated me like that, I'd demand to see the owner IMMEDIATELY.

[skifreak]

Sib, wouldn't you laugh if that was the owner? If that was the case that would be the last time I'd patronize that shop.

[sibhusky]

I was wondering that myself. But, I don't think you'd confuse him with being a "guy" like he's a teenager or something. As I recall the owner was maybe in his late 40's or so, blond hair, handsome? Didn't act like a shop rat, that's for sure.

[skigurl]

the owner is really nice, i know when he's there and we walk in he makes sure to say hi and ask if we need help, i used to love a lot of the ppl there, now some of them arn't so nice but i don't have a big problem with any of them

[Papasteeze]

HMMMMM- I am really curious as to the other side of that story man. they wear name tags, who brushed you off on a purchase? Seriously, let me know via PM or post. Send me your name in a PM.

[LineSki]

He didnt tell you that he won the boots at the movie premier, and the loft was making no money on them.

[skidude]

I don't like Nestors so much cause I'll go in there and have 3 sales people jump on me and start trying to sell me skis, which if they ever took the time they would realize I don't really want atomic C8s or w/e....Somehow saying "I'm just looking, and I will let you know if I have any questions" doesn't work too well with them. But then again, when I go in to look, I'm just looking, and I usually know what I'm looking for. Most of the time I just go in to browse, and see if there are any killer deals around. Maybe a little small talk with other people around there. I don't go to try and be pushed to buy skis that aren't even right for me.

[Papasteeze]

I thought it sounded a little suspicious. HAHA - Shadows, congrats on winning, but really, have a heart, don't hate on them, they have been good and helpful to me so far, no discounts or anything - they do have a neat consignment program and it works too!

[LineSki]

nestors is my go to place. I go in they ask me what im doing, I say im just looking and they leave me alone. I went in today because I had boot issues and two guys were helping me at one point.

[skidude]

I got some boots there and "they guarenteed that they would fit, and if they didn't I could bring them back in the next year and they would make adjustments" They left out the part where "I would have to pay for everything they did"....Didn't seem very nice, but whatever...I have a new pair of boots and they should last me 2 or 3 seasons.

 

Just like everyone, we all have good and bad experiances at cetrain shops/areas. I like the loft, and don't like Nestors as much, but they all have good/bad parts...Just expressing my opinion here.

[Justo8484]

the bootfit garantee is that if the boot doesnt fit, we do whatever we need to to make it fit, you just have to pay for materials costs, like extra pads and crap, that you would have to put in any boot to get it to fit. very rarely does a boot fit someone's foot perfectly right off the wall for it's whole life. thats why we have the garantee. paying $5 for some pads instead of $500 for some new boots seems like a fair deal to me.

[Justo8484]

and you'd be just as annoyed if, like shadows, you waited by the skis wanting help, and no one came to answer your questions. better to offer assistance even if it isnt needed than to ignore the customer who needs some help. its called customer service, most good businesses practice it.

[nick malozzi]

i love nestors. bought my last two boards there. they have always been very helpful and knowledgable about the products they are selling too. i usually read online reviews and descriptions of what i want for weeks before i actually head to the store to purchase something, and it always seems like the sales people at nestors tell me something new despite my research. they may not have amazing prices on most of their items, but their sales are usually very nice. i helped a friend of mine pick out her first board/bindings/boots, and she got all high end burton stuff and only spent like $350. It was all stuff left over from last season, but it was all quality gear. the new store in whitehall is smaller now, but it is pretty nice. i prefer to head to quakertown, mainly because the dude in the snowboard section with the dreads is rad. he always blows me away with how much he knows.

 

only been to the loft once, and it was so a friend of mine could get a rental. so i have no opinion on the actual store.

[Shadows]

its not that i won them, cause ive gone in there many times before, ive even bought skis from them. they just in general dont likw me. i dont know, i just hate the loft.

