Brodin: Another company with great customer service (and great products)

Earlier this year, I talked about how happy I was with customer service from Sage, Simms and Patagonia.  All of them took great care of me after I had an issue with a product.

On the flip-side, Rio never even acknowledged a problem I reported to them with some of their gear.  This was disappointing to me, because I use their fly lines and their tippet material and their leaders, and I had a problem with a very specialized leader, and just wanted some information.  I haven't stopped using their equipment, but I have stopped using that specialized leader, especially after it cost me a 4 pound brown trout the last time it failed.  But, this post isn't about Rio or any of those other companies.

I now have a new company to add to the "great customer service" list.

I have been using Brodin nets for a long time - probably 20 years.  I still have my first net from them, and it still works.  It's small, and it has the older style mesh fabric webbing, so I don't use it often, mostly because the newer style baskets are more kind to fish.  But, it gets used when I go out with a second fisherman who needs a net for the day.

Two weekends ago, in a very short period of time, I lost my Brodin Ghost Cutthroat net.  It was there when I used it to land a fish, and 15 minutes later, it was gone when I needed it for a bigger fish.  I searched all over the area for it, with no luck.  I've even had a local fisherman in that area keeping his ears open for me, in case a local fisherman finds it.  But, the reality is, it's gone.  I know if I found a net like that on a river, I'd try to get it back to the original owner somehow, but in my heart, I'd want to keep it.  It's that nice a product.

This morning, I sent Brodin a message.  They don't make the same net anymore, and I was asking them about my first choice as a replacement for the net.  I explained how I lost the net, and I assume it was my fault.  I'm guessing that I failed to hook the net to my pack properly.  I tried not to place any blame on them.

I got an immediate response from their "info" e-mail address.  The surname of the person who responded was Brodin.  This is not a giant business like Simms or Patagonia.  This is a small specialty business, where family members answer e-mails (or it's an amazing coincidence of a last name).

And, they did something that totally surprised me.  They offered me a discount on the replacement net to "help to ease the pain", as they phrased it.

I was already a fan of their products.  Now, I'm fan of their entire company.  I'm looking forward to the new net arriving before I go on a short fly fishing vacation later this month.  This is what I love about our sport.  The best companies out there know that we, as consumers, have a lot of options when it comes to gear.  And, many of us spend a lot on gear (our wives will back us up on that claim).

It's nice when a company goes out of the way to earn or keep your business.  Here's a pic of the new net: