Dick's Sporting Goods rod shipping/packaging method

[NorthernBasser]

I've never order rods from Dick's before. But this weekend I ordered a Tatula frog rod. As I came home today, I see the package had arrives. A long, flimsy box, barely taped, with a crease through it. 

 

Right away I had a bad feeling. I mean, who ships rods like that? 

 

I open the box and see the rod laying in there. No kind of wrapping to protect it even. Nothing. I pull the rod out, and sure enough, the top foot of the rod is snapped off.

 

Is this the norm for Dick's? Do they ship all their rods like this? Unacceptable if you ask me. All companies should be using the long PVC tubes by now. And if you are gonna use a box, make it a more durable one, and wrap the rods up in something for pete's sake.

[MN Fisher]

"Welcome to DSG's customer service...take a number...we'll ignore you until you leave."

 

I don't do any business with them for a number of reasons.

[FishTank]

I have ordered 5 rods from DSG over the years and all arrived in one piece.  One was in a flimsy box but it arrived ok.  The others were packed in a ton of bubble wrap, two of those came from the manufacture.  I did have one issue with a depth finder and they took it back after their policy expired and they sent me a new one. As long as I use my Score Card (not credit card), they look it up and will take whatever back as long as it is with in their policy. 

[CarpCasey]

1 hour ago, NorthernBasser said:

 

Is this the norm for Dick's? Do they ship all their rods like this? 

Good question  I've wondered that myself. TW shipped one to me in a tube that you could have dropped off a cliff, BPS however sent me one that looked like it was drug behind the truck to my house. I had to return it to the store which took away the whole point I ordered in since the store is an hour away

[DSTN]

I think it may be the norm. I've ordered 3 from them in the past. All were in a fairly weak box. I believe the first two had packing paper around them at least. Last rod I received was literally just bouncing around in the box, only other thing in there besides the rod was the order receipt and return label. All 3 rods were in perfect condition by some miracle. All were good deals so I'm sure I'll order another from them at some point. Especially if they keep having Falcon Lowriders for $100 or less.

[fin]

I got one in a heavy duty tube from them, so they don't ship ALL of them in flimsy boxes, but based on all the reports on this forum, most shipments are in flimsy boxes.

 

Funny thing is, my rod was only like $18. It's a two-piece 7', shipped in a 5' heavy duty tube. The tube was so nice, I saved it.

[ChrisD46]

11 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

I've never order rods from Dick's before. But this weekend I ordered a Tatula frog rod. As I came home today, I see the package had arrives. A long, flimsy box, barely taped, with a crease through it. 

 

Right away I had a bad feeling. I mean, who ships rods like that? 

 

I open the box and see the rod laying in there. No kind of wrapping to protect it even. Nothing. I pull the rod out, and sure enough, the top foot of the rod is snapped off.

 

Is this the norm for Dick's? Do they ship all their rods like this? Unacceptable if you ask me. All companies should be using the long PVC tubes by now. And if you are gonna use a box, make it a more durable one, and wrap the rods up in something for pete's sake.

+1 I won't buy rods to be shipped from Dicks or Academy ... Square ,  flimsy rod box arrives crushed . TW does it right shipping in a solid , round tube with rod wrapped in bubble wrap  .

[NYWayfarer]

In my experience it has been the norm. I was lucky enough that by some miracle my rods arrived intact despite the flimsy packaging.

 

I refuse to roll the dice anymore ordering rods from them. I won’t even do ship to store for the same reason. 

 

Tackle Warehouse has the best packaging when shipping rods. The tubes are heavy duty, they wrap the rods in bubble wrap and they have foam inserts in the end caps.

 

[ike8120]

I got a rod from Amazon, the tube was busted in half, to my surprise there wasn't any damage to the rod. This was shipped USPS. Also had rods shipped by TW and Academy much better packaging. TW uses some heavy duty tubes.

[RubberDuck]

14 hours ago, NorthernBasser said:

Is this the norm for Dick's? Do they ship all their rods like this? Unacceptable if you ask me. All companies should be using the long PVC tubes by now. And if you are gonna use a box, make it a more durable one, and wrap the rods up in something for pete's sake.

Yes, this is how they shipped the one rod I've ordered from there.  The box was tore up and somehow the rod survived.  I have no intentions of ordering another rod from them.  I do shop in the store.  Most of the time I walk in just to see if they have a sale and leave disappointed.  They do have some killer deals at times.

Edited August 14, 2019 by RubberDuck
I can't spell

[Crankin4Bass]

I order two rods and from Dick's. They shipped them with no protection, just loose in one box. One side of the box was actually open and I am shocked the rods even arrived. Even more surprising was the rods made it with no damage. Only problem was one was the wrong model rod! I took to my local store it back and they gave me a refund. 

