Best/Worst Customer Service

[TrtnBux]

I'm sure we have all had good/bad customer service with companies in the fly fishing industry.

Just curious about what everyone's experiences.

WORST Customer Service: Clutch Fly Rod company (by far). I ordered a rod blank back in August. It took four weeks to show up. While on the phone with the company ordering the rod, they said the price of the blank included a rod tube and specification label. When the blank finally showed up (in a PVC tube) there was no Clutch rod tube or label. I called the company and asked if I could get a chart that provides guide size and spacing, as well as everything else that should have been included. It took two weeks to get an email with the chart. After emailing the company multiple times each week about the label and rod tube I was told BY THE OWNER "sorry I keep forgetting about it." I've given up on trying to email the company so I tried calling the owner. The owner never picked up and has a full voicemail box so I couldn't even leave a message. This whole mess of a process has been going on since Augst and I still do not have the rod tube or label. By far the absolute worst customer service I have ever experienced in the fly fishing industry. I will not be purchasing any other products from them...

BEST Customer Service: Patagonia and Orvis. Anytime I have had an issue or question with a product, they have both answered quickly. Online returns and exchanges are always easy and never cause any issues.

 

[bigjohn58]

Best I've dealt with were Korkers. They just had me take photos and the replacement was on its way. Simms has really been disappointing me. Terrible time with my G3 waders and then they refused to repair them or give me any kind of credit. Terrible time with their G3 boots. First pair and the warranty pair both failed on me. Studs tearing out, laces broke, soles tearing all within a month and a half of use for each pair. Refused to refund me and would only give me store credit. Store credit didn't get me a pair of boots to use and forced me to make another purchase with Simms.

 

[Swattie87]

I’ve generally had very good customer service from all product manufacturers, in the rare instance I’ve had a problem with their products. (Other than simply wearing them out from good, hard use. That doesn’t count as a problem.) I’ve also had good customer service from the mega outdoors retailers I bought some of them from.

This goes against the conventional wisdom of small local businesses providing better service, but I’ve had two very negative in person experiences from small fly shops. One in the State College area and one in NC PA. Both times it seemed as though allowing me to purchase what I did was a significant inconvenience at best. I have not been back to either. I’ve had very positive experiences at other fly shops in those areas, FWIW.

 

[Bamboozle]

Since I shop price, not location I do business with many different places.

For the most part the manufacturers have always been great to me with Orvis, L.L. Bean & Winston real standouts along with the small fry cottage makers who go out of their way to please you.

Hardy on the other hand has made an art form out of ignoring any requests for information or offering any help. I’m hoping that the recent sale of the parent company may change that.

On the retail side among many, I’ve recently done some business with a shop/Internet store called Anglers All in Littleton, CO that have been great so far.

I had issues with a pair of pliers I bought which they rectified in short order and they were very helpful on getting me some Simms items I was after with GREAT follow-up on requests and information.

Free freight and no tax (for the time being) doesn’t hurt either!!

 

[ryansheehan]

Korkers, Bean and Orvis come to mind as best customer service. Come to think of it, that covers almost all of my fly fishing purchases, maybe that's why I do business with them.

 

[moon1284]

I've had good service from Sage, Scott, Abel, Orvis, Simms. Every smaller company I've dealt with has also been great, Larry Kenney especially. I sent an e-mail to Livingston Rods about a rod and the owner called me the next day.

I really haven't had a bad experience with anyone. I haven't really had any bad experiences with fly shops either. I have my preferences but mostly its about who is the most entertaining or gives me the best deal. I've never had anyone blatantly disrespect me or try to rip me off.

 

[jifigz]

I can't say I've ever had bad customer service from any shop or online store. I guess my worst customer service would be from TCO in State College, a lot of staff there aren't too friendly in my experience so that's why I shop at Flyfisher's.

L.L. Bean always has excellent customer service and I buy a lot from them including fky fishing gear. Every Bean reel I've ever bought have been amazing for the money.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I recently had an extraordinary wonderful customer experience from Sage, which follows many favorable customer service experiences with them over a long period of time. I won’t go into detail here except to say that I got a completely new rod from them that they would not have had to give me if they strictly followed their warranty policy.

