Ski Equipment Weekend

Today starts the annual ski-equipment weekend. What does that mean? Every year we get together as a family and see what ski equipment from last year needs to be replaced. When my kids were young, this was critical as they grew every summer. Sometimes kids would need new boots or outfits. Other times they would need everything. Fortunately it is now just my wife and me so it is not nearly as expensive as it used to be.

Skis are only meant to last 100 days and I ski more than that every season. Last year had such bad snow that I never really used my new skis and so I don't think I need new ones this year. I will still look though as I am always looking for a great deal on skis. My boots are pretty good and so I will keep the ones I have.

My wife got new skis last year and so she doesn't need new ones either. She went through her equipment and only needs a new helmet and goggles. I got a new helmet at the end of last year and don't need a new one. I also have several pairs of goggles and am good there. I actually don't need anything. This could be a very inexpensive Labor Day.

So why to we pick this weekend to refresh our ski equipment? It is when the best sales are scheduled. The weather is starting to change and so ski shops put things on sale. A lot of time it is to get rid of any unsold stuff from last season. Interestingly the whole advent of online shopping has really changed the Labor-Day-Ski-Sale dynamics. Long gone are the days when the ski shops would erect a tent in the parking lot with all the extra ski stuff. I miss those days as there is something about being able to handle the equipment before dropping the equivalent of a house down payment. I also don't think the deals are nearly as good. They don't have to be as online shops can drop the price of last year's equipment all summer long and get rid of excess inventory. Furthermore ski equipment manufacturers have better inventory management and don't overproduce like they used to.

One benefit of all the online shopping is I don't have to go anywhere. We used to drive all over the Salt Lake Valley. Now we just sit in front of the computer and look at pictures. Hopefully the wonderful snowfall in the marketing photos match the conditions we will see in a few months. I don't think I can take another poor snow year. 

 

Black Friday and Cyber Monday Deals

As I begin today's post, I must confess I am not much of a Black Friday shopper. I prefer to spend the Friday after Thanksgiving skiing and not standing in line trying to get a good deal on stuff. Unfortunately the ski areas around me in Utah are still closed. Yes I could go to Brighton or Solitude but the limited terrain available has kept me home. Being home still didn't convince me to go shopping on Black Friday.

Cyber Monday rolled around and that is known for great online deals. I received a number of e-mails letting me know about great prices on things I might be interested in purchasing. While some of the deals looked interesting, I didn't make any purchases on Cyber Monday either.

Travel Tuesday followed Cyber Monday and I must confess that I finally made a purchase. My wife and I plan to go ski Alyeska in Alaska during the month of March and so I kept my eyes open for deals there. I didn't receive any notifications. I just looked at the ski area website and saw they had a limited sale going on. The only catch is that you have to prepay the entire stay and if something comes up prohibiting you from the trip, you have to eat the cost of lodging. My wife and I are pretty set on going so I purchased plane tickets and then paid for the slope-side hotel. We are now ready for our trip.

At the beginning of the ski season, I started looking for a new ski jacket. About a month ago my wife found me the perfect one and so I purchased it at a really amazing price. Unfortunately I still get daily e-mails from ski jacket companies trying to entice me to buy their wares. The prices for jackets I looked at always seem to be dropping. My hope is that I won't be inundated by Alyeska asking me to book another trip to come ski with them. My trip is scheduled and unless the snow is extra amazing, I don't plan to go back. I would rather try new areas. I'll be interested to see what happens.

This is the same sort of phenomenon that happens when you donate to certain charities. They then use the money you gave them to solicit more donations from you until you politely asked to be removed from their mailing list. Even then, you will still probably get a few more requests. 

Christmas Shopping Early

Yesterday my wife sent me an e-mail from a Jewelry designer that is retiring. All of her inventory is on sale for extremely low prices so she can clear it out. Today I checked out the website and wondered what I could get my wife. She told me Jewelry would make a great stocking stuffer and so I browsed trying to find something that would be perfect for her.

I found a quite a few rings that don't cost too much and look amazing. The only problem is that I don't know my wife's ring size. I know, that probably makes me a horrible husband but it really has been a long time since I bought my wife a ring of any kind. We have also been married for almost 35 years so I shouldn't be expected to remember her size when I got her engagement ring. Besides, she has had it resized several times and I'm not stupid enough to ask if it is larger or smaller than when I originally purchased it.

