australia gone mad

[Alto Mare]

The couple of Jarvis Walker that have come throuigh my hands in the past were junk.

Sal

[exp2000]

The couple of Jarvis Walker that have come throuigh my hands in the past were junk.

Sal

Yeah, I won't touch JW, Shakespeare and the like.

There is nothing to work with and you are just throwing away good money after bad.

But these guys are also the agency for Fin Nor as well which is what I was working on.
~

[exp2000]

I am starting a new support orginization:  R.R.A.

Mission Statement:  "Friends don't let friends work on $hite reels...........
You can be a foundation member if you like    

OK, I'll bite. What does RRA stand for? Reel Repairers Anonymous?

I wasn't working on a $hite reel but I sure was getting $hite service.
~

[Rothmar2]

To think I just had a fairly positive experience with Anglers Central over the Banax Kaigen debarcle.
Inconsistent service is just as bad as continual poor service.
Yeah, such a great work ethic the tackle industry has down here.

[exp2000]

To think I just had a fairly positive experience with Anglers Central over the Banax Kaigen debarcle.
Inconsistent service is just as bad as continual poor service.
Yeah, such a great work ethic the tackle industry has down here.

I have found that their online parts inventory is unreliable and online contact elicits no response whtsoever.

If there are problems, the only hope of any resolution is to phone them.
~

[mhc]

To think I just had a fairly positive experience with Anglers Central over the Banax Kaigen debarcle.
Inconsistent service is just as bad as continual poor service.
Yeah, such a great work ethic the tackle industry has down here.

I have found that their online parts inventory is unreliable and online contact elicits no response whtsoever.

If there are problems, the only hope of any resolution is to phone them.
~

I've only dealt with them a couple of times but I'll second the unreliable inventory. I ordered a few Penn parts for a Michigan member 12 months ago that were showing as 'in stock' but when it came to shipping they refunded me for a couple of the parts they didn't have. Wasn't a problem just annoying - particularly for the bloke wanting the parts.     

[exp2000]

Update:

After another failed shipment (the tabs and the pawls were separate parts!), I threatened to order f5rom the USA.

I then got a phonecall and after some discussion, I insisted that they run the parts by an actual reel technician before sending again.

Well, three shipments later, and another two parts, I finally got one which was complete and functional enough to actually work!

Well done AC! Only took three months to get it right!
~

[Cor]

I feel for you guys and suffer similar frustrations this side, but then this is South Africa.

Firstly many parts are just not available here, they sell the reel, but when you need a part......"we will order it for you, don't know how long it will take, but please pay now"    Obtaining a part from the US is fairly easy, but the shipping is extremely expensive in terms of our local currency, plus we need to pay a handling fee to the post office here, and VAT and it takes a long time to reach us as we tend to ship in the cheapest way because of that.

Then recently Shimano in Johannesburg sent my parts to the wrong address.   They apologised profusely but then 3 weeks later nearly do the same thing!    Only because I noticed the invoice had an incorrect address on it, was I able to stop the same mistake happening again.

In all fairness though I think the girls there do try.

I twice ordered parts from Shimano in the UK.    This can only work because my daughter lives there and she then forwards the stuff to me via friends, or brings it here herself.    Shimano UK won't send stuff to me direct, apparently they may only sell in their home country.

• They once sent me the wrong parts.   I was just grateful I got something and did not return it.

• They don't keep most parts in stock and seem to order them from Holland and it takes a long time, maybe a month.

• Very poor e mail communication, in fact zero until I start following up when is the stuff being shipped.   They don't send me invoices either, other then stuffing it in the parcel.

• On one occasion my spares were ready for shipment, I paid for it, then heard no more.   Again followed it up and was told that they had undercharged me by a small amount and therefore they cold not ship it.    After I authorised an additional charge of 40p (less then $1-00) they sent it.

Although this annoys me tremendously, I have a little understanding for the problem facing Shimano South Africa.   It must be a logistical nightmare to attempt to keep some "popular" parts for the many reel models we now have.    The cost is high, and the market here is small.

At one stage I used only one type of reel and had about 10 of them.    Rather then buy some parts I would just buy a new reel because the cost of a main and pinion gear and maybe 2 bearings was equal to the cost of the whole reel.   I would then just cannibalize the parts and eventually have some carcasses lying around.   The only trouble with this was that mostly the same parts wore out, but overall it was a good strategy.