Harold,
Good for you, good for them, and thanks.
I wrote down that information in my ‘fly fishing black book’(it really is black) so if I’m ever in that area I have it.
Allan
JC, how do you guys usually approach sponsers? Meaning, I know you don’t go out and try to “beg” people to be sponsers, but as an example, in this case would this company be a potential sponser? Would you make a call to them, explain the positive thread and “invite” them to be a sponser? Or do most of the sponsers seek you out? Just interested, I have no intentions of using this info to start my own company (reference to LF’s article) so please don’t charge me a fee. It seems like hard work to get sponsers that you would want on your board, a little like signing your name to something, it has to matter.
Drew
A bum-legged old man and a drunk. That’s all you got?
That’s WHAT I got.
Allan
You are welcome, just wish I had it in front of me when I started the thread, but you know how that is, you just never have what you need when you need it…
Harold
I had to slip it into my favorites…Don’t have the time at the moment to see if they ship cross country…But I like giving my biz where it’s deserved…we’s all Americans and I care less where a product is made…so long as I purchase it here rather than abroad…provided the item in available here…I have bought an outfit recently…and those who follow all the boards here know what that outfit entails… although I’m sure Shakespere is a mostly…American company…???
“I’ve often wondered why it is that so many anglers spend so much money on,and pay so much attention to.the details on the wrong end of the fly line.If they took as much care in selecting or tying their flies as they did in the selection of the reel and rod,They might be able to gain the real extra edge that makes it possible to fool a fish that has,in fact,seen it all before” A.K.Best
“Wish ya great fishing”
Bill
I would guess that most fly shop owners are in that business, not because they are “Retailers” at heart, as much as the fact that they are “FlyFishers” at heart.
If this is so, then the owner’s advocation (flyfishing) sould lead him to follow a web site or two relating to his hobby (and don’t forget, it’s his business).
Wouldn’t you think that the fly shop guy in Little Rock (and all others around the country of his ilk) would benefit greatly from checking into FAOL now and then??
Those are the guys who won’t “make it” in the future without all the help they can get.
Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth
In the case of the owner of this soon to be closed fly shop,I guess everyone has the right to be stupid. Some just exercise this right more often and more graphically than others.
MD, you know this guy is " not for long" and there will soon be a closing sale or are you too disgusted to even then pass your shadow thru his doors?
Mark
I’d rather be in Wyoming!
I should know better than to enter into these types of discussions. 
Next time I’ll know better. I hope.
you guys sure do talk a lot 
I’ve not had an experience like this, but last year I was in the market for a new 8wt reel. I decided what I wanted and went to a local outdoors place to get it. The person helping me, as usual was keeping in conversation and asked what I would be using it for. after telling him, he decided that my 8wt was not suffecient and proceeded to tell me what I ‘need’ and ‘should be using’, etc, so on…basically saying I was wrong. I still shop there, but won’t deal with this person. I didnt bother to tell him that the system had worked fine for years .
This store has been and will be there for quite awhile. There are enough guys/gals that go there and buy the top end items that he pushes. I’ll just get the satisfaction of knowing he won’t get any more of my money.
Just as a sidebar… I made an order with another company about a week ago. I ordered the wrong rod. I thought I had ordered the 7’6" 3WT but when the package showed up I found I had ordered the 8’ 2WT. I talked to them yesterday and they would not let me hang up until they were fully satisfied I made the decision I really wanted. I wanted to get both rods and they actually felt I was settling for the wrong rod to just make things easier for them. When I explained to them I had a grandson that eventually will be getting started on flyfishing, they agreed the 7 footer will be fine. Go figure that one. I want a rod and the dealer won’t sell it till he’s fully satisfied it’s what I REALLY want. That’s 5 rods and a bunch of supplies I have bought from them. They’re not a sponsor here, but without LF’s or JC’s approval, I won’t post the name.
Mike
There is no greater fan of flyfishing than the worm.
Patrick McManus
Mike, go ahead and post it. In fact, the next time you talk to them you might ask if they’ve even seen FAOL.
