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I am absolutely stunned at the superb customer service Simms provides. Read on...
Along about August , I noticed that I had a small hole developing in my Simms Freestone Stockingfoot Waders . Dang. I had just purchased these at Bass Pro in late June for $179 (Amazon has them from $149). I had used them hard as you can see from the repeated visits to the North Branch, the Yough and other very rocky haunts documented elsewhere in this blog.
I was thrilled with their performance up to that point - they were light, the neophrene stocking foot kept my feet warm, and they did not crowd my wading boots. The last thing I wanted to do was buy another pair.
I slapped some duct tape on those puppies and fished on into the fall; wrapping up the year with one last trip in November. From browsing around the forums, I began to understand that repair of a set of high-tech breathable waders is not for the unknowing.
But, here's the amazing discovery. After getting all the bad news on the forums, it occurred to me to go check out the Simmsfishing.com for their perspective on how to repair their product. After browsing around, I found the link to their repair page.
As I read the page, I realized that I did not know what my waders were made of - the product listing says that it is "4-layer QuadraLam™ fabric technology"; but is that Gore-Tex or the other stuff mentioned on the page. Being confused, I clicked on the special repair related email address ( repairs@simmsfishing.com ) and blasted off a quick note.
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The next day, I got a response - I did not have Gore-Tex and the repair of my model was beyond the ken of mortal man; requiring a trained technician to apply a "special patch with a heat press". Ouch.
But, by this time, I had stumbled across the actual warranty for thier waders (see below) and was struck speechless. If your waders are less than a year old, these folks will repair it for free! The special patch, heat gun and all - wow! When I told the staff that the waders had not seen their first birthday (all via email), they quickly issued me a return authorization.
Super! By this time is was late December and I was done fishing for the year, no big deal to be without them.
Now... here's the stunner. My waders returned to me on Friday. After reading the mailing label, I saw it was Simms. Ok. The waders are back. It was not until the next day that I opened the box and immediately I fell off my chair.
They had sent me a brand new pair! The old ones must have been deemed unrepairable and these guys did not whine, did not complain, did not try and nickel and dime - they just sent a brand new set of the waders - no questions. Holy Mackeral!!! Now that is customer service! I felt like I had just hit the lottery (or what I suppose it might feel like).
Am I ever going to buy anything but a Simms wader in the future? Nope! They have a lifelong customer. If you read this and you need a wader this season, check out Simms!
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Actual SIMMS Warranty as of Jan 20, 2007:
"The First Repair Is On Us. At Simms, we stand behind everything we make. But, from time to time, we all take a tumble in the pursuit of fish. If you accidentally damage your Simms wader during the first year that you own it, the first repair is on us. Simply ship us the wader, along with a copy of your receipt, and we will repair it and ship it back to you.
Further, we will only charge you our actual cost for any additional repairs that you may need during the life of your wader. Our Repair Department is not a profit center. Simply bring the wader to your dealer or contact Simms’ Customer Service for a Return Authorization. Then, ship the wader to us with a note describing the problem and someone from our Customer Service Team will promptly contact you with a repair estimate. Once we receive your approval we will repair your waders and ship them back to you"
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