West Marine

AstoriaDave · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 4:31 pm Post subject:

Sunbeam, right with you on all counts.

McMaster-Carr a mainstay resource for a lot of things. REI membership in 5 digits, when it was a single location on Capitol Hill in Seattle, old warehouse floors and all. First American atop Everest fitted me with my first crampons as I stood mute with awe, eons ago.

Locally, Englund Marine and Industrial Supply does a pretty good job on stainless. With six other outlets, coast of northern CA to southern tip of WA, they do not have the reach of West Marine, but a good outfit, with knowledgeable salespeople who use what they sell, by and large. Full disclosure: my wife works in the back office at EMIS.

NORO LIM · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 5:52 pm Post subject:

Chester · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 7:28 pm Post subject:

West Marine = Love-Hate.
Like most, I liked them better before they became the 800 pound gorilla.
Earlier this year I decided a new Manson anchor would make Chester happy.
Defender's price, with shipping, was competitive with West's. So, on principle, the order went to Defender.
Turns out the galvanizing was defective. There were chips on some corners and other rust spots showing up on an anchor thats only exposure to water was rain!
After a series of e-mails to Defender and Schaefer Marine (the distributor), which became snarky after they implied I knew nothing about anchors or not to drop them, a new one is supposed to be on the way.
To ship the defective anchor to Schaefer was only $65... More for the size than the weight.
At least West Marine makes exchanges practical.
I'll still use Defender but not for certain items.

thataway · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:08 pm Post subject:

Schaefer Marine could have said that you should have purchased the Stainless steel version for only $1700!

Chester · Posted: Wed Nov 13, 2013 11:29 pm Post subject:

If only I wasn't so cheap...

hardee · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:01 am Post subject:

Steve, Did they ask you if you were going to put it into the water? Man, you sure would not want to have a rusty anchor. Eeeeek, Can't believe they did not require you to go the SS route.

Chester going to be happy for Christmas Xmas LOL

Harvey
SleepyC Moon

Chester · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:15 am Post subject:

LOL

Chester · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 2:43 pm Post subject:

The replacement anchor showed up this morning. I noticed a small design change that eased the corners that had the chipped galvanizing. The galvanizing on this anchor looks cleaner than on the first one.
I will give Schaefer Marine kudos for standing behind their product as there is no written warranty.

journey on · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 5:21 pm Post subject:

In California and I'd bet Washington there's an Implied Warranty of Merchantability.

"Implied warranties come in two general types: merchantability and fitness. An implied warranty of merchantability is an unwritten and unspoken guarantee to the buyer that goods purchased conform to ordinary standards of care and that they are of the same average grade, quality, and value as similar goods sold under similar circumstances. In other words, merchantable goods are goods fit for the ordinary purposes for which they are to be used."

And an anchor with bad galvanizing, one would assume, doesn't conform to accepted standards. So, while Defender sold it, I suppose they told Schaefer Marine to fix it. I assume both Defender and Schafer knew that. Replacing a faulty new product isn't just a sign of caring, but good buisness.

Just a thought.

Boris

Chester · Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 8:17 pm Post subject:

Makes sense.
Defender offered to send me a spray can of cold galvanizing compound free of charge. When I replied that I was disappointed with that response they instructed me to send the defective anchor to Schaefer. This after crying about having to go above and beyond, a lot could have happened to the anchor, not a warrantable issue, etc.

Grrr, now I'm ticked again.