Many of my readers know that recently purchased a Tenkara fly fishing pole from TenkaraUSA. I have to give a quick shout out to the company…
Shortly after receiving the rod, I immediately wanted to start practicing with it… Even though it was raining. I went out and tried the rod out, and understandably the rod got wet.
Now I know better then to put fishing tackle away wet. I disassembled the rod and dried it before returning it to the tube. But the next time I went I went to practice, the rod had developed bumps all along its finish. I went to clean the rod with soap and water, and the finish came completely off on part of the rod…
Now I am not telling you this because I was mad about the rod. This is clearly a manufacturing error. That happens. What I was worried about was working with the company to get an exchange…
This is where TenkaraUSA dropped my jaw.
I emailed their customer service that night to inquire what my options were. I knew they had an exchange/return policy. I was hoping when I emailed them that they would replace the damaged pieces. I was also worried about the hoops I would have to jump through to get this done.
Right away the next day, I received an email…
TenkaraUSA apologized for the problem… And without hassling or asking stated that they placed an entire replacement rod in the mail. Their response to my inquiry that I think I had a problem was: “That’s not right, we’ll fix it now.” Nothing to prove, no paperwork, no hoops to jump through…
I was blown away by their service.
I work for a the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. We pay very close attention to what represents good service… As we hope to instill these traits in our students.
In my opinion, good customer service is something that companies either get or not. Lots of companies actively work to improve customer service; but the best companies get it. And it shines through effortlessly.
TenkaraUSA gets it.
They are a great company. Now that I have my replacement rod, I also have a great product that lives up to my expectations.
Their rods are very reasonably priced compared to “western” fly rods; so if you have been thinking about picking up Tenkara, I would do it.
The product, and the company, have exceeded my expectations so far.
Now I just need ice out so I can go fishing!
I can’t decide between a Tenkara set up or a Greys 10 foot 2wt. I do a lot of ‘dry/dropper’ fishing scenarios on Idaho’s small streams. Reach along with easy mending is key. Both would be good. I’ll have to stay tuned to your thoughts once you get your up and running.
I definitely keep posting on what my expirence is…
Here in Nebraska, what few trout streams we have are tiny. Some you can even jump across. I was looking for a rod that gave me more control. I bought a 7.5 foot 3 wt from Cabela’s, but I found that I was quite accurate enough for Verdigre Creek!
Hopefully Tenkara will also provide me fun on my warm water trips with my two year old!
Good to hear about good customer service. Barbra and I gifted ourselves a matching pair of Tenkara’s Iwana poles this past Christmas. We spend our summers in Seward, Alaska, where we live on a sailboat and do a lot of ocean fishing for salmon, halibut, lingcod and rockfish. We also like to hike and fly fish, and that’s where the tenkara gear comes in. There are lots of streams near Seward, and most are populated with rainbow trout, Dolly Varden and Arctic grayling as well as resident juvenile salmon. The minimalist philosophy appeals to us, particularly since we usually have camera gear in tow as well. I used to use this kind of gear in Japan and found it to be an incredibly fun and productive way to catch bluegill and small to medium-sized bass. A one-pound fish will make this light gear creak!
Wow! That’s pretty darn impressive if I do say so myself!!
It’s nice to see good customer service… I was floored by this!
I would be too! I’ll keep them in mind