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Shops jacking up the prices for mounting bindings?

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zoob
Posts: 5 - Karma: 75
So I need to remount some FKS's and all the local shops want $70-$75 to mount bindings. Last time I got some mounting done I thought it was like $30 which was about a year or two ago.

$75 to mount some bindings seems a bit ridiculous to me. Is this reasonable pricing or is there something else going on here? Seriously considering learning to mount my own bindings cause the $ saved will really add up over the years.
11 years ago
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-SnowSnoli-
Posts: 756 - Karma: 1,703
People have being doing paper mounts for years, I guess just people are more aware now.
Companies like Marker even include a paper (clear plastic) jig with their bindings. I used one once to mount my hellbents as we didnt have a jig wide enough at the time... Was horrible haha, think i measured 100 times from every angle before drilling.
11 years ago
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NH_OPERATOR
Posts: 1070 - Karma: 2,883
Yeah that sounds shitty as hell.
11 years ago
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6737 - Karma: 11,729
Specifically, I was referring to the post I quoted that was calling into question a $10 mounting/release check charge when part of the total package was purchased in the shop. I had said earlier that $85 was a bit steep for mounting.


11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
and little do they know, it voids the warranty on the binding. Without having a certified tech sign off on it that it passed inspection and tests within spec, binding manufacturers wont cover it. I believe the same goes for if a screw were to pull out of the ski and the kid gets hurt, the individual cant look to sue a shop. in the grand scheme of things, 50, 75, 100; when you are buying a 1000 ski package online, is paying for a certified tech's time really that much? its only 5-7.5% of the price and piece of mind knowing they are done correctly.

I get that its a simple process, but think about it like getting your oil changed on your car at the dealer. Sure it costs more, but they also do a full check on the entire car and look for potential issues and point them out for you and most places even wash the thing. so while pulling a drain plug and filling a few quarts of oil is easy, getting it done by a professional means much more.

cheers!
11 years ago
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SFBv420.0
Posts: 2539 - Karma: 3,125
you are so full of bullshit it's pathetic 15 years of teching
ive warrantied more binders than you have mounted and never ever had anyone ask who mounted them or ever heard of such preposterous nonsense
now either post the name of this shitty shop you work at so the owner can see what a clueless shit spewing retard he hired or shut the fucks up
if you are an adult male post puberty and cannot manage to use common tools drill a few holes in a piece of wood and screw in screws
you don't deserve your man card
11 years ago
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cobra_commander
Posts: 16909 - Karma: 4,681
If its too much get your skis mounted elsewhere.
If you ended up paying it, stop bitching because it obviously was not too much.

If you go to the local stores right now, they are all well over a week out on mounts, with some being over two weeks out. They are all obviously not charging too much.

Mounting fees are also one of the few tools local retailers have against REI/backcountry.

Apple has nothing to do with mounting skis.
11 years ago
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NH_OPERATOR
Posts: 1070 - Karma: 2,883
When you have 150 pairs of skis to mount, of course they are going to be backed up. Ski season is either here or right around the corner depending on how you look at it so everyone and their mothers are buying equipment right now.If you figure 15 minutes per pair a single tech could do 32 pairs of skis in an 8 hour day without breaks. If you then factor in skis that are there to have more extensive work done to them, plus all your tune and sharpen jobs backing up a tech is not particularly hard.
11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
go smoke another one.. have you ever read the warranty in the binding user guide? just going by the book there stoner. just because you didnt hear about it, doesnt mean it hasnt happened.. i think you need to calm down. judging by the picture of your skis from the other thread, you are mess of an individual who has no money and has failed at life.. enjoy working as a one off tech in your mom's basement.

pretty sure i dont have any issue mounting skis and not sure what that whole man card thing is about. i think its time you went and took a cold shower and sobered up..

go troll another thread. this one is pretty much done with anyways.

enjoy your ski season.. try to relax and be happy like the rest of us skier who enjoy the sport. its people like you that ruin it.

