Does anybody weigh their materials?

[Norman Beats 0]

I have been weighing my materials since last March and every package is consistanly about 10%-20% short. Once in awhile I get a product that is spot on, but that is rare. With the amount I purchase that 10-20% racks up. When is a good time to mention this to the company. Other than that and a few instances of wrong color and being out of the product they do good business and have great prices. I had already been buying from them for a yr and I just can't see losing 10-20% every time I buy 1/4oz of feathers working out in the long run.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

I would send an email or make a phone call to the customer service department

[Piker20 0]

Yes definately chase that up, but also be sure that the margin of error on your scales allows for this cause if they turn round and say your scales were out your a bit stuck. I'm maybe a bit cynical but whats an easy way to increase your margins? Just under weight every bulk bag by 5%or10% as you are finding and you are selling a whole bag for free every 10 bags. Its the same with beads and hooks. I've noticed that some companies have started saying 'contains approximately' on their packaging now and I avoid them. It can't be that difficult to measure exact quantities with the scales available now and underselling is due to either laziness at best or straight dishonesty at worse.

[flytire 0]

would you be upset if the contents were 10-20% over in weight?

 

how many feathers make up 1/4 ounce and how many feathers make up 10% of that 1/4 ounce?

 

what about the percentage of totally useless feathers that are always included in the 1/4 ounce of feathers? especially marabou!

[Piker20 0]

Flytire I agree with bags of feathers, quality control is difficult and as you say, the amount of tosh you receive can be bad. But I would expect that some bags are under BUT some will be over as it would be natural error margins. If everybag Norman receives is under he is either very unlucky or the company are increasing their margins. But Norman, I agree with Flytire and if some bags are over then you just have to give and take. I would rather receive a bag 10% under with all useful feathers than a bag over with piles of fluff and junk.

[flytire 0]

my primary concern would actually be "quantity of usable feather vs weight of feathers"

 

we all know that not all strung feathers are usable as a lot of junk feathers get sewn in to make the bundle.

[mikechell 0]

Complain immediately. If you wait, then the time frame looks like you've used some and are trying to bilk them. The best way to complain, I think, is to take a picture of the product, on the scale, the day you receive it.

I would be very upset with 20% under weight. Think of only getting 8 gallons of gas when you paid for ten ... and gas is a whole lot cheaper than those feathers.

[flytire 0]

gee why not bring you scale to your local fly shop and weigh it on the spot. if it doesnt weigh whats advertised, dont buy it

[Rocco 0]

Let the company know then stand back. You just me get deluged in gratis featehrs to make it ruight. Happened to me once with some poorly mnade hooks that got by Mustad's qc. I literally gor ten boxes of hooks incudi ng some new models not yet on the market. The companies that stay do that kind of thing.

 

1B

[ditz 0]

When a package gives a weight the seller is bound by federal law to have that much or more in the package and is liable for a huge fine and to being sued by the buyer. I personally am aware of a blue chip corporation paying a multimillion dollar lawsuit for putting 300ft rolls of paper out the door that was up to 3' short of the stated quantity. Selling short IS a big deal and needs to be treated as such and I doubt if it is just an oversight.

 

Yes, complain loudly and if they are any kind of company they will step up and fix the shortage issue and they will give you some compensation for your trouble. Unscrupulas people will and do take advantage of the attitude that "well it is just a mistake" etc. Short sell is just unethical business.

 

As a word of caution, as someone stated above, make sure your scale is acurate or you could be liable for fraud of some sort.

[Peterjay 0]

Why not change suppliers and see if there's a difference? In just about every locale, scales that are used for trade have to be inspected and approved by the local sealer of weights and measures - it's entirely possible that your scale is the one that's off. If the material you're getting was packaged by a major distributor like Wapsi or Hareline, I doubt they're shorting you. That said, I wouldn't tolerate being shorted either - there are too many outfits out there selling materials to do business with cheats.

