Huge thanks to the entire AT.com Family!!!

[Chris Gatorfan]

Hey guys and gals,

Let me start by saying that when I first came to this site, I wasnt quite a beginner but I was not yet up to novice status either. But over the months which have almost came to a year of being here I have gained so much knowledge as well as some great friends along the way, some of which I have already met and some I will be meeting withing the coming weeks and months.
Now with this knowledge I have gained, it has been priceless as for the first time in my life I was actually able to start my own Reel repair business to the point of being able to jump on pretty much any reel and know the basics of a full cleaning and/or refurb with great results for my customers. This being said, there is a guy up the road from me that has been buying up tons of old reels with hopes of having them refurbed to sell in his Second Hand Sporting Goods Store that he just recently opened. He knew nothing at all about cleaning a reel much less how to take them apart and he saw my add. So he gave me a call and brought over 5 reels for me to work on. 2 of them were 4/0 senators which were not working at all as well as missing parts and were super corroded. The other 3 were a Penn 90, a 112h senator, and a Diawa saltist. All of which had their issues as well. Needless to say anyone that purchases one of these 5 reels has a reel that has been worked over in the Alan Tani style and my customer was extremely satisfied with the work which was preformed.
I tell you about him because of this. All my services were paid in full by him, Parts and service combined as well as a 10 dollar tip for the awesome cleaning I did on the corroded parts. Well Saturday before last I got a call from him asking If I was going to be home that evening. I told him yes and he was like ok I will be over there shortly I have something for you. So here I was thinking I had some more reels to work on coming through the door...Yippyyyyy more money to pay these Bills that are adding up on me. Well when He got here I oppen the door to 5 more reels in his hands. He proceeded to tell me that He was very satisfied with everything I had done for him up to that time, and that he had actually gotten an average of $20 more per reel then he thought he would have gotten for them. And because of that he wanted me to have these 5 reels. So now my collection has grown.
the reels he gave to me are as follows.

1. Penn 155 jigmaster, early model....It has been cleaned fully and sanded it down so I can get it powder coated or repainted, havent decided yet.
2. Penn 85 Seaboy, this one had a broke clicker side plate, but when I took it apart my jaw dropped as I had been completely rebuilt, every single part was BRAND NEW, and it had New Carbon Fiber Drag stack in it.
3. Shimano Bantam 500, Not sure if it is the 1979 or the 1980 model. The left side plate has some cracks around 2 of the screw holes but it is still a very fishable uni-water baitcaster reel.
4. Shimano Bantam Brush Buster 10. Clutch button will not engage. I have got to het some snap ring pliers before I can completely diagnose it and get it fixed.
and
5. is an antique Shakespear Ture Blue 1956. It cleaned up beautifully on the outside, however half of the pinion crumbled apart as I opened it up and what remain of it is rusted to the spool shaft, and the worm assembly needs to be replaced. Though I could fix her up to be fished again I think I am going to save the money there and Just leave her on the display case, as a showpiece.
I have to dedicate these reels to all of you and as I fish them it will be with all of you in mind as it is because of the invaluable knowledge I have received from each of you that I was able to make someone happy enough to give them to me. Thanks guys, I trully appreciate everything that every one of you have to offer here on AT.com and an even bigger thanks to Alan for forming this group in the first place.
Now here are the new additions to my collection:

[Cone]

Chris, I'm glad to see you are doing good. People don't mind paying for a service. It's when they pay and find out they paid for something and it wasn't that they get mad. It sounds like your doing things right. Good luck! Bob

[Chris Gatorfan]

Thanks Bob. I kind of go above and beyond. I try to stay in touch with my customers and let them know how the job is coming along, and key them in to different things about their equipment that that may not of known. And I give them a full rundown of the proceedures I used so they know what has been done for future reference.
I know that I can advertise all day long but regardles of any dollar amount spent, it is the words that come from their mouth about me and my work that will make the ultimate difference in making or breaking it. I would much rather make it. I even offer discounted rates for return customers. All apart of making the customer feel more appreciated then just as another dollar.

[josa1]

Congrats Chris on doing a great job for your customer.  There's just something great about a transaction that makes all parties happy.  Well done!

[Tightlines667]

I agree with the honesty and communications thing.  What I hate is when I run into a heavily used reel with excessive wear and/or corrosion issues and I have to repair the reel to 'good working condition' with the cavity that they might be better off replacing the reel in the future since replacement parts costs (to truely bring it back to 'like new' condition) will likely be cost prohibitive.  Sucks to have to charge for a service that falls slightly below customer expectations due to economic prohibitions.  Sometimes it is difficult to ascertain the overall end result without putting some money and time into the project.  I don't like to be the beater of bad news.  Then again, if you don't have it serviced, you won't know how bad it is.  Good luck with the buisness!  My personal experiences with my side reel repair buisness have by and large surpassed my expectations.

[Dominick]

Congrats Chris on doing a great job for your customer.  There's just something great about a transaction that makes all parties happy.  Well done!

x2 on this Chris.  Go Get them.  Dominick

[Dr. Jekyll - AKA MeL B]

well done Chris!

[Shark Hunter]

Keep it up Bro! What goes around comes around!