Grandslam.... Need to pay attention!

[Lark]

One of the difficulties with the rapidly decreasing angling emporiums are the limited opportunities to actually see and handle kit before you buy it.
I recently bought a bump/spray bar for my seatbox. I looked around but couldn't really justify the £50+ being asked by the likes of Preston, etc.
Although I've avoided Grandslam products previously having seen their efforts at various tackle shows in the past, I thought I would give them a bash as they were offering their World Class spray bar at around £20 delivered from Angling Direct (online only).
It came this morning and, to be truthful, it ain't bad.... Apart from the fact that, in it's original condition, it's virtually useless.
The overall design, build, quality of the materials is better than expected, but here's my point.
The designers/manufacturers have allowed the least expensive components of the assembly to dictate that the whole unit becomes a total piece of cr*p because they couldn't be bothered to just get it right.
The plastic insert bushes, which probably cost fractions of a penny, are of the most appalling design and quality.
I've modified the unit so it functions like it's supposed to, but it could be so much better straight out of the bag if one iota of thought was given to these critical components, which would have come at, probably, no extra cost as it's purely a dimensional issue.
I'm doubly peeved as, after I'd ordered the Grandslam kit, I found a Daiwa set (my box make) tucked away out of view in my local Angling Direct for £24.99..... I'm sure there's a moral/adage/p*ss-take in there somewhere.
It's a shame, as Grandslam very nearly had a decent piece of kit at a very competitive price.

 

[John Keane]

One of the difficulties with the rapidly decreasing angling emporiums are the limited opportunities to actually see and handle kit before you buy it.
I recently bought a bump/spray bar for my seatbox. I looked around but couldn't really justify the £50+ being asked by the likes of Preston, etc.
Although I've avoided Grandslam products previously having seen their efforts at various tackle shows in the past, I thought I would give them a bash as they were offering their World Class spray bar at around £20 delivered from Angling Direct (online only).
It came this morning and, to be truthful, it ain't bad.... Apart from the fact that, in it's original condition, it's virtually useless.
The overall design, build, quality of the materials is better than expected, but here's my point.
The designers/manufacturers have allowed the least expensive components of the assembly to dictate that the whole unit becomes a total piece of cr*p because they couldn't be bothered to just get it right.
The plastic insert bushes, which probably cost fractions of a penny, are of the most appalling design and quality.
I've modified the unit so it functions like it's supposed to, but it could be so much better straight out of the bag if one iota of thought was given to these critical components, which would have come at, probably, no extra cost as it's purely a dimensional issue.
I'm doubly peeved as, after I'd ordered the Grandslam kit, I found a Daiwa set (my box make) tucked away out of view in my local Angling Direct for £24.99..... I'm sure there's a moral/adage/p*ss-take in there somewhere.
It's a shame, as Grandslam very nearly had a decent piece of kit at a very competitive price.

Grandslam stuff is garbage and calling it World Class is a joke. I’d buy the Daiwa and stick the Grandslam on eBay. Some mug will buy it to defray your costs.

 

[nottskev]

Irritating, I'm sure. But it sounds like a simple mod got you a serviceable spray bar for less than half the price that put you off buying the big-name item. That doesn't sound too bad.

I paid a fair bit more for a Fox spray bar which was a neat design, but to make it right I needed to pull the aluminium tubes out of the plastic connectors, where they had been inadequately glued and were prone to twist, and glue them in properly. I've had years of service from it since.