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NFB
Mountain climber
SLC UT
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Topic Author's Original Post - Jun 19, 2009 - 12:14pm PT
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Have you ever had a retail guy go off? I had a guy go off on me in a store because I was going to buy only one 1/2 rope. I do a lot of alpine climbing in the Tetons and Winds and if speed is of the essence, or if soloing is the mission, we use skinny cords(8mm) by them selves to save weight. Often, the rope is only along for the second and rapelling. If the going gets rough, you still have 100 feet of 2 ropes. Alpine climbing in my world means the leader is effectively soloing most of the time. If you fall, you are likely to hit a ledge before the rope...
My wife and I, (finacee at the time) were going to do Guides wall in the Tetons a few years ago. We went to Mooseley seconds to get some tape for her. They had a super sale on 8mm cords. I say, I'll take one; always looking for a deal to beef the alpine rack.
The clerk (a 24 year old Ashton Kucher look-a-like, know it all) asks,"do you have the mate for that".
I say,"I have a bunch of ropes, I don't need to buy two of these right now".
He says "what are you going to do with it?"
I get annoyed. I say," I'm going to use it for climbing".
He then asks,"you not going to use that thing by itself are you?
I answer,"yeah, there will be times when I will"
Retail guy starts to go off,"I don't even want to sell that to you".
I try to laugh it off and reassure him that it will be fine.
He then says "I'm the guy that will be hauling you away in an ambulance".
My wife at this point is getting visibly concerned. At this point in our relationship, climbing was still new and intimdating. I manged to convince Ashton to sell me the rope.
I spent the better part of the next 30 minutes explaining to my wife why our rope choices are varied and safety factors are very relative to each individual party and outing.
We then went on to have a wonderful climb up Guides wall with my 9.6mm Sterling Marathon. I still see Ashton Kucher from time to time (Jackson is a small town)and I can't help still being annoyed.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Jun 19, 2009 - 01:59pm PT
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I got a simelar lectuer from the clone of that guy in lebanon NH a few years ago. I was trying to buy some 8mm cord to tie off a hex. I had the hex with me as i wanteed to make shure that I could fit 8mm in there VS 7mm. anyways the little twerp behind the counter told me that I was going to die if I didn't use 5.5mm spectra. I told the little sh#t that I had been climbing longer than he had been alive. Pointed out the chiounard stamp on my hex and asked him if he had ever even heard of the company.......
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ec
climber
ca
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:06pm PT
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He was just pissed that you were going to break-up the 'set.' Usually, orphans are hard to sell...LOL
 ec
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
a greasy pinscar near you
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:08pm PT
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"You're not gonna buy those comfortable shoes, are ya?"
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Melissa
Gym climber
berkeley, ca
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:09pm PT
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I bought some 4" webbing for my bf to use for a swammi for minimalist and/or thigh-squeezing adventures a couple of xmasses ago.
The guy working at REI that day was pretty worked up about the dangers of hanging in a swammi. I told him that the sincere intention of he wearer would be to not hang at all, but he wasn't moved. The funny thing to me was that this particular fella was old enough to have seen the advent of the sit harness his own self.
I can sort of appreicate where he might have been coming from though. Most customers are probably pretty clueless...buying shoes for a first time at the gym and such. He may have thought that I had just scored a copy of some instructional manual out of a library free bin dating from 1958 and was fixing to do a little mountaineering.
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tradmanclimbs
Ice climber
Pomfert VT
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:13pm PT
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I forgot my harness a few weeks ago and tied directly into the rope. that effin hurts!! Those guys were tough birds......
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ontheedgeandscaredtodeath
Trad climber
San Francisco, Ca
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:16pm PT
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Try rolling into a Bay Area shop after work looking a bit like a yup and attempting to buy protection not made by Black Diamond.
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Reilly
Mountain climber
Monrovia, CA
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:33pm PT
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I ask 'em, "Do you know who I am?"
"Uh, no."
"Good, then that makes two of us."
Then I give 'em my Clint Eastwood grim smile and say, "Thank you, have a nice day."
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:46pm PT
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I've had some REAL problems with people who sell gear deciding that it makes them an expert. Problems that go way beyond the store.
Your experience was merely an annoyance Nate.
I've also had such people declare unequivocally that I was an unsafe climber because I rope soloed. My usual response, "How would I be safer if instead of a sound anchor the end of my rope was tied to an idiot?"
Just think what Ashton would say if he knew that I sometimes soloed on a half rope to lower impact force.
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Chaz
Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
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Jun 19, 2009 - 02:57pm PT
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"I'm the guy that will be hauling you away in an ambulance".
Gee, thanks. Can I call you "Dad"?
That idiot attitude seems to be trained into today's new crop of *first responders*. I've heard that line enough times to believe it has to be something they are teaching at The Accademy now.
