Broke the top section of my Fario 9' #5 at 1830 on Wednesday.
E-mailed Gudeline at 0900 yesterday morning.
Lawrie Hickman called 5 mins later and suggested a dealer to replace the section under Guideline's Express warranty.
Called the dealer and the job was done in 5 mins flat.
Picked up the rod section from the post office at 1030 this morning.

Shattered to over the moon in 40 hours flat.

Well done , and many thanks , to Lawrie at Guideline and to Stuart and Vicky Hooley at Fly Only in Huddersfield.

I found Flyonly a few months ago,they can't do enough for you, no hard sell and always seem to have time for a chat..

iline?

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www.paypalsucks.com

May I ask if you had to pay some cash as well under the warranty......50 quid or so?

The hidden GUIDELINE’s
Having been an avid follower of distinguished fly fishing venues all over Scotland my faith in the sport was brought under serious scrutiny, it all started with poor customer service and hidden agendas to manipulate the consumer, The problem lies with the fine detail and conditions you buy rods, on a recent exercise and promoting the sport to wannabe potential customers my precious rod was accidentally damaged, no problem I thought as I bought it with an unconditional guarantee, or so I was told as it transpired we only buy 12 months warranty and we are held liable for the post and package, not too bad you say me neither, for that matter, however the post and package cost £40.00 now that’s steep and some other well-known brands are a lot more.
I can post anywhere in the UK up to 2.5KG for £8.75 City link pick – up and deliver ( brilliant)
So here we are what do we do next I contacted the manufacturer at the top of the tree, every single director in Sweden and the MD STEIN THORVALDSEN.
What happened next left me a little dumb founded, the first point of contact came from the guys where I bought the rod, GAC Glasgow as a direct result from Guideline sales team, The director Paul was very apologetic, As I explained to him not his problem as I believe and still believe the problems lies with Guideline fishing handling cost.
As a result, I really despise poor service and did what a lot of us should do and binned every single rod I bought over 7 years from that manufacturer. 22 to be exact.
A few more weeks goes buy, I made a few contacts to other potential not so recognised brands and decided to go with Michael Evans own brand, Well respected knows what he likes and does whatever he can to keep the sport alive, this guy sings from the same song book as me, I explained my dilemma, he offered 2 rods for the price of one and an unconditional guarantee no questions, He went one stage further he offered to repair or replace a rod for one of my client group, who bought the rod 8 years ago free of charge,
Now that’s customer service.
In the interim Laurie( UK Sales Guy) from Guideline is on the phone 3 weeks later says he would like to offer a solution to the issue, I explain I have no more of his product and as a jester of good will, why doesn’t he offer me a pair of match rods, A reasonable offer, returning my faith in the product the brand and the service.
The response I will come back to you on Monday. Monday came and went, Tuesday the same and so on ect ect ect. STILL WAITING. As it transpired the ability to resolve situations and keep customers, is way down the GRAVY line not the GUIDELINE, you may be big but no matter how big you are you are only as good as your customer allow it.
So my fellow compatriots as a very well know man once said ( when you are behind a great cause it’s good to know that you’re not alone)


If you want to allow bigger companies to rip the back side out of us, then you have to deal with all of us, no matter who they are, where they come from, or how much money they earn. We have a democratic wright to have the final say on how we should be treated; Sometimes you need to bend to keep us happy and it’s not the cost of throwing away your product I can always replenish that.
The big question lies with what do you do next to keep us your loyal and faithful followers and the users and repeat users of your product, because the guys in Sweden are obviously struggling in this field.
So before you go out and buy that rod above all rods read The GUIDELINE’s don’t buy until you get that guarantee because without sales someone else is always willing to pick up the olive branch.
Over the years I have wrote many reviews and recommendations maybe it’s about time I revisited going that little bit deeper clearing the surface of fancy paint work and getting to the nitty gritty behind the brand you decide…and name and SHAME you know who’s???

Steven Mackin

Welcome to the forum Steve - don't be shy mind, say what you think!

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Help fund the WTT study of the Softmouth

Fly only is an excellent shop and the lady is most friendly , however my recent experiences have been that the small yappy dog is far more pleasant to deal with than the male half of the couple.....

Andy

as always bud, you know some time we need to stand up and be counted, how many do you think will do it

Also had a great experience with Vicky from fly only who I got in touch trough mr. Rickard Malm in Sweeden. It took couple of weeks to get my replacement section, but I couldnt foult the comunication with fly only during that time. paid only £11.99 for postage. strange though as I am in Irl. that they put me onto Uk dealer and sent the section via Uk. all in all I am one happy customer...