I love Elite, BUT...

[Twisted Archer]

If you wish to bowhunt, in most states, you are required to be certified to show some level of proficiency. So why shouldn't dealers be certified by the respective bow companies to show proficiency to work on said bows... How many vehicle dealerships do you know of that don't have certified mechanics working for them?

Dealers should know enough to properly tune the bows and work on them, I think we all agree on that but how many are willing to pay the dealer the certified mechanics prices of $60 to $75 bucks a hour to work on your bow?

I am not trying to start any pissing matches here I am just asking what if you took your bow in to have it restrung, tuned and timed and you wanted it dead nuts so the dealer took his time and did it exactly like you asked and then came back with a $275 bill for services rendered. Let's say it took 70 minutes to restring and tune/time the bow using the draw board, $125 for the set and 2 hours of labor ($75 per hr) since they always charge by the hour so it get's rounded up.

Now I know some car dealers even charge extra for special equipment and will the draw board or laser used to square up everything fall into that category? I know quite a few guys who would lose it if that was the bill handed to them but if you really want your archery dealer to start performing like you car dealer those would be the prices you would start seeing as if you want all that extra attention to detail you will have to pay for it as a lot of shops won't just eat those charges, they have to pay the rent for the shop and buy all the equipment and now have the expertise to do what you want which means the top of the line bow work you want will not be cheap.

Like I stated before I am not trying to stir anything up I am just trying to look at it from the point of view you had stated in your post.

[12RingKing]

...

Under your name it says "Respected Member"

I wonder how many people would agree?

[BlindBuck]

How can they ever do that? Dealers are people who want to start a business not some retired pro archer who knows already...Besides that every year new things come to the industry. You have to learn as your business grows.
Basic information on set up is and should be a necessity but to require a shop to know more then a company basically knows wont ever work. We all are learning more then some shops just from these sites.
I cant see it being a requirement to know more then basic set up and maybe some tuning tips from manufactures to help as things evolve.
I know a few guys who are sharp and know more then most on getting bows to their max potential but they dont want to address the retail side of archery.

Rick not sure how you got that I feel a shop should know more than the company they are representing from my post? I do know for a fact some shops/people do know more then the manufacture they represent, which is another sad story in itself.

All I am saying if I was a manufacturer and wanting to make myself stand out from the crowd my brand would be represented very differently. In today's market place it is hard to represent your brand in a way that makes you look like the better choice. What is wrong with requiring a "pro" shop to have basic certifications/training, knowledge, storefronts, hours and equipment on the product they represent? You want the title of "pro" shop? Work for it don't be some Buba behind the counter who speaks with little intelligence or knowledge on general archer information.(Not referencing you obviously, which I am sure you know, but others may not.lol) If we consumer wanted that we would walk into a box store and buy a bow from a guy who sold shoes the day before! Elite stepped to the plate and offered industry leading warranties, which was unheard of when they did it. Why? It gave/gives them an edge over the competition, it broke the mold and peoples way of thinking. So is holding your dealers to certain basic criteria that far out of line?

[Maybee-R]

Guess Im having a hard time seeing what that line would be.
I think there are lots of guys wanting more then most shops can offer. But I also believe most of the shops can do more then what the customer will pay for. Or should be included in the price of the bow.
Cant get one for 50 bucks over dealer cost and expect much service really. Then you see these posts wanting more out of a dealer but no one wants to pay what its worth.

[BlindBuck]

Well the line is as wide or as narrow as you want to make it really....

Right now the industry mentality seems to be your breathing you want to sell our line you got it. Corporate greed I guess, I travel all over the country and visit shops when I can and it is sad what I see. Like someone posted earlier most archers do not have a clue what a tuned bow feels like. How pathetic is that? Spend $800 and by the way it is whacked out but you'll love it.

