Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum

Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: roeman on September 27, 2021, 04:28:25 PM

Title: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: roeman on September 27, 2021, 04:28:25 PM
My daughter bought me new Simms pant waders from Freds and out of the box they leaked.  They dont have anymore in stock and want to send them back for warranty. 4-6 weeks befored I would get them back..
What a joke, they should stand behind the products they sell and not rely on the manufacturer to deal with it.
Once they get your money they have no interest in fixing the problem.
Have spent 800 bucks in there the last month and will never go back.
Small businesses complain about on line shopping but thats where I will be buying fishing supplies from know on.
Later Fred
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: BNF861 on September 27, 2021, 06:23:49 PM
How out of the box? Like literally first use or within the first few outings?

Frustrating for sure but if they did not have more in stock there is not much they can do besides sending them in for a warranty replacement from Simms. Often shops as a courtesy will replace over the counter (if the have stock) and then send yours in for warranty to replace their stock. Without having replacements, unfortunately you’re stuck waiting. Your warranty is through Simms, not the shop
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: Rodney on September 28, 2021, 10:06:57 AM
Every store is out of Simms inventories at the moment because of COVID... until the end of the year unfortunately. I'm not sure what you could expect more from Fred's beside honouring the warranty as the middle man.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: poper on September 28, 2021, 11:15:22 AM
They couldn’t give your money back or get you into a different brand of waders in exchange?

Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: Wiseguy on September 28, 2021, 12:45:11 PM
They used to give you a loaner pair untill your waders were repaired. Guess they don’t do that anymore. Funny story about that. I was using the loaner pair and walking on a slippery log when I fell and caught a broken branch end on the log and ripped out the back end of the loaner pair!   :o
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: fic on September 28, 2021, 01:49:15 PM
Friend of mine bought new Baitcasting reels there that broke on the first day. He went back a week later and got a new replacement. They sent the broken one to Abu Garcia for Warranty Claim.  It sucks they didn't have another pair waders for you to take while sending yours in for a claim.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: Novabonker on September 28, 2021, 01:54:47 PM
Friend of mine bought new Baitcasting reels there that broke on the first day. He went back a week later and got a new replacement. They sent the broken one to Abu Garcia for Warranty Claim.  It sucks they didn't have another pair waders for you to take while sending yours in for a claim.


So now you have 2 pairs but one has a tear in the back.

The 42 years of being a self employed business person would have refunded or set you up with another pair.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: booters on September 28, 2021, 03:03:15 PM
shud b giving u loaner pair Any pair so you can go fishing Chilliwack lots in stock Always excuses from everyone
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: DanTfisherman on September 28, 2021, 03:49:54 PM
"My daughter bought me new Simms pant waders from Freds and out of the box they leaked.  They dont have anymore in stock and want to send them back for warranty. 4-6 weeks befored I would get them back..
What a joke, they should stand behind the products they sell and not rely on the manufacturer to deal with it.
Once they get your money they have no interest in fixing the problem.
Have spent 800 bucks in there the last month and will never go back.
Small businesses complain about on line shopping but thats where I will be buying fishing supplies from know on.
Later Fred"

This one is a tough one and a bad situation.  I see it as a no win for anyone.  This is an obvious manufacturer's defect and this can happen from time to time.
Replacing them would have been ideal, but if they are out of stock, they cannot do that.
They could have repaired them for you with something like Aquaseal or even a patch from the inside, but my guess is that would have long term impacted the warranty and if you had issues down the road, could be problematic.
I also wonder if you bought them on-line and out of the box, they leaked.  You would have been in the same place, and probably even more so, so not sure if having an on-line pair would have helped.
To me, it sounds like an apology on Simms behalf would have been all they could have done, and if not really satisfied, offered a refund and another pair of a different brand or model.

Dano
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: milo on September 29, 2021, 09:49:37 AM
Tough.
When exactly the same thing happened to me years ago with a pair of new generation Bare waders, Fred offered me a deal I couldn't refuse on a pair of Simms.
If you stubbornly insist on having the same model of wading pants, one they obviously no longer have in stock, Fred's only recourse is to process the warranty through the store.
A pair of loaner waders would have been nice, but I guess we live in different times now, pandemic and all.

Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: wildmanyeah on September 29, 2021, 10:32:22 AM
yep i hear the covid excuse from suppliers attest 10 times a day.

The reality is everything is made in china and everything out of china is 4-8 months delayed. Even is something is made in canada, the raw materials or some little thing like a button or the plastic for the zipper may be out of china and that's holding up the whole process.

very frustrating
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: santefe on September 29, 2021, 01:25:13 PM
So how many pairs of waders would Fred have to keep in stock and gathering dust in the chance that someone would get a leaky pair so they could have a loaner available?
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: clarki on September 29, 2021, 07:49:38 PM
So how many pairs of waders would Fred have to keep in stock and gathering dust in the chance that someone would get a leaky pair so they could have a loaner available?
Agreed.

Without knowing the full story, I'd say your beef, roeman, is with Simms, not Freds.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: ShaunO on October 03, 2021, 11:26:02 AM
My daughter bought me new Simms pant waders from Freds and out of the box they leaked.  They dont have anymore in stock and want to send them back for warranty. 4-6 weeks befored I would get them back..
What a joke, they should stand behind the products they sell and not rely on the manufacturer to deal with it.
Once they get your money they have no interest in fixing the problem.
Have spent 800 bucks in there the last month and will never go back.
Small businesses complain about on line shopping but thats where I will be buying fishing supplies from know on.
Later Fred

If Fred's has no stock then I'm not sure what you want them to do to "stand behind the products they sell".  If you're that hell bent on keeping the same Simms waders, then get a refund from Fred's and call Simms in Bozeman.  G3 Wader pants are in stock in all sizes and often times they'll declare the shipment as a warranty replacement which helps avoid duty and taxes.  My most recent order was received in 2 days just last week.  They have a warehouse in Fife Washington so its usually pretty quick.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: Novabonker on October 24, 2021, 02:06:57 PM
If Fred's has no stock then I'm not sure what you want them to do to "stand behind the products they sell".  If you're that hell bent on keeping the same Simms waders, then get a refund from Fred's and call Simms in Bozeman.  G3 Wader pants are in stock in all sizes and often times they'll declare the shipment as a warranty replacement which helps avoid duty and taxes.  My most recent order was received in 2 days just last week.  They have a warehouse in Fife Washington so its usually pretty quick.


Not a good place to write how to dodge taxes and duties.
Title: Re: New waders at Freds Abbotsford
Post by: ShaunO on October 24, 2021, 06:56:33 PM

Not a good place to write how to dodge taxes and duties.

I don't think Joe Blow Fred's customer is going to convince Simms to declare things one way or another, but if they do it, it might save you a few bucks.  I don't think CRA and CBSA is going to come for you for $40.