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Tackle manufacture public relations

Wychwood are very good but I have to mention Shakespeare too. I broke the top of one my fly rods out of sheer clumsiness and enquired after a replacement top. Three days later I received a new rod, no questions asked.

Dave
 
I've had good service from shops/manufacturers where the general concencus suggests they are rubbish and poor service from shops/manufacturers where the general concencus suggests they are paragons.

I've also had fluctating service from the same places inside a month or two.

As far as I'm concerned, I make my own mind up, because what happens to anyone else isn't necessarily what's going to happen to me.

It's not even worth naming names because you always offend someone, and that's hardly going to improve your lot in any way, shape or form. You pay your money and take your choice.
 
Mic Foot said:
Drennan showed absolutely no interest in my complaint about the tip section of my newly purchased power barbel that broke. All they wanted was for me to buy a replacement tip section. I took it to the shop, waited for their agent to look at it and all he said was "mmmm not our fault" and that was it, end of. Not at all happy with that considering the amount of their gear I have purchased over the years.
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I suspect Mic that you have gone about this issue the wrong way. First of all, you have to be "top dog" in these situations. Don't let the Agent take the initiative. Assuming the rod did not break by accident and it was an inherrent fault. Bamboozle the Agent with words he won't understand, doesn't matter if they are relevant or not, use some scientific jargon, elasticity, Young's modulus and refer to the type of fracture. By this stage you are on top and well on the way to a positive outcome. If he has not capitulated by now, Small Claims Court should be thrown into the mix. I suspect that the Agent will be weighing the costs up - £10 tops cost to the supplier to replace the tip or the alternative £35 plus a Court appearance. From the supplier's point of view it is a "No brainer" an expression that I detest, but appropriate in this case.
 
Jim Foxall said:
I suspect Mic that you have gone about this issue the wrong way. First of all, you have to be "top dog" in these situations. Don't let the Agent take the initiative. Assuming the rod did not break by accident and it was an inherrent fault. Bamboozle the Agent with words he won't understand, doesn't matter if they are relevant or not, use some scientific jargon, elasticity, Young's modulus and refer to the type of fracture. By this stage you are on top and well on the way to a positive outcome. If he has not capitulated by now, Small Claims Court should be thrown into the mix. I suspect that the Agent will be weighing the costs up - £10 tops cost to the supplier to replace the tip or the alternative £35 plus a Court appearance. From the supplier's point of view it is a "No brainer" an expression that I detest, but appropriate in this case.
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Sorry Albert, disagree. The above is the way to do it. Where are you going to name and shame? I think that Mic has to row his own boat on this specific one. Unless you have some angling cooperative, you won't have a voice. Certainly manufacturers keep an eye on some sites for example, Cemex Forum, to see the feedback on new products. As soon as a product comes in for persistent criticism they are on to it. In Mic's case it is too late to tackle the Agent. Mic will succeed if he follows my advice regarding the threat of Small Claims. I think that the threat will be enough. I'm seriously thinking of starting a business on taking on Small Claims cases for wronged individuals - I haven't lost a case yet and currently have two in the pipeline.
 
Jim Foxall said:
Sorry Albert, disagree. The above is the way to do it. Where are you going to name and shame? I think that Mic has to row his own boat on this specific one. Unless you have some angling cooperative, you won't have a voice. Certainly manufacturers keep an eye on some sites for example, Cemex Forum, to see the feedback on new products. As soon as a product comes in for persistent criticism they are on to it. In Mic's case it is too late to tackle the Agent. Mic will succeed if he follows my advice regarding the threat of Small Claims. I think that the threat will be enough. I'm seriously thinking of starting a business on taking on Small Claims cases for wronged individuals - I haven't lost a case yet and currently have two in the pipeline.
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I agree with Jim. This is exactly what I did when the top of my Daiwa Infinity barbel rod broke when I used it to wedge an old oak door open. I deployed a great deal of Latin sounding words when explaining to the agent how feeble the rod was, but almost came unstuck when I ended my rant with "Carpe Diem"...
 
Well i must say that i found all the replies to this topic very interesting, so i would like to draw a conclusion to what i have read.
Most tackle manufactures seem to be ok with no problem, just a couple seem to be a bit laid back with very poor customer support, and they really should respond to their customers contact and comments, lets face it, unanswered phone calls and e-mails are just plain rude.
One mail order tackle company would not listen to my plight of a pair of brand new leaky boots, athough they did reply, they argued that they were right, it was not until i contacted Trading Standards and forwarded onto the company the rights of the customer, that they did say sorry, but after i had spent a lot of money with them i decided it was sorry too late, they had caused me a lot of unnecessary stress, so i will not ever deal with them again.
This now brings me back to our local tackle dealers, here in Dorset we have a bunch of really good dealers, they are very helpful, they may not be able to compete with some of the internet prices, but at the end of the day, if an item is not up to standard we can take it back, can you image how it would be if they did not exist, i would say, not very good.
Brian.
 
