What’s going on at Scott Rods?
- This topic has 33 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated Dec 11, 2008 at 2:50 am by
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Rich I hope you’re wrong. This coming year I had my eye on a G2 4wt and I’ve also been looking at their S4’s.
Not good to hear.
However, I look at their site and everything works fine for me.
I’m a dealer too _ These sort of posts keep cropping up re Scott. I think they have had some issues in the past, notably repairs, but there was new chairman capital injection and Im told one of the key issues to be resolved was repair times.
The link may have been down earlier but worked for me tonight _ website looks different so I reckon they may have had an update which screwed the links
Definately tough times in the fly fishing world but Scott keeps boxing on becuase of the faithful.
We have had some repairs done recently better times than in previous years, our rep just across the border remains in the game.
Which S4 do you want to try?
I’ve heard good and bad lately, but one thing is for sure…the S4 is a cannon that I’d hate to see go by the wayside before I get the chance to add a few more to the quiver.
Scott is fine, y’all. They are hiring new hands and improving their repair times. I recently broke a G2 – it was evaluated, repaired (or in my case replaced) and returned to me within 2 weeks of when it left my door. I received an email updating me on the progress, which warned me it could be four weeks before I saw my rod back, but they were just hedging their bets – the rod was on my doorstep later the same week.
Scott is owned by two investors, one of whom is the president and part owner of a major auto company. Obviously this is not a great time to be in the American auto business, but the commitment has been made and my friends at the company say the capital is flowing in as expected.
Scott got behind for two reasons: (1) demand for the S4 exceeded expectations, so the people who usually took a day a week to wrap repairs had to be reassigned to S4 production, while the rest of the rod line also backed up on production; and (2) one of the owners took what amounted to a large dividend out of the company rather than allowing the company to re-invest its profit in internal infrastructure (i.e. shipping and rod production improvements).
Scott is absolutely not going out of business.
Similar problems for me with their website.
Tim –
“Have tried calling their number for months with no answer.”
Really? No offense, man, but I sincerely doubt that. What number are you calling? That’s one of those things people throw around on these boards that can be really hurtful to a company and, frankly, is patently untrue. I have called the 800 number on Scott’s website no fewer than four times in the last month and they always answered and put me through to the person I needed. In fact, when my rod shipped back to me, they called *me* to let me know.
Are you aware that they are in the Mountain time zone? I often call out west at 9:00 or 10:00 AM my time, only to realize that no one is at work yet in the west.
Zach
Not to foist another blog entry onto this fine site, but folks over at the underground had this to say awhile backhttp://troutunderground.com/2008/09/25/the-undergrounds-fly-fishing-retailer-post-and-economic-bailout-plan/
I propose an expanded [s:1rix25z3]bailout[/s:1rix25z3] rescue plan called the FFPAWRP. Of course that stands for the Fly Fisher Photographer and Writer Rescue Plan. Please seek your piece of the pie by adding the abbreviation you desire if not covered in the FFPAWRP.
shannonTim –
“Have tried calling their number for months with no answer.”
Really? No offense, man, but I sincerely doubt that. What number are you calling? That’s one of those things people throw around on these boards that can be really hurtful to a company and, frankly, is patently untrue. I have called the 800 number on Scott’s website no fewer than four times in the last month and they always answered and put me through to the person I needed. In fact, when my rod shipped back to me, they called *me* to let me know.
Are you aware that they are in the Mountain time zone? I often call out west at 9:00 or 10:00 AM my time, only to realize that no one is at work yet in the west.
Zach
Same here we have spoken a bunch with them over the last 3 weeks. UPS lost a customers S3. and we have been back and forth with scott, serial numbers value etc trying to get UPS to cough up insurance
I’m a dealer too _ These sort of posts keep cropping up re Scott. I think they have had some issues in the past, notably repairs, but there was new chairman capital injection and Im told one of the key issues to be resolved was repair times.
The link may have been down earlier but worked for me tonight _ website looks different so I reckon they may have had an update which screwed the links
Definately tough times in the fly fishing world but Scott keeps boxing on becuase of the faithful.
We have had some repairs done recently better times than in previous years, our rep just across the border remains in the game.
Which S4 do you want to try?