I continued to scroll through the site and found some necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that would be nice. Nothing really jumped out though. Then I found one item that I know my wife will love. It is kind of like seeing a bunch shirts that are all the same color and then finding one that is different and also happens to be in my wife's favorite color. I probably shouldn't say that I ordered it as she might read this post but I did find that perfect stocking stuffer.

Have I finished my Christmas shopping? No as I am not even close. I did get one gift though and now I can relax a little. Not completely but a little. 

Purchasing In-Store or on a Website

Yesterday I received my new skis and they look beautiful. Now I need to put on bindings which connect the skis to the ski boots. I had thought I could pull a set of bindings off an old pair of skis I don't use any more. Unfortunately my boots have a new type of sole on them called GripWalk and they are not compatible with all bindings. I looked carefully at the bindings I planned to use and they do not indicate they work with GripWalk which probably means they don't. Newer versions of the binding do but I don't want to risk it as a proper release of the bindings will prevent injury. That means I am now on the hunt for a new pair of bindings.

The last time I needed a new pair of bindings, I went to my local Level Nine Sports store and asked for their best deal. They offered a pair of Tyrolia D12's for $100, which is an excellent price. Furthermore it is compatible with GripWalk and has performed flawlessly for 2 seasons now. I logged onto their website to see if I could order the bindings for the same price I paid in the past. Unfortunately they increased prices by $30. I gave them a call and asked if I could get the same deal from before. The person on the phone told me to come in and they could honor the $100 price.

Going into a store instead of purchasing from a website goes against conventional wisdom. Normally I would expect to get the best price on the website. This is something to remember as you visit brick-and-mortar shops. You may be able to get a better price in person than online. Just remember to be respectful and polite as an entitled attitude may negate any discount you hope to receive.

Now that I have found the bindings I want I need to work with my wife to see what her plans are. She doesn't require the GripWalk feature as she still has conventional ski boot soles. If she needs a pair of bindings, the $60 discount between 2 pairs of bindings definitely justifies the gas of driving a few miles to the physical store.

Time For New Skis

Recently I have been in the market for a new pair of skis. Knowing this, I have been keeping my eyes open for a good deal on a new pair. This is the time of the year when you can usually find the best deals and so I expected to find something soon. I am not too picky as I really am focused on getting the best deal possible. That means I want a high-quality ski for a low price. I'm sure ski manufacturers hate me.

Since Labor Day I have been visiting local ski shops and looking at all of my online sources to see what kind of deals I can get. Yesterday I got an e-mail from a company that caters to outdoor enthusiasts and provides severely discounted products should you qualify to receive their rock-bottom deals. This is the same site where I got my Suunto watch back in June.

Now this is an important point that I hope all online marketers understand: When a person is interested in purchasing something, a timely e-mail is appreciated. When a person has already purchased that thing, your e-mail is annoying. The trick is to be able to accurately figure out when your product is wanted and when it is no longer needed.

I logged into the site and could look at new skis from a number of top manufacturers. As I mentioned above, I am not that picky about skis. Then I saw the list of manufacturers and realized I might be a bit more picky than I originally thought. I am not that picky about skis as long as they come from a short list of companies. Fortunately several of those ski brands appeared on the list and so I narrowed the skis down to those that interested me. One pair stood out at a 65% discount, which put it in the sub $300 category. Anything below $300 is a great price for new skis.

Last night I wanted to get the approval from my wife before buying the skis and so I showed them to her. Her response was, "Can I get a pair of new skis?" The agreement with the website indicated I could pick up a pair for friends and family and so we looked. Normally the website restricts buyers to just the person meeting the correct criteria and so it would be a violation of the terms of use without the published exception. We found a pair of skis for her that met her criteria and happened to come in at $10 less than my new skis. They are also a specific women's ski, meaning it is lighter than the men's version. My wife and I ordered both pairs last night and they will arrive on Tuesday next week.

When the skis arrive I will get bindings mounted on them and will almost be ready for the upcoming ski season. I will be honest and confess I am looking for a new ski jacket too. My current one is faded and all of my family keeps telling me I need to replace it. For online marketers that want to sell me something, I am probably a bit picky as the jacket needs to be red, waterproof, breathable, and windproof. Let the e-mails begin. 

Can You Really Trust an Online Review?

I recently went on a cruise with my wife. When I got home, I had an e-mail from the company where I purchased the trip, which is not the same company as the cruise line. The e-mail asked me to provide a review.

