All Star Rod service SUCKS! 2024

Redlinerobert reply :

I hope none of you guys are sponsored by All Star. I can not believe how RUDE they are. I called them to see what their warranty replacement service requires. They need proof of purchase for the rod. OK. So I call Bass Pro to get a record of my rod purchase. They unfortunately only go back one year with their records.

I put in another call to All Star. I finally get a lady on the phone, explain what happened to my rod, and she says the same thing, unless they have a receipt or warranty card, they can not do anything. GREAT! I did send in the the warranty card and ask her to research it. She comes back and tells me that she could not find it. I tell her I am confused, I know for a FACT that I sent it in.

At this point, I am a little confused. I mention to her that I know that I sent in the warranty card, and that I sent in two rods to G Loomis and in 3 days I had new rods back. She obviously didn't like that and told me "We aren't G Loomis". She then hung up on me!

Great customer service All Star....... >

Raul reply :

That 's what happens when a monster company absorbs the little company and put their hands in the management of the little company. Shakespeare took over All-Star a couple of years ago. Fortunately Shimano was a lot smarter when it took over GLoomis, they left GLoomis as it was.

HomersTomaco reply :

Geez. I have all star rods I hope they dont break.

How did you break three rods though.

roadwarrior reply :

Well, let's look at the bright side:

Now you have a good reason to buy a couple of new Loomis!

Redlinerobert reply :

The rod broke when I set the hook on a 16 lb peacock. You're right RW. Off to the rod shop later

guest reply :

Happy Holidays!

Raul,

Quote
Fortunately Shimano was a lot smarter when it took over GLoomis, they left GLoomis as it was.

Not quite Raul, That was when the expeditor system was installed. All through the 90's when I was building on the actual G-Loomis blank, whenever you had a failure you sent it in and they would x ray it. Now you have a no questions asked warranty, believe me that wasn't Gary Loomis' idea.

Tight Lines!!!

justfishin reply :

I am a All Star fan and have been for a long time. Unforturnatly what Raul said is true. I would forget the phone contact and write a letter online to them and explain how you were treated and I would bet that you get some satisfaction. I always praised the service I got from them. I broke a rod about 5 years ago and the warr. was way over and they sent me a new one. I have not had to deal with them since the turnover but, after listening to your story, I am not looking forward to it. Beside all that, I would bet that those Peacocks that you were fishing for eat rods for breakfast, no matter what brand.

justfishin reply :

RoadWarrior,

I am here to admit I have never owned a G.L. I am starting to feel really inferior here, lol. Give me some good reasons to buy one or two and I will. Sell me. I see a lot of you use them in here so, there has to be some good reasons. I like All Star and Gator and certainly could not afford to replace all of my client rods with GL but, I am willing to get on board for personal use if you can convince me. I am attempting to go on a rod building journey soon to avoid off the rack rods because I am so particular. I want to build my ultimate smallie rod that fits my specs as I cannot find one.

6'6"

60 million modulus

8-15 lb line

1/8-1/2 lure wt

Titanium line guides ( one leg style )

carbon wrapped butt section

Extra Fast

Tenn handle, spinning

carySE406 reply :

That "free" tackle bag with purchase of an All-Star Rod deal is a joke. The coupon said 8-10 weeks and it has been 13 or 14 weeks and I have heard nothing. It's too bad that I like their rods too much to start bashing them.

Redlinerobert reply :

I like their rods too, don't get me wrong, but when you can spend an EQUAL amount on a rod with a different manufacturer and get a new rod if it breaks, then THAT is where I will be spending my money from now on.

cart7t reply :

Quote

I am here to admit I have never owned a G.L. I am starting to feel really inferior here, lol. Give me some good reasons to buy one or two and I will. Sell me.

Here's what you here alot from the Loomis owners:

"The rod broke setting the hook on a fish but I got a new one in less than a week when I got home."

...............and over and over.

