Matt Hayes Limited Edition Centrepin - get yours today!

[Tigger]

It sounds like your pleased with the reel Chav...next move... get out on the bank and wind some fish in....don't forget the pic's .

[fishfinder]

Mine arrived yesterday. not impressed - slight grinding noise when spool spins, not at all free spinning. spins for about 15 seconds! Can't really put my finger on it but it feels "cheap"

[chavender]

take the spool off ,use a cotton bud and have a whipe around the inner edges and inside the spindle housing ,just in case some particle has got in through the open back ,and if its still unsatisfactory send it back ,use your consumer rights ,get a replacement or refund ,as for feeling cheap ,well thats a personal judgement & expectations thing.afterall its no chris lythe ,but its not trying too be .

[Tigger]

take the spool off ,use a cotton bud and have a whipe around the inner edges and inside the spindle housing ,just in case some particle has got in through the open back ,and if its still unsatisfactory send it back ,use your consumer rights ,get a replacement or refund ,as for feeling cheap ,well thats a personal judgement & expectations thing.afterall its no chris lythe ,but its not trying too be .

 

 

I have noticed one or two other people on the web complaining about their Hayes pin also.....I wonder if they're gonna be a repeat of the marco where it seemed to be hit and miss if you got a decent one or not.

I just can't understand why they don't make sure the reels are working correctly before sending them out to the distributors as surely they only get them sent back.

Looking at the prices of okuma pro's on fleebay right now I think i'd go for the aventa pro !

[lutra]

I have noticed one or two other people on the web complaining about their Hayes pin also.....I wonder if they're gonna be a repeat of the marco where it seemed to be hit and miss if you got a decent one or not.

I just can't understand why they don't make sure the reels are working correctly before sending them out to the distributors as surely they only get them sent back.

Looking at the prices of okuma pro's on fleebay right now I think i'd go for the aventa pro !

Do you think if I take the front bar off my aventa and thread a bit of string through all the holes, i could make it look a bit cooler like its got spokes.

[Tigger]

Do you think if I take the front bar off my aventa and thread a bit of string through all the holes, i could make it look a bit cooler like its got spokes.

 

 

I reckon the aventa's look cool enough as thay are

[chavender]

I have noticed one or two other people on the web complaining about their Hayes pin also.....I wonder if they're gonna be a repeat of the marco where it seemed to be hit and miss if you got a decent one or not.

I just can't understand why they don't make sure the reels are working correctly before sending them out to the distributors as surely they only get them sent back.

Looking at the prices of okuma pro's on fleebay right now I think i'd go for the aventa pro !

 

it'd be a shame ,if it does turn out too like the contessi ,as they're a nice reel .but quality control is a simple matter to do ,just stick someone on testing them ,theres only 1000 shouldn't take too long to do a quick function test ,quick spin ,look & listen .then weedle out any suspect reels too be checked over properly .

[PeterNE1]

Interesting to see that someone is already whacking these reels out on Ebay ... and that numpties seem hell-bent on paying well over the odds for the reels ... bidding is currently sat at £67 plus a fiver postage ... with almost three days left to go!

 

Silly Ebay prices - again!

 

I've got a courier due tomorrow with three of them (at least two being destined for gifts, shortly), and even had them discounted to £149 for the three, including the courier

Edited September 5, 2012 by PeterNE1

[PeterNE1]

Hmmmm - the reels arrived a couple of hours ago: I've been having a play with them for at least an hour now, and I'm seriously unimpressed by both the quality of the reels AND the attitude of the company I bought from, who are currently playing silly buggers, and trying to make it awkward for me to return the reels, which WILL be happening, one way or another.

I realise that in this matter I have legislation firmly on my side, so in that sense it's no more than an annoying headache caused by an extremely bad attitude from the retailer (whom I'll keep anonymous just for now) ... but the main issue is with the reels themselves.

 

Now, I'm not going to knock what Chavender has said about the specific reel he has in his possession: he appears to have enough experience to give an educated opinion about the reel, and seems to have got hold of a decent example ... and therein lies what I believe to be the inherent problem with this reel: very poor quality control ... or perhaps even none at all!

 

As my previous post explained, I ordered three of the reels at a very good price, with the intention of 'gifting' two of them, and either keeping the third if I liked it enough, or adding that to someone elses tackle bag when the appropriate occasion arose.

 

First box opened, and immediate impressions are surprisingly good. It's a bit 'industrial' in comparison to some reels, and the finish quality is no-where near what you would expect / receive from even the cheapest Okuma offering. I'd suggest that it's biggest selling points at this stage are 1/ the endorsement of Matt Hayes (with which I've no problem whatsoever), 2/ the idea of owning an 'exclusive' reel - limited to just 1000, and 3/ (likely the most important factor for many?) the appearance of a spoked Aerial-type reel ... I assume that people will expect it as a given that the reel will function well, particularly when endorsed by Matt Hayes.

 

So, appearance aside, the first reel out of the box was OK.

Sort of .......

It spins smoothly enough when batted lightly, but stopped quite quickly - around 20 seconds or so at best. OK: I accept that this MIGHT improve if I did a bit of fettlin' ... cleaning, polishing and re-lubrication etc ... but if I do that it gives a retailer ammunition if a situation arises where I decide that a return is in order ... something for others to consider perhaps before they take that route, IF they suspect that a return might ultimately be neccesary.

In it's current state it's not going to make a very effective trotting reel unless I'm floating a Fairy Liquid bottle down a reasonably streamy stretch of water.

Of slightly more concern was when I rotated the drum by actually winding with the handles, applying a little pressure (as might be anticipated with any sort of respectable fish on the business end) ... rotation of the drum was no longer smooth and even, and though it didn't actually catch, it was obvious to the touch that the rotation of the spool was 'stickier' in some places ... reminded me of a cheap fly reel overloaded with line.

A relatively minor point, but the sound of the ratchet being activared by a fish taking line is NOT something I would look forward to with anticipation: a personal thing perhaps, but to my ears it just sounds 'tinny' ... a bit cheap and nasty.

 

Unfortunately, this reel was the best of the three: the second reel was catching as it was batted (though conversely was very smooth when wound under pressure!), and the third reel was simply a mess: when it stopped within 2 to 3 seconds of being batted, I looked at it no further.

 

Perhaps quality control is the issue here, though I strongly suspect it is more to do with a combination of build quality, cheaper components and indifferent assembly. It would seem that the reel has been built to a price, rather than to a standard - a belief that seems to be echo'ed by my retailer who's initial response when I told him I wanted a refund was: 'Well, what do you expect at that price?'

 

For me, one of the sadder parts about this is that Matt Hayes seems to have aligned himself with Dragon Carp (who are not exactly known for quality products), and on the evidence of this first offering in the new range, he may just find that people start associating his name with the quality expected from Dragon Carp, rather than associate Dragon Carp with the quality normally expected from products endorsed by Matt Hayes.

 

Now ... round two with my retailer