Every time I purchase something online I seem to get a request asking me to review the product. Once I bought a winter jacket in August and a week later received an invitation to write a review. I hadn't even worn the jacket yet let alone put it to a true test of how good it is. I've had that jacket for 2 years now and could provide a much better review but nobody would be interested in it because you can't buy it any more. It has been updated and only slightly resembles what I purchased. My review today would say that the jacket is amazingly wind and waterproof, breathes well, but has lousy zippers. If I didn't have such an amazing seamstress for a wife, the jacket would be in the garbage. It is only after 2 years of use that I have come to that conclusion.

Let's go back to my cruise example. How would anyone know if my review of the cruise is accurate or not. Anyone who has taken such a trip knows that one passenger's heavenly cruise can be another's sub-standard one. I have only been on one other cruise and I found each to be amazing and a lot of fun. They occurred on different cruise lines but had similar standards for food and entertainment. I would rank both as 5-star experiences but someone with the experience of 20 or more cruises would be a better judge.

One area where I feel I am an expert is skiing and feel I can give an honest opinion of equipment or various ski areas around North America. It is actually a topic of my YouTube channel. How would you know if you can trust my opinion or not though? I have ridden up the chairlift with quite a few skiers that are on the wrong skis but swear they are the best skis in the world. Nobody has ever spent $1000 on a new pair of skis and gone on to say anything bad about them. It makes them look foolish and so they only sing praises for their equipment.

There is also the other end of the spectrum. Sometimes someone will get a bad product or have a bad experience. Perhaps they took their spouse on a wonderful cruise only to find out the spouse wants a divorce. Do you think the cruise is going to get a good review? Probably not but not because of bad service, poor food quality, or lousy entertainment. The reviewer may be going through something outside the control of the cruise line and the reviewer should not be penalized the company for it.

So how can trust an online review? Look at as many reviews as you can find. In statistical analysis we always throw away the highest and lowest scores as they can skew what is really going on. Look for those 2, 3, and 4-star reviews to see why people didn't give the maximum or minimum rankings. You will discover that the passenger booked a cheap cruise during hurricane season and spent the voyage seasick, which is not the cruise line's fault. Perhaps someone is really sensitive to color and the picture didn't quite match what they received. That doesn't ruin the quality of the product, just the aesthetics, which may not be important to you.

Remember that not everybody is qualified to provide quality online reviews. Furthermore there are reports of AI being used by companies to give large numbers of positive reviews. Be aware of that and look at a number of reviews for any products or services you are considering. Carefully selecting the right reviews will help you understand if it is right for you.

Christmas Shipping

Christmas is just around the corner and if you still have shopping to do, time is running out. Today I received an e-mail from a company from which I planned to get Christmas gifts. The e-mail said that orders need to be made soon if one hopes to receive the gifts before Christmas. Fortunately I had my orders ready and got them in before the deadline. My kids will receive their gifts before that important day in a few weeks.

There are a number of online retailers urging shoppers to get their orders in before it is too late. FedEx has listed the following dates that are important if you want to get gifts delivered on or before December 22nd:

• December 15 for FedEx Ground
• December 20 for 2-day delivery
• December 21 for 1-day delivery

They also go on to list that they will be doing modified home and ground delivery on the 23rd and 24th of December. All delivery services will be closed on December 25th, which is a good thing as I would hate to be forced to work that day myself.

UPS has a similar schedule where they say that December 20th is the last day to utilize 2-day delivery for packages that will arrive on the 24th. They then go on to say that 3-day deliveries sent on the 20th, won't be delivered until Friday the 27th. 

The Unites States Postal Service is also listing dates on their website. They include different schedules for Alaska and Hawaii, which is important. While some of the dates remain the same (i.e. First Class and Priority Mail service) Ground Advantage requires 2 extra days and Priority Mail Express Service 1 extra day. Otherwise the dates look similar to FedEx and UPS.

I want my Christmas gifts to arrive as close to the special day as possible and so some might think I have waited way too long before getting them shipped. Normally I would have to agree with one exception. This year, I have decided to get something that is perishable and so I don't want them to arrive too early. It would also be a huge disappointment for them to arrive late. Hopefully I timed it correctly this year and everything works out. Hopefully you also find the information above helpful this Holiday season if you still have gifts to send.

