Reel repair Gone Bad

1009 Views 30 Replies 17 Participants Last post by IFISH4U, Sep 2, 2003

Finn-icky

Discussion Starter · Aug 30, 2003

Need to vent a bit. I took three reels to Ollie Damons for some c/r. took nearly 3 weeks to get them back. Yesterday while using one of them for the first time, hooked a salmon, and by the time we got it to the boat the drag had gone to bananas , and it was all I could do to crank the handle. What ticks me is that they don't even have an answering machine to let people know what their hours and days of operation are (I don't) so when these kind of things happen people can contact them. I've read on this board before about how good they are, but a friend had a similar problem after getting a reel repaired at O. D. Myself, I'm not impressed at least in a positive note. I suspect they will take care of it, but I plan my vacation around this fishery and now I'll have to take at least half a day of my vacation to return it and wait while they fix it. I'm certainly open to suggestions on where to take my reels to next time. I gaurantee you it will NOT be Ollie Damons.

[ 08-31-2003, 11:17 AM: Message edited by: Pete ]

1 - 20 of 31 Posts

Thumper

· #2 · Aug 30, 2003

Over the years I have taken perhaps 100 reels to Ollie Damon. Not one single complaint. Sorry about your bad experience, but rest assured it is very unusual.

But you might check "Reelmeister" here on Ifish. I'm told that he also has a great reputation.

[ 08-30-2003, 08:42 AM: Message edited by: Thumper ]

freespool

· #3 · Aug 30, 2003

Finn, what kind of reel was it?

Finn-icky

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 30, 2003

Freespool...It's Abu-Garcia 6500 C3

BigFish

· #5 · Aug 30, 2003

Finn,

You could buy a new reel and save some time and your vacation. Then you would have another backup which you could buy a new rod for :dance:

reelmeister

· #6 · Aug 30, 2003

You may be aware that ifish has a reel repair sponsor. I hear he does good work. :smile:

Al

G

· #7 · Aug 30, 2003

That's a cool avatar reelmeister

Wish you were closer to the Portland metro area :shrug:

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JohnB

· #8 · Aug 31, 2003

Reelmeister, Can we mail our reels to you and have you repair them and mail them back to us?

fish_on

· #9 · Aug 31, 2003

Originally posted by Finn-icky:
Need to vent a bit. I took three reels to Ollie Damons for some c/r. took nearly 3 weeks to get them back. Yesterday while using one of them for the first time, hooked a salmon, and by the time we got it to the boat the drag had gone to bananas , and it was all I could do to crank the handle. What ticks me is that they don't even have an answering machine to let people know what their hours and days of operation are (I don't) so when these kind of things happen people can contact them. I've read on this board before about how good they are, but a friend had a similar problem after getting a reel repaired at O. D. Myself, I'm not impressed at least in a positive note. I suspect they will take care of it, but I plan my vacation around this fishery and now I'll have to take at least half a day of my vacation to return it and wait while they fix it. I'm certainly open to suggestions on where to take my reels to next time. I gaurantee you it will NOT be Ollie Damons.

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">Gotta say I just got my C4 back from Ollies and the drag will not loosen up. Backed all the off it very hard to pull out. I am going to give it a chance to break in but next week it is going back for warrenty repair.

[ 08-31-2003, 11:27 AM: Message edited by: Pete ]

reelmeister

· #10 · Aug 31, 2003

Thanks for the avatar compliment, Stew. JohnB, about 40 percent of my business is via mail order through the internet. The remainder is our local fleet of "live" fishermen
(who keep their catch alive and send it to seafood markets/restaurants in the Bay area) and Rogue/Chetco river guides. So I'm well equipped to handle your reels by mail. Feel free to visit my web site for details (see the link below), or you can email me directly. The problems you guys are having with other reel repair outfits should not be happening. :whazzup: It certainly won't happen out of my shop.

Al

drhall99

· #11 · Aug 31, 2003

Finn-icky,

I've always gotten good work from them but I did see a help wanted ad from Ollies looking for a reel rebuilder ($7.50 per hour - FYI) a few weeks ago. maybe the new guy rebuilt yours. Bummer about the bad drag.

