Just wanted everyone to know that stripersurf.com sucks. There service is terrible. I ordered hooks from them on March 17 and haven't recieved them yet. Bob, the owner, is never at the office when I try to contact him about my order. He doesn't even respond to me when I ask him about my order status. He even erased two of my posts that told him about my dissappointment, probably so others wouldn't see it. Anyway, this is the third time this has happened and it's definitely the last. You guys on this site are the best. I just wanted to warn you about ordering from there. There message boards stinks too
Tight Lines

Well, personally I have never ordered anything from that site so I can't comment on the parts system. Definitely one reason I have no desire to make this an online tackle shop... I have purchased from Mike at CapeCodTackle.com and Ron at the Sportsmans Den with nothing but great service for several years each (disclaimer, both shops do have ads on this site but I have been buying from them for years now). What neck of the woods are you from? Maybe one of the others that browse this board can steer you in the right direction locally...

BTW - Thanks for the fine words of high praise for this site <img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1-->

Thanks for the help John. I actually live just north of Boston. I will have to given those places a try. They are failry local and seem pretty good as I have seen there sites.
Tight Lines

In Bob's at StriperSurf.com's defense, I have ordered there once and I got what I ordered fine. I am sorry to hear about you're inconvenience. I have also ordered from StripersOnline and recently ordered some RedGills from CapeCod tackle and they both had first Class service....I was Happy. I did get screwed one time when ordering from Manhattten Custom Tackle, but they are out of Business now, (Hmmm...Wonder why??).

CowHunter, I did have that experience with Manhattan Tackle as well. I ordered about $300 worth of rod building eqipment last year over their online ordering and nothing, no word for weeks. Sent off a couple inquiries with no response. A week later I sent off a NastyGram and finally got a reply. He said that he had been in the hospital but was OK and would immediately ship my order. Certainly a valid reason in my mind. 2 weeks later, nothing. A few more inquiries and I finally bagged it (the rod had been wrapped for a few weeks by then). The only positive thing was that my cc was never charged...

Well, I'm not the most objective person when it comes to stripersurf and its proprietor, so you can take this with a grain of salt if you wish, but there is no way on this earth I would ever do business with the guy. Without naming names, #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& and I have a mutual friend who was screwed by the guy, and from what I gather, he wasn't the first and won't be the last. As many know, last September, myself, John M, Tim S, Dave C and Phil L were tossed for taking issue with the proprietor editing threads that mentioned favorably products he didn't sell. In my case, I was tossed for commenting on this issue on another message board, not for anything I said on stripersurf--and I'm still waiting for the explanation of why I was tossed. Then, there was the case of the Famous Fishing Writer who without any rational or factual basis insinuated, before he ostensibly "retired" for the fishing season, that the staff of another webste was engaged in an organized conspiracy to "get" and discredit him, along with a bunch of guys from "Eastern Mass" who were jealous of his fame and success.

I've been doing business with the Thomas family of capecodtackle.com for the better part of 20 years, first at Cape Cod Charlie's, then at M&D's and now via the website. Mike and his dad Bill are good, honorable people who I trust without question. Mike was victimized by an unscrupulous rod blank distributor who foisted off some "no name" blanks as genuine Sabre ones, and Mike replaced the rod for me on a genuine Sabre blank, no questions asked. He stands behind his work, and does a great wrap at a more than reasonable price. I know that he has eaten the re-wrap on several rods that broke, whereas a lot of custom builders will only honor the factory warranty which calls for replacing only the blank, and they charge you for the re-wrap.

John R....In regards to Manhattan Tackle I ordered a Van Staal reel, my CC was charged and after 3 weeks I called to see what the hold up was. response was that it would be shipped out tommorow, this went on for 3 months and Nada!!! Boy was I pissed, then I had extra mysterious charges charged on my account! I delt with Discover and after dealing with them for another two weeks I finally got credited after 3 1/2 months and got a new CC#. What a Nightmare!!! Anyway that wasn't the end of it, I called Van Staal and spoke with the people there, could not understand why Van Staal would let a guy like this sell there products...The guys at Van Staal told me that they too have had an ongoing problem with Manhattan Tackle whom owed them Alot of money for reels which were not paid for...They told me the guy was very sick. Oh well, didn't last long after that, I made a stink everywhere. I am now dealing with Merrick Tackle since I buy just about everything in bulk and at wholesale...I build custom rods and tackle for myself and others, have never had a problem with them. If I see stuff that I can't get through them then I buy on-line or in tackle shops.....

Upon re-reading my earlier post, I think it is appropriate to offer some clarification, in the interest of fairness. When I say I know someone who was "screwed" by stripersurf, I in no way meant to imply that there was outright financial chicanery, cheating, non-panment or anything of that nature. I was referring to certain representations to a person regarding his intention to carry a line of tackle on the web and then later disclaiming any such intent, merely an "interest" that he had "reconsidered". Also, as far as I know, there has never been a single instance where a credit card was charged and an order not shipped--indeed, they will bot charge a card until the order goes out. As far as the many complaints of non-received orders go, no one has been charged for an order they didn'r receive.

I've said it before. As long as the local tackle shop is in the balllpark price-wise, the service is well worth the small differential. It's actually fun to look forward receiving gear in the mail, but the frustration when the process goes wrong takes the fun out of it.

how can I not comment? <img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1--> I dealt with Bob bought a rod form him and some flurocarbon, what a pain that whole thing was......this was back when he still cared about the site. anyway Bob is a schmuck and deserves everything he gets.......<img src="/Images/Happy_Face.gif"><!--e1--> Talk about a guy who killed the goose that laid the golden egg.........