Cyber Monday and the Wrong Flight

I am on a flight today headed back to Salt Lake City. I picked today to fly trying to avoid the tail-end of Thanksgiving travel. I also knew I could get some important work done on the flight with the help of in-flight Internet. I'm glad I planned to work as the plane's entertainment service isn't working. They've reset the system 3 times now without success. It is kind of annoying but it means I can focus more of my attention on getting work done. Sometimes you pick the right flight where there are empty seats next to you or something amazing happens. Today is not that day.

Today also happens to be Cyber Monday when all of the online stores have their biggest sales. Once again my e-mail inbox received a flood of messages encouraging me to spend money on potential Christmas gifts. Once again I am not really interested in spending money. It would probably be a good idea to come up with a list of gifts for those on my list before Black Friday and Cyber Monday roll around. Then I could take advantage of some of the deals. Fortunately the discounts seem to stick around up until the big day. Then everything really goes on sale.

One sale I knew would happen today is that from the airlines. I received a special e-mail from both Alaska and Delta as those are the two carriers I use the most. I'm sure I also got one from Southwest but skipped over it as I have not been flying them recently. Don't get me wrong, they are a great airline with spectacular deals. I just prefer nonstop flights and Southwest seems to have multiple legs whenever I want to go somewhere. That doesn't mean I don't check their schedule first as it serves as a great baseline price.

I also received a lot of e-mails from hotel chains that I tend to use for business travel. There are some great deals out there. Unfortunately, for my personal travel I have been scouring AirBnB for most of my overnight accommodations recently. For about the same price as a hotel, I can get a living room and a kitchen. It is only business trips where I use hotels any more. Since the company is paying for it, I don't mind staying in hotels and eating out at restaurants.

Speaking of business travel I should probably get back to work. There is a lot going on this week and I need to get ready for all of the events. Then I can wind down for the Christmas break.

Avoiding Stores on Black Friday

While some people like my sister live to find great deals on Black Friday, I am one of those people that avoid shopping at all costs on this day. This year's Black Friday is coming to a close and I can safely say that I did not visit any stores. I didn't purchase anything online either. Instead I spent some time outside hiking, spending time with family, and doing things around the house.

My wife took some downtime today to do some online shopping for me. She thinks she is done with buying Christmas gifts for me. Unfortunately I have not even started for her. I know what she needs and wants so it should be easy once I find some time to get the gift purchases taken care of.

I did notice an unusual amount of e-mail in my inbox today. I had so much e-mail I had to empty my inbox twice. I had the usual mix of outdoor equipment, guitars, and consumer electronics solicitations, Alaska airlines knew my one weakness and sent me information on their BOGO sale. That means they have airline tickets available at a two-for-one price. The last time they did that, I bought tickets to Hawaii and climbed Mauna Kea with my wife. I mentioned the sale to my wife and she told me to buy tickets to places we know we are headed next year. Where's the fun in that? Fortunately the sale only lasts today and if I can hold off experimenting with flights, I'll be good . . . until Cyber Monday when I am sure they will offer the same deal again.

Temu vs. Amazon

My wife recently bought me a linen suit. I had to host a company-wide event in New York and I wanted to look my best. The suit got a lot of complements and I enjoyed wearing it. I have continued wearing it as linen makes a great fabric for staying cool in summer.

While my new suit looks amazing, it can't change the fact that I am bald. Now I'm not saying baldness makes someone look better or worse, but you can't really wear a baseball cap with a linen suit. Not wearing a hat requires me to sunscreen my head or get a nasty sunburn. Sunscreen makes a bald head really shiny and so I prefer to wear a hat. What kind of hat goes well with a linen suit? A panama hat and my wife and I found one that we both like.

Initially we found the hat on Amazon for around $20. I thought about getting it but have been spending a lot of money on myself lately and so I opted to hold off. My wife was talking with some of her friends who have fallen in love with Temu and suggested she give it a try. She found the same hat on Temu for only $8. At that price she felt like she could get me an early Father's Day gift and gave it to me on Sunday. I wore it with my suit and looked like a villain from a James Bond film. Naturally I liked the combo.

This evening I started looking around to see what else is available on Temu. There are a lot of t-shirts with silly sayings but I wanted to see if they have more substantial items. I did a search for left-handed guitars and found a lot of musical items but no left-handed guitars. I doubt there are as many items as are available on Amazon but they have some great deals. From now on, I will probably search both sites and see which one has the better prices. So far Temu seems to be winning but we'll see how long that lasts.

Does Black Friday Still Exist?

