What percentage of rod blanks do you order that have to be returned for one reason or another?

One I received today was a quality blank that looked so bad it wasn't funny. I can't believe they would bag a rod that looked this bad. The blank looked sanded with about 400grit and less than 1/2 way rubbed out at BEST, it wasn't even uniform. If you ran your hand down the blank it felt like a road with a few worn out speed bumps, lumpy.

Of my last 4 rods, 2 went back, and I'd say I'm somewhere in the 35% "return" area for 2005?

DR



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2005 06:03PM by Duane Richards (DR).

I would expect the vendor to check the blanks before shipping! If I were you, I might look for a new vendor. I guess I've been real lucky. I've only had one bad blank ever and that was immediately replaced without having to even send it back.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2005 05:56PM by Mike Barkley.

Your post absolutely blows me away. Why in the world would you continue to do business with someone who has demonstrated they can not meet your expectations with a quality product. I have never, not once, returned a new blank for replacement. I also have incorporated a pricing structure where I do not return broken stuff either - too much hassle too much delay. I do not build on blanks that cost above $ 100 and have a reasonable expectation as to what I am going to receive from a quality standpoint. The suppliers I deal with have not let me down! I think I would be looking for another source.

Mike - typing the same thing at the same time! - Again thanks for the 9-11 CD!!

Gon Fishn



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/2005 06:00PM by Bill Stevens.

DR - That really does sound poor. I've only had one blank that made me want to send it back and my vendor said that all their blanks looked that way.

Better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Matt,

I was wondering if it had became a "normal" occurance to have so many returns. :(

I had one flipping stick that not only came in as a 1+1 blank when it was suspose to be a 1 piece, but it was scratched all to pieces from the sliding extra piece and chipped at the top of the sliding piece. Then came these today..........

And the backordering.......Something as simple as an black Alconite tip top......I was told: "at least two more weeks"......this is nothing but a 6 ring in a size 5.....I've been waiting on a Rogue blank since May......I told my wife today that we need to move near a supply store that carrys everything so I can just walk in.

Bill, you may have a point. I like ordering from ONE place for everything and there are very few places that I have found that you can do that with at a fair price.

I understand your mood that is evident from the tone of your post. I've dealt at one time or another with a good many of the sponsors of this board and have only had one occasion when I received a really bad blank that was supposed to be a real top-of-the-line (expensive) model. When I notified them, they couldn't have been more accommodating or apologetic. They addressed the problem very professionally, politely and promptly. I'm sorry that you have had a rash of problems but I'll guarantee that someone in the organization that you're dealing with would be very unhappy to find out that you're unhappy.

I don't care whether it's my little part time rod business or my regular job. I really don't know of anyone that sets out to screw the customer. We always try our best to please the customer and to prevent errors from happening. When they do ocurr, it becomes and important issue for everyone to get resolved as quickly and as fairly as possible; It's an attitude that our management has always insisted upon and honestly, I don't think it really differs much from anyone else's that's running a business. We all need happy paying customers. My point is, if you have a legitimate gripe, my bet is that there's there's a manager or director or owner that would really like to know about it.

I think I would look up someone in a position of authority, lay out my list of grievances and give them the opportunity to correct the situation before moving on - especially if it's someone has served you well in the past. I know that's the way I would like to be treated if someone was unhappy with my work.

Just my $.02

Over the course of building and selling rods/blanks for about 15 years, I guess I bought on the order of something like 2,000 blanks during that period. I cannot recall sending back more than perhaps two or three dozen out of all of those. Most of those were due to bad ferrules, or cracked butts. At least a few were probably damaged in shipping.

I don't think most vendors can take the time to check every blank they get in - quality control is the manufacturer's obligation and if you're getting that many bad ones, I'd write a letter to the company president, spell out your concerns and then carefully watch to see if the situation improves. If it doesn't get better in a reasonable time, I'd go with a different manufacturer.