11 years ago
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Kretzschmar
Posts: 6746 - Karma: 99,041
as onenerdykid kind of said, if they are spending that much money on a ski set up, do you think they are going to complain about a $10 mount? if anything, its the people who cheap their way to a pair of skis (we have consignment stuff downstairs that is pretty cheap but in good condition) that complain about a $10 mount.
11 years ago
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zoob
Posts: 5 - Karma: 75
I don't think it's a matter of affordability, it's poor customer relations. By nickle and diming them when they drop that much coin you're kind of disrespecting the customer.

At the start of the season I was looking for bindings and was all ready to drop $300 on a pair of FKS's but when the shop told me I wouldn't get a discount unless I also bought a pair of skis as well. I got annoyed and didn't buy anything there. Instead I looked around online for some deals instead. Ended up getting an unused secondhand pair which I just mounted myself. I can afford $75, money was never really the issue it's more the principle of it all.

Of course I'm not like most people, I prefer to try and be as self-sufficient as possible. I don't care if I lose the right to sue someone because I mounted my own bindings (although I wouldn't sue even if the shop effed up either) because I take responsibility for myself. This whole movement in the Western world of becoming obsessed with safety and needing certified experts for everything little thing turning us all into a bunch of incompetent limp dick pansies and it only helps pad the pockets of lawyers and businesses since people can't do anything themselves.

But whatever, I know most people probably won't agree with me because I also think it's insane to pay someone to change the oil in your car. Pretty soon I probably won't be allowed to wax my skis because I might slice my hand on the sharp edges.
11 years ago
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JibbaTheHutt
Posts: 2132 - Karma: 1,597
the shop i work at (snow and rock, biggest uk snowsports retailer) recently put our prices up from £20 ($30) to £35 ($55), for sure a reaction to online retailers dropping prices...
11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
Click for larger image

this was the section of the user manual on a marker binding.
11 years ago
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Avifarer
Posts: 5926 - Karma: 598
you said mounting the bindings yourself voids the warranty. i dont see anywhere in there where it says that
11 years ago
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6737 - Karma: 11,729
But the ultimate reality is that shops are being sued by their consumers more and more each year. Shops totally try to hook people up and be cool about stuff, but this is when things go super sideways. My old shop has a few great examples. On time a dude came in, sounded totally chill and down to earth. He wanted something a little out of the ordinary done to his binding/ski set up and even after he signed a waiver saying that we did not recommend this and it was potentially unsafe, he wanted it done anyway and long story short he hurt himself because it. He then dragged my old shop into a ridiculous legal battle. This kind of stuff happens every year, even to the the best shops.

Long story short- shops are under LOTS of pressure from their insurance companies and have incurred lots of additional costs because of it. If a shop has to touch your binding, be prepared to pay for it.
11 years ago
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-SnowSnoli-
Posts: 756 - Karma: 1,703
Stuff like this makes me so happy Europe is a long way behind the US in the whole law suit thing.

Although I am aware it's getting worse, Switzerland laughs a lot of things out of court thank god.
11 years ago
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onenerdykid
Posts: 6737 - Karma: 11,729
I think it has a lot to do without having free health care. If someone in the USA blows out their knee and they can't or won't pay for it on their own, they want someone else to pay for it, in this case a shop. If that same accident happens over here in the Austria, our state-provided healthcare takes care of it. Back in Vermont, it would all be on me and I am more likely to blame the shop so they pay for it. I'm not justifying the USA here, just trying to explain how/why it might be happening more there versus Europe.
11 years ago
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-SnowSnoli-
Posts: 756 - Karma: 1,703
While that counts for most EU states, Switzerland still has private health care. And while they do accept the E111 cards, would still cost you (or your travel insurance) around $5,000 to get off the mountain alone.