This morning I rode up the chairlift with someone that works for a large online retailer where I asked about Black Friday and if it still exists because people do so much online shopping. To help illustrate the point, I got an e-mail on Monday and ordered a expensive ski jacket online at a huge discount. It arrived today and I didn't have to wake up early or stand in a line. In fact, I went skiing on Black Friday and had an excellent day. The person we rode the chair with said that her company had coupons that didn't get sent until Black Friday. She expects it will have more of an effect for Cyber Monday, which is where most online retailers see the largest number of purchases for a given day.

I watched the news last night before heading to bed and they said a lot of people were out shopping but we didn't have the crowds as has been seen in years past. The shoppers interviewed enjoyed being able to find great deals without having to deal with large crowds. I didn't see any stories of women and children being trampled by large and unruly crowds. I'm happy about that.

My wife and I have long since given up on quantity over quality when it comes to Christmas gifts. We spend a lot of time thinking about what people really want for that special day of the year. That has not always been the case as young kids care more about the number of packages they get to open, not about if they want what they are receiving. This year we know exactly what we will get for each of our kids. While we could wake up early on Black Friday and try to save a few dollars, ultimately it is easier to just go to our trusted sources for what we are looking for. After all, time is money and a great deal on something you don't plan to buy is worthless.

Batteries Not Included

About a week before Christmas I strolled through our local Costco and saw an inflatable hot tub. While I love the idea of having a hot tub, I don't want the constant maintenance hassle nor the expensive electrical bill. My parents had a hot tub and used it frequently for about a year. Then they drained it and it sat unused for several more before they happily sold it and have never regretted that decision. The idea of an inflatable hot tub appealed to me because I can take it down when it is not in use and only set it up when needed.

My wife saw the spa and told me she thought it would be a great Christmas gift. Being the good husband that I am, I went back a few days later while she was at work and bought it. Unfortunately I didn't look closely at the packaging to see that it required 1-inch chlorine tablets that are not included. Sure I could set up the hot tub but then would worry about nasty things quickly growing in it. It is sitting in my family room for the moment until I can find those 1-inch tablets.

On the way home from skiing today, I needed to run a few errands and so I went to several stores looking for the chlorine. Walmart carries them but only during the summer months here in Utah. Home Depot also has them, but again they only keep them in stock at the same time as Walmart. This evening we came home from a nice restaurant and I jumped onto Amazon to see if they could get me some by Wednesday. Nope, not until mid-January.

My wife did some searching online and found a pool-supply store close to our house but they are closed right now. Tomorrow we will go pay them a visit and we will see if we can't purchase some of the required tablets. If only I had bothered to read all of the fine print the day I purchased this magnificent gift, I would already have the one thing needed to set up the spa. I'd like to say that I will learn from this experience but honestly doubt I will. 

The Biggest Shopping Day of the Year

Some people think the biggest shopping day of the year is the day after Thanksgiving or Black Friday. Actually it is the day after Christmas. That is when people bring back the wrong size gifts and exchange them for the right size. It is also the day that everything goes on sale and you can find a great deal on something you may have wanted for Christmas but didn't get.

Naturally I try to avoid being anywhere near a store on this day. I don't want to get trampled. I also know that today is one of the busiest ski days of the year and so I even avoided skiing at a ski resort. Once again, I don't want to get trampled. Instead I grabbed my youngest son and we went for a hike . . . with our skis on. We headed out just North of Alta ski area and headed up Grizzly Gulch for a morning of hiking and bottomless powder. We had quite a nice time and avoided the crowds.

After skiing there are some things I needed to pick up. I recently bought a new truck and certain items will make the pick-truck more useful. My oldest son showed up at the house shortly after I did and was more than happy to help me spend money. Remember that I didn't want to go anyplace as the stores can be chaotic. Instead we looked online. I started with a bed cover as I hate shoveling snow and don't want to have to shovel it out of the bed of my truck. I found one online before Christmas but had trouble finding it for the same price after. My son suggested Amazon. Sure enough, a name-brand cover that I wanted was even less expensive than I had seen it previously.

Next I needed to get a ham radio for the new vehicle. I had done my research several weeks ago and went to my usual source: Ham Radio Outlet. I loaded up my virtual shopping cart with the radio, antenna, and antenna mount. Then my son suggested I look at Amazon. This time, the radio cost significantly more and so I stuck with my original source.

