Is it just me or does everyone else find that angling mail order is fraught with disappointment.
Having ordered an unhooking mat through Bivvyup.com, I learnt that the item was out of stock, 2 weeks later it still hadn't turned up, fair enough I thought, I'll cancel the order and order from somewhere else.
Second company said they had it, then they didn't so, I cancelled the order and ordered again from another company.
THird company, West Midlands Angling Centre, have item, debit my account, and now, 6 days later, still no goods, and phone enquiries are palmed off saying they will ring back, which they never do !!!

I reckon the local tackle shops are the way to go, but they seem to stock less and less as mail order companys are eating their customer base, so demand is down, and they only seem to be able to order minimum stock quantities that make it a non-viable proposition.

There, I feel better now, but dealing with these people is an infuriating business, they just don't seem to give one, if I treated one of my customers like this, I would be ashamed.
Two mail order companys have lost my business, but as demand is seemingly out-stripping supply, do they give a damn?

tackle box for me...not the cheapest, but stuff arrives when they say it will, dont charge till its sent. when they do have a problem, they sort it at no cost. which is how it should be.

ditto that

And again.

Harriss (if you ever get involved in flinging bits of wood and plastic about!) are much the same and are recommended.

I get most of my mail order stuff from Fosters of Birmingham (Tel 0121 344 3333) and occasionally from Chapmans. The prices are excellent and delivery prompt in both cases. I cannot fault the service. Recently I bought some stuff from Anglingdirect via this site. Again the prices were excellent and the goods were received the following day. Always best to phone first to check the items are in stock. John, I suggest you try one of these companies. I have used Fosters for many years and have never been let down.

only tried mail order once and that was bennetts of sheffield.placed an order to the sum of £750 plus next day del.two weeks later i recieved a letter stating that they wanted proof of who i was to help prevent credit card fraud.fair crack i thought,so,i rang them up to state that i would e-mail a domestic bill plus a copy of my driving licence.while i was doing the scanning i opened the next letter on the pile only to notice that £750 had been deducted from my credit card account by bennetts.so much for preventing credit crad fraud as they had debited my account wether i was me or not.never again.

credit crad?credit card.

And now WMAC FINALLY get back to me and say they don't have it in stock !!!
Well if I'd known that over a week ago.......
Anyway, thanks for the advice guys, think I'll MAKE an unhooking mat out of an old mail order catalogue.

Hi John,
Try Leslies of Luton ring them on 1582,453542.And ask for a full catalogue.

I have ordered a fair amount of gear by mail order,never been let down yet.
Mind you I wouldn`t buy from Bennett`s, got to be the dearest about,in my opinion.

Fosters of Birmingham (Tel 0121 344 3333)
Excellent service over the course of many years.
Courteous, professional and very helpful, even to the point where Lee talked me out of buying a more expensive pole in favour of a cheaper model. Note, both models were in stock.

Bennetts of Sheefield?
Used once and never again!

I live in Sheffield and dont use them, because they always charge top dollar,I purchased 2 recliners cash,and could,nt get a quid knocked off.

OK, just ordered from Fosters, so thanks again all for advice, we'll see what happens now.

I always use FOSTERS, sound as a pound. They will even supply copy invoices after two years.
Bennetts. Echo all previous comments

Graham, as everyone is so pleased with Fosters, can't we get a link to them under your shopping partners section?

John, the shopping partners are paying advertisers, if Fosters or anyone else wants to be in the section all they have to do is contact our commercial department. The FISHINGmagic Advertising Manager is scott@magicalia.com.

I have used a number of mail order firms and so far I have not had a bad experience. I agree that Bennetts are expensive very often but I have only bought from them when I have known that was the best deal available.

The biggest problem these days is P&P some of the dealers charge exhorbitant amounts so I am trying to use a local tackle dealer more - he has order stufffor me and gives me 10% off for cash on anything other than the odd bits.

Graham,
I have sent Richard Foster an Email giving him the contact in case he is interested.

From being one of the best tackle shops in the country, Bennetts are now the worst.

A friend of mine was fined £500 pounds for publishing that when some years ago, Bennetts won a prize for the best tackle shop, from a well known weekly it was pointed out that they had the biggest advert in this publication.

Nuff Said!!

My old mate Nervous Merv at J&K tackle in Bicester is very obliging. They do a very prompt mail order service on many items.

Including frozen cy..et ready for the oven....:o)

Also Tref West not only offers excellent barbel fishing accessories such as quivers, bags and flavours, he does a really good line of leads at very fair prices.

You will get good advice from him too.