Steve, I’m wanting to try a 5wt 8’6″ & 9′. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
RichZach,
Sorry to hear you think I would knowingly slander a legitmate company, and one in whose products I really like.
Scott was very receptive to my phone calls and concerns when I ordered my 9′ #8 S4 and 13′ #7 LS2.
Both took a while longer than I would have wanted, but both came in time for the season I needed them for.
I’d like to point out here that I recently turned down buying Scott S3 because of posts like this one and one over on Fly Fisherman.Too bad because it was one great casting rod but I’m afraid of what I’ll have to go through if I ever break it. If there really is a problem and I assume the number of complaints I’ve read about are legit, then Scott really needs to deal with this publicly. They should squash it like a bug or it is going to continue to cost them business. Just my opinion as a consumer.
Scott has some issues in my opinion. First off you know there are problems when a brand new rod comes from the company and the ferrule is broken, it was on a X2s. Having the same rod break in the same section twice. My brothers LS2 in the butt section, once on a fish and the other setting up a cast, not loading, but setting up a cast. Also when calling to place a order. One, they shouldn’t say they have an item and really don’t, has happened to me a couple of times. Not good when you have a client going on a trip and they need that rod. Two, they should never laugh over the phone at you for asking for a rod that they don’t have in stock. This happened on an S4, that we had ordered for the shop and the person at Scott, not going to name names, was laughing about not having the rod in stock. I don’t know how much having an investor from Ford is affected their situation, but I’m sure that it has had some. This being said, Scott did take care of every issue that came up.
This is really a hard issue for me since the shop I work for carries Scott. By no means am I saying that Scott rods are garbage, they are not, but there are issues that need to be resolved. To me it was evident that something was going on by looking at the new products that came out from Scott, and there wasn’t much.
Hi Guys and Gals,
Just wanted to chime in here to give Scott a voice. I’m the southeastern sales rep for Scott and may be able to shed a bit of insight as to what has been going on. Let’s start out with the question at hand: What’s going on at Scott Rods?Much of the poor press on Scott stems from the above stated issues in production which bottlenecked rod repair and new rod production, slowing the company down. Our current repair time has improved and we have greatly increased the workforce at the facotry with more hirings coming in very soon. Basically, we grew too fast and got too big for our britches without funds to buy new pants. Problem has been solved as Mr Ford is passionate about this company and has been nothing but supportative. We have a new Chariman (the ex head of Ford Motor Europe) and Jimmy is still our rod designer. New faces are in customer service such as Michelle and Ian so I’m shocked anyone has issues in getting through (what number are you calling?) For the website, it’s under construction and may from time to time have down links and what-not. I’m not a computer guy, I dunno.
For Michael, for the A3 being a revamped A2 with a new paint job. Nothing could be further from the truth and I would suggest doing more research before posting. The A3 is a TOTALLy different rod. Different action, the swing weight has been pulled back to make it feel lighter in hand, the physical weight is less…and so on. Trust me, I’ve put thousands of miles on my truck showing these rods to shops and they have won out as far as favorites in that price range among some shops, not others. That’s just the way it is. Nobody builds a rod for everyone, so opinions are totally subjective. Sage did come out with some new rods, but that was their schedule. Our new rod lines will not launch till next year and after checking out the prototypes, they are sweet! You see, rod companies do not introduce new models each year, usually a four to five year rotation (sometimes less, sometimes more). We’re not all on the same schedule, but trust me, Scott Rods always has something cool cooking. But I digress…
Point is, guys, I’m the sales rep and my job is to promote Scott rods, but the fact of the matter is I’ve been in the industry for nearly fifteen years, either as a guide, a fly shop employee, buyer, writer, sales rep; I’ve worn many hats. I’ve seen companies come and go, the industry ebb and flow. Scott may have hit a rough patch but they’re still making some of the best fly rods in the world, standing behind the product, and are by far the coolest rods to own 😉 We’re not going anywhere, surely not out of biz, and there is nothing to worry about. I can’t speak for the rest of the country, but my territory has grown very recently and reception of Scott has been warm and fuzzy for the most part.
If you guys have any questions, feel free to shoot me a line at strangetrout at gmail.com I’m not on the BB very much, usually fishing, repping, or stalking Zach.
Take care and tight lines,
James
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