Fenwick Customer Service?

[westcoast]

I sent this email to their CS on January 19 and received confirmation of them receiving it. Then all went dead
Anyone else have better luck?
(I deleted personal info for here)
_____________________________________________

Thank you for your inquiry.

This email confirms we received your message. We will contact you shortly if your message requires a response.

Name: peter ......

Email:..... @outlook.com

Phone: 604 ....

Country: Canada

Order Number:

What is your question about?: Other

Comment: MODEL # HMG905-4 Hi, I have the above fly rod and was wondering if it's possible to buy a spare tip section for it. If so, how much are they. Thanks

 

[dennyk]

I tried but failed awhile back, either by phone or email.

Denny

 

[Ard]

Last year I made an uncharacteristic post to a thread in which I called out Hardy USA for blowing me off. At the time Fenwick and Hardy were both Pure holdings and my experience in general since Pure bought them up has been poor. I took particular umbrage to the complete lack of service because I had a professional account with Hardy prior to the acquisition and was the only guide in South Central AK. outfitting with Hardy rods and reels.

I'm not one to jump on a band wagon and bash tackle companies but those who have been around a while may remember that when I joined here I used Hardyreels as my user name. I was so miffed that phone calls and e-mails went unanswered that I changed my screen name to Ard and bought enough Sage tackle to outfit with.

There is obviously a problem and I would love to see it resolved however when there seems to be no means to notify the other party (phone & e-mail) I have no idea how to proceed. Hell I was even left hanging by the Pure / Hardy rep here on an order I made! It never came, no call no nothing. Not something I am happy to report but true.

 

[westcoast]

I tried but failed awhile back, either by phone or email.

Denny

Apparently "repeat" clientele is not their business model

 

[westcoast]

Last year I made an uncharacteristic post to a thread in which I called out Hardy USA for blowing me off. At the time Fenwick and Hardy were both Pure holdings and my experience in general since Pure bought them up has been poor. I took particular umbrage to the complete lack of service because I had a professional account with Hardy prior to the acquisition and was the only guide in South Central AK. outfitting with Hardy rods and reels.

I'm not one to jump on a band wagon and bash tackle companies but those who have been around a while may remember that when I joined here I used Hardyreels as my user name. I was so miffed that phone calls and e-mails went unanswered that I changed my screen name to Ard and bought enough Sage tackle to outfit with.

There is obviously a problem and I would love to see it resolved however when there seems to be no means to notify the other party (phone & e-mail) I have no idea how to proceed. Hell I was even left hanging by the Pure / Hardy rep here on an order I made! It never came, no call no nothing. Not something I am happy to report but true.

That almost sounds like internal company sabotage. Sad state of affairs.

I'm experiencing similar lack of service from my auto dealer. A $30 dollar part fell off my car and I wanted them to replace it under warranty (I'm within the time limit) and they are reluctant to do that.
I told them to consider the $30 part in reference to the thousands I will be spending on regular maintenance over my years of future car ownership and get back to me (haven't heard back either)

 

[Ard]

I don't know the cause but there is a point where I begin to feel that future requests for a reply put me in the position of groveling. There are so many fish in the sea that groveling is not required.

 

[silver creek]

I had so many problems with my BMW 2002 back in 1976 that I refused to buy BMW again. Now after buying only Mercedes and Lexus autos for the next 30 years, BMW has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales from me because they did not fix an issue on my first BMW. Mercedes and Lexus has never failed to support their dealers or customer when I have had an issue. Happy customers are repeat customers.

 

[Curmudgeon]

This is disappointing, but I appreciate the warning implicit in this thread. I was considering buying a Hardy or Fenwick rod, but after reading this, prices would have to drop so low that I would be happy to buy the rods without any warranty or customer service. I have only made a few warranty claims over the years, but I've had only good experiences so far (with Orvis, Redington, and TFO) so I will continue to buy from them and other companies that have good reputations for customer service.

