[lumberjim]

Jinx and I recently went kayak shopping. We shopped online for a few weeks, deciding which models appealed to us, and checking pricing. We made a couple of stops to two major sporting goods retailers to see what was available locally, etc. The plan was to spend about $300 or $350, on a basic kayak for jinx's birthday present. I would get one later this month for my birthday. We planned to go buy one Friday night.

It was brutal. Probably THE worst evening I remember in a few years. We encountered one frustration after another, beginning with a thorough ignoring perpetrated upon us at Dick's Sporting Goods in Downingtown. We didn't see the one we wanted anyway, so we buggered off to the store in Delaware (tax free). Got ignored there, too. Even asked some punk for help, and got the standard 'not my department, but I'll send help' response. After about 5 minutes, a muttered page that i only caught cuz I was listening for it...'customer assistance to The Lodge' ..no repeat.

so....having been given a gift card from there, jinx picked out a couple smaller items, and we asked the gum chewing snot at the register where the closest 'Sports Authority' was. "'Cross the street, and down one light"

......so the rest of the details are just variations of the same theme. Punk ass teenagers working a crappy Friday night shift with insufficient supervision and motivation. Perhaps we should have known better than to attempt to make a large purchase like that at that time, but my schedule was tight. Needless to say, we failed to buy jinx her kayak, and went home defeated.

We did a little more internet sniffing, and came across a semi-local mom and pop outfit linked in from a manufacturer site with their 'find a dealer' search feature. We had planned on going BACK to those crap ass major sport stores in hopes that the A-team might be on duty. We changed our minds, and took a trip up to Kelly's in Gilbertsville, 5 minutes North of Pottstown. When we got there, a guy was just beginning to load up two new kayas on his Durango, with the help of Mr Kelly. Mrs. Kelly was assisting a noodge that was monopolizing her time,(i saw her trying on a life jacket and modelling it) [before your mind wanders, Mr and Mrs Kelly are in their 60's, and excessively polite]

There was a bit of waiting involved, but their house was right next to the showroom, and there was a swingset for my kids to play on. At one point my kids had to pee, and we used the bathroom in their house. bizarre.

Mr Kelly gave me a price list, a quick tuturial on how to pick out what I wanted, and free reign of his showroom, garage, barn, and greenhouse, where the kayaks hung like ripe fruit to be picked. It took us a good hour and a half to look at them long enough to distill which one we should get.

Well, we got 2.....they rock. It took Mr Kelly about that long to sort out Durango guy's loading, and purchase/titling process, but he stopped by every time he walked past. We finished it all up with Mrs Kelly taking our picture standing next to our Jeep with our 2 new kayaks strapped to our new kayak rack.

I spent 4 times what I had planned on, but was grinning as I drove out. Easily the BEST shopping experience i've ever had. Certainly contrasted by the previous night's escapades, but nonetheless, the man helped us. We got a mini education about them, advice on what would work for our intent, and 10% off for buying 2.