The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Expect no mercy next time we meet.

I very rarely have felt ignored or condescended in a fly shop because of my gender. I have very little tolerance for that as well as shoddy customer service.

Dawn

I've got two of the original CFO reels and have been very pleased with them. This year I picked up one of the Battenkill Large Arbor Orvis reels for a 7 weight Scott rod I just purchased. So far so good.

I think we've all been in fly shops over the years where it was apparent the sales people just didn't care or felt because of the way you were dressed you weren't worth the trouble. Or they were so condescending it was down right embarrassing.

I agree Dawn, if I'm ignored or treated in a condescending manner I'm out of there and the chances of my returning are pretty slim.

Pete

SCM wrote:
One thing I would add that may be useful for your case is a comment on Orvis' product sourcing.

I think, if I am not mistaken, Orvis uses blanks from China. The same as those used by Cabelas. I could be wrong, but I think its true.

Now, I know it was a long time ago, but what shade were you wearing. Certainly you can't expect them to give you normal customer service if you've got on that bright red!

I'd suggest something more subdued, like that nice aqua/turquoise shade.

Now, BACK TO WORK. Cut open dem fishies. And, watch out for those parasites (the ones in the fish, not the ones who wouldn't wait on you.)

Well, of course I was wearing nail polish! I can't remember the shade, but I needed the nail polish to hide the dirt under my nails from all the camping I was doing

Just finished one fish, diving into the second. I will post a report tonight (to which I imagine a collective groan from the audience).

Dawn

Orvis seems, at least anecdotaly, to occupy a unique position in this sport. Reviled by some, loved by others, Orvis, it apppears to me, has a upper-end niche in an upper-end sport. But do they deliver? I think, for the most part, they do. I have had better than average experiences with the mail order end of the business and average experience's in the store....mostly yours, George. I've always been treated well by those in the store, but my impression is that it is/was understaffed - that is, I was treated kindly when I was "treated" at all. Certainly a big component of good customer service is to have the proper amount of employee's at a given time. (whatever that is) Too many employee's and too little employee's both cost the company money.

Good luck with your project....



SCM wrote:
I recently looked into buying an Orvis wading jacket, but I was disappointed to find that it is was imported. Given Orvis' prices I expected to find U.S. made goods.

Was it the fact that it was imported that disspointed you? Was it inferior to American made wading jackets and carried a premium price? Were you able to find one that was American made of similar quality and at a similar price? Just wondering.

I think how a person looks could make a difference in certain stores.

I was shopping in a men's shop in Carmel once, and I was dressed in shorts, T-shirt and tennis shoes. I was interested in some dress ties (and in my line of work, I wear a lot of them). You would have thought there was no time of day, because I certainly could not get it. I bet if I had walked into that store in my usual work clothes, I would have had service instantly. The other patrons were being served like royalty, but they were dressed in golf slacks, penny loafers, Izods, and cashmere sweaters slung over the backs.

Neal

quote]

Was it the fact that it was imported that disspointed you? Was it inferior to American made wading jackets and carried a premium price? Were you able to find one that was American made of similar quality and at a similar price? Just wondering.[/quote]

Hi Bonneville,

The fact the jacket was imported by a company with deep roots in the U.S. did disappoint me. I cannot attest to the jacket's quality since I never physically inspected it or compared to other imported jackets. I have not been able to find an American made wading jacket. As such, I decided to forego buying a wading jacket. I have a strong convictions about buying domestically produced goods. Thus my primary buying criteria when purchasing goods is heavily weighted to where they are produced, followed by quality/brand reputation, price, aesthetics, and warranty.

I agree with you 100%. I tend to be a loyal customer when they treat me right, and a non-customer when they treat me wrong. Like you, I have a long memory. I have no attachment to Orvis anymore, and it's their loss. Like they say, you can't fix stupid.

Anglerboy

Several years ago when Orvis changed their tippet spool design, adding the rubber band to hold the tippet material in place, I wrote an email to Orvis complaining about the design. I didn't like the fact that I had to pull the rubber band off of a new spool to get to the tippet. I also didn't like the tippet rubbing against the spool as I took off more material, especially on light tippets like 6X. In any case, I was unimpressed by Orvis' response. Basically, they blew me off. Their response was something like "well, it's the tippet material that's important, not the container". I didn't feel at all that they appreciated that I took my time to provide them with feedback about their product. I haven't bought Orvis tippet material in years since because I have found that I like Umqua better (even though they use the same stupid rubber band design) and the shop where I used to buy Orvis tippet no longer sells the stuff.

R.B. wrote:
SCM wrote:
One thing I would add that may be useful for your case is a comment on Orvis' product sourcing.

I think, if I am not mistaken, Orvis uses blanks from China. The same as those used by Cabelas. I could be wrong, but I think its true.

all but the lowest end rods are made in manchester...... and wrapped by stay at home moms.