:bl2: :bl2:
If you can afford to spend $700 on a fishing reel just because it is a VAN STAAL then you can certainly afford to spend $50 to have it serviced!!! :af: :af:
Just like the guy who buys a Mercedes or Lexus and complains about being charged $45 for a oil change!!! :af: :af:
GIVE ME A BREAK!!!
My $40 PINNACLE reels work fine for me!!!

This is a nonsensical argument. Simply put. You don't want to spend $700 for reel. DON'T! You feel $36.95 or $50.00 or whatever is too much. DON'T spend it. If you feel a 704 is a better reel and a better buy than a VS then keep your 704 but don't disparage those that own the VS series and have them serviced every year.

Free speech is one of our God given rights in America. Do whatever you are comfortable with but for God sake show some respect for your fellow board member. My 2 cents.

The point I was trying to make is - why does a reel that is properly lubricated and supposedly made from quality materials need to have parts replaced annually?

because us nitwits that have Van Staals fish 100+ nights a year usually underwater...

I don't own a VS, but I thought I'd give my insight anyway :) My first thought on this was that if you need to get a guitar or a computer worked on it is a minimum 1 hour bench fee of around $65. Difference may be that you don't have to do that every year. Nothing is cheap these days, especially if you want American hands doing the work. I imagine that the profit margin isn't incredible even at the price of those things.

RR, thats great, but that 40- reel wouldnt last a week the way we fish down here, and I'm not even a rock swimmer. I've broken a bunch of reels... my dinged, scratched and beat to hell VS 250 keeps coming back for more. If it costs me some $$ every year then so be it...

I'm not going to beat this horse any deader, but I just wanted to clarify one point:

At $50/annual servicing, a VS 250 is not a $650 reel.

All-in, it's probably closer to a $1,700 reel in today's dollars if you discount the value of all future expenditures (say, 15 years), back.

That's a stupendous amount of money for a fishing reel.

I am arguing that you'd be better off, or perhaps financially indifferent, by going with a reel that might be a little cheaper than $1,700 and doesn't require factory servicing and round-trip shipping. These costs add up over time.

If the new ZeeBaas reels have design improvements and better durability vs. Van Staals, then all the better.

Having said that, I'm not going to run out and grab a ZeeBaas right away, but I am giving a seriously hard thought to divesting the rest of my VS collection. At some point, service will go to $50 (again) when VS makes up its mind that it doesn't want to lose money on servicing.

Can I blame Van Staal for trying to raise prices? No! They're not in it to lose money.

But I'm making a huge stink about it because at the same time, I feel the added service cost makes it less worthwhile in my mind to own one.

To each his own, I am NOT passing judgment on those who are VS fans.

If anything, several good ideas have come up in past discussions, including threads on how to service your own VS reels and money saving tips (dropping off your VS at a show to save on shipping).