I had my Shimano Calcutta 400B fail on me at Bazaruto on the 16th May. This is a little gem of a reel that I have landed a good number of Bonnies in the 6-7Kg class from the boat, when the levelwind stopped levelwinding. I landed the fish and packed the reel away, and carried on fishing with the700. It was obvious that a gear inside the reel had failed under the high stress & hard fighting conditions.
This is a new reel having been purchased in December last year from Solomons Gifts in Pta North.
On our return to SA, I took the reel in to the service centre at Angling Africa in Centurion on the 21st May. AA's service is top notch, and I ALWAYS have excellent customer service from these guys which is why almost all of my tackle acquisition is through them..... as in 99% of it.
The reel was stripped down, and it was found that the dartanium drag washers had collapsed, and the teeth on the plastic pawl gear were also stripped. A few hundred bucks and the reel would be as good as new.........
AA got new drag washers from the Shimano Agent inside a week, but was told that the small toothed plastic gear was on back order, as this is a common failure they didn't have any in stock. This is apparently the cheapest component to replace in the repair process..........
As of last week, AA are STILL waiting for this little plastic gear from the Agent before they can reassemble the reel, and they have been advised to expect the replacement part to arrive within "a few months"....... This reel has been in the workshop for over 2 months already. This is crazy, and as far as I am concerned piss-poor aftersales service from the SA Agent.
It is a safe assumption that I am not the only one out there who is hugely disappointed by the SA Agent's "lack" of spares in stock?
This is a new reel having been purchased in December last year from Solomons Gifts in Pta North.
On our return to SA, I took the reel in to the service centre at Angling Africa in Centurion on the 21st May. AA's service is top notch, and I ALWAYS have excellent customer service from these guys which is why almost all of my tackle acquisition is through them..... as in 99% of it.
The reel was stripped down, and it was found that the dartanium drag washers had collapsed, and the teeth on the plastic pawl gear were also stripped. A few hundred bucks and the reel would be as good as new.........
AA got new drag washers from the Shimano Agent inside a week, but was told that the small toothed plastic gear was on back order, as this is a common failure they didn't have any in stock. This is apparently the cheapest component to replace in the repair process..........
As of last week, AA are STILL waiting for this little plastic gear from the Agent before they can reassemble the reel, and they have been advised to expect the replacement part to arrive within "a few months"....... This reel has been in the workshop for over 2 months already. This is crazy, and as far as I am concerned piss-poor aftersales service from the SA Agent.
It is a safe assumption that I am not the only one out there who is hugely disappointed by the SA Agent's "lack" of spares in stock?
(NOT TRUE OFCOURSE)