Amazon has great prices on certain things and can be a great place to shop. Sometimes there are better prices elsewhere and so it pays to do a bit of looking around. Fortunately it doesn't require driving to a different store or even any walking. You can do it all from the comfort of your couch.

Beware of Online Reviews and Comparisons

I spent all day flying home from Japan and ended up here before I left, thanks to the international date line. I thought about creating a travel comparison blog entry. Something with useful information like airlines with the most rude flight attendants or worst on-time performance. Then I realized that while I travel every single week, I often stick to the same airlines and don't experience the full breadth of companies offering services. That is partly because I have had poor experiences on some airlines and refuse to fly them ever again. I've even gone so far as to tell my company that I won't go on a trip because they insist on putting me on a carrier I refuse to fly. The more I thought about my seemingly objective travel blog, the more I realized I wouldn't be doing anyone a service. I just don't branch out and try all of the service providers for the travel industry.

When I got home this evening, I had a ski magazine waiting for me. Every year they publish a resort survey listing out the top ski resorts in North America. In years past they have used results from the survey to rank the ski resorts against each other. This can be misleading because it is really a popularity contests for the resorts and doesn't reflect which ones are actually the best, only the most visited. This year, the magazine just listed the resorts with short blurbs about each of them and left off the rankings. I think this is smart as I don't need a bunch of intermediate skiers raving about how great a place is because of expensive restaurants and raging parties. I want to know how the mountain skis and that had become overshadowed.

So what does all this have to do with technology? Well there are a lot of online reviews of goods and services. Some people are heavily influenced by those reviews. Great care should be taken when reading online recommendations. You have no way of knowing if the person writing the good review works for the company or the person writing the bad review had a poor experience and is trying to retaliate for an anomaly. So when you find yourself looking at reviews and rankings for products or services, ask yourself if the reviewer has valid points or not.

Online Ski Stores

A few days ago I wrote about my experience purchasing my son ski bindings from an online store. Afterwards I thought that others might be interested in sites that I find reliable for picking up ski stuff. One of the largest ski retailers in my area closed their doors earlier this year and while other stores are stepping up to fill the void, I am resorting to purchasing more and more online. Here is my list of recommended places to shop:

Backcountry.com  - This site used to be my favorite as they always seemed to have the best deals around. Recently their prices have not been as good as in the past. I have purchased quite a few pairs of skis as well as a lot of rock climbing equipment from them. They also have Steep and Cheap, a site that showcases one item at a time for huge discounts. You have to be quick though as each item is only available for about 10 minutes. If it doesn't sell out, they switch to a new product. Should that happen you can always check the Department of Goods to see if they still have what you are looking for. They have a retail location in Salt Lake and so if I don't want to pay for shipping, I can always pick it up at the store. It also works great for returns.

Evo.com - Purchasing boots online is very difficult. You don't know if the boot will fit correctly and you run the risk of having to ship stuff back. Evo has a very liberal return policy that allows you to purchase several pairs of boots at once and then ship back the ones that don't fit. This came in very handy as I purchased new ski boots for my daughter last Christmas. I did have to pay to ship things back, but it is a small price to pay to get the right size. If you do need boot work after you purchase them, you will have to find a local boot fitter to take care of that for you and that may eliminate any discount from buying online.

Level 9 Sports - This is another online store with a Salt Lake retail location. I first received a recommendation to their site when looking for ski poles. They also have great deals on other ski equipment and I always make sure to compare their prices with other sites. They do everything they can to make sure you have a great purchasing experience.

There are a number of other online ski shops like skis.com. Unfortunately I have not purchased anything from them and can't make a recommendation one way or another. I do compare their prices though and would not mind trying them out. They just haven't had anything that interested me in the past.

If you can't tell, I am anxiously awaiting the start of ski season and hope to have a good one this year. If you are in the market for new stuff, hopefully this list helps you out.

Online Customer Service

Ski season is quickly approaching and so I have been looking to replace some of my old equipment. Generally you can find good deals on the Internet. You do have to be careful though as you may run the risk of getting ripped off. Fortunately there are services like "Google Trusted Stores" to help ensure you do not get taken advantage of.

Saturday afternoon I found a great pair of ski bindings for my son's new skis. I found them on a site I trust with a retail presence in Utah. I purchased them and paid the $7 to have them shipped to the house. Sure I could have gone into the retail store, picked them up, and saved myself some money. However the convenience of not having to go anywhere was well worth the small price. A few days later I got a call from my son asking if he could open the package. I told him he could whereupon he hung up so he could use both hands to rip open the packaging. A few minutes later I got a call back and he explained that only one part of the bindings arrived.