Think USAs problem is they are just a sueing nation, regardless of what the incident, you just have to see the adverts they get on TV to see that.

although getting off thread topic, sorry.
11 years ago
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THUGwife
Posts: 1909 - Karma: 303
$75.... ahahahahaha
11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
ill look to get the full page that shows the full warranty. its on the right of that section about requiring a certified tech to mount them.
11 years ago
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SFBv420.0
Posts: 2539 - Karma: 3,125
wowz grasping at straws while weilding the shorthandled retard e shovel to dig a bigger e-hole must be tough.
so the customer condescending 1st year "certified" moron comparing ski binders to automobiles workin in a shop he's afraid to even name that charges $75 for a mount is whats right with skiing
and the stoner skibum with a decade and a 1/2 that'll mount your skis or let you use his mancave and tools to mount your own for a sixer or $ 20 is whats wrong
so mounted bout 200 pair of bd's w/ silverttas for the local national guard crew
cause i'm a vet not real greedy and at the time already had the business legal and insurance bullshitz
in place
did it for $25 a pair
after a long safety briefing where i made my bros watch the certificatin videos and read the tech manuals in every language
we cranked that shit out in 2 long mountathons
done gots me
Click for larger image
i'm stoked the badass special forces peeps don't quite share your opinion
enjoy your season keep huffin the boot deorderizer while searchin through tech manuals to prove your'e an inexperienced certified tech at a shop that charges way to much to mount bindings


11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
cool story bro.

not really fumbling
through tech
manuals

been mounting
skis 2 decades.

make
money and support the industry

good for you with that award. Pretty nice to get recognized.

i tried to type it in a format you can read.
11 years ago
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40oz.
Posts: 1758 - Karma: 555
Proves you're a dumbass by saying this thread is full of 15 year olds.
11 years ago
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zyzzbrah
Posts: 113 - Karma: 336
I see way too many people like you in our ski shops in AUS...I agree with NHOperator. You guys treat us like morons and charge prices that can't be justified by the work you are doing.


I was in search of a padded ski bag this weekend and went to a store...my skis are 184s so I need 185+ bag....the tech at the shop said to me "Why would you need skis over 175cm.." and he has never heard of coreupt skis...

Now, this guy said all of this in a way that made him sound superior...but really he was the moron. I have to say, a lot of techs think that their customers are morons and that they are the be all and end all of skiing.

It's this attitude that makes us want to buy online, save our money, and not deal with you attitude slaying moron techs. At my shop they charge $100 for a binding mount...which is fucking overkill. Unless you purchase boots or skis or bindings...then it's free. But the difference is that at my shop the techs do not have bad attitudes and genuinely want to help rather than make as many $$$ as they can off customers. So they treat customers like me that come back to them for the service well and don't take them for idiots and be-friend their customers providing them with good deals in the future.


It seems to me that the majority of you guys need an attitude check.
11 years ago
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freeskibum82
Posts: 6355 - Karma: 5,056
hey bud. sorry to hear about the sales people in your shop. we get too many people asking for handouts that dont happen to spend any money with us. they expect us to bend over backwards for them and give free handouts. as much as i want to help people left and right, its a business and usually we have a whole list of skis waiting to be done that i cant just drop what im doing and mount them. then to hear them complain about the price, it becomes old really fast. For the Northeast of the US, its typical to have higher prices on service work. We also stand by all of our work and provide 100% guarantees. we also love to help out repeat customers by free waxing, quick sharpening, etc.. We even have a ton of people that regularly bring us cookies, pizza, beer, etc.. Its a two way street. we gotta be treated and respected as well. afterall, we're just skiers.

11 years ago
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Dr.Dickless
Posts: 2620 - Karma: 1,392
$75 is pretty nuts, at my shop we charge $25 for a new mount, $35 for a remount, and it's free if you buy boots and bindings from us I have paid up to $50 in other areas just because I trusted the shop more than others, but for $75 it might be worth it to take a chance with a reputable shop that you haven't been to before. Where do you live? Park city or some Richie town like that?
11 years ago
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SFBv420.0
Posts: 2539 - Karma: 3,125
are you workin at the alpin haus today billy?
might stop by
11 years ago
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