Tesco,s of the fishing world

[OReilly]

Have just read some postings having a go at a smaller mail order
service who excepted payment and they were waiting for 3 weeks and still no delivery , I do not try to make excuses for this
once the monies have been taken send the goods or contact
the customer saying how long delay , that gives the option to wait or cancel and get a refund

Some also stated in the future they will only deal with the big boys ( who by the way have some deplorable service achievments) I find that attitude sad , to deal with big outfits
run by accountants, its a free country , you pays your money and takes your choice. I understand when you decide to buy an
item looking forward to its arrival and some waits are taking the piss, but why support conglomerates in preference to small
dealers , most offer a service as good if not better the the so called big outfits. Time to look in the mirror and have a proper
think to yourselves

I'm glad I have a great group of loyal customers who like to support a small shop , not run to the big boys on the flimsiest
excuse . Give your small shops a chance perhaps with a bit more support their service would improve

If your local shop gives you service and value then support it
Hugh

[texxa]

Are you referring to the posts re Glasgow Angling Centre?

[Sewinbasher]

oreilly said:

Have just read some postings having a go at a smaller mail order
service who excepted payment and they were waiting for 3 weeks and still no delivery , I do not try to make excuses for this
once the monies have been taken send the goods or contact
the customer saying how long delay , that gives the option to wait or cancel and get a refund

Some also stated in the future they will only deal with the big boys ( who by the way have some deplorable service achievments) I find that attitude sad , to deal with big outfits
run by accountants, its a free country , you pays your money and takes your choice. I understand when you decide to buy an
item looking forward to its arrival and some waits are taking the piss, but why support conglomerates in preference to small
dealers , most offer a service as good if not better the the so called big outfits. Time to look in the mirror and have a proper
think to yourselves

I'm glad I have a great group of loyal customers who like to support a small shop , not run to the big boys on the flimsiest
excuse . Give your small shops a chance perhaps with a bit more support their service would improve

If your local shop gives you service and value then support it
Hugh

These are fair points but it is a buyer's market and what people want is good service for a fair price.

I am lucky in having a very good small (or not so small these days) retailer in the shape of Foxon's which is close enough to use for most things. They get and keep my business by being competitive, providing superb service and meeting my needs.

As long as that continues they will continue to get most of my business. However it is worth noting that Foxon's is now a biggish business and has got there absolutely because of delivering on the previous points. The absolute best advertising is word of mouth backed up by delivery of a good service. It's not rocket science and a small enterprise has got a better chance of delivering on this than a big business.

There are many small traders on this forum who are building businesses on the same principles, a fair price, good service and a good product.

Don't knock the big retailers, some of them are also very good, just compete effectively with them. If you make people want to deal with you they will. I accept that sometimes I am going to have to wait for a product but what I am looking for is communication - if the retailer lets me know of the delay I have a choice of waiting or going elsewhere but probably coming back to them for other goods - if they do not communicate and leave me waiting I get angry and disappointed and go elsewhere for good.

Niche Products are a good example of this, in a recent faxed order there was one item out of stock, I had a phone call the same day asking what I wanted to do about it - I can't fault that for service.

[Charlie]

Can you believe that GAC won "best mail order company" in TF. Must have been looking at the votes upside down, I think.

I've had excellent service from many small mail order companies and a few large ones. The poorest have been GAC and Fishtec.

Charlie

[dumpy]

I hope all those firms that give bad service go down the pan, ;D i have no sympathy for them at all, its just excuse after excuse, they can kiss there customers butts for a change and not expect the customer to kiss theres

[texxa]

OReilly I appreciate what you are saying but think "conglomerates" is slanting the picture. GAC is a family business run by the same chap who originally set up his wee tackle stall in the Barras market. It is only proportionally large as most tackle retailers are small outfits with limited growth ambition.

Recently I have made a conscious decision to use my local city centre tackle shop instead of GAC. I have to say things have been on order for weeks and even months without explanation. GAC is cheaper and my personal experience of them has been nothing but positive (admittedly I don't have to rely on mail order).