On the other hand, I’d never buy another product from Thomas & Thomas based on some bad service experiences I had with them. I have also been disappointed in the past with quality and customer service from Regal Vice as well, but I believe this may have been with the former ownership of the company.

I’ve had generally good experiences with Patagonia and Simms, and great customer service from Filson too, but I sometimes wonder why I continue to pay double the price for some of their products when I could get the same quality products elsewhere for half the price (Simms waders excluded). Plus, it seems that Patagonia is solving my my dilemma with their products by making more of their products for slimmer and younger people that don’t fit my “muscular” body shape!

I’ve had good experiences with Outcast on inflatable boat products, and the same from NRS, but Dave Scadden gets my vote as having the worst customer service over a long period of time of any company in that industry.

 

[BrookieChaser]

I've had good customer service from both Sage and Simms. Simms even sent me loner waders so I could keep fishing. That's why I use their products.

I've not had bad customer service from any fly fishing company. Fly shops would be a different story. I miss "old school" fly shops. But I miss a lot of "old school" things.

 

[rrt]

You guys are all too young to remember Herter's, I guess. You were lucky to get an order in six to eight weeks. And, when I started, Herter's was one of very few mail order places to get stuff. (Of note: I still use my 50-year-old Herter's whip finisher. I have no idea what I'd do if it broke. I have no idea how to use a modern whip finisher.)

I was lucky that Flyfisher's Paradise was established not too awfully long after I began to fly-fish. I think the service from there is phenomenal and remains my favorite place to get stuff.

 

[supervdl]

St Croix was great. I broke my Legend fly rod (please don't ask how) and under their warranty plan the replace the rod with a brand new one. No questions asked and a week later it arrived in the mail. Their warranty plan costs extra $$ but it beats buying a new rod.

 

[poopdeck]

I'm a low maintenance consumer and can't think of an example of noteworthy customer service.

 

[PennKev]

The guy that runs Feather Emporium is an absolute joke. He's so bad that I cannot pass up the chance to take a shot at him.

Other than that I've not had many bad experiences with customer service. At least none that stand out.

 

[Brianh]

“muscular” body shape!

I’ve had good experiences with Outcast on inflatable boat products, and the same from NRS, but Dave Scadden gets my vote as having the worst customer service over a long period of time of any company in that industry.[/quote]

I've heard complaints about Scadden before, but my personal experience is very different. I had a leaky valve this spring and when I called scadden to order a replacement, the tech I spoke with actually talked me thru a repair to the valve and said I didn't need to purchase any parts. I was pleasantly surprised with this experience.

 

[bradtheflyfisherman]

Can't say I've had any problems, although I've had minimal issues with much of my gear which ranges from Patagonia to Orvis to Fishpond to Sage to Cabelas and much more. Orvis has always been good about the two rod repairs I've needed in the past.

I order a lot of my tying materials online or go through eBay and say I haven't had an issue yet. Only issue I had was with Competitive Angler's website and accidentally placed two orders for the same stuff, but they were quick to email me back telling me what happened and quick to issue a refund - so props to them for the good customer service.

Only thing is maybe some grouchy or tight lipped fly shop owners that I maybe had to deal with one or two times in 10 years? Other than that, no complaints.

 

[rrt]

If you're discussing brand names, my biggest recent disappointment is with Simms waders. I sent a pair back that leaked, and their solution was to offer me a cap or a T-shirt. I told them that I wasn't going to wear a logo piece of apparel that represented inferior products.

I have, though, had good luck with Orvis brands, and I have had really good luck with Scientific Anglers fly lines. I cannot imagine my buying any other fly line brand than SA.

I even broke down and bought a Sage fly rod, and I really like it for dry-fly fishing on larger streams. I must admit that its price was outrageous and will probably not afford another. Still....

 

[bradtheflyfisherman]

If you're discussing brand names, my biggest recent disappointment is with Simms waders. I sent a pair back that leaked, and their solution was to offer me a cap or a T-shirt. I told them that I wasn't going to wear a logo piece of apparel that represented inferior products.

