[Paulolisboa]

I live in Portugal. I fish regularly for salmon in Europe and, twice, for steelhead (maily on the Deschutes, but also on the NU and the Rogue, this last one just provide me with half-pounders).

I bought in 2004 and 2005 two of Thomas & Thomas salmon rods, in the UK. Fine rods, I still use one. The other, model DH511-6 pieces, got a problem: a fissure in the second section from the bottom, in the vertical sense, which is getting wider each time I cast it. As a matter of fact, casting for fishing purposes with this rod is just not possible.

Tried Sportfish, UK, from which I bought it. They told me there wasn’t anymore a representative of Thomas & Thomas in the UK. Around that time (2011), I called by phone the Thomas & Thomas office in the USA. The person who talked to me was everything except helpful. I gave up, as I read that Thomas & Thomas was in a seriously difficult financial situation.

Now it seems that, with the help of a new owner, things are much better at Thomas & Thomas. Encouraged, I send them an email regarding the problem with the rod. This time I got a reply from the UK representative, telling me to send them the whole rod to their USA address, which I did (enclosing the warranty card).

I hope this time things will be different and I get back the rod repaired under the warranty. If that happens, I will be glad to post a positive review on the quality of Thomas & Thomas after sales service.

 

[sinktip]

Sadly I have had to use their warranty service twice. They were top notch both times.

 

[flytyercurt]

I have had them repair 2 rods not under warranty. both times I had a whole section replaced. they only charged $100.00 per repair on discontinued rods. that is only $50 more than warranty from other rod companies. They were very understanding and timely. outstanding!!!

 

[TheSwingingFly]

The new owner seems to be extremely dedicated, spoke with him on the phone yesterday as a matter of fact. I sent in a rod I bought a while back to have my name put on it, their XD series of two handers are incredible rods.

He has made some changes and some people that were with the company no longer are, including the guy that would have typically handled all the customer service stuff when you called before.

I would be willing to bet you are taken care of in a manner that pleases you.

 

[flytyer]

I've had a T&T 1611-3 since 1997. Had to send it back once when the top section broke clean (it looked like someone had cut it in two with a triangular file) 6" above the ferrule when it was being cast with yarn on the end of the leader. T&T replaced the top section with the then new double helix version and even put the same serial number on it the rod came with. I had the rod back in less than a month without charge since it was a flaw in the graphite cloth that caused the break.

 

[ajransom]

Itinerant angler podcast

There is a really interesting interview with the new owner (well, not that new anymore) on the Itinerant Angler podcast from about a year ago.

Seems like a cool guy.

 

[Guest]

I think you're you're referring to a previous owner. The new owner took over just this past summer.

 

[ajransom]

I think you're you're referring to a previous owner. The new owner took over just this past summer.

Yeah, my mistake.

 

[Wilf]

T&T Service

I would hope the new owner is better on service. A few years ago I sent in a rod for repair along with a certified cheque for return postage. After about a month the rod arrived still broken, along with my cheque, and no explanation. Several e-mails failed to prompt a response or acknowledgement from T&T. Since then I have discouraged people from buying T&T rods.

 

[Cado]

Tooks a long Time...

...when I had to send my DNA XF #7 in. It brokes two times in the second part of the bottem when I hooked my first salmon this year. Got a hot hand to land the fish with just 4 feet of fishing rod, but thats an other story. When I came back home I gave it to my dealer immediatley. I heard nothing about it after 2 months, so I dicided to give my dealer a call. He said he hasn´t heard anything about it but he he wants to try to get some info. No call-back within the next 14 days. I started to get frustraded, and called the dealer again. Only bad excuses but nothinh serios. So I called T&T directly and against the statement of my dealer I got somebody on the phone after just 5 seconds. I tryed to explain my problem but didn´t got a response either. I was really frustrated now. A couple of days later I got a call from the dealer and he promised me that I´ll get my rod back within a week. 10 days later I finally got my rod back. I didn´t have to pay anything, so I thing it was some kind of material fault.
I love that rod even when I have to wait more than 3 months to get it back. Maybe the problem ist that it hasn´t been shipped from the dealer immediatley.
Maybe the shipping from Germany to the US takes a long long time.

 

[sevilla315]

Never owned a T&T but I did fish Winstons for nearly 20 years. I had cause to send in 2 rods in that time from the UK and on both occasions they were back to me inside 6 weeks, which included sending over, and 2 weeks of travel and sitting in customs on the way back. I've gotten rods and reels to Canada inside a week and even inside 5 days.
Most likely delays are due to 1) dealer "batching up" returns for repairs, and 2) politics/apathy during the latest Company sale
You probably should have paid an "admin fee" for processing the warranty repair but since you were screwed around so much they/dealer probably decided to waive it. If you sent the rod directly to T&T yourself, you'd be liable for shipping to/from the US and Germany, but not the repair (assuming it was a dealer purchase).

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Cado]

Yes Steve,"batching up" could be the problem, even when the dealer prommissed me that he had shipped the rod just a few days after I gave it to him. I can´t check that afterwards, but it explaims the pretty surprised reaction of the T&T guy when I told him that I didn´t hear something about the rod for 2 months. Just wondering why I didn´t got any response from T&T.
Btw. T&T did a very nice job on the rod.

regads,
Carsen

 

[Paulolisboa]

Got my rod back two days ago. The damaged section was replaced by a new one. Unfortunately I shall only cast it in three months time. Neverthless I have to say that, after a few difficult years, things seem much improved regarding T&T.

 

[swiftcurrent]

T&t

I had the misfortune of breaking 6" off the tip of my older DH 1409 3pcs, two years ago. It was at the end of the season, it was sent off. Took a few months, but they sent it back with a brand new rolled top section with matching serial number. Cost me $70. My dealer says that T&T will produce a section based on your original rod and not fit a current formulated price to the rod, thus keeping the original rod action. I'm not sure if this is accurate, but it seemed so with my 3pcs. I couldn't notice a difference when casting anyway.

 

[FKrow]

Yes, that is accurate for T&T repairs. They have a very large inventory of spare rod sections for discontinued rods,,,,, if it is not in stock, they have records of the serial number, graphite used in the original rod and mandrel taper. T&T may require a bit longer time however, they will custom make an exact match for the original rod design.

The new owner is very aware of past problems and is dedicated to customer service and follow up.

Regards
FK

 

[GOTY]

Not exactly a warranty repair, but I just ordered a DNA Switch and was amazed. Got a call on my cell from the rod builder himself, and he apologized for having to rebuild the rod. There was a small blemish on it and he didn't want to send out anything but a flawless rod. They ended up expediting shipping to get it to me in time for the weekend.

A+ in my book.