IceShanty.com's Ice Fishing Community
Ice Fishing Tips -Check your local regulations! => Equipment => Topic started by: striider on Jan 08, 2018, 06:20 AM
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It cut through the ice very quickly and reliably on 3 outings, and was working great right up until I broke it.
I am sharing my experience to see if anyone else has had better luck or knows a good contact at Trophy Strike.
Anyway, I am off to a rough start after purchasing one of these secondhand 3 weeks ago.
First off, the left handle was broken by the previous owner when I bought it. I figured I could contact the company and get another on the way. Not so - they told me to find the receipt and they would warranty it, which is cool, but there was no way to purchase it. Contacted the PO and he somehow talked them into sending him one without a receipt. Problem solved, as soon as I can meet up with him again anyway.
Second issue, I managed to snap off the cast aluminum centering ring by standing it in the ice and letting it refreeze. Of course, I torqued it a bit too much somehow and snapped it off. Lesson learned, I am an idiot ;) Called Trophy Strike and got the same story- not available without a receipt unless I want to purchase the entire auger head, screw and all. Not sure how I am going to resolve this, except maybe to buy a cheap auger head on Ebay, as the Trophy Strike one is $140! On the bright side, I think I have options, as the shaft appears to be 3/4" which seems pretty standard? Saving weight is one thing, but sacrificing durability to do so seems counterproductive.
In summary, I find it ridiculous that parts are not available for this auger. Surely people who buy their products can expect some parts availability after the sale? I sent them an email from their website, so hopefully someone will get back to me with some options but so far it isn't looking good. I have a nice and pretty 40volt auger head sitting here with no way to make holes in the ice...
Pictures for your pleasure:
(https://i.imgur.com/6xfTlHgl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/80HUebkl.jpg)
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as far as I know they are still a sponsor on the home page
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Ah true, I see their ad on the home page but didn't see a way to contact them here so I thought they were not a sponsor currently: https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?board=176.0
Edited original post and deleted that comment accordingly. ;D
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https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?action=profile;u=98264
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Wow, that's bogus! I'd be calling and demanding to talk to supervisors till I got to one with some common sense.
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I have to agree. Whether you bought them new or used, the company should be able to provide parts for you to buy. It doesn't make any sense for them to not do it.
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Good luck..
<°)))>{
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Don't know if you saw this thread >>>>> https://www.iceshanty.com/ice_fishing/index.php?topic=353330.0
I posted link to this thread in that thread..........
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Well......this stuff was kinda discussed in threads about many of these little companies.......an the concerns with buying a product like the trophy strike or the few other small brand electric augers. Looks like those worries are comming true.
While the Trophy Strike probably isn't a bad product, the customer service side looks to be lacking which is the case with most small companies......
Looks like there might be some reasons on why the Original person who purchased the unit sold it. I get that companies can have some issues and problems. However, the way they deal with them will dictate if they stay in or have a place in the market place.
Hopefully this was a one case issue with customer service. If not I don't see trophy strike being around to long. To many solid companies that stand behind good products with great customer service.
Examples.
Marcum always treated me well when I had showdown
Vexilar has blown me away with customer support and goes way above and beyond what I expect doing things that suprises me
Eskimo/ion takes care of stuff
Otter/rapala/strikemaster does
Humminbird will take care of stuff.....grudgingly.. ..but they do it.
Clam customer support is great....even when the products are poorly made they step up
So.......why they heck will people by a trophy strike with customer service like you received? I hope they remedy it and you can post how well they have stood behind the product.
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Update: I received a private message from them on this forum yesterday promising a call from customer service today. James called me promptly this morning and was very apologetic and very helpful. He happened to be the same person I dealt with the other day who told me they didn't have the individual part I needed. That is still the case, and he said they are working on a supply of parts like these. As mentioned above, they are a relatively new company, so I expect they will have better parts availability as time goes on.
In the meantime, they wanted to be sure the issue was resolved and are sending me the auger attachment assembly to get me back on the ice. They agreed that parts should be available after the sale, even if it was purchased secondhand. They also mentioned they are using longer stranded fiberglass within the newer handle assemblies, so they are making design improvements as feedback comes in. This is a great sign of a company that wants to be around for a long time. I hope so!
As I mentioned I was very happy with the performance of the auger right up until I broke it, so I definitely now have nothing negative to say about Trophy Strike. I really think they are on to something with the impact functionality of the head unit, as this thing goes through the ice like butter. Remember when we all used cordless drills with no impact function to drive deck screws? Not any more :)
Thanks Trophy Strike, and thanks James!
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Good to hear striider !! :thumbsup:
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Glad to hear they stepped up
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Holy moley, James wasn't kidding about making it right and getting me back on the ice!
Look what just showed up on the doorstep, not one day after I talked to him:
(https://i.imgur.com/M1qh57Jl.jpg)
And back in business!:
(https://i.imgur.com/6fF33lMl.jpg)
Thank you again Trophy Strike!
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Excellent news striider..... Looks like you're back in business.....James proved that customer service is not a thing of the past & he's a real class act in my book !!
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Excellent news striider..... Looks like you're back in business.....James proved that customer service is not a thing of the past & he's a real class act in my book !!
Definitely agree and he was eager to help. I was so grateful I even invited him up to my mountain cabin near Antero and the Mile sometime to fish if he gets a kitchen pass :)
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Thanks guys. It's hard for us to see all of the posts out there but you can always reach us through the website or a PM on the forum!
And if you want, we are often up at Georgetown testing new products.... usually we just hand out augers to the guys that are out there and they are more than happy to do our testing for us!!
Cheers....
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Thanks guys. It's hard for us to see all of the posts out there but you can always reach us through the website or a PM on the forum!
And if you want, we are often up at Georgetown testing new products.... usually we just hand out augers to the guys that are out there and they are more than happy to do our testing for us!!
Cheers....
Golly gee James.....I had a moment of excitement thinking about testing products at Georgetown.....Then I realized that Colorado must have a Georgetown Lake also !! Lol
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That is stepping up.
Nice to see they corrected an early error.