Rick I truly feel for you and I also know how you feel at the same time being a business owner myself. You see people make a joke out of MAP, and contract agreements by shipping/selling bows all over the country etc to make $50 when you truly care how a bow leaves the shop. Honestly the margins on bows you guys work with are ridiculous when compared to almost any other consumer product. I never have an issue paying a good shop or owner top dollar. Heck they don't even have to do anything with mine....if its allowed they can drop ship the bow right to my business. It baffles me that the honest hardworking "pro" shop can ever stay afloat. If manufactures had realistic profit margins built in for their dealers with hard guidelines that had to be followed to maintain the dealership only the true "pro" shop would survive and all the Bubas of the world would fade away.

[nicko]

There are very valid points made in this thread. The consumer has a right to expect that a brand new product should not need work after having just left the manufacturer. That cannot even be argued. Go tell the buyer of a brand new Ford Explorer that your gas mileage will come in 5+ gallons below advertised mileage because the tires are underinflated and inferior fuel injection components are used as part of the build. It's not acceptable and it should not be acceptable as far as bows go. The fact that some string and cable sets need to be changed due to separating servings so early within the ownership of a new bow is not acceptable. Expecting to need some adjustments as string and cables settle and stretch is normal but the set should be expected to last at least one year. This is on every bow manufacturer to get right.

Luckily, there are good shops out there whom we can trust to work on our bows and install custom string and cables and get the bow to reach it's maximum potential at very reasonable prices. Because of all of this, I will likely never buy a brand new bow ever again. Yes, I have been screwed when buying used and I've probably had more bad luck with used bows than most but I won't let it stop me from buying used. I can buy a 1 year old Elite at huge savings, send it out to Matt at Bearfoot Archery and for $125.00 get a custom string and cable set, tune, and have the bow shipped back to me shooting at it's maximum potential. And after all this, it will still cost me much less money than price of a brand new bow that will likely need some type of work as soon as I buy it. As long as I can do this, I don't need my local pro shop for any bow services or work or new sales aside from accessories. My local shop does at least build good arrows and I have no complaints with the arrows I've gotten from them.

[vhunter]

Last I knew Elite doesn't sell bows in store's like Walmart. So if I go to a PRO shop I expect them to give me PROfessional service. It doesn't mean I expect them to get every last FPS out of the bow, but it should be inspected, in spec, timed and cams should be in sync. Otherwise just start letting stores like walmart sell them. Dealers love to whine about how much they make and I understand why, but they also like to complain about store's like Gander mountain or cabala's selling bows. So you can't have it both ways. If a dealer is just going to pull a bow out of a box and slap a rest on it and give to me, why should I have to buy it from them. I could go to Wally world and get the same kind of service.

There are several great dealers out there, but I believe the bad out number the good. One thing I would love to see is stop protecting dealers. If the dealers in my area suck, let me buy my bows from good dealer somewhere else and let them ship me my bow. That should start to weed out the bad dealers or at least give them an incentive to get better.

[deerct101]

I would have to agree with the fact that the two dealers I have don't have the equipment to properly tune a my bows, I would have to say that as soon as my Pulse or Answer needs work depending on what it is i.e installing a peep or loop no, but if I need strings and re-tune I will have to ship it out somewhere to get it worked on if I want it done right.

If there were more dealers in my area more competition they might be more willing to learn how to tune a bow properly and buy the equipment needed to do it, right now they don't have to because they know they are the only shops that can sell the bows so I am stuck going to them or shipping out.

[Chippy (aka Slippy)]

One of the two local shops that stock elite in my area have two elite bows. Both answers, one 70, one 60. That is it. They have absolutely no clue about draw boards or how to tune them. Probably why they have yet to sell one...

Not surprised at all.

[L-train]

I think y'all need to remember, the manufacturers and dealers first and foremost goal is PROFIT. Neither wants to spend any time fine tuning, they want to sell units. And the more per lowest labor cost possible is what they strive to achieve.
If I had a archery shop, I dont think I would sell Elite, elites IMO require more work. Id sell mathews and hoyts.