Outdoorsman Carbon Tripod

[ShutYourLib]

My experiences with the outdoorsmans:

sometime around 2000 or 2001  I stopped into the cave creek store for the first time. I had a pair of Swarovski binos that I had somehow scratched the lens on and wanted opinions on how I should handle. Guys were all super cool, said they would send the binos to Swarovski for me.  I sat in there and swapped hunting stories and chatted with the two salesman and a few customers for about an hour. It was a great experience. When I got the call that Swarovski had returned the binos I ran up there and started talking to the gentleman behind the counter about your tripods. He took my bingos, put a stud on them, grabbed a tripod and a pistol grip and said go outside and try it out for a while. I ended up leaving with a way lighter wallet after buying the whole new set up. 
 

when your pack came out I went up there again and bought a pack. It was great, used it for several seasons, and then removed the pack from the frame to clean it. When I was putting the pack back on the frame I could not seem to get it adjusted the same as it was, took the whole thing up to the store and was made to feel like a retard. The guy did take the pack and helped fit it to me so that it was as comfortable as the day I bought it, but can say that there was zero small talk, a sense of frustration from the staff, and I left thinking wow that was different than all of my previous encounters. I wrote it off to a bad day.  

went into the store (can’t remember when this was) to get the tall tripod.  When asking if I could put my binos on them, the guy actually said, you have the medium, you already know how it is, just add the number of inches that the tall tripod is to your medium and you will know what you are getting… umm  ok, will go home and do that.  Never bought the tall tripod  

stopped into the fountain hills store right after you moved in. I was interested in upgrading to the longe range pack.  I stood in the lobby all by myself for about 5 minutes before someone came out from the back  he apologized and said the store was a mess from the move. No problem. I told him I wanted to check out the pack, he grabbed one and brought it to me.  Started to ask him questions. He did answer but it was very short, not much interaction and zero personal interest in the sale. The whole interaction just felt wrong  can’t even put my finger on it, but I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I left and bought an eberlestock.

wife stopped in there to buy me a window mount for a birthday present.  She is not familiar with all of this stuff and made a comment about it being expensive, the guy was patronizing in his response back to her about getting what you pay for, and something along the lines do you want it or not. She felt uncomfortable and I didn’t get a window mount for my birthday.

last time in your store was about a year and a half ago.  I went in to get a digiscope adaptor for my phone  I was having a hard time understanding how to mount it to the case and how to pick the correct camera lens to center the phone case mount on.  Was asking questions about that and about how solid the ring for the spotting scope was when twisted on. Questions were answered, but in a condescending manner.  Again I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I asked how much it was, and I said something along the lines of “dang”.  Was absolutely still going to buy it at that point, but hearing him launch into his whole diatribe about justifying the cost, which ended with him saying do you want it or not? I chose not to buy it.  
 

so, for me it’s hard to put my finger on exact examples other than to say that the customer service I have received made me feel like I should be privileged to be shopping there, felt condescending, felt patronized, and felt belittled for questioning the price. Not to mention the borderline insulting interaction towards my wife.  Long story short, I now rock a manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, a mystery ranch pack, and a MagView digiscope adaptor.  Had I been treated like a valued customer I have no doubt that I would still be rocking OutDoorsmans stuff.  Honestly, I’m done with all things OutDoorsmans until that part of your business is fixed.

 

[ShutYourLib]

I typed all of that on a phone, so please excuse the grammar and spelling. 

[AZMark]

41 minutes ago, ShutYourLib said:

My experiences with the outdoorsmans:

sometime around 2000 or 2001  I stopped into the cave creek store for the first time. I had a pair of Swarovski binos that I had somehow scratched the lens on and wanted opinions on how I should handle. Guys were all super cool, said they would send the binos to Swarovski for me.  I sat in there and swapped hunting stories and chatted with the two salesman and a few customers for about an hour. It was a great experience. When I got the call that Swarovski had returned the binos I ran up there and started talking to the gentleman behind the counter about your tripods. He took my bingos, put a stud on them, grabbed a tripod and a pistol grip and said go outside and try it out for a while. I ended up leaving with a way lighter wallet after buying the whole new set up. 
 

when your pack came out I went up there again and bought a pack. It was great, used it for several seasons, and then removed the pack from the frame to clean it. When I was putting the pack back on the frame I could not seem to get it adjusted the same as it was, took the whole thing up to the store and was made to feel like a retard. The guy did take the pack and helped fit it to me so that it was as comfortable as the day I bought it, but can say that there was zero small talk, a sense of frustration from the staff, and I left thinking wow that was different than all of my previous encounters. I wrote it off to a bad day.  

