UPDATE: 20th Aug 2011 - We would like to reassure customers that all outstanding orders are being processed as normal info@anytackle.co.uk. Our aim is to complete all the outstanding order by 26th of Aug 2011.

PRESS RELEASE FROM ANYTACKLE

End of AnyTackle 99p Fishing Tackle Auctions!

After a very long and unstable road AnyTackle has decided to say 'Bye' to AnyTackle 99p Fishing Tackle auctions. It's this business model which made AnyTackle one of the most talked about fishing tackle companies in 2011.

The business model was focused on providing quality tackle at rock bottom prices and in the background a top of the range be-spoke administration system keeping it all ticking over. This type of business model has been used successfully in other markets but not some much in the fishing tackle market.

From the start AnyTackle faced a number of challenges which in the end turned out to be impossible to overcome. During the Ebay days AnyTackle was constantly punished by it's customers for postage costs despite the rising costs of fuel, and courier services. As well as this company faced criticism by customers for it's recyclable packaging.

AnyTackle responded by decreasing the postage costs, investing in be-spoke rod and reel boxes and a wider range of products to support the increase in overheads. Towards end of 2010 AnyTackle was posting out orders within 1 working day and 90% of the customers reported delivery within 1 to 2 working days.

During the Xmas rush of 2010 the company put up a notice like many other larger mail order businesses to warn customers that a number of packages have been delayed due to the extreme weather and Royal Mail backlogs. Despite the efforts the customers panicked and asked for refunds resulting in dramatic increase in emails, and phone calls stretching the companies resources to limits with lines staying open until 11pm some nights.

The real problems didn't appear until middle of January 2011 when the company had to refund 100s of orders due to lost packages and orders which didn't arrive in time for Xmas, as well as fraudulent claims through PayPal. As a result AnyTackle suffered heavy losses and 6 weeks of no trading in order to resolve all the customer complaints.

During the non-trading period AnyTackle made a number of changes including closing it's Ebay account and investing heavily into AnyTackle 99p Fishing Tackle Auctions website. Under the roof of Ebay AnyTackle was controlled by individual customers mainly traders who demanded lower prices and postage costs in exchange for good feedback.

AnyTackle spokesman James said 'This was shocking behaviour by certain individuals and worse of all Ebay provided no support for us. At this point the company was controlled by traders, and if we didn't meet their demands our Ebay account was going to get bombarded with negatives as many of them placed orders for 20 or 30 items.'

AnyTackle solution was to regain control through it's own site and policies allowing 99% of it's happy customers to continue grabbing bargains. As the new site was revealed in March of 2011 the company faced yet more problems.

AnyTackle spokesman James explained 'The phrase 'Auction' is automatically associated with 'Fraud' or some kind of 'Scam' and for a company with no marketing budget it was going to be very hard to push past this. In order to reassure customers we decided to keep PayPal due to it's Buyer Protection policies.'

AnyTackle Auctions site was a great success and the company received a large following and regular emails from happy customers. However, despite the companies slow recovery it was still facing financial constraints from earlier in the year.

Towards the end of July 2011 and at the peak of the fishing season AnyTackle was facing more problems this time with it's main suppliers reliability. The companies parted ways at the start of August 2011, and AnyTackle made a decision to say 'Bye' to AnyTackle 99p Fishing Tackle Auctions.

AnyTackle spokesman James commented ' There is so many problems one can take before you have to call it an end. I personally feel very sad to see it go as the concept was great but at the same time I do believe AnyTackle will come back with a new and improved business model.

On behalf of AnyTackle I would like to thank all of our customers who have supported us and sent us messages of support. We have even had customers offer to help for free and It's this type of human spirit that pulled us through the very difficult times.

I would also like to point out that AnyTackle is still processing outstanding orders and the aim is to complete everything by 26th of August 2011. '