Silver Hilton's experience with Eagle got me thinking about this subject, which I've not seen consolodated in one topic before. It might be helpful to all of us to know those who go the extra mile and those who ignore us after a sale.

The experiences I have lately have been mostly positive.

L.L. Bean - I've never had a service problem with them. I once bought one of their watches. It broke. About 2 years later on a trip to Maine, I went by their store in Freeport. On a whim, I took the watch with me. I showed it to them and they replaced it over the counter, no questions asked.

Orvis - For my 40th birthday, I got an 11 weight flyrod from Orvis. Within the first year the rod broke, right at the tiptop. They replaced the rod. Within the next year, the fighting butt fell off. Again, they replaced the rod. Within the next year, the fighting butt fell off again. This time they sent me a note, letting me know they had discontinued that model rod and they sent me their new 11 weight, top of their line, which was an upgrade, somewhat. No problems since. I would not hesitate to buy anything from Orvis.

Shimano - its repair facility in California is first-rate. I've sent four or five reels back there over the last several years. Anything that has broken, they've replaced for free. For routine maintenance, the charges have been extremely reasonable and I've not been charged for shipping.

REI - I bought 3 folding camp chairs there about 4 years ago. The family has used them 4 or 5 times a year since then. Over that time, all three of them broke at exactly the same place. I wasn't going to take them back, as I had no receipts or anything. Last month, I just threw them in the trash. My wife took them out and took them back to REI. One of the chairs still had a bar code on it or something and that was good enough. They issued a credit for the full amount of the original purchase. I was impressed.

Auburn Sports and Marine - I bought my favorite model G. Loomis at AS&M and it has broken twice. Both times, I took it back to AS&M and they simply exchanged it across the counter. Consequently, I have bought every other Loomis that I own at Auburn Sports and Marine and I have my eyes on another - just waiting for an excuse.

Interesting. Its nice to know who you're buying from before you buy.

With respect to sounders, the power cord on my new Garmin corroded and needed to be replaced (most likely my fault) and they sent me a new cord no questions asked. Just recently my sound quit and after talking with Garmin they told me to send it in and they'd fix me up. I'm assuming there won't be any problems. So far my experience with Garmin has excellent in customer service....now I'm just hoping their sounders have the same reputation as their GPS and mapping units.
JMS

Outdoor Emporium in Seattle gets a big thumbs up from me. Several years ago I bought a Lowrance Globalmap 100 from them. Within a couple of weeks the thing started to get real hot when it was recharging. I took it in to Scott at Outdoor Emporium and he changed it out right on the spot. No hassles with the manufacturer.

Recently I bought a Lowrance LMS 240 from Outdoor Emporium. I again ran into trouble about a month after the purchase (Went out of Westport on two different trips and had the sonar part of the unit quit working while I was at sea). Contacted Scott again......he gave me a new transducer and adaptor cable to try out.......That didn't work so I went back again (Its now 6 weeks after original purchase) and he traded the main unit out on the spot.

I'm beginning to wonder about Lowrance stuff, but the guys at Outdoor Emporium in Seattle are the best.

Great customer service from mail order would be Cabela's( always replaced anything I bought from them if I had a problem with it.)
For the local shops I would have to rate Salmon bay Tackle as the best customer service with Patricks fly shop running in 2nd.

For manufacture returns and service, I would say Ross and Shimano are awesome. Also I know others are not happy with G.Loomis and their new warrenty but I never had any problems and everthing was always taken care of right away.

Cabelas and Shimano both have provided me with good service.

Neat post.

Just got my new power cord for my Big Chief in the mail from Luhr Jenson. I E-mailed thier customer service center, telling them that my cord had melted where it plugs into the unit. They informed me that I needed to make sure it is pushed all the way in, and if I sent them my melted cord they would ship me out the new and improved (heat resistant) cord.

six days later another smoker ful of steelies is in the works. Two thumbs up.