So there is a bit of a scandal going down with Vosseler reels in the United Kingdom. It seems that Vosseler have decided to pull a fast one on the UK supplier –
In the mans own words
I was given absolutely no notice that we were being dropped as agents. Vosseler demoted us to “dealer status” but promised to supply us with our outstanding orders. Two days later we were advised that we were no longer allowed to use a copy of the Vosseler site due to Copyright infringement. (Deliberately inflammatory and designed to make us “Snap”. We didn’t.
And because we didn’t, the next day we received an Email saying all orders were cancelled and we were now out. (we weren’t surprised, Ralf Vosseler had lied to me many times in the past and we had two longstanding Sweepstakes in the office. The First was how late each order was going to be and the second was which machine he would blame for it “this” time). We knew he had no intetion of supplying our outstanding orders or selling to us as a “dealer”.
In all Honesty, I really don’t mind losing the account. It was NOTHING but trouble. His manufacturing processes and stocking policies are fundamentally flawed, he never held stock, and was always waiting for “something”. We were expected to hold stock so he didn’t have to. We had to pay for and hold his buffer. We were expected to pay in advance, before delivery (so he could screw us at any time) and yet expected to give our customers up to a a month to pay so we were effectively funding his growth. And virtually *every* order was late! Sometimes 7 months late!
It’s HOW we lost the account that is irritating. He still owes us £30,980 that we spent on his behalf on growing his business. I gave him the offer of paying us this and in return we’d sell the reels we have at full RRP. He not only ignored this offer but Emailed all of my customers stating I was trying to Blackmail him, which My customers kindly passed on to me. I even Emailed his other distributors to apologise for being forced into dumping our reels.
He no doubt has someone else in the wings. We’ve done the hard work and now they can “reap” the rewards. Unfortunately, they may well be on a road to nowhere due to us having £75K to dump. Would you take on an account?
We were also working with several well known companies in the UK supplying a range of reels in their name. In taking away our distribution he has also screwed those companies too.
I have documentary proof of all of the above which might yet end up on the web sites we have that are Vosseler based.
The agent has decided to place all his stock onto eBay to try and recoup some of his losses. I own a Vosseler reel and to be honest the only reason I bought it was because of the amount of publicity that the agent put out in the UK. If it had not been for his various postings on forums I doubt they would even be a name that you would have heard of in the UK. As it is they are lovely reels and I would recommend them to anyone – they are well made and certainly a bargain when they do turn up on eBay.
The only problem beeing of course that people in the UK now no longer have a point of contact for after sales service – so there are pros and cons to weigh up!
Other places to check out
Fly Fishing Forum Thread – Where it all kicked off !!
www.Vosselerreels.com
www.vosselerreels.co.uk
www.Vosseler-reels.co.uk
www.pro-flyfishing.co.uk
www.Vosseler-proflyfishing.com
www.vosseler-proflyfishing.co.uk
edit:mind it will be around the 14th feb the reels will be on ebay !
[tags]Vosseler, fly reel [/tags]
This sounds like the stories I’ve heard from our local old time fishing celebrity, Steve Parton.
When you read through his catalogue, you can pick up on the legacy of his run-in(s) with overseas manufacturers, and issues that he and others have had with distributor contracts (http://www.spartonfly.dial.pipex.com/). If ever you meet him, just get him talking about Sage or Loomis.
I noticed the Vosseler brand and products are being pushed out ever more to the US market now. I wonder how Vosseler will conduct business out there.
But Sage and Loomis have already built up a good reputation while Vosseler is still trying to. The “quality” reel market in the states is a lot bigger than here.
Personally, I think they will struggle.
Alistair
Having a good reputation is no excuse for treating stakeholders badly (not that you’re saying it is), but I guess it can be easier to get away with it. As for Vosseler, if they conduct themselves like they have with Carl, they’ll definitely struggle! Most every business I ever came into contact with in the US was based around good communications and good service, I’m sure they expect the same.
Exactly – good customer service is something that all anglers talk about – take ORvis as a good example !
Alistair
I have found Orvis to be pretty good regarding service. Sage, and Redington (now owned by Sage) are pretty good too.
In the picture is that a cane rod your Vosseler is attached to?
Yup 🙂
Picked up Vosseler DC series from this page: which is in fact linked to a US ebay seller.
No problem with the sale and service. I absolutley love the reel and rate it far superior to my Orvis. I’m just saving for RC2.
I don’t shed a thought about the politics of Vosseler when I have 3lb wild brownie under control with this superb reel.
Forget the scandal, just buy a Vosseler. You won’t regret it.
Michael,
I have a Vossler – it is an OK reel – pretty heavy and does not take a full fly line though – to be fair the scandal was 2 years ago 😉