oooooooo! Bad Loomis

[Lotech]

I hesitated to post this but I really think people need to know. I just came back from Sportsman's Warehouse in the Spokane Valley where I was (of course) looking at fly rods. To make a long story short, the Loomis GL2's I saw, looked terrible. The butt end of the cork handles was chipped and ragged on every rod I saw. And, excess glue was oozed out by the forward reel seat hood. I showed these flaws to the guy working in that department and he was accordingly appalled. I asked him if Sportsman's Warehouse was perhaps buying seconds from Loomis and he assured me that would never happen. The kicker was that when I left, he had put the rods back into the for sale rack.
I just thought folks ought to know.


Admin. Perhaps this post is better off in the Sound Off forum. Sorry I thought of it after I posted. My bad

[Bugsy]

It's unfortunate that a company capable of producing some otherwise terrific rods hasn't taken more interest in their products' appearance and cosmetics. From what I've seen in the past, chipped grips, rough wraps, and crooked blanks all went into the Loomis experience.

[J Castwell]

Are these not the low end rods? Could the cork have been 'shop worn' in the store? Low grade cork does not hold up well. It just seems kind of odd that they were in such bad shape. Any more ideas on why? G Loomis is not a sponsor but, I have never seen any really bad rods, ever.

[DG]

Right before the fish-in, I called them on an Expeditor warranty service for a GL3 rod. Since they don't make that rod in the GL3 line any more, they "upgraded" me to a different rod.

Now, the way the expeditor service works, they ship you the new rod, you take the new one out of its mailing tube, put the old one in, slap on the return label, and hand it back to the Fedex guy.

But ya know, that only works if they send you a tube (containing a 3 pc rod) which is long enough for the old 2-pc rod to fit. NOT. I spent more than a week trying to find and purchase a suitable mailing tube to get the old rod sent back. With a mildly sarcastic note about the mixup included. Now I have to find a Fedex shipper to send it from (more than a dozen miles away, and only open M-F).

And I don't particularly like the new rod.

DG

[Joe Valencic]

I showed these flaws to the guy working in that department and he was accordingly appalled. I asked him if Sportsman's Warehouse was perhaps buying seconds from Loomis and he assured me that would never happen. The kicker was that when I left, he had put the rods back into the for sale rack.

The clerk assisting you probably has no clue if those rods were purchased as #1, blems or clearance rejects. By mirroring your emotions he connected with you and became your ally for the moment. They'll end up selling all of them to people who have no idea what they should be looking at (newbie with some bucks?), or worse yet, to people who have become accustomed to poor quality. Since I began building my own rods, I have become much more critical of what I see on the racks.

Joe

[Skip48]

Well I am not totally surprissed since they were bought out by Shimano I believe. Now Shimano make great reels, but rods? I guess they are not quite as good as their reels. What a shame!

SKip

[PaGuy]

most factory rods look like crap, there is only 2 companies that make rods that I think look good the best would be Redington, and with Winston as second.

I agree with Joe V that that kid didnt know if they were factory second, and I bet he could care the least too

[Gemrod]

Fuel to the Gloomy Loomi....two diff friends casually made same comment. "I don't buy Loomis because they break too easy." Interesting they neither one no each other....but went thru such similar experiences on their own that they came to the conclusion.....Loomis break too easily.

Not a factory rod but get a rod from Fetha Styx. You won't fnd a flaw.
I own three of them.

Gemrod

[Lotech]

Are these not the low end rods? Could the cork have been 'shop worn' in the store? Low grade cork does not hold up well. It just seems kind of odd that they were in such bad shape. Any more ideas on why? G Loomis is not a sponsor but, I have never seen any really bad rods, ever.

That was my first thought too Jim, but all the GL2's looked identical. I was really surprised because Loomis has always had such a good reputation in my book.

[Flyandtie1]

I hope they are not slipping in quality!
I'll say maybe a bad batch...and the fact that they were the low end.

Christopher the optimistic.