Falcon Rods

[spinhead]

I actually liked my Falcon even though the rumors were that the tips were rather weak. I found out that this is no rumor the hard way. Could I make this a warranty claim? I seriously doubt that. It broke off and that pretty much leaves you in the damage mercy category. I could place a review, after-all I'm being objective and I will freely admit that this rod became my mainstay. Why not write the company a letter and express my opinion then? Sounds reasonable, I bought their product and used it so why wouldn't I deserve the opportunity to express my opinion?

Wrong.

Whether you want to accept my opinion that they tend to have weak tips is all up to you. You can say you have experienced the same trouble or even heard the same thing. You could also say I'm full of it, I broke it and I'm just sour. Put the weak tip or other quality issues aside and then just take this following reply in stride:

To begin with we stopped selling to Wal Mart because they would discount the rods in the winter. Second, the rod that you own was flex tested a minimum of 4 time before it left here. You used the rod, you caught fish on the rod and the rod did not break. Now in all fairness, a defect does not just appear in the blank months down the road. I have been building rods for a long time and I can tell you that YOU have damaged the rod before this incident and did not know it. Then you want to accuse us of making bad product. Take responsibility for your own actions and follow the warranty guidelines (if you even took the time to read them) so we might replace the rod or sit and complain and get nothing.

Billy Fields

Promotions/Customer Service Director

Falcon Rods

1823 West Reno

Broken Arrow, OK 74012

(918) 251-0020

Months down the road? Try about just a litte over 1 month, I reported that I purchased the rod in the Spring of 2007. To my recolation Summer started just a few days ago, less then a week ago. There was no warranty card, I bought it at a Wal-Mart! Besides that I didn't ask for a refund or a replacement, I didn't even demand for it to be fixed! I merely expressed my opinion. He can tell me that "I" damaged the rod. Satelite viewing has come along a lot further then I ever imagined!

All joking aside, my whole point is something else now. Forget the issue of breaking the tip or quality. Ask yourself this and this only, is this the kind of customer service you would expect from a company that you purchased something from, directly or indirectly? Is this the kind or type of attitude you want to hear? Wow! They really care don't they! That is the point, my only point... don't do business with people like this...who needs them?

-Hey, I broke my rod...I just want you to know that I'm not pleased with the quality and that the rumors that surround an issue with your quality are now founded with me as well as a result, I'm not asking you for a darn thing other then to say, "We are working hard to correct any and all issues with our products"-

Just so you know who you are dealing with and how they will respond and treat you...this makes a difference to me. I'm not a child for them to scold, I'm not inferior, I'm not anything less or more...however I am a person who trusted you to buy something from. Obviously they have more important customers that matter... would that be you?

[foul hooked]

I have a Cara and a Lowrider. Great rods, wish I had more.

What is the point of your post?

[jasone]

I'm a Quality Engineer so I deal with customers all day and let me tell you that there is not much more stressful at my place of employment.  

I would be interested in reading your letter to them.  

Its not really the same thing but customers aren't always right they just think they are  

Then again, I'd never treat a customer like he treated you unless you have written an inflamatory letter.  No business likes to hear is that they have a bad reputation.

My 2 cents.

J

[Guest SkyChimp]

Field and Stream, or maybe Outdoor Life, printed the results of a test a few months ago that showed the weights under which various rods would break.  

Not suprisingly, the Shakespeare Ugly Stik won and did not break, the author commenting the rod never snapped before he had run out of weight to put on the rod.  

The worst rod was a Falcon that broke at a really light weight.  

I really wish I could remember more.  I've avoided Falcon Rods as a result of that test.  

[Guest SkyChimp]

I found the F&S article:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/photogallery/article/0,13355,1193460,00.html

[robalo78]

I own an original, a Cara,  and a Lowrider and I love them...I once broke a Lowrider and they exchanged it no questions asked and without a receipt mind you. It depends on how you ask them...if they see you are a loyal customer they will gldly exchange a defective rod no questions asked...you just pay shipping to them and they send it back free.