I happened to be at a department offsite and so I couldn't follow up with the seller. When I got back to my office I could not get a hold of them on the phone. They did have a chat app on their website and so I opened the window and asked if a second package might be coming any time soon. Nope, the warehouse had made a mistake and shipped one of two boxes. I needed to take a picture of the parts that arrived along with the packaging. I had a slight problem: everything was in Utah and I was in California. I tried to get my son on the phone but he had taken off for an evening activity. Fortunately my daughter helped me out and sent me the requested photo. I forwarded that to the website and the customer service guy created a new shipment. He even went so far as to personally go to the warehouse, get the second box from the shelves, and send me back a picture of the bindings along with the shipping label. To make things right, he even threw in a few extra low-cost items.

People make mistakes. When you purchase something from a physical store, you have a much lower chance of mistakes being made. I appreciated the customer service representative trying to make amends. Fortunately it is only September and my son doesn't need the skis for a couple of months. I would hate to think how upset we both would have been if snow had already started to fall and we wanted to go skiing the next day. So if you plan to buy stuff online, make sure you don't need it immediately. Otherwise you could be very disappointed.

A Ski Rack for the Jeep

Last month I bought my wife a new Jeep Wrangler. The first addition is getting a ski rack for it since there is snow falling in the mountains around my house. Unfortunately the Jeep Wrangler is a tough car to outfit with a ski rack. You can mount one on the hard top but that involves drilling holes. Besides we don't yet have a hard top as ours came with a soft top.

I didn't want to wait for one to arrive by mail and so I headed to the local ski shop. Both Thule and Yakima make ski racks meant to mount on bike carriers that attach to trailer hitches. We wanted a ski rack that attaches to our spare tire. The ski shop just had ski racks for the top of a car. Next we headed to REI. REI had the Thule racks and we were able see that we needed to get their rack for skis that attaches to a bike rack. We also saw that they have a bike rack that attaches to a spare tire and is compatible with the ski rack we need. Unfortunately the combo was rather expensive at $465 for both.

Being a computer expert and knowing that you can always get a better price online, I came home with my wife and we fired up the computer. Guess what? Everyone wanted $465 for the combo. I couldn't believe that a better deal didn't exist on the Internet. In the end, my wife and I headed down to REI and made the purchase. As I am an REI member, I was able to use my 20% discount on a single item. I used it on the more expensive piece of the 2-part rack. That means the local store had the better price than the Internet.

We brought everything home and looked at putting it together. In the end, we decided that the best option for our ski rack was actually to mount it to a trailer hitch bike rack we already own. Since we bought both pieces from a local shop, we can take back the piece we don't need, save ourselves $200, and not have to pay shipping costs. Sometimes it pays to shop at a local store instead of trying to buy everything online.

Printed vs. Online Catalogs

I got a nice 4x4 catalog in the mail today. Normally I would just toss it but today was different. I spent a good part of my morning replacing the starter in the Jeep Cherokee that my oldest son drives. It was a fairly simple and painless task. More importantly, we both felt a huge sense of accomplishment once we were done and the vehicle started right up. After working on the Jeep, it was kind of fun to sit on the couch and just look through the catalog seeing what modifications we can make.

This got me thinking about paper or printed catalogs vs. online shopping sites. The last thing I wanted to do this afternoon was to log onto my computer and browse 4x4 websites. Sitting on the couch doing basically the same thing seemed like an excellent idea though. I had 10 minutes while I was waiting for something and reading the catalog was fun. Ok, I didn't really read the catalog, I just looked at the pictures and pointed out things to my wife that I might want for Christmas.

My 10 minutes with the catalog were up and it was time to head off to my next task for the day and I tossed the catalog in the recycling bin. Why? Well the store that sent me the catalog has an online store. They also have a physical store here in Salt Lake as well as in other cities across the country. If I know what I want to buy, I will just go to the website and order it. If I need something immediately, I will just go to the store and pick it up.

So the question that needs to be answered is if the printed catalog was useful? Yes it was. I now know what products are offered as well as the relative price. Without the paper catalog I would never have known I could get a simple product that turns my trailer hitch into a useful step. Now that is a sweet stocking stuffer. Oh yea, Christmas is coming so be prepared for the annual deluge of paper shopping catalogs.