The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Dear George,
I may be prejudiced because I worked for Orvis SF 20 years ago. It was all about customer satisfaction then, and so it seems to be today. Some of the people who walked into the Maiden Lane store--it would've been easy to oversell them. But you resist the urge, because those guys weren't dummies. You sell them only the $5 zinger they wanted, sooner or later they'll be back for the $400 rod. And if someone was unhappy, you'd make it good, no questions asked. If someone wanted what wasn't in stock, you'd get on the horn and find that item, and have it shipped. We never quibbled about the pennies because the dollars just kept on rolling in.

Twenty years ago you used to be able to buy an Orvis rod in kit form. I saved my wages and did just that, bought several as kits. My favorite rod then and now, is a 905 Western (I don't think they make 'em anymore). Well, last year the little cap on the butt (looks like a tack) fell off and was lost, as well as the little beveled spacer. After a couple of phone calls and an email with photos, someone spent an hour or two in the rod shop in Manchester, looking for these parts for a rod that's no longer being made. They found it and sold it to me for shipping only. Within a week. Now THAT'S service.

I think the Orvis story is also about quality. Look around and tell me how many 20, 30, 40 year old CFO reels are still in service. My CFO is 20 years old, and aside from a few dings, which haven't affected performance, is still going strong. Same with my vest. I've even got a few ancient zingers I can't seem to break. They were the cheapest thing Orvis had, hell, we used to give 'em away, and they were of high quality.

I suppose the only complaint I ever had about Orvis were some of the customers who'd come in the store and treat the employees like servants. But heck, these were people who actually HAD servants.

Anglerboy