D.

Finn-icky

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 31, 2003

Reelmiester...What would be a typical turn around time. Say I mail you a reel on Monday, do I get it back sometime Tuesday :cheers: :grin: the same week that is. All kidding aside, approximately what would turn around time be. This way we can plan our reel reconditionings ahead some.

Finn-icky

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 31, 2003

Fish-on...Sounds like the identical thing. If it where me, I wouldn't wait to break in. Whats going to break is the first fish you catch with it will break your tackle and you'll lose your wobbler or what ever you are using. Just my $02. worth. Maybe we could meet at their door step at the same time and have a visit with counter guy together

. I promise not to become hostile provided they fix it while I wait. At any rate good luck getting it in proper working order.

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drhall99

· #14 · Aug 31, 2003

Finn-icky is right, drags washers don't need any break in time. They either work or they don't.

D.

bassin

· #15 · Aug 31, 2003

:depressed: Finn. I feel your pain. I have taken 3 reels to them over the past 10 years or so. there has been a problem each time. The last one was shortly after they moved to there current site. Never again. The last one I had ask for a EST. It was a old penn 309. They called and said it was ready of pick up. What? I asked for a EST. not repair. Ok the wife will be in the area later that day so I asked her to pick it up. The bill was $65.00............ I can buy a new one of less.

reelmeister

· #16 · Aug 31, 2003

Finn,
Don't resort to violence...remember you are dealing with a guy at the counter who is making minimum wage. He doesn't have a stake in whether the reel works on the water or not. I on the other hand pay myself more than minimum wage, and my reputation rides on the quality of each repair. Plus I'm one of these finicky :grin: guys who just can't put something down until its working perfectly. As for turnaround time, you are looking at 10 days back and forth to your door for ultrasonic cleaning/lube/tune. It's about the same if you need parts that I stock. Add in a week if I need to order parts. That's the deal. It's faster than your local repair shop even with the travel time. And, it will be fixed right.

Al

fishscale

· #17 · Aug 31, 2003

The last two times I've used Ollie Damons, I've had problems as well. On one reel they left out one of the screws holding the reel together and other screws were loose. Although they gave me another screw I kind of wonder what else they may have left out or not done correctly. Another reel literally fell apart while I was using it. While I generally check my reels for potential problems I don't expect them to fall apart or to have missing parts right after I get them back from a repair shop. After having used Ollie Damon's for years, at both of their locations, I now have a lack of confidence in their work.

Finn-icky

Discussion Starter · #18 · Aug 31, 2003

Reelmeister...Only joking about the hostile thing. I realize mistakes can be made. I've made a bunch over time myself. I'm more frustrated than anything. In this day and age it baffles me that any business that deals with off the street customers can't even provide an answer machine for business hours so their customers know when they can make contact, much less a small ad in the yellow pages. Also, my time is as valuable as anyone elses, and having to idle away at least most of a day on this is nuts. My fault I guess for wanting to have my reels in good working order. I have quests and friends lined up for trips and unless they fix it while I wait, I may have to do what BigFish suggested and buy a new reel. Also not in the vacation plan. BTW, I don't know what the rest of our fellow IFishers think, but 10 days turn around is reasonable, especially if the results are as hoped for. I'll send them to you next go around. Thanks

[ 08-31-2003, 11:30 AM: Message edited by: Pete ]

Hogback

· #19 · Aug 31, 2003

My fishing buddy had a bad experience with ollie and I've been fixing his reels and my own for about 4 years. I have done some enet surfing and have found some pretty trick stuff for Abu reels If your in a jam get in touch with me mabey I can help. I'm not a professional but I figured if I can overhaul a HD I can rebuild a reel and so far I'm right.

G

· #20 · Sep 1, 2003

I've had a long history with Ollie Damon and in all fairness I've been treated well there over the years. They've gotten a lot larger since those days on S.E. Hawthorne and maybe a little too diversified in what they service....maybe not. I do most of my own reel repair but will definately give Reelmeister a try when it's a repair that is beyond what I can do.
Hey Reelmeister how hard is it to get parts for the old Shimano Bantam series? I'm talking about the 201SG series.

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