For the buck, they are awesome rods.

[Randall]

Most of my rods are Falcon Originals from Walmart and are abused on an everyday basis. They are thrown around and bounced around together in my boat everyday. I catch a bunch of big fish on them in a years time. I have dead lifted a couple eight pounders into the boat when I couldn't get to the net. If anyones should break mine should have. I have had them all for three years and have never broken one. About the time I got mine there was a guy who already had a bad reputation for cheating people out of money and not getting people rods they had paid him to make trying to sell rods on the web who is also the person who I believe started the rumor about Falcon Rods breaking. Very few peoples rods ever get abused the way mine have been and none of them have broken out of around ten I own. So, I have since concluded the rumor started on the web years ago is false. Not sure what happened to your rod but I doub't it was the fault of the company. I have seen some broken in Walmart but have always guessed it was from falling from racks and other things that happened in Walmart. Yours could have been damaged the same way but under normal use a Falcon rod is hard to break. Don't know about their customer service since I have never had to use it but the rods from my experience are excellent rods.

[Randall]

Field and Stream, or maybe Outdoor Life, printed the results of a test a few months ago that showed the weights under which various rods would break.

Not suprisingly, the Shakespeare Ugly Stik won and did not break, the author commenting the rod never snapped before he had run out of weight to put on the rod.

The worst rod was a Falcon that broke at a really light weight.

I really wish I could remember more. I've avoided Falcon Rods as a result of that test.

A Falcon rod is more sensitive than an Ugly Stick. As a general rule the way a sensitive rod is constructed it will always break first before a rod like an Ugly Stick. No surprise in the results but I would just about bet if they did a test on sensitivity the results would go backward from the Falcon being the most sensitive they tested down to the Ugly Stick being the least sensitive.

[RoLo]

Wow, that's quite a testimonial Randall.

I've never owned a Falcon rod, but now you've piqued my interest.

Roger

[G3 Fan]

Welcome to the site,

  I'm with jasone on this one, I deal with a lot of customer service issues and if someone jumps down my throat I am going to play hardball right back. So I would like to know what you said to get such an agressive response from them.

 I think the fact that the rod was purchased at Wal Mart may have contributed to the pre-existing condition that caused the rod to fail. Wal-Marts around here don't have anything close to nice tackle, they used to have Fenwick and higher end Berkley stuff and they displayed them by hanging them with a metal hook through the tips from the ceiling. That rod was probably beat to death before you bought it.

 If it were me I would take it back to Wal-Mart.

 I wonder if Falcon has a low end import line they were selling, kind of like All Star's import.

[roadwarrior]

It seems to me that the appropriate action would be to return the rod to Walmart for a refund or exchange.

Rod failure as a result of defect almost always occurs during initial usage according to a number of manufacturers, including G.Loomis. I found the response from Billy Fields, Customer Service Director to be quite clear and to the point: Follow our proscribed procedures and the warranty guidelines to replace the rod. Claiming that they make an inferior rod when their reputation would indicate otherwise does not seem like the correct approach to me.

Coming here as a brand new member and launching this tirad raises a BIG red flag in my mind. Comparing any rod to an Ugly Stick is meaningless. The fact that many well known members of this Forum have very high regard for Falcon rods is another consideration.

So, as NYTEX asked, "What is the point of your post?" Are you simply trying to disparage Falcon Rods or are you trying to have your rod replaced?

[spinhead]

First of all, what does it matter if you are a new member or an old, how does that matter if you have an opinion? I'm 52 years old and avid fisherman so just because I'm a "newbie" on this forum, I'm no "newbie" to Bass Fishing. My intent is to offer up how a particular company handles customer service issues

I'm not launching a tirade about anything other then poor customer service quality. My post isn't about right or wrong, who is at fault over a quality issue, or a defective product. It's all about how a company chose to handle an issue. Your perception is that I'm some kind of rebel on a holy crusade to drive a stake through the heart of a company....