Ultra sensitivity doens't mean much if the rod has no guts to put the metal to the mouth. So, in this scenario, you buy a few Loomis rods with Chronarch's on them. (Would you put a 4 cylinder in a Mustang GT?) You've got about 3 rigs total because that's all you can afford at over $500 per combo. On day 1 of your 3 day fishing trip, you set the hook with your uber sensitive, Loomis, Med/Hvy worm rod and KAPOW!! Your premium, ultra sensitive worm rod snaps and is now useless for the rest of the trip. Likely, you'll reach for your 1/3 the cost backup and spend the rest of the trip catching fish like always. (unless of course you had to sell the backups to pay for the Loomis/Chronarch combos)

Then you'll come home, ship off uber rod, get a new one in less than a week and then come here and brag about how great Loomis's warranty is. Everyone will then relate how their Loomis rods also broke when setting the hook on a fish but how fast and wonderfull the Loomis people are in exchanging them. ;D

Rose_Jackets67 reply :

Interesting. I've never dealt with All Stars customer service, and this makes me a little worried - all of my 'Nice' rods are either Falcon Caras (x3) or All Star Team All Star-series (x2).

I've never had to warranty a rod with either company, but I did break one of my Falcon Tackle Organizers. Called them up about it, and the fella that helped said "I'll send you a new one. Don't worry about the busted one, just trash it." Big plus for Falcon in my book.

Here's to hoping my 1-piece All Stars stay that way

Adam

Redlinerobert reply :

Don't count on it Adam.

I wish I could say differently, but honestly the rudeness of the customer service lady from All Star was without merit. She LITERALLY hung up on me after telling me and I quote "Sorry we aren't Loomis".

I will NEVER buy another All Star rod again.

roadwarrior reply :

cart7,

I have never heard of ANYONE breaking a G.Loomis on a hookset, NEVER...Now maybe someone is going to say that happened to them, but I suspect there are some other circumstances or events that caused rod failure. At any rate, I suspect more than 99.999% of returns result from "accidents."

flechero reply :

Quote
I have never heard of ANYONE breaking a G.Loomis on a hookset

Happens all the time to rods that are already damaged, nicked, etc. but it's all brands... It's just that people think "not my rod, it's been babied since it was new, must be a defect" Another reason I hate hook keepers, they promote this minor damage which ends up contributing to a failure.

A true defect would have most likely broken on the first hard hookset, or snag.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I won't take sides but I will say this... I've never heard of problems with All Star cust svc., and have had rods warranted in the past. I also know that if I was the cust svc rep and you said loomis this and loomis that I would have probably hung up on you too. ...lol You should lead with kindness... and your post leads me to think you got defensive or sarcastic pretty quick. Seriously, you should take 5 minutes and write a letter stating the facts... All Star is normally a great group of people. How do I know this? I know several of them.

Which model was it & how old was the rod?

senile1 reply :

Quote
Don't count on it Adam.
I wish I could say differently, but honestly the rudeness of the customer service lady from All Star was without merit. She LITERALLY hung up on me after telling me and I quote "Sorry we aren't Loomis".

I will NEVER buy another All Star rod again.

I can understand your frustration, but I wouldn't allow one rude moron to ruin my view of a whole company. Any rod company large enough to sell quite a few rods is going to have a jerk . . . or two . . . or three. It's the human condition. Go over her head. Write a letter as others have suggested. If you are still getting the brush-off treatment, then I would consider not doing business with All Star. From my experience, and from what I have heard from others, this is not a common occurrence.

KU_Bassmaster. reply :

I had a similar experience last year. My issue was eventually resolved, it just took some time.

I had the insert of my tip top guide fall out of my TAS. I called the customer service number and explained that I wanted a tip top guide sent to me and I would replace it myself. The response I got from the idiot on the other line was send it in. Then I tried to explain to him that all I needed was the tip top guide and I didn't want to pay the $20+ to ship it plus the $30 bench fee (or whatever it is) for the part the can't cost more than a couple dollars. Still he insisted I send it in. I got sick of dealing with so I hung up and called again to try to get somebody else. Same guy. Hung up called back a few hours later .... still him. This time I disguised my voice and still got the send it in response. I posted my experience on here and somebody on here (don't remember who) gave me an email address of competent lady. She took care of it.