I don't own any Simms gear but it seems their return / repair / exchange policy is all over the place from what I've heard over the years? From people getting brand new gear in exchange for something that was damaged to stuff like what you're saying about being offered another random piece of gear as a replacement instead. I wonder why their policies here are so inconsistent? (especially for being notably "one of the best" in the industry)

 

[RLeep2]

Rich: I remember Herter's well, although most of my experience with them was with more conventional tackle as I didn't really make the switchover to being a majority fly angler until the early 70's when they were already on the wane in both product variety and (especially) quality. But I grew on a small lake outlet stream (averaging 30-50 feet wide) that was crawling with largemouth up to about 15-16". My money came hard. I had an Erie-Times route and made 2 cents per daily and 5 cents on a Sunday paper. After bicycle maintenance, church offerings and saving for my first semester at college, I netted about 85 cents a week that was free and clear mine. Obviously, at this level, I couldn't afford many if any Helin Flatfish at $1.85 a pop, far and away the best lure for the bass in my creek. But Herter's had a Japanese knockoff for everything and their "Thinfish" Flatfish knockoff worked just as well and were only 65 cents each. Still, 65 cents is 65 cents and I went swimming a lot to retrieve my Thinfish that was stuck on a rootball on the far bank. On balance though over the years, I probably caught more bass overall on my Thinfish than I ever did on a real Flatfish.

After I got out of college ('73), I started buying more Herter's fly fishing stuff, but it was mostly crap by then. Down in my tying jungle in the basement, I still have a package of their loose ginger rooster neck hackle from about 1973 or so. Also, a package of their Life-Ex (I think it was..) clear pvc tubing for making caddis larvae. It was probably as good as the old Swannundaze, which is to say it was truly awful to work with and looked absolutely dead in the water. Well, "dead" may not be completely right. It looked more like a piece of plastic..

Herter's was a big part of my story as an angler. I always had my nose in their huge catalog and the pages were all matted together with Raisin Bran and mustard. It was a dream book...

On topic, it has been very rarely that I have been the victim of what I'd call "bad" customer service. I've never been very confrontational and in the event of problems I've found that a "hey, golly, gee.. I think there's a problem here" approach has almost always worked well to resolve this stuff. When it does not, I simply never go back or order from them again. No yelling or fuming or any of that. I just disappear from their radar forever.

Sorry so long. I'm in a reflective mood today. It's snowing, my honey-do list is up to date and Samuel R. Housecat, my 12 lb. ball of fluff is in my lap. Life is good..

 

[Swattie87]

rrt wrote:
If you're discussing brand names, my biggest recent disappointment is with Simms waders. I sent a pair back that leaked, and their solution was to offer me a cap or a T-shirt. I told them that I wasn't going to wear a logo piece of apparel that represented inferior products.

How old or well worn were the waders? If they were relatively new, or lightly used, before you'd reasonably expect a pair to leak, that's BS, and that would end my customer relationship with that company too.

If they were 5 years old, had a hundred+ days on the stream, etc, I'd argue what they did was pretty cool. I'm betting manufacturers in that situation appreciate getting well worn examples back, to see how they held up, and where they ultimately began to fail. Helps with R&D in terms of making products better. In that situation, I'd see the hat or T-shirt as a thank you, and I'd wear it happily. I'd probably be willing to buy another pair of waders from them too.

Much depends on the context. All waders eventually leak. The good ones just stay leak free longer and under harder use. Water is a worthy adversary.

Disclaimer: I own no Simms gear, just speaking in general terms.

 

[tztrout]

Back in the late 90's had an Orvis Battenkill 7/8 that had its drag fried by a big king in Pulaski. Sent it back for repair and a week or so later the UPS man delivered a brand new one. Of course I was thrilled with this, until a week later when my original reel came back with a brand new drag. And a $50 gift card from Orvis. I called customer service and asked about sending back the new Battenkill, as my receiving it was obviously a mistake. He told me not to bother, to keep BOTH reels and the gift card! That is good customer service!