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Rapala/Finbore poor customer service.


Rustic-Fisher

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Some of the best threads for me on this board have been in regards to customer service be it positive or negative so id like to share my experience with Rapala/Normark.

 

Last season I was in the middle of drilling a hole on Simcoe with my 8"manual Finbore (bought in 2016, drilled 8 holes in its life ) and the offset handle sheared right off .

As i was prepping my gas auger and other gear last week i remembered i still had my back up auger in need of repair . Many calls later I found my self at Rapalas head office in Oshawa inquiring about a replacement handle as mine had sheared off right above the auger after less then a dozen uses.

Apon my arrival to reciption i was looked at like i had three eyes LOL, in fairness it could of been the auger I was carrying. I explained that I'd been directed to come right to Rapala/Finbore to inquire about having the handle fixed or replaced. I could litralley sense the level of inconvenience I had caused by having them page a rep to the front office.

Once the Rep arrivied (I'm guessing she's never turned a auger in her life ) I was told 40.00$$$ , she didn't want to know how it happened, age of the auger etc...

Not wanting to make a scene I agreed , turns out it was only 29.95 .

BUT then came the lecture on how I should be more careful LOL.

I asked her what the most careful way to drill through 10" of ice was ....

silence.

This morning I emailed Rapalas feedback team about my neg experiance

and the response was priceless ...

"Sorry about your experinace in Oshawa, good luck with your repaired auger".

Ive dealt with most of the major players on product feedback/issues and all have been great and stood by their product. Not Rapala .

Anyways just a heads up for anyone looking at anything that costs more then a lure . Lures .... well they work LOL.

Tightlines

R

Edited by Ryan Mc
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I had a similar experience when I got into trolling. A gear broke on the first use on and they could not even sell me a replacement part, after many emails I decided to not purchase rapala rods and reels ever again... I can't help it with a few of their lures they are just too good. Shame.

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I had a different experience with my Finbor III. My handle bent on me after a couple of seasons.

 

I wasn't even planning on it but, I ended up in Oshawa with some time to kill.

 

I dropped in on Rapala without even having my broken/bent handle with me. Same main entrance/page the rep deal with me but, the rep just gave me a new handle gratis after I explained my predicament.

 

I have had disappointing experiences with their Blue Fox spinners and remedies offered so, I won't use those flimsy wired lures again but, I was thrilled with how my handle replacement went.

 

This was a couple of years ago now though. YMMV

Cheers,

Mark

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Ill be avoiding them! Thanks for the heads up!

 

Ill just add, when I broke the choke switch on my Eskimo Shark auger(of course it broke its plastic lol) a board member on here suggested I contact them directly. Initailly I didnt as I purchased it second hand, but it was brand new.

 

Anyhow I called them, zero quesions asked and within 5 days I had two metal replacements.

 

Simple but customer service goes along ways.

 

When this auger dies I will not hesitate to deal with Eskimo again

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same experience here...the homie purchased a rapala gas auger

 

ya its a cheap one so i wasnt surprised when the flimsy piece of crap plastic throttle handle snapped when it got clogged up with a little ice after 3 uses.

 

tried reaching out to rapala to see if I could get a new trigger handle...no response

 

a trip to canadian tire for a bike brake lever made of steel for 8 bucks did the trick and now the auger works better than it ever did with the stock part.

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some times it's better off to go back to point of purchase and see if they can provide better support/service? Example, an exchange if they have the same unit in stock and they send back the bad for a full credit? Might be a better option some times and worth a try... I too have been in that location with no plans to go back...

Edited by GBW
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