Sometimes it takes a little trying, but usually you can get a hold of the right person who will take care of you. I will try to find that old post and that email addy.

dodgeguy reply :

that was me that gave you the address.

mailto:service@allstarrods.com

i'm going to post a link to this thread in an email and send it to them to see if they will help.i suggest you email them also.i forgot the woman's name.

dodgeguy reply :

here's a copy of the email i just sent.

dear all star,

one of our forum members has had a bad experience with your warranty department over the phone.here is a link to the thread on our forum.as a reputable company who has always been fair with me i hope you can help him.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1166043239/0

sincerely,

john c. bernardo

KU_Bassmaster. reply :

There ya go. Thanks again. There was also something wierd with the email. Like it wasn't the one listed on the website or rod or something like that. The one you provided was the right one.

I was doing some digging and couldn't find it. :-?

TournyFish001 reply :

my dad has quite the collection of Loomis rods- bass fishes all the time and is a hook setting freak- he uses his bass Loomis rods for steelhead drift fishing- and sets the hooks on them like they are muskie- never broke a rod on a hookset-

justfishin reply :

Redlinerobert,

My friend whom works for the FLW is in N. Carolina fishing now but, he called me this morning to give a update and I explained to him your plight with All Star. He is going to call the regional rep. ( we live in Maryland ) and give him a run down. I have a feeling that your issue will be resolved. Not because of me stirring up a rep. but, because I don't think they will want this type of PR on the net. Good luck.

Redlinerobert reply :

Jim,

Thanks very much. It's individuals like yourself and others on this board that make me proud to be a member. OK maybe even Avid. ;D

If they take care of this issue for me, I would be very appreciative. I jus think it's wrong to have to go through so much trouble to get a rod replaced DURING the warranty period!

The Loomis rods that broke on the trip were banged up on the boat. I would not be surprised if they had some nicks on them and thus aided in their failure. It is nice to know that in future situations I can USE the rods as they were intended to be used and not have to worry about if they get banged up or broken - Loomis will more than likely replace them. I take very good care of my equipment, but come on guys - they are tools and tools get used.

Siebert Outdoors reply :

Quote
they are tools and tools get used.

Exactly!

With high performance comes high maitenance.

A single shot gun cost about 100 bucks and yeah it shoots

but a good simi costs about 1K and shoots 3 times fast and looks good. Also will probably break before the 100 dollar gun. Same with fishing rods, vehicles, etc.

Tools are ment to be used

guest reply :

Happy Holidays!

Redlinerobert,

While I hope the issues get cleared up in a timely manor.

Quote
At this point, I am a little confused. I mention to her that I know that I sent in the warranty card, and that I sent in two rods to G Loomis and in 3 days I had new rods back. She obviously didn't like that and told me "We aren't G Loomis". She then hung up on me!

Dropping another companies name to a competition manufacturers CS Rep in a comparatively taunting way will never get you a positive response.

Quote
It is nice to know that in future situations I can USE the rods as they were intended to be used and not have to worry about if they get banged up or broken - Loomis will more than likely replace them. I take very good care of my equipment, but come on guys - they are tools and tools get used.

Just gotta agree with that they are tools, but even tools get miss-used not just miss-treated.

Tight Lines All!!!

Redlinerobert reply :

I hear you ReelMech,

However I in no way made it as a taunt. I suppose she could have taken it that way and simply ran with it.

jdw174 reply :

At one time some years back, I was doing some "repping" for AllStar in western Pa. I purchased several rods that I still use today...with one exception. I snapped a Stanley Jig SJ2 model clean in half on a hookset. Now this was in the days when they were SUPPOSED to have a good warranty one them. When i called the company I was told that they'd replace it for $50! > The only one I'd consider replacing with another is my Zell Rowland TWS. One of the best rods I've ever used for topwater and small cb's.

FishTank reply :

I too had a bad time with All Star rods' service. I had a rod break when I was reeling a fish in last year, I tried to reach their customer service and all I got was a run around. I sent the warranty card in and even had my receipt. The rod was less than one year old when this happend. As luck would have it, the store where I purchased it took it back and gave me a full refund. No harm done.

The rod did work well all season long.

This was the first rod I ever tried to exchange via a warranty. I had heard how good their customer service was over the years but based on my experience I will probably not buy from them again.

