ice show attitudes

[Philo]

Went to the ice show two days this weekend. (Sat. and Sun). Went there on Sunday with the idea of getting my buddy a vexilar. Yesterday the deal was pay the regular price and the retailer would pickup the sales tax at certain stores. No such deals today, and I got several dirty looks and bad attitudes when I asked. I guess you get in trouble if you ask for a deal.

I also went to Thorne Bros looking for a dead stick rod and got serious attitude from the sales guy.

If they don't want to do a deal that is fine, but spare me the bad responses. Very bad customer service in my opinion all the way around. Not sure if the clerks were sick of dealing with people or what.

[huckleberry]

I am of the same opinion as many of the dealer's prices were retail if not higher. Some booths wanted more for goods than you would pay at the store. Somewhat disappointed today. Although, I did buy some stuff from thorne bros and have always had good experiences with them whether at their store or at the show.

[huntingmaxima]

Boy, I don,t know but I thought the guys from Thorne Bros. were really nice guys to talk to. They will be hearing from me in a couple of days to swing a deal on a couple of fish houses.Talk to BIll and he was super and to a John also. Nice guys! If you want to talk to some stiffs go to our Scheels Store in St Cloud.

[JHansel7]

i happen to like the people that work at scheels, they are extremely helpful.

[Guest]

Talked with Pat at the Thorne Bros booth Friday and he couldnt have been anymore helpful or have taken any more time with me and he did not know who Iwas.Didnt deal on price with them as they had the product I was looking for and answered all my quuestions. Left happy and well informed. Thanks you to Thorne Bros.

[iowaboy]

I guess I don't have any complaints about the show. Visited with Matt at the Thorne booth excellent young man very knowledgeable about his craft! Everyone else I spoke with was very friendly also no complaint's here!

[oscar]

I went looking for a deal on a new Vexilar also, and decided I was in the wrong place. I thought most everything was priced fairly high. I still had a good time looking around and fishing the trout pond with the kids. As for the Scheels staff in St. Cloud, I've found them to be very helpfull and patient nearly every time I've dealt with them.

[Kylersk]

I too thought the folks at the thorn brothers booth were very friendly. Went there friday, and one of them said he'd sell the hockey stick scoop for $15 ($5 off). I didnt buy anything that day, but went back on saturday. I picked up the Scoop, along with some other things and asked about the $15 price, and he said no problem. Shoulda tried to deal on the other items as well. =)

[Matt Breuer]

You'll never find a deal on a Vexilar in a retail store or bait shop. They have a mapping program which makes everyone sell them for the same price. This makes sure that the smaller shops can still sell units, not only retail shops at a substantial discount. No favoritism at certain places and not others.

As for attitudes at the show, I thought people were generally good on Sat.

I did try to deal with someone on a broken rod holder set, he offered me something ridiculous and I had to laugh because they were on sale in another store at that price. Other than that, I saw some good deals, as well as interesting items. Great show this year!!

[Captain B.R.K]

I was at the show Saturday and thought sales guys were in great moods! First off was a stop to Marine General and my buddy had a travel cover into the deal. He didn't pull the trigger though.

Both my other buddy and I talked to Thorne Bros. sales guys and were willing to deal ( got a stocking cap with a rod purchase- wasn't much but it helps with publicity for them ). I ended up talking to Pat Smith a couple of times (AWESOME GUY TO TALK TO IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE STRAIGHT FACTS ABOUT PRODUCT). He helped me out good.

Talked to the owner of yourbobbersdown (I think that was the vendors name) and he was friendly. Another fact, someone I know was talking to a sales guy at Reeds on Friday night and got one heck of a deal on an auger and house!

So overall I think everyone was pretty good.

The problem is that everyone thinks the vendors can pull strings at the show on every sale and that isn't ALWAYS the case. That is probably where you ran into problems.

To bad you had a bad experience.

[bgmny]

I'll agree with the Thorne Bros. compliment. Ended up getting two seats for my Otter for 100 bucks. Can't beat that!!

[waskawood]

I went to the show today with the intent of picking up another Thorne Bros. ice rod. The gentleman that helped me was very knowledgeable and polite. He answered all my questions until we both knew that I had made the correct selection. I held my new Sweetheart Plus all the way home. My wife made a snide comment about me not holding her that carressingly. My comment back was "if you were this sensitive and felt as good maybe I would". WRONG answer. Oh well, I will have a nice night sleeping with my NEW sweetheart.

[76k20]

I was there saturday and have to agree that the prices on alot of things were the same and often MORE than at gander mnt, or fleet farm, both of which are minutes from my home and are free to park near, and enter the stores . Dont get me wrong, I think its great to see all the new equipment out, and I realize it isn't free floor space, but I think the wholesalers should at least knock a few bucks off some stuff without having to beg and plead since it costs $20 just to go see em there.

[Enids Hubby]

Quote:

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You'll never find a deal on a Vexilar in a retail store or bait shop. They have a mapping program which makes everyone sell them for the same price. This makes sure that the smaller shops can still sell units, not only retail shops at a substantial discount. No favoritism at certain places and not others.

---

But you could have gone to Cabellas a month ago and but a Vex and gotten a nice gift card in return . How does that help the little dealer? They should let them sell them for whatever they want . Looking for a deal is what brings people to the show , if the deals go then people will stop going and wait for Cabellas gift card offer .

