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Burkheimer quality

5K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  gumshua 
#1 ·
I ordered my first Burkheimer in 2020 and was blown away when I got it. The build quality was basically better than what I expected for the price.

ordered another one in 2021 that was delivered to me yesterday. This time I cannot say that I was very impressed. The blank looked like it had been through a couple of fishing seasons (it has not - the cork is new). The bottom end of the rodtube was hacksawed to the right lenght with the edges left rough and razorsharp and the bottom end cap was not properly fitted. The printing on the tube might be replaced by a sticker with air bubbles (i will not try to find if it is a protective film since the rod will be sent back).

Not sure if this is due to high stress on the production due to the backlog or something else. Has anybody else experienced a major drop in quality?
 
#2 ·
Well, I ordered a trout spey from Kerry himself on March 31, 2021. Never received it. Numerous calls and emails went nowhere. Call it a quality issue or not, my experience is just bad business. Not to mention I lost a ton of respect for the individual.



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#4 ·
I can't speak to this particular issue but customer service is falling everywhere. As the economy slows as natural part of the business cycle watch customer service return as business in general try to win customers. Look at the stockmarket and consumer prices. We are rapidly approaching the return of customer service.
 
#9 ·
I have always had great experiences working with Kerry, but also be aware that shops like the Red Shed and others have Burkies in stock if you do not want to wait. You may not get the customization, but it would ship right away. I started working with Poppy when I ordered new rods from Burkheimer and doing that I was able to get the vintage builds.
 
#13 ·
I had a similar experience. I had contacted Kerry about repairing a broken tip in my trout rod and while it was being repaired to have a new reel seat and hardware to replace the old ones (customize it a bit). My first contact was in April of 2018 (way before the pandemic so that isn't the problem) and I did not get my rod back until October of 2018. In that span I had several e-mails and phone calls that went totally unanswered. When I did get any response it was excuses about being out of town or on vacation or it was ready to be shipped when it wasn't . I understand being busy but customer service and communication are as important as the product or service being offered. I own an auto repair shop and could never think about leaving a customer hanging without answers to their questions or giving a straight answer about a time frame. I love the quality of the rod but I have never fished it for fear of breaking it and having to go through that again. It has been sitting in fly rod purgatory since I got it back 4 years ago.
 
#15 ·
This might sound like the four Yorkshiremen sketch by Monty Python, but: you were lucky.
I waited for my 8128-4 for around 10 months. It was ordered in August 2021. The first time I used it the rod tip snapped off during the cast. This was in June 2022 and I am still waiting for a replacement tip.
 
#14 ·
This is slightly off topic because it’s not customer service related, and for that, I apologize, but I too have had a problem with Burkheimer. I got mine right on time and everything, but did it double my casting distance first time out? It did not. Sure, I gained about 20% right off the bat and now I’m like, 50% better, and yeah, it feels great in hand, looks good and all that, but come on. And was my second one any better? No. It was just like the first! Again with the incremental gains. I will say that the third rod, a saltwater job I bought off someone here, did help me land a tarpon nearly as big as my 12 year old child, so that’s something.
 
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