Vent

[flyrod4steelhead]

I have to vent a little after this afternoon spent with the wife and daughter. It was to be a day spent with the wife and daughter going to the Fishing/Boat show @ the Birch Run Expo Center and the Home Builder show at the SVSU ryder center.

First stop was the fishing/boat show. Picked up a new UL rod for trout fishing seem's my other one was broke while heading up to the cabin :( Lot's of great stuff, especially for the big lake's, boats, guide trips etc. etc.

Getting to venting part now. I stopped and was looking at some drift boats and the first thing that caught my eye was the price. A little over $4,000 for a 2 seater and a little over $6,000 for a 3 seater plus rowers seat. They were fiberglass boat's and very nice looking. I was checking them out a little and jump'd in the bigger boat (3 seater) and was loving it. When the sale's guy comes up to me and ask's "Do you need any help or have any questions?" I said "No, just comparing them to a few other drift boats that I have look'd at." Then I turned and and looked at him and he says "Any question's yet, besides where to get the money?" I just look'd at him and was totally offened by that and obviously (sp) p**** off. I turned my head, then look'd back, and he was gone. I have never, ever been offened like that before, and to tell ya truth, I have not stopp'd thinking about it. These boats are called Cherakee (sp) drift boats and are from Kaleva, MI.

Anyone every here of these boats and how are they? I sure as hell am not going to buy one now. I will go someplace else where I can get treated right and they won't look at me and figure too young to buy something like that.

On a side note, it was a great day spent with the wife and daughter. Will see you folks @ BBT real soon, as my brother will be home either mon or tues.

Thanks for reading.

[JSG]

That would turn me off too. Not a very good salesman. If I were you I would stop in at the Hyde dealership on M82 west of US131 by Newaygo if you want to check out some drift boats. Those guys are nice, knowledgable and don't put the buzz on you to buy. I stopped there a few times just looking and was always treated with respect. I ended up building my own but was pretty impressed with their operation.

[mattmates]

While I was shopping I talked to the guys at the Hyde dealership in Newaygo on numerous occasions, and they were very helpful and extremely cool. I believe the guys name that I dealt with was named Jason. Either way...give them a look. They know the business and will do anything to help. I was comfortable enough talking to the guy, that I called him and asked him what he thought of the used one that I was about to buy. He was nothing but helpful.

Just my $.02,
Matt......

[speyday]

My career thus far has been entirely sales; and one of the pearls of wisdom I was taught was: money/price/funds are the LAST thing you speak about, and that the (potential) BUYER is the one to indicate they are ready. It wasn't a big secret, either....this is common knowledge among any seasoned sales person.

He probably thought he was being witty; he should have been thinking about YOU.

bummer. if thats his style you shouldn't worry about running into him again at next years show ....lol!

[Redleg]

Was he talking on a cell phone? The Surgeon General has reported the cell phone use, particularly while driving, causes an extremely high sense of self importance. Good to know though, gonna be shopping for something as soon as the addition is finished. Just on the fence about a drift boat or a river boat. Don.

[flyrod4steelhead]

Hi Dale:

First of all, let me start by apologizing for the trouble that you had at the show. Ron Peterson is a dealer of the Cherokee Drifter and, although at the show with us in our booth, he does not represent this company. He's actually a pretty nice guy, but sometimes tries a little too hard to be funny! It normally backfires on him as it did with you! I am sincerely sorry. You may have already made up your mind not to buy a Cherokee based on your boat show experience - if you have I understand, but I want you to know that Cherokee does not have that kind of reputation. We have a long-standing good reputation with our Great Lakes fishing boats and our charter captains will agree! And, you can ask any of them - they'll tell you about the quality of the boats - that same quality extends to our Drifter.

The Drifter is the end result of some hard-earned research by Cherokee. We are a small company here in Kaleva, Michigan. We are located half way between Cadillac and Manistee in Northern Michigan. I currently have 4 employees right now putting out our Great Lakes charter series boats, as well as the drift boats. The Drifter is familiar in name only to the McKenzie drift boat from out west - built for the riggors of fast water in the western states. You won't find a sturdier boat built! On that I'll can stake my personal reputation!

Dale, if I can get you back as a customer, you can work directly with me here at the factory. I apologize that it wasn't me that you talked with at the show. I want you to know that the Ron Peterson's of the world are not representative of the Cherokee reputation!

Thanks for the email and I look forward to working with you!

[bald_buckeye]

Seems like a stand up guy/company with that nice reply...may have to check them out