[rod bender]

Captain, you mentioned the owner of yourbobbersdown, Jamie Olson. I talked with him before the ice show via phone and he helped me out a ton. I know he's not a sponsor of this HSOforum but the tackle he sells is second to none. With his jigs from Sweden, you can get by with a smaller jig since they are much heavier than your average jig on the market. Also has some good looking copper, nickle and gold jigs for those finicky gills and crappies. Might want to take a look.

[Matt Breuer]

Enids, Cabela's was in trouble over that one from what I hear. No longer can you do that. I know what you mean, it would've helped a ton of people at the show if they could've given deals on them or given free soft cases, etc... Maybe in the future!

waskawood, funny stuff!

[Matt Johnson]

Philo,

Who did you talk with at the Thorne Booth? The rods were all 10 percent off at the show, and there were also some different combo deals that were offerred to everyone too. Sorry things didn't work out for you, maybe there was a little miscommunicaiton.

iowaboy,

It sure was nice meeting you. I'm going to have make my way down to Iowa this winter and we're gonna have to get some sight fishing in. Have fun with the ATV racks, and drop me an email somewhere down the road...

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[JWB475]

I have never had a bad experience at Thorne Bros. They are all great guys. Must have caught someone in a bad mood...

I bought some ice jigs from their store a few days ago, and they still gave me the 10% Ice Show discount.

[f1sh1nfool]

I was there on saturday. I had been thinking about upgrading to a couple of thorne bros rods so i just stopped to look. I don't remember the guys name but he was very helpful. he helped me find just the right length of rod and style for my fishing needs. it was really a no-brainer I picked a perch sweetheart and a deadstick rod. two awesome rods. they come with a 30 day warranty. hopefully i will make it onto some good ice by then. kudos to thorne bros staff they were very helpful. I stuck my new rods into a new revolution bag and was set.

[Jeremy airjer W]

I made my first stop at the Thorne Bros, since they seemed highly rec. by the iceleader guys. I talked to a sales guy named donny I think (said he new matt pretty well, I think he went to school with you). Very nice and helpful!! I didn't score the deal I was looking for on my Otter Lodge, but my complete package was still $80 less than retail.

The guys Behind the Thorne Bros selling the Ice Busters also gave me some new ideas for fishing crappies with the Ice Busters.

I am disapointed that the good deals weren't there on the high end stuff. I think the Ice fishing show turnout is largely based on this (I also like to see the new stuff). If this continues to be a trend in the future I think alot of people will skip it and try there luck with the end of the year deals.

What is the deal with the clam people selling everything at retail. If they had the holy grail of portables I wouldn't have a problem but they do have stiff competition that is competively priced and were willing to shave a few bucks. I liked to see the portable sales tally for the weekend to see if this had a negative effect on them.

[Matt Johnson]

Donny was one of my football coaches in high school, he's a great guy and an avid outdoorsman. The guy behind the Ice Buster Bobber booth were Bruce Mosher, or else Bruce's brother or Bruce's dad. Bruce is the master-mind behind Todays Tackle and has developed all of those products. Bruce is also an outstanding guy and a very good fisherman.

I enjoy the Ice Show more because it's a chance to talk with other avid ice anglers. Getting a chance to buy something is just a bonus. It's a chance to get an up-close and personal look at all the different ice fishing products and a great opportunity to soak up a lot of information. I plan on attending the Ice Show every year, always a weekend I mark on my calender

Good Fishin,

Matt Johnson

[hanson]

Everyone I talked to was extremely helpful. I'm typically one to snoop around without asking many questions. It seamed like everywhere I went, someone wanted to help me. I enjoyed talking to the Nilsmaster booth, I believe it was the President (tall guy w/ an accent) and Mr. Bluegill.

About the only guys I couldn't get any info out of were the Perch guides on Devil's Lake. I was asking tough questions. An example, "Do you have ice yet?" I'm leaving Thursday night for DL so I hope they have ice up there!

[Philo]

I am glad to hear that everyone did not have the same experience that my buddy and I did. Sounds like the customer service was great despite a few isolated instances. No harm done on my part, I think that people were just getting a little tired at the end of the day on sunday. (probably also tired of no fishable ice). Oh well, lets get some ice and start fishing!

[hanson]

I've never tried to wheel & deal at the ice show. This was my 3rd year going and the 1st year that I bought something. My intent was to buy 1 fishing rod, and I left with 1 rod, 2 rattle reels, and 2 lake maps. The lake maps were unexpected, they were brand new so I had to pick them up. The rattle reels I've been unable to find.

Anyway, one of the guys at Reeds last year almost had my buddy sold on a new Strikemaster. He wasn't even looking but we got to talking with the guy and the deal started to look pretty good. My buddy told him that he couldn't buy it today but could come back on Sunday for it. The salesman gave him his card, quoted a price on the back, and said to look for him on Sunday.

I think the art of trying to make a deal is not to come out and ask for it first. If you become pushy, why would they want to give you a great deal? Start talking about fishing, the product, ask questions, show interest in purchasing the product, and maybe they'll give you a break to close the deal.

If you go up to salesman and say I'm buying a Vexilar, what kind of deal can you give me, you kind of shot yourself in the foot. He knows you are already buying one.

[BradB]

The fellow at Nils Master is named J.P. Raatikainen. I too had a nice talk with him about Scandinavian ice lures. There is some really neat stuff in Sweden, Finland, and Norway that we never see over here. I have some relatives in Sweden who hook me up with some of if, and it is fantastic.