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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Greg wrote: Bolts are on sale now Bob!
Class act you are Greg.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Tami/Ph..I have nothing against Greg..just loss a little respect for him to come on this site as a business owner and bash Neptune's. Like I said before not my style.
Forty years in business and no doubt Gary made some mistakes...I know I have.
As to Neptune's...I think they will come out this OK...Backwoods more than likely has the resources and money to make things happen.
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Prod
Trad climber
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The Boulder where Verner still fixed hippie buses.
74 Westy rebuilt by Verner in 1991. Also resided in the "World Famous" chicken coop somewhat near Martin Acres...
Prod.
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SWH
Trad climber
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Greg - you run Bent Gate AND AlpineZone? What a renaissance man!
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Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
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Pam here. Oh, that would be Pam (Ranger) Roberts, who worked at Neptune's off and on for about 9 years, beginning in 1983ish and ending in 1999, in every capacity from salesperson, to book buyer, to floor manager, and isn't afraid to hide behind my ST tag name. Yes, I DO take it personally when some of you say that "I stopped going there because of "the" a#$h&3le employees." I'm going to go out on limb here and say that I seriously doubt that many people thought that of me, or many other of my colleagues, at least during the times I worked there. Were we all perfect all of the time? I seriously doubt it. Are you perfect all of the time? Judging from your hateful spew, I seriously doubt that either. Retail is a hard business, and if you've never been involved, don't judge. If you have, take a look in the mirror. Please undersand, if you had a bad experience, I'm sorry...take it up with that particular employee, or the manager, or Gary. If it doesn't change to your liking, you have every right to your opinion, and your right to no longer go to that store. At any one time in any business (I am in education now...is every teacher in my school great? Hardly. Does that make my school suck? Not at all!) Did we try to be as good as possible? In my case, and the people I worked with, I can also say (most always) yes. If you have a beef with an establishment, I get that. But to possitively SHRED a place that has been in existence for 40 successful years, with TONS of still-dedicated customers, you are in the wrong. I'm not going to throw out names, but some of you might want to re-read some of your postings, and wonder where your vitriol comes from. I, and all of us, spent plenty of hours GLADLY helping people like you, who I knew was NEVER going to buy from us, but buy on-line or from a store with cheaper prices whose employees didn't have as much experience as we did. I always felt like if I gave good service, then perhaps we would gain a customer in the long run. That was always my effort. And indeed Gary can be quirky, but he has given his LIFE to the Boulder climbing scene. Anyone who thinks he has raked in tons of money during this eneavor has NEVER been involved in small-businees retail. Most money Gary made he put right back into the store, and as much as he could, back to the employees. We got benefits that no other store offered....staff ski trips to Snowbird, small bonuses if we climbed certain things (usually in the low grades, not gnarly things), if we climbed, skied, camped in the same month, Christmas bonuses, etc. I'm not at all trying to say that Neptune's is or was perfect. Nothing is. I'm not, and you aren't, either. All I'm saying is that some of you have been unhappy with the store...that's totally fair. Why then are you so unbelievably over-the-top about it, when at the very same time WAY more people WERE happy with the store??...that's why it stayed in business for 40 years, despite its quirkiness. Gary is 65 years old now or so.....yeah, it's ok for him to want to do something different now, and sell the store. Gary did NOT go out of business like some others in our community for poor business practices. He SOLD the business....he has nothing to be ashamed of (well, maybe the scab collection! :-) )...we should all be so lucky to get to live out our passion, and make some others' happy (customers, employees) in the meantime, and even make a living. Did icons like Heinrich Harrer, Reinhold Messner, Layton Kor, etc., etc., give him all that stuff because Gary BOUGHT it from them? No, they GAVE him that stuff because Gary is the real deal. Like the rest of us climbers, full of ambition, passion, quirkiness, love of the mountains, and perhaps even some fear. And if you think some of that stuff isn't symbolically important, than I suggest you spend some time learning about the people and climbers upon whose shoulders you stand. I just simply don't know where this anger of yours comes from, and I find it terrifically pathetic and sad....if you are trying to be funny, you are not. If you think you are cute and cutting edge sarcastic, you are not. We climbers are a unique and crazy bunch, and I have gained much from many of you especially in this last year by being a member of ST. But I can't stand idly by and listen to so much spite that seems so very needless, and diminishes us as people, and as climbers. So be happy, and go shop at REI or on-line at Sierra Trading Post. I'm sure it will be an awesome, memorable, and money-saving experience. Just try to loosen up a bit. All this is supposed to be fun also, isn't it?
