Hello All!

In the beginning of May I made a post asking if anybody had some size 8 ATC ring lock guides. I STILL DON'T HAVE THEM! I have been told that they will be in by the end of May, Beginning of June, Mid June, End of June, and any day now. I understand that they needed to come from CHINA (ATC?) but I have a customer that gave $250 to build this rod for him, two and a half months ago and I have nothing for him. I called the company with industries best website and the guides were at the airport waiting on them to pick them up. I called yesterday (Mon. 7/09/07) They were just getting packaged. They didn't even say that they were sorry for the delay Nothing. None the less I will probably take my business somewhere else and recommend others to do the same! How do I handle charging the customer? What is the typical charge rate? I don't know if I should say something to the people that I ordered through or what. Guidence please!

Thanks ,

Aaron

Sometimes items are just out of stock. Everybody has been through this at one time or another. I seriously doubt that anyone at American Tackle said, "Hey, we know we won't have these guides in until July, but let's tell this guy they'll be here in May just to mess with him." They no doubt ran into the same out of stock situation and I doubt they were any more pleased than you were. They probably lost some sales on account of it.

Most likely what I would have done once I found the delay unacceptable, is to have contacted the customer and steered him towards another guide type or brand. Explain that if he was sold on this particular guide, that he would have to continue to wait. Give him the option of moving to another type or waiting it out. A reasonable customer will usually understand a reasonable problem provided you offer him/her some other options.

As far as you recommending that others take their business elsewhere, I doubt many reasonable people are going to judge any of these companies by the experience you had with them. Far too many others have had nothing but excellent service from the same businesses. Because there are always two sides to every story, it's usually better for each one of us to make our buying decisions based on our own personal experience with a company rather than what someone else has to say about them. Granted, you can sometimes bank on a general consensus of many dozens and dozens of people, but one or two individual reports are barely worth noting.


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What Tom said ... I want to add to his statement that I stock a LOT of guides, blanks, cork, reel seats, etc. due to the very issue that you faced - shortages. These issues are normal, in any industry - supply and demand are a constant tug-of-war. I suggest that if you aren't going to stock items, that you follow Tom's advice to the letter and be completely flexible when dealing with shortages by always keeping your customer informed and being ready to offer alternatives. Almost without exception, the manufacturers, distributors and dealers in this business do the very best possible and we ALL should be thankful that they support us in our endeavors.

Arron,

Unhide your email or send me one.

DR

Hello,

I would have recommended going with other guides but I was told by the company that I ordered the supplies through, not American Tackle, that they will be in the next week or two. I figured till I ordered and received the different guides the ones that I originally purchased would have been in. American Tackle sent me a response on my original post two months ago and was apologetic. However, the company that I ordered through was not and seemed bothered that I would call checking on the status and rushed me off the phone. So I thoroughly apologize to American Tackle, hope that there are no hard feelings, and hope that I have not made other people think poorly of them. I would have been fine if the distributor would have said they were sorry for the slow service and not made it sound like I am bothering them about the situation. I hope that what I have posted won't make people avoid future postings form me.

Thank you and sorry for any misunderstanding.

Aaron