Following on from my saddle fitting saga-

SAL66

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Well I had already been mucked about with this saddle fitter (B) and had arranged to try my 3rd (C), when that afternoon saddle fitter B rang to say that she had pulled out all the stop for me and managed to get the saddle that I wanted for the last Wednesday in Feb and she could get to me to fit on 4th March at 11.00am.

So me being me gave her another chance
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, rang C and apologised and explained the circumstances, they were fine.Any way this morning at 9.15am I get a rather Pi$$ed off fitter B saying why wasn't I answering my phone
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, because it hadn't rang i said , well 2 messages have been left and I have been ringing your land line and still you don't answer. I explained that I had taken my children to school and perhaps that could explain things, she then went on to why didn't I carry my mobile phone around with me.

Ialso tried to explain that the land line was indeed my work's number and I couldn't be in 2 places at once ie saddle fitting with her and also to be at work- my sarcasim(sp) was lost on her.
she then said that she had booked a lot of saddle fittings for today as she was in need of a break, so the 11.00 am slot was now going to be 10.00am or she couldn't do me
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Ok that's fine so rush up to the yard and get him sorted, but feeling a bit miffed by this point, at 9.50am I get a call saying that she is running late but should be with me at 10.20, but I had better be ready- hello I'm ready now!.

I tell the girls up at the yard and they couldn't believe it, well she arrives, I am just faffing around when I see her at the other end of the saddle block beckoning me over, Ok I'm coming i shout.

Well I tried various saddles very quickly on and decided on the Jeffries Vsd, it was the same saddle that I had been borrowing, put my lad away and we talked money, apparently they are very competitive on price and rarely would someone under cut them, this saddle was priced at £987, now I work hard for my money and can't afford to throw it away, so I had shopped around to see what the prices are in general and to be fair they vary.I showed her the prices and she more or less called me a liar even though i had printed them off the net, I explained that I wouldn't expect her to match, but reminded her that she had said how competitive they were and this is from an internet saddlery shop.

(Hope you are still with me )
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I basically asked if she would give 10% of RRP, this was some way off still what I could get it for, No was her reply we are competitive already so no money off,and was getting a bit cross with me, I either pay £987 or forget it kind of attitude.
My yard owner could see me beginning to waiver and stepped in and said that most saddlers adopt the RRP knowing that a deal could be done and surely 10% wasn't unreasonable, she was gone in a puff off smoke calling me a time waster .

I then felt upset and questioned had i wasted her time, but the service was awful, she charged me previously for a saddle fitting without me even sitting in a saddle as she hadn't bought the correct sizes nor the correct style as in VSD.Also had been rather rude to me and my friend who purchased an Ideal Savannah off her at the same time as my non eventful saddle fitting she forgot to bring out with her the free saddle cover, then tried to charge her £8.50 to post it .

My lovely Yard owner than rang a saddlers who rang Jeffries and to cut to the chase I have the exact same saddle coming to me for friday for £240 less then the RRP.

So the story finishes, what I nightmare it has been, to any tack/saddlers please don't say your are competitive on price when you clearly are not, don't mislead the customer in thinking that there is movement on the RRP when there is not.
Without customers you do not have a business, customer service IS important we don't like being treated like sh$t, especially as we are paying a decent amount of money.

I have just spoken to the saddler where my saddle is coming from and just ordered a new bridle, girth and stirrup leathers.

Tea and a piece of sticky cake if you have reached the end of this tale, sorry its so long .

Am I in the wrong?, or just looking after my money, the money aspect is important to me, but that coupled with really poor service made me cross, I don't mind paying more and said that to her, but I felt let down by her attitude.
 
Good for you for sticking to your guns and good on YO for coming to back you up. It sounds like this woman didn't want your business as she certainly did not deal with it in a professional manner.
 
Good for you.. No you didnt waster her time.. more like she wasted your time, And well done for getting saddle cheaper elsewhere. she didn't deserved your well earned money as she didn't provide you with a very good service!
 
This woman should be out of business. Sadly, I think we have several like her around here, including a bloke who's allegedly a master saddler.

sigh

well done for holding your ground. YO deserves tea and cake also

E
 
That gets my goat, when they mess you around and you gave her a second chance only to be messed around again. I wouldn`t have bought a saddle from her from principle and I would`ve done the same as you. I took my horse for a fitting yesterday and I know that they do charge a little extra for the saddle for the time that they spend with you, but it is worth that bit extra for the experience and I was there for over 2 hours. I too am in Derbyshire and I have had a few saddle fitters over the years from around the place. What are the initials of the lady you had? If you dont want to put it down on a post, please feel free to PM me the names.
I hope you get your saddle soon and it fits well.
 
Well done you! Glad you've got the saddle you wanted and you didn't have to give hundreds of pounds to one of the robbing g*ts who thinks that just because you wanted their qualified opinion you should stay loyal to them while they treat you like a mug. Result I'd say!
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She sounds like an absolute nightmare! You definitely must be short of saddlers in your area if she thinks she can get away with treating you like that!

Glad you didnt buy a saddle from her - but at least you got to confirm the one you wanted so at least you didnt waste your own time!
 
Good for you !!

I would on reflection write a letter to the saddlers with a copy of your reciept for much cheaper saddle (to show them that NO they are not the cheapeast around) also stating how unhappy you were with the service and how it was a shame as you are often asked by horsey friends for recommendations and you feel you could not recommend saddler X after such a poor and rude service was recieved.
But thats me, if i feel i have recieved any less than the treatment expected or that i would give to one of my clients, i complain about it !! i am in business to make money and if my staff were that rude id hope someone would complain to me so i could deal with them appropriately.

good on you for your bargain i bet your so pleased you didnt give in to saddler-bad attitude-extrodinaire!!
 
I do think letter will be sent and yes a copy of the receipt showing what I have paid for the saddle too.
When I think about it I got 25% off her price with really asking.So yes really pleased and will not ever use them again!
 
I did a fitting today for someone, which resulted in a sale
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and since it is a very expensive saddle she's buying, I did my best to reduce the cost to her, even though I am not allowed to move on the actual price. I also didn't charge her a call-out fee, even though she's about 60 miles away, because she bought a saddle. We ended up with her chasing me round the yard trying to give me petrol money!

The way I look at it, you get a reputation for being fair, punctual, professional, etc etc, and that is how you get more business. Sounds like your fitter doesn't want to work
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I think that saddle fitting it such a grey area and that is a great deal you have had and such a big difference in price, I think I know who the saddle fitter was and their shop does come under a lot of stick from users of this forum.

Well done
 
If you had paid a small premium for excellent service and some sort of ongoing support (cheap restuffing etc) then that would be one thing and I can see the point of that but to be paying a markup to be treated badly AND given lousy service, well that's just not on. Good for you for sticking to your guns (and your YO for shoring you up!) and getting what you wanted in the end. As far as "wasting time" no one in business should be worried about someone wanting to shop around if he/she is confident in their own work. You can only offer what you can offer and if it's not good enough one has to expect clients to go elsewhere. Sure, small businesses might have to charge a bit more but then that should be reflected in a more personal and individually tailored relationship, which you certainly did not get in this case!
 
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