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Love you Pam and remember those days fondly...you, Jack, Pete, Paul, Todd, Steve and others did a great job. You should be proud to have worked in a community based store that did so much for the Boulder climbing community.
Another thing about Gary...he just couldn't say no when it came to helping out climbers. A great man who will be missed...I wish the best for him.
Locker...praising Greg to come on here and bash another store/Gary tell me a lot about how your mind works.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Locker wrote: For me, it was always about a couple of crappy employees...
Forty years in business and a few crappy employees...shit what a failure!!
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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PH wrote: Once again- none of his detractors here are even in his league.
You got that right. Not even close.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Locker...you been Bashing Neptune's from the start of this thread...Gary last name is Neptune...do you see any connection??
Or has the glue gotten in your head? :-)
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Bldrjac
Ice climber
Boulder
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Phil, hugs back! Todd, you're welcome. WTF, glad you liked it. Bob, love you too! Locker, it's down to "a couple crappy employees." That sounds WAAAY more like it! :-)
If we can't support each other, and help us all be successful, than we are not a clan, and we can't honestly celebrate what it is to be a lifelong climber. We will not always agree, that's for sure, but let's just try to keep the ugliness out, shall we?
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Darwin
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
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I have to say that Tami and Bob D'A come across a lot better than the detractors. Being pathologically coastal, I was only there once but liked it just because. I bought some approach shoes with good advice, and the shoes served me well. I climbed with one of the employees at JTree and that was one of the best cragging trips of my life.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Looking it as something that has lasted 40 years I think Neptune's can stand proud on what it has offered to the Boulder community and the employees that worked that gave great service, route beta and gear information.
I'll miss it...not always perfect but very familiar. A loss to Boulder climbing community.
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SicMic
climber
two miles from Eldorado
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Holy crabs what a shiet show.
But I'll miss Gary the man, quirks and all. I'll miss the shop. I'll miss all the old employees. I'll miss giving the occasional show.
Progress is a bitch, but that's what we're stuck with. Thanks Pam for your glimpse of sanity, Bob D for keepin' it real.
(and an old pic for the kids -on display inside the front door at Neptune. Name us all, win a prize!)
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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Hey Ken M.
I read what you wrote to Locker, then deleted.
YOU ARE A DICKHEAD. Proven many times on this forum.
Prod.
That's ok, prod. Locker can stand up for himself.
As for you, I'm sure you were perfectly happy to take advantage of the Neptune fundraising efforts for the things you believe in, even if you never put in a penny.
Glad to see that you want to pile on to kick a friend of the climbing community who didn't make his mark by talking, like you do, but by ACTUALLY climbing.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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I was busy drinking from the little black bottle KEN M passed me...
;-)
Cheers. :)
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Prod
Trad climber
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As for you, I'm sure you were perfectly happy to take advantage of the Neptune fundraising efforts for the things you believe in, even if you never put in a penny.
Glad to see that you want to pile on to kick a friend of the climbing community who didn't make his mark by talking, like you do, but by ACTUALLY climbing.
What? Please explain.
Prod.
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Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
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prod, you made a big production in the other thread about a climbing mag not treating climber contractors right.
So here we have an example of a business treating their employee climbers right.
So what do you do, jump in with the group, upon the announcement of the sale of the store, bashing the guy.
To what end? The store is sold. Neptune is not running it anymore. Nothing anyone says will change Neptune's management, because he won't be managing.
The point? To kick someone in the teeth on the way out.
Remember that what comes around, goes around. When you make the bonehead mistake and crater, you can look forward to a bunch of people letting your relatives know about all your deficiencies.....because that's how you want to do things, I guess. I walk to a different beat.
As for the specific issues involved with my deleted post, the relevant sources:
8.Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
9.Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10.Continued to take personal inventory, and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
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Bob D'A
Trad climber
Taos, NM
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Ken M wrote: The point? To kick someone in the teeth on the way out.
Which bring me to believe that Greg at Bent Gate is the one we should pity.
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