Abu garcia 5600c4 help

[muskieboy46]

I bought three of these reels this winter and tried all of them out today. two of them worked great but the third is harder to reel and the line or something seems to be grinding. Has anyone had this happen or know whats going on? Im going to take it apart this afternoon and look at it but i dont know what to look for. Thanks for any help.

Trevor

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Are you throwing the same baits on all the reels?

Before you take it apart I would suggest sending it to Abu Garcia. Tell them that it is brand new and they will likely fix it free or replace it

[muskieboy46]

yeah, i threw the same bait on all the reels. If i send it in should i take the line off?

Thanks for the reply

Trevor

[MuskieMojoTackle]

you can leave the line on it. They can fix it with it on

[Random guy]

and if they replace the reel they will send you the old spool full of line back with the new one.

[muskieboy46]

ok thanks. I think im going to send it. i took it apart and found kinda where the grinding is and tried to lube it but it didnt help.

Trevor

[Random guy]

Make sure you get a quote or tell them to let you know if the repiars might be costly. Ralph just had a bit of a run in and the repair came out to as much as a new reel. I have never heard of that before although they may be tightening the money belt with the rest of the country.

[muskieboy46]

Wouldnt it be under warranty? i just got it in december and i thought i read something about a 1-year warranty. I tried to call them yesterday but they arn't open on weekends so i will try again tomorrow.

Trevor

[Matt Breuer]

Good point Jon!! I just brought in an Abu to get it fixed (gear grinding) and parts and labor was $45. I tossed it in the bag with a bunch of others for parts and bought a new one.

I never remember having to pay that much for any issues with a reel.

[Ralph Wiggum]

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Good point Jon!! I just brought in an Abu to get it fixed (gear grinding) and parts and labor was $45. I tossed it in the bag with a bunch of others for parts and bought a new one.

I never remember having to pay that much for any issues with a reel.

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At least you got a choice! They fixed mine, then sent me a bill, and I either paid it or didn't get the reel back No more Abus for this guy

[hanson]

Ryan-

What was the story with the Abu? Funny that I haven't heard it yet.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Long story, and still in progress:

I got a real good deal on a 6500C3 off of hsolist. The reel needed a little love, but heck, it was cheap, and Jonny P had just gotten done praising Abu's service. Originally, I was just going to replace the pawl, drag, and handle myself, but I thought, what the heck, if their service is so good and cheap, I'll let the experts do it.

So, I sent my reel to their service center (~$7 shipping). Lo and behold, two weeks later, I get a letter from Abu. I tear it open to see what is up. Well, there sits a $40 bill for the repairs and a letter explaining that they'll ship the reel back to me once they receive payment.

Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. I wanted the reel back, so I paid it, but I'm still disputing the bill with them because they really didn't give me a choice in the matter. When it all worked out (reel price, shipping charges, parts, and labor), I saved less than $10 over buying a brand new 6500C3.

Couple that with the way I've been treated by their customer service department, and I will never buy one of their products again.

On the upside, I used the reel last night and it seemed to work well...on the flathead that I lost

[hanson]

Your not going to like this but...

Catfish Connection still has last year's model 6500C3 Abu's for $57.95 or so.

[Random guy]

I'm not sure what is going on with them currently. I was a little upset when Ralph told me what had happened so I called Abu just to try and get some answers. Needles to say I would have had better luck trying to ask the tooth fairy about the easter bunny.

I'm not sure what the deal is but I now have a sour feelings about abu not to mention the crow I'm going to have to eat on this one.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Your not going to like this but...

Catfish Connection still has last year's model 6500C3 Abu's for $57.95 or so.

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Yeah I know . I try to save a few bucks, and it bites me in the arse.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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I'm not sure what the deal is but I now have a sour feelings about abu not to mention the crow I'm going to have to eat on this one.

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How is that crow? I like mine with buffalo sauce.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Did you ask them to call you with pricing before making any repairs or did you just mail it in and say fix it please assuming it would be cheap?

If you didnt specifically ask for a quote before fixing it, I dont think they did anything wrong.

No offense to you, but they likely fix hundreds of reels a week. No way should they be expected to call every owner of every reel and ask if it is OK to fix it for that price unless they were specifically asked to do so.

That's why I send a letter with every reel that says "please call me if repairs are going to cost more than $X". That way I get to choose.

Just my thoughts on the deal.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Did you ask them to call you with pricing before making any repairs or did you just mail it in and say fix it please assuming it would be cheap?

If you didnt specifically ask for a quote before fixing it, I dont think they did anything wrong.

No offense to you, but they likely fix hundreds of reels a week. No way should they be expected to call every owner of every reel and ask if it is OK to fix it for that price unless they were specifically asked to do so.

That's why I send a letter with every reel that says "please call me if repairs are going to cost more than $X". That way I get to choose.

Just my thoughts on the deal.

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Well, then I guess we see things differently. Two problems I had with the situation.

1)The repairs alone are half the price of a new reel. If I take my car in for repairs and the bill will be $12,000, I had better be giving approval for it.

2)They can't justify why Jon got his reels fixed and replaced for next to nothing and I get charged up the wazoo.

I've dealt with several other reel manufacturers for repairs and have had such better customer service that I will not put up with being treated that way. It's your prerogative to choose whatever you want, but I thought I'd share the experience with everyone.

[Random guy]

Quote:

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They can't justify why Jon got his reels fixed and replaced for next to nothing and I get charged up the wazoo.

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The answer I got was the ones I sent in (all one model) had drag trouble and this was a warranty issue.

[Ralph Wiggum]

The drag was replaced in mine and I have an invoice charging $4 for new washers.

[muskieboy46]

I havent sent the reel in yet but am planning on getting around to it tomorrow. Since i just bought it this winter and it was grinding right out of the box i think i should be covered under the 1-year warranty. I will make sure i write a note making sure they dont do anything without consulting me first.

Thanks

Trevor