Once in a while I buy something from WestMarine to be shipped to Australia.
My experience has been that they do match internet competitive pricing - at
least they have for me when I've brought a discrepancy to their attention.


wrote in message
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On 25 Feb 2008 12:56:01 -0600, Dave wrote:

On Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:40:06 -0500, said:

West Marine faces a lot of strong local
competition in many markets. In my area, they even compete against
other West Marine stores. If anyone thinks WM store managers aren't
extremely focused on beating the performance of other WM stores, think
again. Cassel was completely wrong about that, too.

Not my experience. In fact the last two places I've had my boat hauled the
prices at the marinas' ship's store (seldom regarded as price busters)
were
lower than either of the WM stores in the areas. And since Boaters' World
has essentially exited from sailboat hardware it's only gotten worse.

I can of course drive 20 miles or so to the Defender store, but generally
it's not worth it unless I'm buying something pretty big.

Where is Goldberg's when you need it? g

I agree that you can usually find better prices than WM. However, WM
has a policy of matching any price other than those found on the
internet. If Gardella's charges $10 for something, WM will do the
same, even if they normally have it priced at $15. Of course in your
case, Gardella's is a short walk across the yard, so all bets are off!
I use WM mostly as a convenience store when I need some small item
while in the middle of working on the boat. There is a fantastic, old
school, hardware store in Branford/East Haven called Goodys that has a
better selection of stainless hardware than any marine store I've ever
encountered.

I do most of my major purchases from Defender at their annual
warehouse sale. I have my list ready! Other than that, I'll often
comparison shop online if I don't need something right that minute.