Feather Emporium (beware)

trs

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In the past I have been a satisfied customer of Feather Emporium, I read alot of negative reviews about the company in early 2017 which I pretty much ignored based on my experience. I recently placed an order and paid for it via PayPal, and to my surprise, I received via PayPal a request for more money to cover shipping. I reviewed the website and the words free shipping are everywhere (domestic orders). I have tried to contact by phone and email no luck, I hate using a third party(Paypal) to resolve the issue due to the potential negative impact if it was just a simple mistake. Has anyone had dealings with Feather Emporium recently? or know of another way to contact them?
 

mcnerney

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Sorry, I can't be of much help, I used to order from them quite a bit, and never had a problem, but after all the negative press a couple years ago I quit. I have never tried contacting them, so I have no real experience with their customer service, but that sure sounds strange they would come back and ask for shipping fees.
 

spm

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I only ordered from them one time. I did get my order, but delivery was slow and communication was non-existent. I too stopped ordering after all the bad press.

Hope this helps.
steve
 

trs

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Update Maybe posting here had an effect, about an hour after posting here I talked to the owner, he offered a reasonable explination. I hope this order arrives in the next week or so. In the past this has been the greatest sourse of feathersI have ever seen, I always felt I got more than I payed for. I hope this works out, I will post an update when I get my Hackle.
 

rsagebrush

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He has nice stuff indeed, sometimes the service can be spotty (sometime unsatisfying) and he does charge shipping now. I continue to order from him because he has excellent products.
 

mcnerney

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I don't mind paying shipping, but advertising "free shipping" in the upper right corner of his of his web site makes it look a little dishonest or at the least a little shady business practice. Come on, how hard is it to update his web page?

 

flytie09

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Still waiting for my order and a response to my request to them on an update. Not gaga about recent customer service. This is unfortunate as the fly fishing world is so small. Not what I expected or experienced in the past.
 

Unknownflyman

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I’m teaching fly tying and my guy ordered from there without asking me about the company I said oh no read some bad stuff about that place.

However he got his stuff on time no issues and really great quality.

He likes ordering from there, I never used them and have other sources.

Maybe the guy is too busy and disorganized I don’t know. But no bad rep here.
 

mcnerney

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I’m teaching fly tying and my guy ordered from there without asking me about the company I said oh no read some bad stuff about that place.

However he got his stuff on time no issues and really great quality.

He likes ordering from there, I never used them and have other sources.

Maybe the guy is too busy and disorganized I don’t know. But no bad rep here.
I have ordered from them in the past and was always satisfied, but others have not been so satisfied. Maybe the guy is just too busy to handle customer inquiries in a timely manner. The main complaint I have now is that he advertises free shipping on his web site, then asks for the shipping fees from the customer.........that's not good business!
 

brownbass

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In today's world service is the difference between "my usual shop" and history. My experience with FE was poor so I don't shop there. If he is that busy then he could hire a part-timer to help out. I think they must be aware of the talk about their shop, do you think he doesn't read these boards? Who knows, he may just be fishing.

Bill
 

gillage

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I placed an order on July 5th 2018 and am still waiting for what I ordered.
Not a huge order and a modest shipping charge.
I tried reaching him via Paypal and email and have had no success.
I hope I receive the items I ordered............time will tell.
 

flytie09

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If one does business through a website... you better answer emails at a minimum. We all have bad days, weeks, months, I get it. If you need time off.... shut down your site and don’t take orders. But don’t collect money and erode your reputation with continued sloppy transactions.

The world is too small now. Word spreads quick.....

Luckily he uses PayPal..... refunds are normally without hassle.

ft09
 

pheldozer

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looks like the guy's phone number is on the website, keep calling until you're happy with the outcome.
squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that
 

Unknownflyman

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You would think the guy could solve these problems with simple communication
Like hey I have to order more necks, going to be two weeks. Most people are more than reasonable if they know what the hell is going on.
 

flytie09

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No answer, went to voicemail and mailbox is full. Fun stuff.
 

eastfly66

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Bummer, the guy had some feathers I want and the web site is nice but I make it a habit to avoid aggravation ......that and crazy people, I avoid them too.
 

trs

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UPDATE Feathers received today, and as always I feel what I received was far more than I paid for. It started out shaky when I received a request for more money (abt $2.75) the day after I paid the Invoice. After I was able to talk to the owner he explained that Paypal now requires him to send all shipments tracked, and that in the past he just put small orders in an envelope and sent them and that he now has a 25 dollar minimum. I felt his explanation was reasonable, I cancelled the old order and submitted a new order for more than 25 dollars.

I believe his customer service and website updates will always be spotty, but I am willing to live with that based on how much I save by buying with him. In the future, I will try to only place direct phone orders to hopefully avoid problems.

If you have not bought feathers from him you might consider it if your looking for the most bang for your buck. I bought 2 half saddles this time each of them has approximately 3 to 4 times the feathers of a Whiting Bugger Pack and they cost less. Additionally, they have a much greater range of sizes and are of better quality.

If you looking for speedy, always accurate, flawless ordering and customer service you might look elsewhere. If you want great feathers at an unbeatable price this might be your source. I have always eventually gotten my feathers sometimes not as fast as I would like, but that can happen anywhere, I'm still waiting for fleximent thinner ordered from Cabelas in mid-April.
 

silver creek

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I have always eventually gotten my feathers sometimes not as fast as I would like, but that can happen anywhere, I'm still waiting for fleximent thinner ordered from Cabelas in mid-April.
You can make your own Flexament. It is shoe goo thinned with toluol/toluene. So the thinner is toluol/toluene.
 
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