Mods- feel free to move to a better location as I couldn't find a vendor/ sponsor forum nor thread. I wanted to share my experience here to inform others and provide feedback to the shops.
I am very new to the sport. I have been to two local shops: Emerald Water Anglers and Patrick's Fly shop. The staff at Emerald were very attentive, very friendly and informative. The shop is very clean and well organized. On the other hand, I had a terrible experience at Patrick's yesterday. The shop is very disorganized cluttered. The flies aren't even view-able due to clutter on top of the cases. I walked in to pick up a couple of leader packs. I waited ten minutes for the gentleman to finish telling a fishing story to someone else in the shop. I was clearly standing in his view and made it obvious had a question. I know story telling is part of this space, but shouldn't be at the expense of customer service. When he finally helped me, he can condescending and judgmental when he realized I didn't really know what I needed. I went in looking for rio powerflex 2 and 3x leaders. They had the 2x, but for the 3 he recommended the 10lb salmon leader because "once you get out of troutie troutie land, it goes by pounds." It was all in the tone, very condescending. That leader might be great, but that's not the point. They guy needs an attitude adjustment. He made me feel dumb and small. I won't be going back. Based on his stories and the gear they sell, it seems like they specialize in saltwater. Maybe if you only fish saltwater, are an expert and don't mind clutter and non visible merch, you may have a better experience.
Hopefully this thread doesn't start a flame war. I feel it's important to provide feedback to vendors and share our experiences with vendors openly.
I am very new to the sport. I have been to two local shops: Emerald Water Anglers and Patrick's Fly shop. The staff at Emerald were very attentive, very friendly and informative. The shop is very clean and well organized. On the other hand, I had a terrible experience at Patrick's yesterday. The shop is very disorganized cluttered. The flies aren't even view-able due to clutter on top of the cases. I walked in to pick up a couple of leader packs. I waited ten minutes for the gentleman to finish telling a fishing story to someone else in the shop. I was clearly standing in his view and made it obvious had a question. I know story telling is part of this space, but shouldn't be at the expense of customer service. When he finally helped me, he can condescending and judgmental when he realized I didn't really know what I needed. I went in looking for rio powerflex 2 and 3x leaders. They had the 2x, but for the 3 he recommended the 10lb salmon leader because "once you get out of troutie troutie land, it goes by pounds." It was all in the tone, very condescending. That leader might be great, but that's not the point. They guy needs an attitude adjustment. He made me feel dumb and small. I won't be going back. Based on his stories and the gear they sell, it seems like they specialize in saltwater. Maybe if you only fish saltwater, are an expert and don't mind clutter and non visible merch, you may have a better experience.
Hopefully this thread doesn't start a flame war. I feel it's important to provide feedback to vendors and share our experiences with vendors openly.