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
It’s Feather-Craft. I have had nothing but superior service from them. Like I said before, they would not let me hang up until they were satisfied I was happy with what I ordered and wasn’t trying to make it easier for them. That’s something you don’t see every day.
Mike
There is no greater fan of flyfishing than the worm.
Patrick McManus
Well the way I look at this one is that both party’s were a little wrong. Maddog for bragging about is new rods in a store that didn’t carry them and the store owner for saying what he did. The store owner should have said I do not carry that brand so I do not know that much about them. End of story.
I am wondering why that store does not carry a cheaper line of rods? All the shops in my area (And there are a bunch of them) all carry a cheaper line of rods?
I used a TFO a few years back for a school that I had to do. The reason for using it was that my rod had broken while fishing it and being about 2,000 miles from home I had to borrow this rod or nothing. It was supposed to be a 5 weight but I could not get a 7 wgt line to cast well on it. In truth it would have taken a 9wgt line to do the job right. This was BFL (Before Lefty). It is good that he went there and did what he did because there rods up until he got there were garbbage. Now they are not to bad of a rod for the money.
Lots of cheaper rods out there now days and shop owners are all carring one brand or another becasue if they don’t they will lose business and they know it. A lot of the expensive rod companys are coming out with a less expensive line of rods now days to keep up with the demand. I do believe that they are seeing that the market has a place for a lower price range of rods. But believe me they are still selling the top of the line rods to.
In todays market and the way things are going it would be best for the small shop owner to bend over backwards to do right by his customers. I know a lot of them do that but you will always have a few that do not or that have an employee that is a wise guy, If that happens tell the shop owner about it. Let him take care of his employee. If it is the shop owner then jsut say “SEE YA” Ron
Ron… nowhere does it say I was bragging about the rods I got. I made a statement of having new rods to try out, I was asked what type they were and I said TFO. That’s it, nothing else. I didn’t gloat over the fact I bought rods from another store.I was asked a question and I answered it. The tirade against TFO started and I left. I don’t think saying why I bought them could be seen as gloating, but maybe someone else could. I don’t know.
Mike
There is no greater fan of flyfishing than the worm.
Patrick McManus
[This message has been edited by maddog48 (edited 18 August 2005).]
i bought a new Tfo a few weeks ago and the guys from my flyshop in whitefish mt. not only came out and test cast a couple of the TFo’s with me they knocked 25.00 off as a repeat customer discount.
Maddog- Not trying to start anything here but you have to admit that you were looking to tell someone about your new rods, Which I may add that it is more than normal to do so. I would have probably done the same thing. It is human nature to brag about a new thing we are getting or just got. If you didn’t want to brag just a bit you wouldn’t have said anything. But I will also admit that the person at the shops was more than an ass over it. If it would have happened here I would have told the guy he was an ass. I have known most of the shop owners here for many years so I don’t take any crap from them.
In fact a few years back I had a newer guy in one shop make light of just about eveything I had to say. I told one of the other clerks in the store to tell him if he did it again I would take him out back and one of us wouldn’t walk back into the store for awhile. I am to old to take crap off of a young jerk. It stopped right there and then. He dosen’t work for that shop anymore thank goodness. Ron
PS: I am glad he didn’t take me up on it he would have probably killed me. 
Harold,
How ya been? Great post.
I was looking at some of the vises that they carried and this gentleman walks up and asked me if I was interested in buying one or just looking. I told him I had just bought a vise and was comparing the features of some I had not seen. Well he gets excited and tells me I just have to see this new vise that has just come in.
If only more businesses had people like this gentleman we would all have better experiences. He knew you were not in the market for a vise, but his enthusiasm added to your experience and probably was a factor in your decision to buy what you did. It ain’t rocket science; it is just being friendly and knowing how to treat your potential customers.
Jerry
Dream the Life, Live the Dream
Laugh at yourself first and all else falls into place
Board of Directors, Valley Forge Trout Unlimited
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