Fanatyk Co Ski & Cycle — Hotel in Whistler Resort Municipality

Terrible Customer Service. Not accountable for their mistakes. NO DROP IN BOOT FITTINGS. We had travelled from the city into Whistler (4hr+ round trip) to try on a specific brand name boot that ONLY Fanatyk Co is carrying at this time in my size (Ready to buy it too). The first employee we talked to was very short with us & told us we couldn't try on the boot because we didn't make an appointment with them.

We left to walk around the village. I took a moment to check on my phone, to see if the Fanatyk Co website clearly states "No drop in boot fittings." or "Boot fittings with appointment only." It does not say that on any of the main pages.

We had checked the website a week prior to & there was no warning on their website that there are NO DROP IN FITTINGS (there still isn't on the front page or shopping page). If we would've seen a warning, we would've booked an appointment a week prior to our drive up to Whistler.

We went back in to the store to explain our customer experience to the staff and to also let them know that they should be clear "BOOT FITTINGS ARE APPOITMENT ONLY" on the front of the website & the boot shopping pages. To perhaps help them out because it was an incredibly bad experience for us to drive & be turned around with no service. We thought it might be worth communicating & seeing if Fanatyk Co take's any accountability for the situation. With both of us being business owners we would appreciate the feedback in our personal businesses.

The Asian guy we spoke, also seemed to be an owner. At first had offered to squeeze us in later in the day. (We had to be home before that time & told him we won't be able to make the time.) We followed up with a question but at this point the owner was not listening to us, he was just constantly talking, cutting us off not answering our question.

The owner said the following poor customer service things:

"The only reason I'm still talking to you guys, is because your story is better than everyone else who's walked in here with out an appointment and I've had to turn away."

"I'm not serving you at all because your arguing with me."

"The website says 'Book An Appointment' right there it's very clear. You just didn't understand it."

"I can't squeeze you guys ahead of the other customers cause it wouldn't be fair to everyone else who has booked an appointment and is in front of you." (Fanatyk Co...... that's exactly our point. We would've had an appointment a week ago for that day... if your website would've clearly communicated it "No Appointment, No Fittings")

"I'll pay for your gas money." We mentioned that we feel the owner had no respect for our time, trust in his website, efforts & gas cost that day because of how poorly he dealt with the situation. We don't want your gas money. It didn't solve our problem. I wanted to try on that specific brands boot.

"I'm sorry you got a bad taste in your mouth here today." Yelled that to us as we walked out.

Here is what Fanatyk Co can do better:

Communicate that "BOOT FITTING ARE APPOITMENTS ONLY" or clearly say "no appointment, no boot fitting" on the front of their website & ski boot shopping page. (Right beside where it says "MASKS ARE MANDATORY, FOR ALL PERSONS, NO EXCEPTIONS")

THIS IS STILL NOT BEING COMMUNICATED ON THE WEBSITE....

LISTEN MORE: The Owners needs to LISTEN TO THEIR CUSTOMERS. Try to understand what the heck the customers want. We didn't need to buy a boot that day. We just wanted to know if that specific brand in that specific boot was worth coming back for or it would hurt my foot & I'm better off to keep looking

STOP ASSUMING: The owner did not hear or answer our question. We was not workable on the matter.

FIND SOLUTIONS: It's so much easier to just take accountability for the mistake on your site & say "Hey, how about you make an appointment with us for next weekend. You guys come back out for lunch in whistler, the fitting with us & I'll throw an addition 5% off to make up for this big mix up. I'll make sure to change the website...

UPDATE: Pat from Fanatyk contacted me by email instead of the usual PR google review reply. He offered to replace the top cap, brake pads and even the handlebar. Honestly I am so surprised especially for the handlebar since the scratches were so minor, asking for a replacement didn't even cross my mind. Mistake happens and what separates good companies from the bad is how they handle it. The management at Fanatyk definitely went above and beyond to make things right.

Ordered a Fox 32mm socket to remove spacers in my new fork and when I went pick up, it turns out it has not arrived yet and the person sent the ready email by accident (He did send a text telling me the email was a mistake but I didn't see it until later). So I asked the guy (Scott?) to remove the spacers in the fork. After that, I went to ride and the front brakes had no stopping power and I almost crashed. I am 99% sure the guy dripped some oil from the spacers onto the front brake. I took the pads and rotor off to clean and they are better now but no where near the stopping power it had before (bike is new, only had one day of riding). Going to need new pads and maybe rotors now since they are contaminated. I didn't say anything to the shop since the guy did me a favour and did not charge to remove the spacers. Shit happens and I just got unlucky.

So a couple days later I go pick up the fox socket and tried to remove the top cap to add a spacer back but it was stuck on pretty good. I then used a torque wrench that works in reverse just to see how tight it was and it took over 70 nm+ of force to loosen the top cap!!! Fox spec is 24.8 nm! Does the shop not have a torque wrench? Even without a torque wrench, how does someone tighten the top cap so tight!? The top cap was scratched after the guy removed the spacers but again since the guy was doing me a favour, I didn't say anything. Now I know it was from him tightening the top cap on so hard. The handlebar was also scratched from the socket rubbing against it.

The reason I spent $38 on the fox socket was so that the top cap doesn't scratch on my new bike, but now I got scratches on the top cap, handlebar and also contaminated brake pads and rotor. Should had just used the Knipex pliers and save myself all the headache. I am not happy but fine with the scratches, is a mountain bike and will get scratches eventually. The contaminated pads and rotors could had ended badly but again shit happens and I got unlucky. What is unacceptable and made me write this review is a shop tightening a top...

Update: I just wanted to update my review as I returned to the store for a boot fitting with one of the owners and had a great experience. They were attentive and ensured that I left with boots that were comfortable and worked well for me! I am so happy with my new boots and I am glad that I went back to Fanatyk Co for a boot fitting! I greatly appreciate the care the owners put in to addressing my previous experience!

Earlier review: I went into Fanatyk Co a few days ago to take a look at what ski boots they had. An employee offered to help me with ski boots as he had free time. I've been fitted a couple times this season at other stores so I knew what I was looking for. He said he'd take a look at my feet and bring some boots out. During this interaction, he did not listen at all to what I was saying in terms of the problems I'd had with my previous pair of boots. He also said the ski socks I was wearing were too thick and that he'd grab me some thinner socks. I tried on a couple pairs of boots which were comfortable, however, I had not been planning on buying boots that day. Only after this was all done, was I then told that this process would cost me 50$. This payment would then go towards the cost of the boots that I was apparently supposed to be buying. I felt like I had been deceived and like I was being cornered into either buying boots that moment or paying 50$ for a service that I did not need and was not warned would cost as such. He then said I could also just buy him a case of beer and then it would be a "win win" as it would be cheaper for myself and he'd "be happier with beer anyways". I was quite upset at this point as I felt I was really being taken advantage of. He then proceeded to tell me that I have to at least pay for the socks as I had used them. I have never encountered this in any other store I have gone to to try on boots in which they have let me use a pair of socks and I feel incredibly frustrated at the seemingly greedy, deceiving and manipulative nature of this employee. I am generally appalled at the dishonesty and lack of professionalism on this employees part. In the end, they wanted me to pay 87$ for this ridiculous experience of condescending and rude customer service, all to get the same information that I already had, when I had simply wanted to take a...