Ky_Lake_Dude reply :

I love their rods but I agree their service sucks.

hi_steel_basser reply :

Myself, the only Shakespeare product I havent had a problem with is the ugly stick. My Team All Star flippin rod lost guide liners in the middle of a row of docks during a club tourney on Logan Martin, and the only Pflueger reel I will ever own threw its gears out the first time I relly tried to fish with it. That reel was and will remain the last Shakespeare product that I ever buy, and if I can talk others out of their junk, I will. My mind cannot be changed on this. They are the worst fishing product on the market. > > >

Redlinerobert reply :

You can have the BEST rods or product in the business. If you have poor customer service, word will get around and your business will SUFFER because of it. If you can't keep your current clients happy, bad rep will eventually be the demise of your business.

I feel badly for All Star, I am obviously not the only one that has had negative dealings with them.

HomersTomaco reply :

its a shame that shakespeare as a big company is like this. All star used to make good stuff, but I doubt I will ever buy anything with there name on it again because I can get comperable stuff with good support and warranties. I don't like anything this company deals with, all they do is make stuff cheap and crap, like ugly stick, pflueger, and now all star.

guest reply :

Allstar schmallstar

There are way too many good rod companies that sell quality rods in the Allstar price range who know how to treat customers.

I would dump them faster than yesterdays newspaper.

As for GLoomis rods breaking on the hookset, this is the famous " I can't tell them that I closed the car door on my rod so I'll tell them this instead" Of course I'm sure that it has happened, but my response to that would be, "set the drag dummy"

Anyway, Loomis can be criticized for not having "cutting edge" design, like split grips.

But you'll never win the argument that they don't build quality rods.

And as for C.S.??? FUGGEDABOUDIT

flechero reply :

Quote
I don't like anything this company deals with, all they do is make stuff cheap and crap

That's just not true... I guess you think fuji guides and reel seats suck also?

To everyone: there have been 4 people who had bad experiences with All Star post... out of over 7000, if anyone believes this to be a widespread problem, I would like to live in your sheltered world!! Especially when a couple of the complaints are from abuse or guide inserts falling out (which usually takes a good smack or stepping on). ...lol And no one actually claimed that the warranty period was still in effect, except redlinerobert. And I hope his is resolved quickly.

If you are only concerned with a warranty, why would you buy a rod without a lifetime warranty? It makes no sense... you spend under $100 and then cry and whine that you don't get G. Loomis type service. The funny thing is that we have had threads that bashed Loomis and St.Croix customer service in the past as well. So like those, I will dismiss this one since the current tally is that .00057% (4 of 7000) of the membership now thinks (and not even all 4 complaints are legitimate, IMO) that All Star's customer service sucks.

Lets all grow up and accept our own actions. If you bought a rod with a timed warranty and you break it through abuse after the time expires, don't cry about a replacement, open you wallet and shell out a few bucks. If I have offended you with this post, buy something with a better warranty and quit crying. ;D

Bud reply :

Quote
Myself, the only Shakespeare product I havent had a problem with is the ugly stick. My Team All Star flippin rod lost guide liners in the middle of a row of docks during a club tourney on Logan Martin, and the only Pflueger reel I will ever own threw its gears out the first time I relly tried to fish with it. That reel was and will remain the last Shakespeare product that I ever buy, and if I can talk others out of their junk, I will. My mind cannot be changed on this. They are the worst fishing product on the market.

Quote
its a shame that shakespeare as a big company is like this. All star used to make good stuff, but I doubt I will ever buy anything with there name on it again because I can get comperable stuff with good support and warranties. I don't like anything this company deals with, all they do is make stuff cheap and crap, like ugly stick, pflueger, and now all star

THis is a little off topic but it looks to me like we have a few new members to the Loomis & SHIMANO club

guest reply :

Happy Holidays!

flechero,

Well said......

Quote
Quote from Tom Kirkman...
I'm not sure that a no questions asked replacement policy means anything more than that you're dealing with a rod that isn't very expensive to build, has had the price jacked up to include several free replacements, or employs a design that makes the rod very durable at the cost of being far less efficient.

Most all the rod companies have very good warranties if you're dealing with actual defects. When companies start offering to replace any rod due to any breakage - watch out. There is no free lunch - such a warranty comes at some price, either in cost, design or performance.

