Fishwest

Fishwest has a long history of selling an item when they don’t have it in stock, still charging you for it, then notifying you a few days to a week later that the item is being ordered from the supplier, which it then usually takes 1 — 2 weeks to get to you. They do this to make it seem like they have a huge online inventory, when in reality they actually have very little available.
This has happened to me on two separate occasions where I made a large order and nearly everything needed to be backordered. On the third time, I called ahead to make sure they had it in stock (first I used their online chat and the guy left me hanging for about 30 minutes before I just disconnected and called) and it was the same story.
I really want to like these guys since they are local and are one of the only places in Utah to get some of the brands they carry (Orvis, Loop, several others) but their business model is just sneaky and dishonest. I will go out of my way not to buy anything from them (or their sister store Jans in Park City) ever again.

I became aware of Fishwest because they were having a closeout sale on a fly rod that I was interested in (Reddington Classic Trout), but the only size and weight available on the site (8-​foot 4-​weight) wasn’t (really) the one I wanted. OK, I’d been kicking around the idea of getting a 4-​weight but it wasn’t really a priority; I already have two 5-​weights, an 8-​weight, and an antique-​ish (cheap) bamboo rod I want to play around with. Anyway, the 276 – 4 (7.5 foot 2-​weight) that I really wanted is getting scarce because Redington discontinued them in favor of the more expensive Tempt line, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to open their live chat and ask if they had any.
Very quickly, Lacey came into the live chat and I asked her if they had any 2 or 3-​weight Classic Trout rods left. She checked and came back to say they had one of each, but I’d need to call the store to make a phone order.
I thanked her and picked up my phone a minute later. To my surprise, it was Lacey herself who answered the phone; she wasn’t just an outsourced support person, she actually works there. Wow! I was so happy with the level of the customer service that I decided to pull the trigger on the 4-​weight as well; like I said, Redington has dropped the CT line (at least by that name) and boosted the price, so if I waited I might be sorry; the supply is drying up.
And now, for the icing on the cake: not only did they have the lowest price I’d seen anywhere for these rods ($ 82 each, a price that no one was matching even on eBay), that price included free Priority Mail shipping. I just ordered the rods on Wednesday morning and received them in San Diego on Friday, which sure beats the one-​week free shipping you get from most vendors, if they even offer free shipping.
In short, Fishwest rocks! I haven’t fished in Utah in many years, but should I have the opportunity to get up that way, I’m going to stop in at their store and tell them so in person.