Allen fly fishing reviews

[jeremymcon]

Has anyone ever noticed that there are *no* critical reviews on any of the products for sale on allenflyfishing.com?

I tried to post a slightly critical review of their compass rod series about 2 or 3 weeks ago now, and it still hasn't been approved! I said that the rod was a little soft for my taste, and might have said something along the lines of "the tip section is a little noodly". I also said in the review that I like Allen fly fishing as a company and would continue to buy from them. And I believe I mentioned how nicely finished the rod was as well. Gave it a 3 star rating overall.

And they never approved the review. I emailed AJ to see why it wasn't approved, but got no response.

If they're seriously censoring critical reviews then I don't think I will be buying from them anymore! I scoured the website, and couldn't find a single review on any product that was anything less than 4 stars, so to me it seems like they've been systematically censoring their reviews!

I really do like a lot of their products. Hooks and beads are a bargain and of good quality. And really the compass rod isn't a bad rod. It's just ok. Could have found one with better action for what they're asking for it. But I don't think I can buy from them anymore if they're going to censor every negative review on their website.

 

[Swattie87]

Not implying that Allen is or is not doing this, but I think this happens to at least some degree across the board with online reviews on a company's OWN website. Busch, but what are you gonna do? You're probably better off searching for independent review materials when researching products online...admittedly, not always easy to find depending on the product.

That being said, the action of a fly rod is a very subjective/personal preference thing, and not necessarily in any way indicative of the quality of the rod. I'm assuming you purchased it online, without casting it correct? If I'm wrong I apologize, but I figured if you casted it first you wouldn't have bought it if it was softer than what you were looking for. In their defense that's not really a fair criticism of their product IMO.

On the other hand I think something like "I purchased this rod online based on it being advertised as a fast action rod, and it had more of a med/fast (or whatever) feel to it when I had it in my hand" would be fair game and of use to a potential customer reading the review.

 

[CathyG]

I wrote a mixed review of an Allen reel pouch and it was never approved. I wrote a second review thinking maybe a technical glitch but it was never approved either.

 

[poopdeck]

The answer is simple. Don't ask for reviews if you don't want personal subjective reviews. Personal and subjective is exactly what every review is even the five star reviews. If they are only going to approve the rave reviews then they should simply do away with the reviews.

They seem to have a good reputation so why tarnish that reputation by leaving one to wonder if the reputation is a result of carefully screened and approved reviews and other comments. I am sure they are very reputable but it does give a certain appearance they probably do not want but never really thought of it in this light. Maybe you should bring it to their attention.

 

[CathyG]

I emailed them. First that the pouch was not as advertised. Then about the review. I never received a response.

I for one often read reviews before a purchase. Whether positive or negative one can gleam useful information.

 

[wbranch]

On another web site I frequent someone started a thread about the Allen reels selling for around $100. I made a comment about how they were probably being made in China because at $100 it would be impossible to have it manufactured in America.

Well someone associated with Allen, I think a rep, saw my post and jumped all over me for insinuating it was a "cheap knockoff". I did say knockoff but never inferred it was cheap nor did I say anything derogatory about it but the guy was still very irate. So I guess maybe they are believers of the old adage "If you can't say anything good about something then don't say anything at all".

 

[JG63]

Same happened to me with a fanny pack I ordered. I even gave it 4 stars but had one nitnoid comment about zipper angle. Never saw the review posted. Hmm

 

[bigslackwater]

Sounds like they should change the name of their reviews to testimonials, if they are only keeping the best reviews.

 

[attackone]

wbranch wrote:
On another web site I frequent someone started a thread about the Allen reels selling for around $100. I made a comment about how they were probably being made in China because at $100 it would be impossible to have it manufactured in America.

Well someone associated with Allen, I think a rep, saw my post and jumped all over me for insinuating it was a "cheap knockoff". I did say knockoff but never inferred it was cheap nor did I say anything derogatory about it but the guy was still very irate. So I guess maybe they are believers of the old adage "If you can't say anything good about something then don't say anything at all".

Sad part is its true

 

[allan_s]

I don't like to give bad reviews but honestly, I don't think their hooks are of quality at all. 2x strong nymph hooks bend easier then normal hooks from other manufacturers, but they are a deal I will give them that. Also, their beads have openings that are much too large and will cover portions of the eye of the hook, but once again they are a great deal.

I have met the guys and looked at their rods and reels at the Somerset Fly Show and they are very helpful and nice. I wish them nothing but the best for their company. And who knows maybe I just got the only couple hundred hooks that were of bad quality, I would try them again but this time in a smaller quantity.

In fact I was more upset at the people on here reviewing them so high then I was at them. Pretty much use the hooks for beginners because I don't care if they get lost lol

Had a few trout bend em straight and they weren't big enough to do that.

