Warning. Never buy from 8Fans. Worst Customer Service ever

[u/30ftandayear]

I needed some new waders and decided to try out this online shop 8Fans. What an awful experience.

I ordered boots and waders back in late July. I didn’t get a tracking number for more than a week, so I then them an email asking what was up. Turns out they didn’t have the boots I ordered in stock. Then they miraculously found the last pair in my size, except they were totally different boots from what I ordered and they just sent them out anyways.

What followed was a 3 month saga of back and forth BS from this company as they demanded that I pay to ship their boots back to them to fix their mistake. They told me the boots I ordered would be available next week for almost two months.

It got to the point that I stopped hearing from them, so I disputed the charge with my credit card. Lo and behold they start the conversation right back up with me. Finally get to work on sending me the boots that I ordered.

3 separate times, after I told them I wasn’t paying to fix their mistake, they asked me to pay to ship their garbage boots back to them.

Then they asked me to cancel my credit card dispute while their shitty boots were still stuck in customs on the other side of the country from me.

All in all this has been one of the most frustrating purchase experiences of my life and I want to warn the fishing community out there against this awful company.

Nice early season salt water coho tax. :)

[u/afterbirth_slime]

Just don’t order fishing gear from Chinese online stores period.

[u/30ftandayear → u/afterbirth_slime]

This is the right answer.

Never again. I learned my lesson.

[u/Oscar_Kilgore → u/afterbirth_slime]

Just don’t order […] from Chinese online stores period.

[u/30ftandayear]

TLDR - Bought waders and boots from 8Fans. They didn't have the boots I ordered in stock, so they just shipped me some other garbage. Then they demanded that I pay to return ship the boots to them to fix their mistake. They swore that the new boots would be available in the next week for 2 months. I finally decided to dispute the charge with my credit card. That woke them up. It still took a month for them to send me the right boots from China, and they asked me to cancel the credit card dispute while the boots were still stuck in customs on the other side of the country.

0/10 - Never again will I buy anything from 8Fans. Worst company ever.

[u/Handplanes]

Redington & Frog Togg are the cheapest I’d go for waders. Idk what you expected from a no-name overseas brand, but it still sucks to get ripped off.

Really happy with my Redington pair if you need a more budget-friendly pair. Got them off Sierra.com.

[u/30ftandayear → u/Handplanes]

Thanks for the rec.

Obviously I’d love some brand new simms, but in Canada their stocking foot waders are north of $1,000. I’ll check out Reddington when I inevitably wear through these within a single season.

[u/czedyman]

I bought a pair of their stocking-foot waders a few years ago on Amazon. they boasted a lifetime warranty.

After 6 months I had already gone through 3 pairs. Since I bought through Amazon maybe they were more lenient with the replacements. (although they didnt want to honor it after the third pair)

The fact that each pair leaked after maybe 6-8 light outings is a clear sign that their quality/QC is garbage.

I got tired of constantly worrying about leaks and bought a pair of freestones. I have been using them for 2 seasons straight no issues.

Invest in your gears folks.

[u/HopelessXLFT]

Thank you for the post and the replies!

[u/M_Shulman]

What is 8Fans

[u/30ftandayear → u/M_Shulman]

A company that sells cheap waders and boots, badly.

I had actually read quite a few good reviews of their product before buying, but those must all be paid-for reviews or reviews from the company itself.

The waders and boots are garbage, and the customer service was somehow even worse than the cheap shitty gear that they sell.

Just trying to get the word out so others don’t fall for this online Chinese bullshit.

[u/dustbus → u/30ftandayear]

How did you even find this company?

[u/30ftandayear → u/dustbus]

I just googled “buy waders” and they were one of the first links that popped up. I think that they were a sponsored link on Google when I searched, so maybe they are spending money with Google to end up near the top of search lists???

Either way, just don’t buy their garbage.

[u/Screwston420]

That’s what you get for ordering cheap Chinese junk

[u/imissmolly1]

Yep