[Luke]

I've had pretty good experiences there. There are a couple dudes that are cool upstairs. I bought my jacket and a couple other things there. Mainly I go to the ski bum though here in Delaware and they are always nice and cool.

[mtnbiker99x]

its not that i won them, cause ive gone in there many times before, ive even bought skis from them. they just in general dont likw me. i dont know, i just hate the loft.

 

I mostly have had good experiences at The Loft. Most of the times I go I get pleanty of help even though most of time I don't need it. I would say 95-98% good/excellent 2-5% mixed feelings about the place. Maybe you just went on a 5% day.

[skidude]

the bootfit garantee is that if the boot doesnt fit, we do whatever we need to to make it fit, you just have to pay for materials costs, like extra pads and crap, that you would have to put in any boot to get it to fit. very rarely does a boot fit someone's foot perfectly right off the wall for it's whole life. thats why we have the garantee. paying $5 for some pads instead of $500 for some new boots seems like a fair deal to me.

But how is that any different from me bring my boots I bought out at Mt. Hood to them and telling them I needed some adjustments? (all they did was put a MASSIVE heal lift in...more than in inch) That didn't do too much for me accept make the tops of my feet hurt (but my toes didn't hurt anymore)

Just seems like "we will make adjustments on the boots for a year after you buy them here to make them feel better" Does that mean I can't bring in other boots (or the boots I bought there over a year ago) in to get bootwork done?

 

and you'd be just as annoyed if, like shadows, you waited by the skis wanting help, and no one came to answer your questions. better to offer assistance even if it isnt needed than to ignore the customer who needs some help. its called customer service, most good businesses practice it.

Not having enough staff, and having too many people pushing stuff on you...No one likes either of those. The best would be having the staff numbers of Nestors and then when they come over to ask if you need help (which is nice to know they are there and willing to help) if you say your just looking, and will let them know if you need help, if they then went away for a little.

Its nice to see that they are willing to spend money on always having people around to help, but I'm gonna have to bring some mase if I go there again

[Justo8484]

you can bring in any boot you want to get worked on, but if it is covered under the garantee, you dont pay for labor, you just pay materials costs. if the boot is not under the garantee, then there is a fee for labor as well as materials. from what it sounds like, a heel lift wasnt the best choice for you. i'm assuming you have custom footbeds, so your foot is properly aligned inside the boot. if you just needed your toes pulled away from the front a little bit, and adding the heel lift gave you pressure vover the top of your foot near your ankle, then a slightly smaller heel lift and either pressing out the toe box in the liner, or possibly heating up and stretching the shell might work better for you.

[xkinkrider03x]

hmm thats wierd, i never had this problem, ever. I love everyone up there.

 

Well I snowboard, so it's probably different.

[Shadows]

yea, so i just got back from nestors today.

 

they checked a few things on my bindings.

 

they said the loft mounted them wrong and they werent straight. all the settings were a little bit off, they were crooked.

[skidude]

you can bring in any boot you want to get worked on, but if it is covered under the garantee, you dont pay for labor, you just pay materials costs. if the boot is not under the garantee, then there is a fee for labor as well as materials. from what it sounds like, a heel lift wasnt the best choice for you. i'm assuming you have custom footbeds, so your foot is properly aligned inside the boot. if you just needed your toes pulled away from the front a little bit, and adding the heel lift gave you pressure vover the top of your foot near your ankle, then a slightly smaller heel lift and either pressing out the toe box in the liner, or possibly heating up and stretching the shell might work better for you.

 

Who know...New boots now. Got my footbeds in them, and no major problems. Want to wait and see what hurts after a few days in a row on snow before I get any work done.

 

Anyway, who needs ski shops anyway

 

[Papasteeze]

yea, so i just got back from nestors today.

 

they checked a few things on my bindings.

 

they said the loft mounted them wrong and they werent straight. all the settings were a little bit off, they were crooked.

 

I go to both shops.. I'll see you at CB - How about you and me sometime stop down at the loft. I really am wondering about something..