And here is another thing you can add to this. Ask yourself why it is that Pasadena Roving archers brings there people over to Hi Tech archery. You can easily look them up and ask. Or
They have a shop closer to them. How about Riverside Archers, and I am not talking about Riverside archery shop. Or you can call and ask Oranco Bowman who they go to. Again there are shops closer but they use Hi Tech. Mojave and Cherry Valley archers also use Hi Tech more. And even Bass pro shops have referred people to Hi Tech Archery. These are simple things that are easy to check on. It is a shame you get a guy that thinks people bow to him, so he throws a fit when things didn't go the way he wanted. So he is going to bad mouth the shop. There are people out there that hate Wall Mart also, Why are they one of the biggest stores around? You should form you own opinion and go in and check them out for yourself.
First off, I wish I would have seen this reply sooner, It would have allowed me to clarify the actual events and address the individual who is making theses insults and accusations....Secondly, You seem a bit confused. Which one am I? Was I the one with the Merlin? Or was I the "idiot" with the recurve bowstring? Because I wasn't both.
I do find it interesting that you feel compelled to comment on exchanges that you are not directly involved in, and offering your negative comments directed at another AT member only backed by your limited understanding of the entirety of the situation. (i.e no one made me custom strings and you clearly don't know what transpired with any accuracy)
Ewan asked for feedback, what I offered in this post was MY actual experience, nothing more. (I have heard others stories I about HT, but that isn't what this post was about)
I had been going to Hi-tech for a while (took my first archery classes there, had a blast) followed up with a few more and decided that this archery thing was for me so I joined AT and started learning about archery in these forums. Eventually I ended up buying a bow from a fellow member of Archery Talk ("The Internet", if you will) and took it in to Hi-tech to get a new string, arrows, and parts the bow needed in order to get shooting. (please stop me if you feel there is something is wrong with purchasing in the classifieds of this forum rather than buying from your store)
Most of my interactions at Hi-Tech were positive, because I trusted the instructors to instruct well and the repair shop to do good work. Yes the bow-tech was trying to sell me more equipment(kinda part of his job, right?) He tried multiple string stoppers because the ones he was trying didn't seem fit the bow properly. The one that did was too pricey for me, so I opted for a rest, an off-the-shelf bowstring (it was not custom), arrows, and a few more misc. things. I also brought them a big purchase that day, my friend that dropped over $1600 cash on a new bow setup (nice of me eh?) who came in on my then-recommendation of the store. Joe did a great job and we both walked out satisfied with our visit. (and I was excited about my newly strung bow) It was busy that day and we all had to wait our turns, but that is to be expected. They were patient, helpful, and professional this particular day. Let me state that I have always patiently waited my turn at any place that I have been, out of courtesy and proper raising, anything said to the contrary is a outright lie.
So at the range, my fist shot missed the bale and hit a wooden board and shattered the carbon shaft, My second shot hit squarely in the
newly constructed target and the nock popped off. (last time I checked the manual, I think bales were on the list of things you are supposed to hit.) Arrows that I have bought since then have been MUCH more durable. I then noticed that something was missing from the bow.
I called to ask them about the missing piece and was told that it was at the shop somewhere, just come down. This time I came without my wad-dropping friend and brought the (one) nock-less arrow with me along with the intention to buy some more. (I must point out that Hi-Tech is just under a 2 hour RT drive for me in LA traffic)
When I showed the (one) arrow to Joe he looked it over, heard what I said about it being fired only once and said that he could cut it down below the split so I could reuse it. Good enough for me.
When it came to the missing part, that's where it all came tumbling down. But obnoxious and irate? Throwing a fit? Asking for special treatment? Were you even in the same room? No one even raised their voice in the entire conversation. At one point I did hear an irate guy in the back say "I saw that bow when it came in, it had
NOTHING on it!" So he was basically calling me a liar... Only not to my face, classy.
I was then asked "Who is going to pay for the time the bow-tech spent with you and that string stopper?" Seriously? I drive them in nearly $2000 worth of business that day and THIS is what you come at me with? Because of that one thing that I was offered and didn't buy?
At this point it was only about customer service. Had he just said, "Hey we lost the part, we can take a few bucks off your next purchase to make it right" I would have felt my continued patronage held some value to them. I would have been good. Is a couple of bucks too much? Ok, Something.. Anything... a gesture even a "We are sorry" Nope, it was "my fault" for not checking their work (glad they don't work on cars)
I drove all this way out wasting time and gas based on the shops word over the phone that it would be taken care of, I am obviously feeling kinda duped here and I am walking out of your store with nothing but a bad feeling and no recourse...
What you do little, you do big. My loss was a bit of riser dampening material that they forgot to replace and some gasoline as well as my time. Was I out of a lot of money from that? No. But that was a little thing, what if they had made a more expensive error? Can I trust that they have the integrity to make it right? They balked on such a small, easy fix. The way I felt walking out the door did not inspire confidence that they would. If they won't do it little they won't do it big. After hearing "Well, We can't please everyone" I lost trust in the shop. I hope you can hear that it isn't about money, it's the business practices.
To give a my positives on the store I would say that the work done is high quality, it is the biggest store of it's kind in the area, and the classes are run well. Their biggest issue is that they seem to just barely tolerate customers on some days and are somewhat pleasant the next. (not just me, check the reviews online, or at the clubs) At Archery Outpost, you can see the love of archery on their faces and it's in the way they deal with customers. (especially beginners) They even fixed my friends (just bought) arrow when it broke on their range. They also offered me a rate reduction on the next range visit when it was full and they couldn't accommodate me and a friend. (we had called beforehand) We never asked for (nor did we feel the need to redeem) the offer, that built trust.
I do feel that I should thank Huya for so clearly illustrating the attitude towards customers that I was trying to explain at H.T. I couldn't have conveyed the essence of my own point better. I know you said earlier in the post that you are not an employee, but you also mention ''jumping in" when it got busy so you might be interacting with customers as well. The way you present yourself in these posts is consistent with that C.S. As an unpaid employee, you still represent the store.
We can see you are upset by my post, and have a great deal of loyal the store. And yes, I was a miffed at the store when I wrote that post explaining what I felt was poor treatment (however I didn't resort to name calling). But insulting people on a open forum shows a shameful lack of respect for fellow AT members, does little to validate any points you are trying to make, it does not change the fact that I had a negative experience with the customer service at this store, or oppress my right to say what is true for me when asked And I will continue to do so. What I posted was one opinion backed up with actual facts of my experience, not something I partially saw and pretended to fully understand.
I am glad that the Ewan had a good experience (I did too my first few visits) The words of my original post were "Go with whoever you feel is right for you" He obviously did and it worked out. Great.
I don't have a desire for the store to go down, just to let people know that they have other options, and perhaps get it across to the customer service at HT that we (as patrons) have other options... as well as a a voice.
I just hope that somehow someone over there at Hi-tech can make use of the information contained in a negative review (not just mine) and use it for some form of professional improvement, rather than what we are seeing here... Avoidance of responsibility, lashing out, and blaming the customer.
Are they better just because they are bigger?
Sounds like both shops are worth a look..