 

[Ard]

This is disappointing, but I appreciate the warning implicit in this thread. I was considering buying a Hardy or Fenwick rod, but after reading this, prices would have to drop so low that I would be happy to buy the rods without any warranty or customer service. I have only made a few warranty claims over the years, but I've had only good experiences so far (with Orvis, Redington, and TFO) so I will continue to buy from them and other companies that have good reputations for customer service.

I'm not saying the rods or reels weren't good, what happened is that came to be a complete disconnect on their part. As I wrote earlier even the Rep just left me hanging, never got back to me after I ordered a reel, just nothing...….

 

[Curmudgeon]

I'm not saying the rods or reels weren't good, what happened is that came to be a complete disconnect on their part. As I wrote earlier even the Rep just left me hanging, never got back to me after I ordered a reel, just nothing...….

That was exactly the way I interpreted your post. I think Hardy makes very nice gear, but I've heard enough reports about subpar service that I am inclined to stick with companies I know will stand behind their products.

 

[Ard]

I've had really good experiences with Orvis - Winston - Bauer - Sage - and Simms when it came to getting a speedy reply from them regardless if I had called or wrote a message then e-mailed it. Back in the day before the big conglomerate bought into Hardy my service was better than average. The guy who was at the top of the pro account ladder was from a town not far from where I grew up. We had so much communication that we were like buddies. When the sale was finalized I got a message from him saying he was no longer in his job. That's when things began to get weird, once I had a thousand dollar order (paid in advance of course) never arrive. I was refunded after I chose not to try again. Things turned into one of those situations where when you tried chasing down a problem from your end, each time you called you were connected with a different person. A different person and it seemed as if there was no sort of a case file that a new associate could reference in order to assist you. I just quit.

 

[myt1]

Within the last year or so I sent in two Hardy Zenith rods for repair. I broke the tip on both rods due to my own stupidity.

It was kinda strange how the repairs for both rods were handled, although they were handled in a timely manner and at a reasonable cost.

I sent the rods in, two separate repairs several months apart, and in both cases they promptly acknowledged receipt of the rods and said it normally took two to three weeks to make the repair and they quoted a reasonable price...I forget how much.

Anyway, in both instances, when I didn't hear anything for three weeks I called them and they said the rod was repaired and they would be shipping it shortly, and it was.

I've always wondered how long they would've kept the rod if I didn't follow-up and call them back.

It seemed kinda weird that in both cases the rod just happened to ready precisely when I called to inquire about it.

 

[Ontarioflyguy]

I also just went through a Greys rod warranty with Fenwick. I had broken the tip. They promptly acknowledged my original email and then the arrival of my broken rod and told me to choose a Fenwick rod of my liking for a replacement and told me to phone in my credit card number if I was uncomfortable emailing it. I sent email choosing rod I wanted and then 4 days later called to give my credit card info. The lady I was dealing with was awesome although seemed to have not received my last email on which rod I chose. She had my original emails and took down my card information and choice over phone. That was Fri Feb 1 and today I received Tracking information on the rod sent to replace original. I found her great to deal with but was surprised she didn't have my last email.
It worked out well for me but the phone call really got things going.
I understand Fenwick is busy with warranty work...should have upgraded cork and reel seat on the Aetos and sold for $75 to $100 more and not sold so many to discount shoppers who may not take as much care with their equipment. Just my observation.
My understanding there is only one person in the US that does the warranty claims for the Hardy and Greys. Could be part of the issue for now but my situation was settled fairly well.

 

[ra2bach]

I don't know the cause but there is a point where I begin to feel that future requests for a reply put me in the position of groveling. There are so many fish in the sea that groveling is not required.

it shouldn't be, should it?

on more than one occasion I've been so upset that I was ready to hoist the black flag and go to war against the shabby treatment I was receiving from a company who I wanted to give my money to, only to find out that the first point of contact I had was no longer with the company and they were working backwards to patch some holes below waterline so to speak.