Last time I heard that was a couple weeks ago. I was riding my bike in the hills above Big Bear when two guys driving a truck stopped and told me to turn around. Seems they had seen a rattlesnake, and if it were up to them, the National Forest would be closed. I was advised that THEY were the ones who would be bringing back my snake-poisoned carcass should I be unwise enough to ride any further up the road.
I pegged them for low-level LEO of some sort, probably probation or prison guards. They had the clean-cut look common to cops and firefighters, but unlike the hose-draggers, these two were both sporting the bitter forced-frown that can only come from being a cop or a lifetime of bad character (or both).
(I didn't take their advice, I never saw the snake, had a great day looking out over the vast marine layer from Butler Peak)
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apogee
climber
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Jun 19, 2009 - 03:13pm PT
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This practice of outdoor retailers trying to 'protect' their customers from the equipment they sell makes no sense to me. Ironically, many of them have had 'no instruction' policies in place intended to reduce liability exposure the store might have from an employee trying to 'teach' a customer to use something. I wonder if the store mentioned by the OP has such a policy, or if not, do they intentionally train their salespeople to try and assess their customer's knowledge/competence? That would seem like a great way to piss off customers.
Or maybe this was an isolated incident with a particular obnoxious, do-gooder employee, in which case DMT's c*ck punching technique makes sense.
Why doesn't the same kind of stuff happen when you buy a chainsaw?
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Nefarius
Big Wall climber
Fresno
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Jun 19, 2009 - 03:38pm PT
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"from being a cop or a lifetime of bad character (or both). "
They usually go together. Exceptions are rare.
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TradIsGood
Chalkless climber
the Gunks end of the country
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Jun 19, 2009 - 03:45pm PT
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Should have just told him not only are you just using a half rope, but you are only planning on using the top half! (Until it gets dirty, then you'll use the other half. And find out what forum he posts on!)
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slobmonster
Trad climber
berkeley, ca
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Jun 19, 2009 - 03:49pm PT
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Sometimes, that one frigging guy just sticks in your craw... with this in mind, when "selling" someone climbing gear, I try to just be polite and helpful. If/when a customer asks for something specific, it's usually b/c they know what they want.
That a good enough tautology?
In general I'll sell you whatever damn rope you want. But if you come into my shop looking for "safety lines and stuff so I can work on my roof," I don't proffer any advice, none at all. "These are harnesses for [rock] climbing, this is how you put it on." In other words, to some extent it is important that (if asked) I help someone use gear *as it's intended to be used.*
Lately, we've been getting a fair number of customers asking for rigging gear for "circus" type stuff, with which I have zero expertise. I kind of shrug, point at our selection of plates, pulleys, and swivels, and remind them that PPE can't be returned. Oh well.
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yo
climber
a tied-off Tomahawk™
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Jun 19, 2009 - 03:54pm PT
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I think I saw this episode of Punk'd.
Funny thing about clerks is they freak over this shyte but some butterball who's just gettin' into climbing rocks goes in to stock up on footgrips and carabinkles and the clerk won't even bat an eye.
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Finn
Trad climber
Santa Rosa, CA
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Jun 19, 2009 - 04:07pm PT
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Nunya! Nunya! F*n classic!
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mojede
Trad climber
Butte, America
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Jun 19, 2009 - 04:25pm PT
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Chaz, good story--you should have just told them, "I KNOW how to use a stick, thank you."
'Tards, all of 'em I say, hehe.
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AbeFrohman
Trad climber
new york, NY
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Jun 20, 2009 - 01:07am PT
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Punch 'em in the c*#k! love it.
or smack 'em upside the head with the packaged up rope.
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Jun 20, 2009 - 09:12am PT
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I'll defend the guy a "little" bit. Having guided in the Tetons during the 70's I can assure you that the area, because of the amount of moderate climbing, attracts a lot of gumbies. The clerk failed on style points but he probably had seen some pretty strange things from customers.
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JoeSimo
Trad climber
New York
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Jun 20, 2009 - 09:49am PT
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I stopped shopping in EMS because of situations like this. Every clerk was a self proclaimed expert in climbing and gave me sh#t for anything I wanted to buy. I would basically have to describe in detail what rock climbing is and what safety meant each time I bought anything.
Last time I was in EMS I was buying 2 feet on small cord like 2mm just to hold athletic tape to my back pack. I asked the guy if I could get 2 feet of this cord. He looked at me funny and asked what I was gonna use it for. I said for climbing. His face turned to horror and said "This won't hold your body weight!!!" I honestly didn't know how to respond to such stupidity.
Every other time I go there to buy anything, whether its a cam, carabiner, sling, whatever, I get the same question in a condescending tone. 'Are you SURE you need this?"
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