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Cheers for the feedback chaps but unfortunately this was over a year ago and I did make quite a few calls to various parties but met a dead end and although the advice of involving a small claims court probably had merit then its a little after the horse has bolted now.

Drennan will certainly not be getting any of my trade anymore and I will make sure that anyone who`s interested is aware of their reticence to play fair as far as after sales service is concerned.

As far as baffling them with scientific jargon is concerned I could just about manage "my f**king rod top is broken" would that suffice?
 
Mic Foot said:
Cheers for the feedback chaps but unfortunately this was over a year ago and I did make quite a few calls to various parties but met a dead end and although the advice of involving a small claims court probably had merit then its a little after the horse has bolted now.

Drennan will certainly not be getting any of my trade anymore and I will make sure that anyone who`s interested is aware of their reticence to play fair as far as after sales service is concerned.

As far as baffling them with scientific jargon is concerned I could just about manage "my f**king rod top is broken" would that suffice?
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Mic, I'll have a look at the timescale in which Court action may be taken. Did you purchase a new rod-tip and have you any correspondence with Drennan?
 
brian, , spot on with your answer, the days of a companies with good customer service are far and few between now, its all about tacking your money, and thats it, end of,this is were are tackle shops bridge the gap, for us on our part, mic case is a perfect example,
like jim says we should nt have go to down that road, small claims court,
 
Just emailed the company who I'm having problems with and given them one final chance to respond and will then be contacting my credit card company and trading standards
 
Credit where its due - companies I have received good service from over the years include:

Shimano - twice replaced the top section of a feeder rod, the 2nd time was after it was out of warranty. The 3rd section still going strong 15 years later (caught my first double figure barbel on this rod).

Shakespeare - sent replacement alarm knobs free of charge.

Bloke - replaced accident damaged fly rod section with free return postage.

TFG - this is the most recent one. Sent a replacement top section free of charge after I inquired about purchasing a replacement tip ring.
 
Korum................. first class service.

They collected a rucksack from my local tackle shop for me and refunded the money i had spent on it two seasons ago.

Job done.
 
Good Service

Just a quick thumbs up for BobCo. By sheer chance spoke to the owner over an issue sometime back. He was absolutely great and sent me a voucher which he had no need to do. Previously, I had spoken to staff and got nowhere which confirms that it is a question of getting hold of the right people.
 
I have had great after sales service from PoingDestres. Return postage refunded and replacment items sent for a broken fox rigid rig box.

Cant say the same for Climax Tackle. Bought a brolly which broke at the tilt point. When I phoned up to see about getting it replaced I was told to send it back to them and run the risk of them deciding it was my fault. Very negative attitude and not what customer service is all about. They wont get another penny from me and I will tell as many people as possible not to use them.
 
Not a manufacturer as such, but I am constantly amazed by the excellent service I get from Johnson Ross in Hoddeston. A few years back I bent the spindle on a Daiwa Infinity BR reel. It was completely my fault and wasn't expecting much to happen. However, I took it to the shop and showed it to Anthony and he litterally walked out to the store room and came back in with a brand new reel, swapped the spools over and said he would send the other one back to Daiwa. Fair enough, I had been using the shop for years, but to hand over a £200 plus reel without asking for proof of purchase or an interrogation was way more than I expected. Needless to say, I use them almost exclusively, even since I moved out of the area!
 
Ash Gould said:
I have had great after sales service from PoingDestres. Return postage refunded and replacment items sent for a broken fox rigid rig box.

Cant say the same for Climax Tackle. Bought a brolly which broke at the tilt point. When I phoned up to see about getting it replaced I was told to send it back to them and run the risk of them deciding it was my fault. Very negative attitude and not what customer service is all about. They wont get another penny from me and I will tell as many people as possible not to use them.
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Matt gave a good example below of a small business knowing him personally and that relationship leads to great service. The problem with dealing with a large organisation like Climax is twofold. The guy you get hold of will in all probability will be on minimum wage and is not empowered to make a decision in your favour and takes the easy option of saying "No". I had a similar problem with an Airflo fly line which had "snapped". The young lady from Airflo wrote a letter to me stating that I must trodden on it. To cut a long story short I managed to correspond with the MD and the line was replaced without any quibble. He made a very valid point. There are loads of people out there who "Try it on" and these firms get very wary of returns. If you stick to your guns with a cogent argument then the chances are you will receive a favourable outcome.
 
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