Folstaf - Customer Service at its best!

[rst]

During the Michigan FI I had a problem with my Folstaf wading staff. The cork handle slide down the staff and the round cork insert on top popped right out into the river. Obviously I was a little upset that this fairly expensive piece of equipment would fail on the second trip into the river. But it was still useful just by hanging onto the metal shaft itself and I got by just fine.

After I got home I contacted Folstaf through their customer service e-mail address. My initial e-mail contact was probably more forceful then it should have been. Heck!.. I had just started down the road to make a company stand behind its product, and based on my past experiences with other products, it has been pretty much a low percentage success rate.

BUT I was very pleasantly surprised to fine this contact one of the friendliest and most helpful experiences of my life.

In fact the customer service e-mail address put me in direct contact with the president, Lee Stoliar Dufresne, of "Fly Tyer's Carry-All" company who makes the Folstaf wading staff. We have exchanged several e-mails concerning my problem of the cork handle, which were all replied to promptly, and I just have to tell you folks, this company cares about its products, and it cares about its customers. I am convinced that this company, which makes Folstaf, has excellent customer service and they will work with you until you are completely satisfied that your product is 100%. I could have sent the wading staff back to the factory for a complete fix and return at no cost to me, or I could opt to glue the handle back on myself, which I'm going to do. But if I mess it up I still have option #1. How can you beat that?

I told Lee that I was going to write up "something" about my customer service experience and post it on the FAOL website BB, just because I want folks to know what great service you get with the Folstaf product. And in MHO customer service is 90% of any product.

Because of this great service in fixing my problem I was curious just what kind of a company Folstaf was. I asked Lee if she would provide some information on her company so I could be better informed to write this post.

Well it turned out that what she wrote was quite interesting and instead of me trying to pick and choose what I wanted to write about her company, I'm just going to post what she wrote here for those of you that may be interested. I will change some minor things that have no direct meaning on the subject matter.

From Lee Stoliar Dufresne:

I am the daughter of Folstaf inventors Joan (a book designer) and Arthur (engineer) Stoliar, who, avid anglers both, originally created Folstaf in response to their own need for a wading staff that would stay out of their way when not in use but be there in an
instant when needed.

In its earliest years Joan & Arthur produced Folstaf in their bedroom, inside their Greenwich Village brownstone; their bed was the worktable so they couldn't go to bed until the orders got packed. Though the business expanded beyond the bed, it remained inside their brownstone for nearly 30 years, until I moved it, in 1999, to a 19th Century farm in the hamlet of Charlotteville, in Upstate New York.

We now have the pleasure of working in a space designed specifically for making Folstaf wading staffs and our hiking and walking staffs, Volkstaf and Travlr, but the factory's centerpiece is the bulletin board of photos: Joan and Arthur on a (pre-internet) research expedition, my (now-teenage) daughter in a highchair next to a mound of Folstafs being packed, our wonderful employees and family members at various annual events, and thank you notes from customers. We stay small and are intent upon maintaining a company culture that is warm and personal.

So your thoughtful comments about our customer service are very meaningful to me, and I thank you. It has been a real pleasure emailing with you.

I am sending you a new cork grip so please hold off on gluing until it arrives.

All my best--

[DickM]

rst ....................
Get a Simms and you will not have those kinds of problems. The Simms is MUCH sturdier and last forever.
DickM.

[Chuck441]

Um, Dick... perhaps you're right, but that wasn't the poster's point. Outstanding customer service was.

Chuck

[gzacckey]

It's good do know what companies stand behind their product. All manufacturers experience a small amount of defects in their products. It's how they respond to issues that tells you about the character of a company.

[Bamboozle]

I had the extreme pleasure of visiting that Greenwich Village "factory" many years ago when operations were in the basement. Joan & Arthur were pure class and Lee has done their reputation right.

I still have my original Folstaf which is going strong with over 20+ years of service. Its small size when folded, method of deployment, strength when it counts and simple design is the beauty of it. Plus it has a lifetime warranty to boot! I had mine refurbished once and it came back almost like new.

Sure there are other wading staff options out there but will there be a solution to a problem or wear issue 20 years from now?

Glad to hear about another happy Folstaf customer.

[J Castwell]

Not to mention that we helped them get going, still use ours, highly recommend them and that Folstaff was a sponsor on here many years ago.

[flyty]

rst ....................
Get a Simms and you will not have those kinds of problems. The Simms is MUCH sturdier and last forever.
DickM.

Not true. I bought a Simms about 5 years ago, and within a few months, the stitching on the belt loop on the holster started coming undone. If the loop would have failed, the wading staff would have fallen in the river and been lost. I tried to resew it myself, but it kept getting worse, so finally I returned it and got a replacement.

The stitching was very poorly done, and I hope Simms has improved it since then.

[Normand]

i dont see how the stitching on the holster has anything to do with the sturdiness of the wading staff.

[flyty]

i dont see how the stitching on the holster has anything to do with the sturdiness of the wading staff.

Did the op have a problem with the sturdiness of his staff?

Get a Simms and you will not have those kinds of problems. The Simms is MUCH sturdier and last forever.

His handle fell apart, my holster fell apart. I would consider both to be in the category of "those kinds of problems". I had problems with a Simms staff, and I posted my experience with it. To be clear, I like my Simms staff. It is lightweight and it folds up into a small package. And I find I use it as a snake stick to warn snakes I am coming while walking more than I use it for wading.

[scubatim]

rst ....................
Get a Simms and you will not have those kinds of problems. The Simms is MUCH sturdier and last forever.
DickM.

I am need of a staff and after reading Bob's (rst) Post I will be going with a Folstaff as customer support is most important to me As I do understand that no one is perfect but if they stand behind there product they really are perfect in the end.