[Norman Beats 0]

My scale is spot on. I use a digital scale with a plactic cup to hold the feathers in the center of the plate. A nickle weighs 5 gr. I actually order the feathers online so bringing my scale is not an option. I really don't want to make a big fuss, I just don't want to continue to be shorted. As for the quality of feathers, the schlappeen has some of the most usable feathers I have seen in a pack, the marabou is hit or miss with alot of small clumps only suitable for bugger tails, the saddles are usually pretty good, actually usually better than the Hairline ones that The Fly Shop in Portland carris. The thing is if you advertise 7gr you don't sell someone 6.3 to 5.6 gr. It is kind of frusterating when you tell soeone that you will make so many flies for them and then it turns out that you need to order more when all you really needed was 2 of the feathers that had been shorted. If they compensate me, great, if not at least they know that I know, and I will be complaining on every short batch afterwards and I'm pretty sure they would rather get the order correct than to keep paying whatever the shipping is every time they are short. Other than being shorted I really like this company. The have great service, fast shipping and pretty good quality at a good price. Thanks for the tips. I'm just going to email them a friendly reminder that I have a scale and because of past weights I will be watching for the weights to be off, and will notify them if they are. If they try to say something back I will fax them a copy of my record books with the wieghts for the last yr cataloged. I'm starting to have people ask to buy my flies and if I am going to be asked for 10% from mr I.R.S I can't be losing another 10-20% from the supply end.

[shoebop 0]

My scale is spot on. I use a digital scale with a plactic cup to hold the feathers in the center of the plate. A nickle weighs 5 gr. I actually order the feathers online so bringing my scale is not an option. I really don't want to make a big fuss, I just don't want to continue to be shorted. As for the quality of feathers, the schlappeen has some of the most usable feathers I have seen in a pack, the marabou is hit or miss with alot of small clumps only suitable for bugger tails, the saddles are usually pretty good, actually usually better than the Hairline ones that The Fly Shop in Portland carris. The thing is if you advertise 7gr you don't sell someone 6.3 to 5.6 gr. It is kind of frusterating when you tell soeone that you will make so many flies for them and then it turns out that you need to order more when all you really needed was 2 of the feathers that had been shorted. If they compensate me, great, if not at least they know that I know, and I will be complaining on every short batch afterwards and I'm pretty sure they would rather get the order correct than to keep paying whatever the shipping is every time they are short. Other than being shorted I really like this company. The have great service, fast shipping and pretty good quality at a good price. Thanks for the tips. I'm just going to email them a friendly reminder that I have a scale and because of past weights I will be watching for the weights to be off, and will notify them if they are. If they try to say something back I will fax them a copy of my record books with the wieghts for the last yr cataloged. I'm starting to have people ask to buy my flies and if I am going to be asked for 10% from mr I.R.S I can't be losing another 10-20% from the supply end.

 

Make a fuss! Do not tolerate this from anyone! 10-20% adds up fast on their end and that's criminal! Think how happy we are when we get a 20% discount on a sale that they are offering. Seriously, do something... with prejudice!

I don't suppose you want to tell us who this is do you?

[JSzymczyk 0]

Only time I've run into this was with some Ice Dub of a particular color. I bought several packs from J Stockard, and the one color had approx half the volume of all the other colors. I contacted J Stockard (Hareline apparently won't talk with us individual little people) and James made it right for me on the spot.

 

I understand the fuss, but a quarter-ounce packet of feathers really isn't that much on the grand scheme... I would think it would be possible to lose close to 10% from water loss--- if they were packed in higher humidity than what you have. Hell with a lot of natural materials such as bucktail, I go into it figuring less than HALF of it is actually suitable for good bucktail streamers. That might be optimistic... after cutting a clump, combing out all the shorts, pulling out all the weird extra long curved hairs, etc. In fact, a 50% loss is AFTER picking through 10 or more tails to find a good one, so really, by my standards, I'm looking for about 5% useable hair from what is on the shelf. I know tails aren't sold by weight so it's not a fair comparison.

 

I would think if you're buying feathers by the pound maybe you'd have more of a real issue. As Flytire said, and I agree, you're already going to get 30% or more useless crap in strung feathers.

 

None of this makes your situation "right", but perhaps there is a valid explanation.

[ditz 0]

Short shipping has been going on since Adam and Eve and will continue forever. Most scales do not get checked regularly. They are supposed to by law but out budget folks won't budget enough money to do the job. Look at all the health issues that have come up in our food supply in the last couple years. Not enough inspectors and corporate intimadation corrups the system. That being said, digital does not mean accurate. The scales need to be zeroed and at a minumum, a certified weight of maybe 8oz placed on the scale to verify linierity. Even mediocre labs will have thier scales certified at least once a year at a cost of several hundred dollars per scale.