went into the store (can’t remember when this was) to get the tall tripod.  When asking if I could put my binos on them, the guy actually said, you have the medium, you already know how it is, just add the number of inches that the tall tripod is to your medium and you will know what you are getting… umm  ok, will go home and do that.  Never bought the tall tripod  

stopped into the fountain hills store right after you moved in. I was interested in upgrading to the longe range pack.  I stood in the lobby all by myself for about 5 minutes before someone came out from the back  he apologized and said the store was a mess from the move. No problem. I told him I wanted to check out the pack, he grabbed one and brought it to me.  Started to ask him questions. He did answer but it was very short, not much interaction and zero personal interest in the sale. The whole interaction just felt wrong  can’t even put my finger on it, but I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I left and bought an eberlestock.

wife stopped in there to buy me a window mount for a birthday present.  She is not familiar with all of this stuff and made a comment about it being expensive, the guy was patronizing in his response back to her about getting what you pay for, and something along the lines do you want it or not. She felt uncomfortable and I didn’t get a window mount for my birthday.

last time in your store was about a year and a half ago.  I went in to get a digiscope adaptor for my phone  I was having a hard time understanding how to mount it to the case and how to pick the correct camera lens to center the phone case mount on.  Was asking questions about that and about how solid the ring for the spotting scope was when twisted on. Questions were answered, but in a condescending manner.  Again I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I asked how much it was, and I said something along the lines of “dang”.  Was absolutely still going to buy it at that point, but hearing him launch into his whole diatribe about justifying the cost, which ended with him saying do you want it or not? I chose not to buy it.  
 

so, for me it’s hard to put my finger on exact examples other than to say that the customer service I have received made me feel like I should be privileged to be shopping there, felt condescending, felt patronized, and felt belittled for questioning the price. Not to mention the borderline insulting interaction towards my wife.  Long story short, I now rock a manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, a mystery ranch pack, and a MagView digiscope adaptor.  Had I been treated like a valued customer I have no doubt that I would still be rocking OutDoorsmans stuff.  Honestly, I’m done with all things OutDoorsmans until that part of your business is fixed.

 

Well first off what a killer response. Don’t think anyone has ever taken the time to type out that much information about their experiences with our staff. Thank you, seriously.

We obviously don’t want people to have these experiences and it sounds like we can work on how we approach the topic of our prices. All of our staff is very proud of the products we make and understandably that pride can come across as arrogance. We will fix this.
 

We will be discussing this topic first thing on Monday morning. We hope to see you again in our store one day and that you have a pleasant experience. 
 

If you ever want to speak to me at the store or on the phone I am always available to answer any questions or address any concerns. 
 

Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
 

-Mark Denham

 

 

[wish2hunt]

12 minutes ago, AZMark said:

Well first off what a killer response. Don’t think anyone has ever taken the time to type out that much information about their experiences with our staff. Thank you, seriously.

We obviously don’t want people to have these experiences and it sounds like we can work on how we approach the topic of our prices. All of our staff is very proud of the products we make and understandably that pride can come across as arrogance. We will fix this.
 

We will be discussing this topic first thing on Monday morning. We hope to see you again in our store one day and that you have a pleasant experience. 
 

If you ever want to speak to me at the store or on the phone I am always available to answer any questions or address any concerns. 
 

Thank you again for taking the time to respond.
 

-Mark Denham

 

 

Probably have a couple call in sick on Monday now.

[joe hunter]

1 hour ago, ShutYourLib said:

My experiences with the outdoorsmans:

sometime around 2000 or 2001  I stopped into the cave creek store for the first time. I had a pair of Swarovski binos that I had somehow scratched the lens on and wanted opinions on how I should handle. Guys were all super cool, said they would send the binos to Swarovski for me.  I sat in there and swapped hunting stories and chatted with the two salesman and a few customers for about an hour. It was a great experience. When I got the call that Swarovski had returned the binos I ran up there and started talking to the gentleman behind the counter about your tripods. He took my bingos, put a stud on them, grabbed a tripod and a pistol grip and said go outside and try it out for a while. I ended up leaving with a way lighter wallet after buying the whole new set up. 
 