Tight Lines!!!

roadwarrior reply :

In my mind, "value" is determined by the "total package." There are several manufactures that build quality rods, I fish rods from four different companies and I respect the opinions of our members that sing the praises of other brands that they fish. Regardless of the specific legal warranty statements, several companies "effectively" have similar programs. Yet, one company stands above the rest and that company is G. Loomis.

The Loomis warranty is straight forward, user friendly and simple. For the all-in cost of $50, you receive immediate replacement, for any reason, NO QUESTIONS ASKED. You start off with a well designed and engineered piece of equipment incorporating high quality, time tested components. The rods perform through the years as well as they did when they were new. If you encounter a problem, you have a solution.

For me, it's all about customer service. G.Loomis has the best that I have every dealt with from any company manufacturing or selling any product. (Although I feel both Cabela's and BPS are close seconds.) For my money, this level of service makes the "total package" the "best value" in fishing equipment.

flechero reply :

Thanks Reelmech!

Roadwarrior,

I also think Loomis has the best warranty... consider that the price of their rods have increased less than the rate of inflation over the past 10+ years, and before the expeditor was implemented. SO they have either cut their profits to cover it or come up with efficiencies in manufacturing to free up dollars.... either way it's a WIN-WIN since we don't pay more and they obviously still make enough profit to continue.

Long live G. Loomis! ...lol

I still think All Star makes great rods... but I buy them for the rods, not the warranty.

dodgeguy reply :

Quote

Quote
I don't like anything this company deals with, all they do is make stuff cheap and crap

That's just not true... I guess you think fuji guides and reel seats suck also?

To everyone: there have been 4 people who had bad experiences with All Star post... out of over 7000, if anyone believes this to be a widespread problem, I would like to live in your sheltered world!! Especially when a couple of the complaints are from abuse or guide inserts falling out (which usually takes a good smack or stepping on). ...lol And no one actually claimed that the warranty period was still in effect, except redlinerobert. And I hope his is resolved quickly.

If you are only concerned with a warranty, why would you buy a rod without a lifetime warranty? It makes no sense... you spend under $100 and then cry and whine that you don't get G. Loomis type service. The funny thing is that we have had threads that bashed Loomis and St.Croix customer service in the past as well. So like those, I will dismiss this one since the current tally is that .00057% (4 of 7000) of the membership now thinks (and not even all 4 complaints are legitimate, IMO) that All Star's customer service sucks.

Lets all grow up and accept our own actions. If you bought a rod with a timed warranty and you break it through abuse after the time expires, don't cry about a replacement, open you wallet and shell out a few bucks. If I have offended you with this post, buy something with a better warranty and quit crying. ;D

AMEN TO THAT!!!

Siebert Outdoors reply :

Quote
If you are only concerned with a warranty, why would you buy a rod without a lifetime warranty? It makes no sense... you spend under $100 and then cry and whine that you don't get G. Loomis type service. The funny thing is that we have had threads that bashed Loomis and St.Croix customer service in the past as well. So like those, I will dismiss this one since the current tally is that .00057% (4 of 7000) of the membership now thinks (and not even all 4 complaints are legitimate, IMO) that All Star's customer service sucks.
Lets all grow up and accept our own actions. If you bought a rod with a timed warranty and you break it through abuse after the time expires, don't cry about a replacement, open you wallet and shell out a few bucks. If I have offended you with this post, buy something with a better warranty and quit crying.

Great post Fletchero. One of the best I have seen in a long time. Stating the truth always hurts, but sometimes it needs to be done. Goes back to the saying most of the time you get what you pay for.

and Roadwarriors post

Quote
For my money, this level of service makes the "total package" the "best value" in fishing equipment.

You get a clap smilie for that too.

IMO I would rather pay an extra $100 at the time of the purchase then down the road buying another rod for 150 and so on. Warranty and good CS makes my mind up most of the time

Siebert Outdoors reply :

On a side note, I will be the first to admit. I have broke a total of 5 loomis rods I believe. How many were their falt. Maybe one. The others I broke not paying attention. Yes, I bucked up and paid for the repairs of each except 1.