Your perception was actually intended to see what kind of company Falcon is when it comes to handling customer service. You are welcome to have an opinion, any opinion on me...that's your choice. Hopefully what you perceive from my post is not what you interpret to be the cause or the root of the issue as a problem... but how you could expect or what you could expect from Falcon if you purchased a product from them.

You can only imagine what I may have stated to spark this response from Falcon, I left that out because it's really not material. What's material is how they act or react, through this action or reaction you can judge by yourself if Falcon is a company you would like to deal with based on how they handle themselves. If you want to speculate on what I said to trigger this response, be my guest...guessing is the only thing being applied in that case. How a company handles an issue should be a concern to everyone who invest money into products. I know Wal-Mart wouldn't dream of providing such a response, in fact they offered me full store credit.

What I did was voice my opinion to Falcon about a product I purchased. They simply handled that poorly enough that I decided to share it. I did not threaten them, I did not ask for an apology, I did not ask for a repair, I did not ask for anything at all...

As you can see they assumed and took a quick position, they fired the guns from the hip, they couldn't take my opinion and lashed out...the question is?

Is this the kind of customer service you would expect or want from anyone?

[surfer]

As you can see they assumed and took a quick position, they fired the guns from the hip, they couldn't take my opinion and lashed out...

No, I can't see that. Post what your initial contact to them was.

I left that out because it's really not material

It is material. I will not judge them by a comment that may bee taken out of context.

[spinhead]

I have a point. I clearly defined my point. It is not a quality issue. It's not who is wrong or who is right. It's not what I said to spark a response. It's not about whether they tend to be weak tipped (although a test supports this which may make the Falcon people sensitive to the issue). It's about this one word....PERCEPTION.

Can I, can you, can anyone voice their displeasure without making a demand, a threat, or even asking for anything in return, and receive a Professional or even Mature response in regards to their issue?

Does jumping the gun, shooting from the hip, assuming, taking a defensive position, refocusing blame, pointing a finger, making excuses, provide good customer service?

The question is "Is this the kind of service and response you want from a company, any company?"

Does it matter to you how a company would handle correspondence?

No one likes to be insulted....Do they xxxx? You wanted a rise out of someone and you got it. Now go pick on Mattel or Parker Bros. If your email had not been so demeaning we could have discussed it like adults, but you chose not to do so. Instead, I get insulted and threatened by what you say you are going to do. When you post these emails, be sure to post them all so everyone can see the type of customer you are.

Billy Fields

Promotions/Customer Service Director

Falcon Rods

1823 West Reno

Broken Arrow, OK 74012

(918) 251-0020

[surfer]

Again, I don't know what the whole conversation is.  Their response is out-of-context.

[Cephkiller]

First of all, what does it matter if you are a new member or an old, how does that matter if you have an opinion?

Because when you haven't been here long enough for us to form an opinion about you, you might be a raging psycho for all we know.  You have done nothing yet to disprove this notion.

Again, I don't know what the whole conversation is.  Their response is out-of-context.

Yep.  For all we know you insulted the guy's mother.

Now, just show us the complete correspondence so we can judge this dispute fairly.  Chill out and enjoy the bounty that is BassResource.com!  Welcome to the forum.

[flyphisher #]

Never heard anyone complain about Falcon. Several guys i fish with have 8 - 10 in their boats and never any problems,  they love them.I fished with them and like them... When i get where i can replace my stuff that probably going to be what i buy...

Take it back to walmart....what do you expect buying from them?  No reason for you to bash Falcon. You bought from WALMART, good chance the blank got dinged up in the store at some point, happens all the time. Even in Pro-shops.....Ever wonder why BPS exchanges them so gladly????

If i had been the rodmaker, I would not taken the time to reply to you...

[Guest SkyChimp]

Comparing any rod to an Ugly Stick is meaningless.

Well, that really wasn't the point of the test.   The point was simply to illustrate the break point of various rods.  That an Ugly Stik was tested is just incidental.