My only gripe about GAC is that they have supposedly bullied Airflo into making them sole distributor in the area, despite other medium sized retailers being their stockist before GAC. Smacks of restrictive practices to me.

[tigermoth]

Small is often very very good indeed!!! PM sent to O'Reilly on sunday night re spare Okuma Helios spool. Response Monday morning and order placed by midday yesterday. Spool on my desk this morning!! Now that is what I call service ;D ;D

[OReilly]

I was looking at the thread concerning FMTC and certain comments made about dealing only with the big boys, which I
think is a very sad state of affairs, may I suggest a better approach would be to source a local business who will
endeavour to give you the service you have a right to expect
But to turn to the big fella's is imho a total disgrace.

Find a local service and support it , if it lets you down find another local shop , but give me a break don't go running to some outfit who changes ownership more times than the seasons of the year
Hugh

[davidr]

oreilly said:

Have just read some postings having a go at a smaller mail order
service who excepted payment and they were waiting for 3 weeks and still no delivery , I do not try to make excuses for this
once the monies have been taken send the goods or contact
the customer saying how long delay , that gives the option to wait or cancel and get a refund

Some also stated in the future they will only deal with the big boys ( who by the way have some deplorable service achievments) I find that attitude sad , to deal with big outfits
run by accountants, its a free country , you pays your money and takes your choice. I understand when you decide to buy an
item looking forward to its arrival and some waits are taking the piss, but why support conglomerates in preference to small
dealers , most offer a service as good if not better the the so called big outfits. Time to look in the mirror and have a proper
think to yourselves

I'm glad I have a great group of loyal customers who like to support a small shop , not run to the big boys on the flimsiest
excuse . Give your small shops a chance perhaps with a bit more support their service would improve

If your local shop gives you service and value then support it
Hugh

A fair point Hugh, Wheres the spool I ordered 3 weeks ago then?

David

[sagefly]

I agree a small independent tackle shop that provides an excellent service should be supported wherever possible.

[bigfisher]

personally i work very hard for the little money i earn !so i go to the cheapest . i don't really care if they have a smile on their face , when i use mail order i don't wait till iv ed run out before i order so there is no desperate hurry !!! iv ed used GAC but i also use my local shop in dunfermline because he is very competitive

[OReilly]

Good point David , I am in the process of trying to get an answer myself , according to track and trace my delivery has been sitting in Stockholm airport for almost a week. also no monies have been taken from your good self. I have made several phone calls to Parcelforce both here and their Worldwide department all to no avail as they are no help whatsoever and know nothing more than I can read on the screen myself
Have e/mailed back to Danielsson for them to try to sort it out
am awaiting a reply , have tried to ring to-day at least 6 times
no answer . Will send another e/mail this evening
This delivery was to have been 48 hrs , There are others waiting for this delivery also I wish to place another order which will have
to wait until Irecieve this order
regards Hugh


Bigfisher you are 100% correct I am not advocating you purchase smiles you earn your monies hard and wish to buy from the cheapest ,quite right but you agree with me you support your local shop as he is competitive and therefore deserves your support in preference to some massive shareholder who really and truly does'nt give a d**n about your custom .all the same if
he sells coal or fishing tackle. good luck to you for using your local shop

[bigfisher]

thanx o,reilly , just my two pennys worth , not that i can afford it ;D ;D

mark

[Duncan]

oreilly said:

Give your small shops a chance perhaps with a bit more support their service would improve

I think if I'd been given poor service the first time in a small or large shop for that matter any retailer wouldn't get a second chance!

[Braveheart]

tigermoth said:

Small is often very very good indeed!!! PM sent to O'Reilly on sunday night re spare Okuma Helios spool. Response Monday morning and order placed by midday yesterday. Spool on my desk this morning!! Now that is what I call service ;D ;D

I've only used Hughie 3 times, but fully intend to use him more in the future, every time has been as tigermoth describes and even better he is post free.
Have also used Daver from here and lakeland (are they big?) and I use Niche a lot, all have excelled.
They all have one thing in common, they care about their business and will bend over backwards to help.
That's not to say the likes of Sportfish or Sportsmail or whoever won't do their best for you, but very few salesmen/woman will go the extra mile an owner will.