 

[Kill3ducks1deer]

Small company can't really show bad reviews, could be detrimental to the business, doesn't mean they won't see them though and take them into consideration, at least that's what we can hope is happening.

 

[dsmith1427]

Unless there are a lot of reviews, I am always skeptical of products that only received high reviews. I am more interested in the content and date of the review than the rating. For example, if there were multiple reviews critical of a feature or highlight recurring defect in 2013 but no negative reviews in 2014 then I know it was corrected. Also, I have seen negative reviews where the company asked the reviewer to contact them to make the problem right which says a lot about customer service. IMO, there is no excuse for not allowing negative reviews unless you are trying to hide something.

Don

 

[Millsertime]

This thread is 2 weeks old. I would think Allen Fly Fishing, a site sponsor, would have replied to this by now. I'm sure they have a legit reason but withouth voicing their reply, I'm starting to think otherwise.

 

[jeremymcon]

They responded to my email the day after I posted this actually. I'm assuming they have seen it. AJ said he doesn't see the reviews, but would look into it, and was interested to hear what my review said about the rod.

 

[jeremymcon]

Ha ha ha so I went back to the compass rod page and posted another "review" just to see what would happen:

5 stars: Best rod ever!

Wooooooo! This is the best fishing rod anyone has ever made ever, and even though it's their cheapest model it is completely flawless and above criticism of any kind! If I could give it 6 stars I would. 7 even. I sure hope this "review" is positive enough for the folks at Allen fly fishing to approve it.



The review was approved! Lol. So I really have no idea who approves their reviews, or what their thought process was when they approved that one, but it's on the compass rod page right now.

 

[BrookieChaser]

That was funny.

 

[krayfish2]

Funny but yet sad that they operate that way. Offer a quality product, believe in it and stand behind it.....you won't have to cherry pick reviews that way. I don't think I'd buy their product due to reviews I've heard from other forum members. Since they don't put up honest reviews, I doubt I'd recommend them to anyone. Just my 0.02

 

[phiendWMD]

I ordered some beads and hooks from them. The size 16 D101's were the same exact size as TMC 100 size 18's. I'm not sure if they sent the wrong size or they are really just that much smaller.
The picture of the beads showed a metallic dark green. The beads I received were matte neon green. While it's not a huge deal to me, I know from shipping and dealing with customers in a previous job I would have had 20 emails a day complaining about such a large difference in color. It's really not hard at all to take a new picture and change it. It takes less time than dealing with an inbox full of emails asking what happened.
Their prices are good but I wasn't really thrilled with the hooks or the beads and will pay a little more for Tiemco's at my local shop like I should have done to begin with.

When I emailed them about it, it took 3 or 4 days to get a reply. IMO emails should be replied to within 24 hours, 48 hours at most. When I finally began a dialogue they were nice and very helpful, but too many things went wrong by then.

 

[jeremymcon]

I never had any issue with them before. Yea, sometimes the hook sizes were a little off, but they're cheap hooks, so I can't complain too much. And whenever I had an issue they were always prompt. Just really irks me that they cherry pick their reviews like that.

Though given that that review slipped by, I wonder who reviews them? I feel like pretty much anyone would catch the sarcasm in my review. Maybe their review approval process is outsourced to China or something?

 

[allenflyfishing]

Hello,

Like to clear the air a bit. We definitely don't Cherry pick reviews. We seldom get a bad review. I have been traveling overseas for the last month and half and have built up over 400+ reviews that have not been looked at yet. Some are automatic, due to filters we use. That is why you don't see the pack review yet on the zipper. That actually helped us. We received that the day we sat down with the factory in China to review the construction of the pack and made the changes for 2016.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to sit down and go over them yet. When we received the Compass review we all thought it was strange and not consistent with our feedback with our pro-staff. So I had AJ look into it. A lot of research goes into any negative issue. For example, was the rod mislabeled or constructed incorrectly.

We were in China and then in Dallas at our warehouse. We casted several 4wt compass rods and the review was not consistent with our test on what was being claimed. A review either good or bad should be worded in a way that would help a consumer make an educational buy. So i had AJ contact him again to semd him another rod to try. I'll have him check his outbox since some areas we were at Google was blocked (including PA Fly Fish). Thus giving the reason you don't see it and my late reply.

With any company, if something bad comes in you don't rush to anything. You look at the problem and dig into the issue if one is there. I grew a company that's customer direct and with a A+++ standard with ethics. I understand some people react different than others, but if you don't see something call me. My personal number is on the site. Any issues could be cleared up in a professional manner to avoid assumptions.

Regarding hooks. Due to phone calls with concerned customers we did pull several model of hooks from the site after we did test them about 6 months ago. Those concerns were corrected and fixed. We have revamped several hooks and moved all production to Korea. I'm confident our hooks stack up to others. This was a direct effect of reviews.

Thank you

Justin