FishTank reply :

Not to stir the stuff but here is the link for the All Star warranty. Please read it for yourself.

http://www.allstarrods.com/rod_warranty.htm

Phone: (800) 347-3759

Email: service@allstarrods.com

I did like my rod from them but again the service was not what I had hoped. I bought their rod not for the warranty but to fish with. The warranty was a bonus, however useless. Just in case the rod I owned cracked near the reel seat while I was pulling in a large 20LB+ catfish. I explained what happened to an All Star CSR and he was just plain rude, defensive and hard to deal with :'( :'( :'(. If he had said sorry, your rod broke because of abuse that would have been OK. I would have been off to the tackle store to buy the exact rod again. But instead, he said I should have known better than to fish with that rod for catfish. (Tell that to the fish). He then said something about the warranty being more of a liability statement. At that point, I had enough. It was nothing but a waste of time. I was able to return the rod from where I purchased it and invest my money in a Loomis.

I do beleive that warranties on rods help inflate price. IMHO, warranties/service go hand in hand with reputation and a good reputation can be won or lost based on how a customer is treated (no matter what the circumstances).

JT Bagwell reply :

Quote
I hope none of you guys are sponsored by All Star. I can not believe how RUDE they are. I called them to see what their warranty replacement service requires. They need proof of purchase for the rod. OK. So I call Bass Pro to get a record of my rod purchase. They unfortunately only go back one year with their records.
I put in another call to All Star. I finally get a lady on the phone, explain what happened to my rod, and she says the same thing, unless they have a receipt or warranty card, they can not do anything. GREAT! I did send in the the warranty card and ask her to research it. She comes back and tells me that she could not find it. I tell her I am confused, I know for a FACT that I sent it in.

At this point, I am a little confused. I mention to her that I know that I sent in the warranty card, and that I sent in two rods to G Loomis and in 3 days I had new rods back. She obviously didn't like that and told me "We aren't G Loomis". She then hung up on me!

Great customer service All Star....... >

Robert,

I am not going to jump in on the All Star vs. Loomis debate that appears to

be building here, but I will say that I have had nothing but positive results from

all of the All Star rods that I have owned. And believe me, I own and have

owned a lot of them from the various product lines. I have also never had a bad

experience with any employee from Shakespeare.

With that being said, send me a PM with all of your information (name, address, model #

that you broke, etc) and I will "attempt" to help you out. I know a few people there and

have worked with the company to increase brand/name recognition for close to 4 years now.

I will not promise anything more than me trying to help resolve the issue.

Take Care and don't give up on All Star rods simply because of

a single negative experience.

JT Bagwell

Redlinerobert reply :

JT,

Thanks for the response. I just don't understand why I have to go through so much grief to get a rod replaced DURING the warranty period. From other posts I am not alone on this matter. All I want is the rod replaced. I'm not looking for anything else.

I sent you a pm with my information. Please feel free to call me at your convenience.

castaway reply :

I couldn't figure why I never had a broken warranty rod. With the exception of a Castaway rod that was my fault, I never had one break before.It was my fault so I didn't send it in. They probably would send me a new one in return,but I can't ask them to do that, it was my fault.I realize I am a lucky person after all, even though I can't hit the lottery. No lottery winning= no new arsenal of Loomis rods & Shimano reels. :'( life is still good.I still get out and fish alot. Ivan

guest reply :

I was a call center supervisor for a number of years in the debt collection industry.

You can imagine how many irate calls we received on any given day.

Our reps were trained, and we enforced a policy that prohibited rudeness, raised voice, and under no circustances was anyone permitted to hang up on a person, unless they were ranting uncontrollably, refusing to accept our attempt to resolve the dispute, or became profane or otherwise unacceptably vulgar. Even in the most extreme circustances the rep was required to inform the person that "I am going to end this call now Mr. Jones" or similar statement of intent to hang up.

The kind of treatment redline robert and others described is not acceptable.

If that happened to me, I too would never deal with that company again.

It's not like their the only game in town right?

Redlinerobert reply :

Exactly Avid. I was never rude, never raised my voice, just stated the facts about what happened. She decided that she no longer wanted to deal with me, so she hung up. Employees like that can wreck havoc on a business.

2674

All Star Rod service SUCKS! 2024

related Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic

previous topic

next topic

most viewed Fishing Rods Reels Line Knots topic