Back orders are the name of game now for most dealers. Instead of stocking deeply in a few lines, many if not most have to decided to carry everything under the sun, which means they have to stock thinly if at all. Just another sore spot in an industry that does not have very good trade practices in place. Of course, anybody can run out anything once in a while - but going back to the time when I was actively involved in selling rods, back orders were the rare exception, not at all the norm. Times have changed.

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toms absoultly right i just got done talking with my distributer and he said the same thing there is so many new items with rod building now. and are dealers have to have so much for an order that its almost imposible to keep everything in stock all the time. look at pac-bays line up for fly guides this year they got so many new guides the dealers cant keep up with them.. it is very frustrating at times duane i go through it myself and many others sometimes i even buy at retailers when i have to because we all know how customers can get just my 2 cents tight wraps crabtree's customs

You're correct. That's the difference between days gone by and now. I cannot imagine one dealer trying to stock Pacific Bay, American Tackle, Batson Enterprises and Fuji products. Personally, I'd pick one and go whole hog with it, and let another dealer take a different one and expect him to go whole hog with it. Instead of offereing 10 different blank lines, I'd pick two or three and carry as much stock of each model as I could afford. With a half dozen or more blank offerings, I couldn't possibly stock more than a few models from each company and in those models probably not more than a handful of each.

But this is the situation that the industry's overall poor trade practices have resulted in. It isn't likely to change in the near future. It's the manufacturers' fault more than the dealers, however.

.........

I would like to know who your suppier is so I can stay away from them. May be loose enough business they will shape up!

I usually don't buy new blanks, I mostly rehabilitate old blanks for family, friends, or neighbors. But if I were buying blanks where I was returning them regularly, you better believe someone would be hearing about it.

Bill in WV

Steve,

Your email is hidden, send me one if you like, and would really like to know.

On subject.....

I really wouldn't mind buying from several company's, I just detest the shipping charges from them all. Profit is hard enough to make when doing a build, throwing more of it away in shipping charges just ruffles the frugle me :)

DR

I don't understand the argument that the dealer is not able to look at all the different items he receives, therefore a bad blank can be shipped. To ship that blank, one has to pull one out of the pile, look at it and can see the difference in a good and bad one, crooked or damaged. All of the better companies use some quality control, and sending poor quality material, particularly when it has to be handled individually is inexusable. The aggravation and bad relations it causes is due to the "I don't give a damn" attitude, and the company heads should see to it that their employees pay attention. After all, they can't be that swamped with orders that allow this to occur. Just a moment of observation should tell them what has to be corrected. Skip the beer lunch!
Sanford Hochman

I would think in large, a lot of the problem falls with the manufacture and their quaility control.

Regards......Doug@
TCRds

Most rod blanks are packaged in a bag wtih header card. No dealer should have to open each bag, remove the blank and check it, and then have to re-bag the blank. Do that a few hundred times each day and you'll need to add another employee.

The point is, manufacturers shouldn't put their quality control issues on the backs of their dealers. This is the sort of thing that should be taken care of at the manufacturing end. Most of the time, if it's brought to the attention of the company president, he'll take steps to tighten things up in that department. If he doesn't, then builders should go elsewhere, and usually do.

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2 people at fault here

The company making the blank
and the supplier who shiped it
I got a discolored one that I saw right though the wrapping.
Are these guys in a cave with no lights ???

it should be strictly the manufactuars problem now i have received a couple of crooked blanks this year on my main rod i build on for instance i got a 9ft 4wt looked like i had a fish on before the rod was built but there is no way my distributer would have ever caught that because top and bottom have rubber bands... i dident until i got it out. even if they did that then there would be another post complaining about open rod bags.....anyway i called the blank maker and was replaced free of charge. before i even sent out the other and they payed for shipping here and back not all do that but what im getting at is just like tom said no way possible to check everything now if your getting mass amounts like (DR) i think i would find another distributer. you got to put in perspective also as frustrating as it is some hire help for this and they dont pay attention all the time. my goto guy does all his work and let me tell ya i wouldent change dist.. for the world nice guy helps me out quite a bit and best of all he is only a couple of hours away my 2 cents not worth much but anyway lol...