Hobie Dealers Only is Restrictive

I have been a Hobie sailor since 1978. I grew up racing 14's, 16's, 17's, 18's, 21's and monohaul 33's and I am still a die hard Hobie fan and Hobie owner. During those many years I also skippered Nacra 5.2's, Prindles, GCats and SolCats and my love is still with Hobies. I am however so frustrated with Hobie and their requirement to go to Hobie Dealers to get equipment. I want to buy a new sail for my 17 SE and I can't even find a Hobie sail online. I only see contact your dealer. I want to see the sail online and order online. Whirlind gives me that option and they are not even the manufacture of the cat. Come on Hobie, step up, below is what I get when I search for a sail on your website. To this day I still do not know after searching the web if you even make and sale a 17 sail anymore.

http://www.whirlwindsails.com/

I agree. Another reason is that not all Hobie dealers are helpful or have all the parts available online.

I was struggling for over a week with a dealer in Quebec because he does not take credit card orders over the phone, only online. None of the parts I needed were listed online and it was too complicated for the webmaster to add them. When I said fine, I'll check with another dealer, suddenly ther were able to take my cc online.

I would have normally given up quicker, but his prices are 10 to 20% cheaper.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

As much as I love Hobies for my life time they have made their distribution channels so complex and restrctive it makes me want to shy away from Hobie. Come on Hobie, stop acting like you are to good to make your sales channel simplier and let's all go have a Hobie Day!

Miller this is your chance to step up and carry the Hobie name. What do you have to say on all of this?

From your post on the 17 forum:


From the FAQ Section/Sail Color History, to look up the Smoke sail color #60:
http://www.hobiecat.com/support/pdfs/SailColorHistory-2.pdf

I would then call and order from:
Sail Marine
406 W. Miles Ave.
Hayden, ID 83835
Phone: 1-208-762-7110
[email protected]

I dont know why you have an issue with going to a Hobie dealer to get Hobie parts... You wouldn't go to a Ford dealership to buy parts for a Chevy.

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

Except that it takes me 10 minutes to get to the GM dealer (I don't put Ford parts on my GM) and 4 hours for the closest Hobie dealer which does not carry much in stock. The next closest dealer is 7 hours away, same thing with him, he does not have all the parts in stock.

This is why the possibility to buy online direct would be very nice.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

It is not an issue with going to Hobie it is an issue with the ease. I don't live close to a dealer. Forgive me for being a person of the ages however I like the ease of being able to shop and order online and Hobie forces your to go to the dealer. To answer your question even Chevy and Ford let you shop and order online.

Well since you are a man of the ages...
Try these links:
http://www.mariner-sails.com/
http://www.backyardboats.com/Parts---Accessories/Default.aspx
http://www.murrays.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=MS

Personally, 25% off an expensive item, for having to call a dealer sounds like a good deal to me.

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

Really, what is the problem with picking up the phone and actually talking to a live human being?

Hobie wants you to do this, so you speak to a knowledgeable person before ordering an unnecessary part or something for the boat that isn't class legal, or something not recommended for some kind of safety issue.

Let’s say you want to replace a Hobie 16 jib car, which can be difficult online, because there are a few different styles. Your Hobie dealer is going to know that, and ask the appropriate questions to get the jib car you need. Instead of just going and buying one you can find online, which might be for pre 1995 boats, or just for boats after 1995. My point is, you can’t always assume you are getting the correct item online,

Hobie corrects that buy asking you to call one of their knowledgeable staff from their dealer network.

I live 8+ hrs away from my closest dealer, and I know for a fact that they will drop ship parts/items to wherever you are located. I think we've even had parts shipped to another dealer across the country, who brought them to a regatta we were headed to. They are very accommodating, but have to talk to a real person.

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1992 Hobie Cat 18 #16943
Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD

I'm not sure why you want to argue your point and try to down play me however I will play your game. I simply stated Hobie does not make it easy to get parts and accessories. I have actually ordered all of my parts from Murray for several years simply because I could order online and I knew what I wanted. Several of my sailing friends do the same and I believe Hobie is losing a lot of business because they do not allow you to order online. I would prefer to support Hobie however they do not give me the option. It is the dealer only model. Going back to the Ford and GM model they have confidence in their customer to educate themselves or ask for professional advice and allow them to order parts online. In the case of someone like you who is not sure of what part you need I can see why you need to talk to an expert sales person at the dealer. Happy sailing.

When manufacturers sell direct, they end up cutting their dealers out of sales. This makes for unhappy dealers that will eventually either drop their product or simply go out of business. So while this might not matter to you and just seem like an inconvenience, it matters a lot to the manufacturer. Dealer supports manufacturer, manufacturer supports dealer. I suspect that even when you order car parts direct from the manufacturer, those parts still come through a dealer.

In addition, the manufacturer has enough to worry about maintaining business and production needs, etc. Their job is to supply product, not deal with end user needs (on a daily basis). That's the whole purpose of having dealers.

This really is not a unique system. If you want Hobie parts, call up (or email) a Hobie dealer, tell them exactly what you want, and they'll ship it to you. Several even offer online ordering. You can download a complete catalog off the web site. If one dealer gives you a hard time, call a different one.

sm

I will leave this discussion at this. Ever since Hobie sold his company to Coleman back in the 70's it has never been the same. Even when Tony purchased it in 89 it has never got back to the original interest Hobie and his sons and daughter had in it. Hobie himself did things to make everything simple. I would have to think if Hobie was brought up in this era and he did not live near a dealer he would prefer to get online, order what he needed and pull up the main and hit the water. Oh and lets not forget the mark up the dealers do on top of the shipping that goes from the manufacture to the dealer and than to the customer. Ever heard of the middle man. That drives up the cost and that is the dealer. I can get parts days ahead from Murray as apposed to waiting for my dealer to order the part because it is not in stock. If you want to keep pushing your dealer idea as the solid business model please tell me why Amazon has been so successful selling so many products. That is what consumers want. Online buying. Wake up Hobie. By the way, after being charged by my dealer for shipping I still have to drive to another state to pick up my parts from my dealer or pay more shipping to get it to me. If you would like to bring up the Green idea lets look at this. Instead of a product being shipped to me from the company it is shipped from the company to the dealer and than to me. That is just adding more delivery usage and fossil fuels. Instead of point A to C it goes from A to B to C at a cost of the enviroment and mark up to the customer. Makes sense to me????

I've owned 3 Hobie (still have the H17Sport), since getting my H16 in 1983 and have worked with 3 dealers. In that time I've learned several facts:
1. Hobie dealers are not created equal, some are good and some really suck.
2. None seem to stock very much in the way of parts.
3. Hobie USA will NEVER be up to par with Hobie Europe or as inventive (Hobie
Europe is awesome).
4. As long as Hobie USA a small subsidiary of a bigger company (like Coleman)
fact #3 above will not change. Yadda, Yadda, Yadda
5. Murray's rocks. If not for them and other independent dealers, I would have been sitting around waiting for parts instead of being out sailing.

fastcat, I could not agree with you more on all your points. Don't get me wrong anyone. I have been a die hard Hobie sailor and fan since the age of ten and I will always be a Hobie fanatic. Thank goodness we can have these discussions in the forum. I would have to believe discussions like this in some of the other cat sites would turn ugly quick.

I also agree with you, what I do is mouse around on the net find my part and buy it. Just so happens Murray's is the most dependable!
Heck some fleet commodores can not even get the correct info to Hobie to print in the hot line I am listed as a fleet contact complete with e mail but I m not, so it all comes down to communication.

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Bodhisatfa