I have had good luck with TW and Cabela's. Both shipped rods wrapped in a plastic sleeve, suspended in a hard tube. The rod from Cabela's also had foam on the tip and butt.

[NorthernBasser]

I ended up calling them to let them know. I also told them that it sounds like this is an on-going issue with them. I doubt anything will change though.

 

I wanted that rod still, so the guy took my order over the phone so he could apply the '$20 off $100' deal they had going on at the time I ordered, but is now over. So we'll see what kind of shape that one comes in.

 

I'll have to return the broken one to a store. They better not give me any hassle. 

[Alec McMillan]

I don't risk ordering from Dick's anymore. I have received damaged rods from them as well. Now I only order rods from Tackle Warehouse and Sportsmans Outfitters. They have heavy duty tubes that I keep because they are so good. I usually try to buy rods in-store though.

[NorthernBasser]

Yeah, TW knows what they're doing with the tubes. 

[Smalliefan2]

Cabela's and another site.com also use some heavy duty tubes and packing so your purchase arrives intact. I was never impressed with Dick's. Really not hunting and fishing retailer.

[sdbc]

I guess I got lucky, the rod I purchased from Dick's was well wrapped and protected, but it was in a box.  Funny thing with TW, I bought a 2 piece rod from them and it arrived put together in an 8' tube.  I guess they don't sell too many and just used what they normally use for a 1 piece.  The delivery guy left it in my driveway, didn't even put it on the porch.  I'm sure they love those odd shaped items.

[Abby]

I am 1 for 2 on rods ordered. First one was in a huge box with no padding and bent about in half. Rod was broke about 6 inches from the tip. 2nd one wasn't much better but was in some plastic and survived..

[fvogel67]

On 8/14/2019 at 12:22 PM, Crankin4Bass said:

I order two rods and from Dick's. They shipped them with no protection, just loose in one box. One side of the box was actually open and I am shocked the rods even arrived. Even more surprising was the rods made it with no damage. Only problem was one was the wrong model rod! I took to my local store it back and they gave me a refund. 

I have had good luck with TW and Cabela's. Both shipped rods wrapped in a plastic sleeve, suspended in a hard tube. The rod from Cabela's also had foam on the tip and butt.

I also received a rod from Cabelas in a really heavy duty tube,The rod was wrapped in bubble wrap and it had the foam on each end of the rod.

I believe it was sent from the Cabelas distribution center in Cambridge Ohio.

[deadadrift89]

Last year during sale I ordered three rods from Dicks, all different manufactures. Two came together in same box as you described in long, bent, flimsy box with no packing. The other shipped straight from Abu in proper tube. I took the two back to local store and told manager he can forget it so they refunded my money. No way I was going to accept rods that came shipped that way.  

[NorthernBasser]

Well, I got my replacement rod in the mail yesterday. And again, it came in a flimsy, bent cardboard box.  These guys just don't get it, do they?

 

Thankfully this rod was in great shape. They did shove tons of crumpled up paper in with it tho, so that may have helped. 

 

[Chris186]

On 8/14/2019 at 9:05 AM, ike8120 said:

I got a rod from Amazon, the tube was busted in half, to my surprise there wasn't any damage to the rod. This was shipped USPS. Also had rods shipped by TW and Academy much better packaging. TW uses some heavy duty tubes.

I also ordered a rod from Amazon, it came in a 6"x6" cardboard box, which was torn off on 3 sides about 1/3 of the way down, held together by a piece of tape. Sure enough when I opened the box, the rod was broken right where the box was. All it had inside was the plastic sleeve covering the rod, no bubble wrap or newspaper or anything. Just thrown in the box and out the door it went. That was the beginning of the end with Amazon for me.

[greentrout]

14 minutes ago, Chris186 said:

I also ordered a rod from Amazon, it came in a 6"x6" cardboard box, which was torn off on 3 sides about 1/3 of the way down, held together by a piece of tape. Sure enough when I opened the box, the rod was broken right where the box was. All it had inside was the plastic sleeve covering the rod, no bubble wrap or newspaper or anything. Just thrown in the box and out the door it went. That was the beginning of the end with Amazon for me.

just received a package from amazon with the same kind of box ... rod was ok ... 1st time in yrs. in a box .... always before stout hard tubes ... hope it's not the new normal ...

 

i've never had a problem with amazon, bps, kk/amazon, tw, shakespeare, pflueger and cabela's ...

 

good fishing ...