when your pack came out I went up there again and bought a pack. It was great, used it for several seasons, and then removed the pack from the frame to clean it. When I was putting the pack back on the frame I could not seem to get it adjusted the same as it was, took the whole thing up to the store and was made to feel like a retard. The guy did take the pack and helped fit it to me so that it was as comfortable as the day I bought it, but can say that there was zero small talk, a sense of frustration from the staff, and I left thinking wow that was different than all of my previous encounters. I wrote it off to a bad day.  

went into the store (can’t remember when this was) to get the tall tripod.  When asking if I could put my binos on them, the guy actually said, you have the medium, you already know how it is, just add the number of inches that the tall tripod is to your medium and you will know what you are getting… umm  ok, will go home and do that.  Never bought the tall tripod  

stopped into the fountain hills store right after you moved in. I was interested in upgrading to the longe range pack.  I stood in the lobby all by myself for about 5 minutes before someone came out from the back  he apologized and said the store was a mess from the move. No problem. I told him I wanted to check out the pack, he grabbed one and brought it to me.  Started to ask him questions. He did answer but it was very short, not much interaction and zero personal interest in the sale. The whole interaction just felt wrong  can’t even put my finger on it, but I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I left and bought an eberlestock.

wife stopped in there to buy me a window mount for a birthday present.  She is not familiar with all of this stuff and made a comment about it being expensive, the guy was patronizing in his response back to her about getting what you pay for, and something along the lines do you want it or not. She felt uncomfortable and I didn’t get a window mount for my birthday.

last time in your store was about a year and a half ago.  I went in to get a digiscope adaptor for my phone  I was having a hard time understanding how to mount it to the case and how to pick the correct camera lens to center the phone case mount on.  Was asking questions about that and about how solid the ring for the spotting scope was when twisted on. Questions were answered, but in a condescending manner.  Again I felt like I was inconveniencing him.  I asked how much it was, and I said something along the lines of “dang”.  Was absolutely still going to buy it at that point, but hearing him launch into his whole diatribe about justifying the cost, which ended with him saying do you want it or not? I chose not to buy it.  
 

so, for me it’s hard to put my finger on exact examples other than to say that the customer service I have received made me feel like I should be privileged to be shopping there, felt condescending, felt patronized, and felt belittled for questioning the price. Not to mention the borderline insulting interaction towards my wife.  Long story short, I now rock a manfrotto carbon fiber tripod, a mystery ranch pack, and a MagView digiscope adaptor.  Had I been treated like a valued customer I have no doubt that I would still be rocking OutDoorsmans stuff.  Honestly, I’m done with all things OutDoorsmans until that part of your business is fixed.

 

You want great service from knowledge staff with many different products, fast shipping, great sales and even a nice discount for being a member on a lot of different hunting forums, just tell them you’re a member and they will apply it……. Cameraland NY….is the place ! I’ve bought Swaro Binos, spotting scopes, rifle scopes, rangefinders, tripods, scope rings etc from them and have been satisfied with them all. I really don’t even shop around anymore I just call them or go to their site and order what I need. I guide for a living and spend many, many days and hours behind my glass and everything I’ve ever bought there is as good as it gets.

[EarlyBronco]

3 hours ago, Sky Island junkie said:

I started dealing with Outdoorsman back in the 80s when Floyd ran that little shop on Cavecreek with no employees. Since then I’ve dealt with probably half a dozen or more employees over the years and never got an arrogant feel, confident definitely!  I guess I could see a thin skinned customer mistaking confidence for arrogance 

Maybe people don’t have thin skin, maybe they don’t want to spend their hard earned money on people that treat them like shoot is all??

[desertmafia21]

Thanks for coming in here and addressing concerns @AZMark. It says you really care about where the business is going. Your dad is a stand up guy and I’m sure he’s proud of the way you’re handling this. Any successful business will have haters. It’s a part of the game. Although I won’t be buying your new tripod, I do think your products are top notch so keep the innovation coming. Sounds like the customer service side of things needs improvement.

[ShutYourLib]

Definitely not a hater of the products.  They are great.  I don’t consider myself thin skinned either.  However I will never spend money at an establishment that doesn’t appreciate the customer.

Mark, impressed with your dedication to ensure the issues are corrected.  I’ll put it the test.  I will stop by sometime in the next few months, if all goes well I’ll buy the window mount that I’ve been eyeing for a few years. Maybe another pistol grip while I’m at it. 

[HuntHarder]

Nice responses Mark!  I do think there is a market for that tripod or Gitzo would be out of business.  Not everyone's wallets are the same in life.  I won't be a buyer, but not because I think you are ripping guys off, I am just happy with my current setup.  Some of the remarks in this thread are comical.  I am sure this tripod will sell.