I know this probably doesn't answer your difficulties but now I just sidestep any speedbumps and move my request further up the line. if I can find out who's the boss or their boss (Linkedin works pretty well for this), I bounce an email off them describing their lack of CS. usually gets some results...

 

[brianrap]

I have used a tactic that has been very effective with a couple of companies that have failed to respond to my phoned or emailed issues. A lot of these larger companies have staff devoted to their social media accounts and if I am not getting results directly or in a timely manner, I simply go to their social media pages (usually Facebook) setting out the concern and their lack of response, and voice my displeasure with their failure to provide reasonable customer service. Once out in social media, it is there for the whole world to see and in every case, I have received very quick responses from them and the issues were adequately resolved. I also do make a point of going back to their social media pages and updating the status of my issue when it is finally adequately resolved. I have yet to have a company not respond to my concerns when expressed very publicly thru their social media accounts.

 

[darkshadow]

I have used a tactic that has been very effective with a couple of companies that have failed to respond to my phoned or emailed issues. A lot of these larger companies have staff devoted to their social media accounts and if I am not getting results directly or in a timely manner, I simply go to their social media pages (usually Facebook) setting out the concern and their lack of response, and voice my displeasure with their failure to provide reasonable customer service. Once out in social media, it is there for the whole world to see and in every case, I have received very quick responses from them and the issues were adequately resolved. I also do make a point of going back to their social media pages and updating the status of my issue when it is finally adequately resolved. I have yet to have a company not respond to my concerns when expressed very publicly thru their social media accounts.

That's a good tip.

Having worked in the customer service industry for pretty much my entire life, I've seen how some of our more astute customers circumvent around the typical customer service avenues, utilizing alternate methods.

The social media tip above is probably the best way. Companies hate when a bad experience is broadcasted to the world. An email to some account that receives thousands is easily forgotten. But a post on Facebook? I"ve had CEO's running down hallways yelling for a specific issue to be rectified.

Another tip which I know annoys the cr@p out of our sales department, is asking for the sales department even though your question may be customer service related. From experience, salespeople ALWAYS pick up or email back and there is never the dreaded "hold time," and if pestered long enough, may escalate your issue internally so that you don't keep blowing up their phone. Is it annoying to that department? Sure.

But so is not getting any response back from customer service.

Doing some internet sleuthing may drag up email addresses for the higher ups. You'll be surprised how the gears get to turning once someone is added to the CC field in an email.

And of course, you can use the nuclear option and file a report with the BBB. Once they reach out to us, that specific issue, no matter how minute, gets 100% of the attention.

 

[westcoast]

I simply go to their social media pages (usually Facebook) setting out the concern and their lack of response, and voice my displeasure with their failure to provide reasonable customer service. Once out in social media, it is there for the whole world to see and in every case, I have received very quick responses from them and the issues were adequately resolved.

OK, will try that and let you guys know if there was a response.
* it should be noted that my tip section is NOT broken or damaged, I'm only interested in getting a spare.

 

[tomsakai]

I did the same thing as myt1 with a Zenith tip replacement in December. Once I called, talked to customer service, and was transferred to the lady who did the actual fulfillment, service was great.

 

[jb1023]

OK, will try that and let you guys know if there was a response.
* it should be noted that my tip section is NOT broken or damaged, I'm only interested in getting a spare.

Please keep us (me) updated on your quest. I just bought a Aetos and am thinking I too would like to buy a spare tip.

 

[westcoast]

Please keep us (me) updated on your quest. I just bought a Aetos and am thinking I too would like to buy a spare tip.

In my case, enough time has transpired that I won't be buying any spare or replacement parts from this company. When the time comes, I will go with a smaller start-up company that still has core values.
Pure Fishing Sold to Belk, Hot Topic Owners for $1.3 Billion