RE: parker, uggh!
 

I've heard these horror stories about parker before. I shot a parker phoenix the other day. altho quick, I don't know that I was all that impressed with it. Now I haven't shot a 'naked' bow in some time, but it appeared to me that there was a good amount of vibration in the handle. my hoyt is nothing like that. I haven't heard any put downs about matthews or hoyt. I think that posts like this are helping me narrow my search.

RE: parker, uggh!
 

Hey Paul, Just so you know. Mathews bows have two marks on the cam that when you run astraight edge through them, the line will run parallel with your string. I don't know how much more simplied it can get then that.[8D]

As for other bows, I don't know so I wont comment about them.[&:]

RE: parker, uggh!
 

An actual line on the cam that lines up with your string or cable so you can just look at it and see if it's off. That would be easier. Which is how a darton and a few others are. And that is basically what we did to mine by drawing a line on it.

I thought with the mathews you lined it up with two holes in the cam or something? I don't know, it's been a while since I checked. I don't own a mathews and have not looked real close at the new ones.

Paul

RE: parker, uggh!
 

You need to get out a little more.;):D

Actually, if you go the the right forum, you will see endless bashing of Mathews and Hoyt. In fact, more so than any other bow company. Personally, I don't believe most of the bashing is justified. People with problems tend to gripe about them, and there are more Mathews and Hoyts out there, than most other bows, therefore more opportunity for something to go wrong.

For awhile Parker was one of the fastest growing companines in the country. You don't get that way by being poor at what you do. No matter what, every company will have problems and drop the ball on occassion. If it is frequent, dealers will drop the line for other companies, sales will suffer and it will be obvious to most that you might be taking some risks by dealing with that particular company. It could be that Parker is on the way down, or it could be that this is a somewhat isolated incident.

RE: parker, uggh!
 

I do no have any first hand experience with a Parker bow, so I will stay out of the "mine's better'n yours" argument. But what I do know is the President of the Company, and more so his right hand man Johnny Grace. Johnny was a local pro here in Roanoke, Va. He had his own shop and I bought tons of bows from him. He is their principle designed and spokeperson. They both took me to lunch back in March when I met them at a Game Department meeting. Both of these guys are as solid and as great guys as you could ever meet. They do care about what the shooting public think about the company, and would be glad to address ANY problems anyone might have. They area very fast growing company, and are in the top three right now. If they continue their current rate of growth, they will move into number 2 very soon. With a growing company you always have growing pains, and maybe some issues with production, but these guys are in business to make money, but they do so with taking care of the customers first. Lots of the local pro shops sell their bows, and I rarely hear a negative remark about their equipment here locally. If you do have problems, give Johnny a call. I will be willing to bet he takes care of you in short order.

RE: parker, uggh!
 

Top 3 of what? #2 of what? Of *rate* growth maybe, (sell 1 more than the 1 you've already sold and you've grown 100%) but as far as quality of equipment not hardly. Of advertising, I'm not aware of their campain, and you would think that speaks for it's self. I'm not putting them down, just challenging your claim. Parker bows has some damage control to do hear, lets see how they handle it. You know them, give them a call.

RE: parker, uggh!
 

In sales. Not overall market share, but the number of bows sold. I'm not saying that they are the best company, or that they make perfect bows, but I am saying that from what I know of these guys they will stand behind their product and try to do what is right. They do advertise, but not like a company like Matthews does. Three page ads in every bowhunting mag on the planet, now that's a pretty penny spent. I think word of mouth and pros at the shops sell more Parkers than their ads in a magazine. Why, did you have bad expeience with a Parker bow?

RE: parker, uggh!
 

I bought a Parker UL-31 I think in Sept 2002. I fired several bare bows in comparison and it felt the best to me. I shot the bows (at Cabela's) and found it very smooth, quiet, vibration free against about 6 others (can't remember what they were but none were Mathews or Bowtech). At this time, Parker was not really advertising much and seemed to be putting all, or most, of their money in the archery equipment and customer service.

Ayear or so later, I noticed a flood of marketingcoming from Parker in magazines and on televisionalong with the addition of bow"packages". This isn't necassarly a bad thing, but I've been curious if something had changed at Parker. This year I shot the UL-31 with the santoprene grip (my old one has a very nice wooden grip). I noticed a great difference in the way the bow felt. It was still accurate and fairly quick, but it did have more vibration and didn't come to draw like my older one. If I were in the same position and choosing today, I doubt I would choose it with other bows in that price range.

I still have not had problems with their customer service however. I do think that something has changed at Parker, and from looking at what they are doing from the outside, it looks as though they are putting more of that money that went to R & D and QC toward advertising and getting more of their product out. Both can be done equally well, but in this case, I think the bows have went from excellent down to good, and their marketing has went from poor to adequate. Maybe in the future both of those will be on par with each othe in the excellent column, but until then they will probably loose some of their old customers. JMO

RE: parker, uggh!
 

No, gibblet did. I don't know if I've ever held one all though I think I have. I just found your claim to be interesting. Now they have a P.R. problem here and how they handle it also interest me. How they do handle it will determine whether or not I do look at their bows. I know it's difficult to communicate emotion here and mine is one of suprise at your claim and curiosity at how things turn out. Nothing really negitive other than saddness for the way things are so far. I really would like to here a happy ending to this story. You said you knew them (i think) maybe you have a part to play aye.
:D

RE: parker, uggh!
 

Holy smokes! If Mathews had to personally confront every negative internet post about their company, they'd have to hire 5 fulltime employees to do the job. And for what? To refute, deny or smooth over claims that may or may not be completely true. As a company, they'd look rediculous doing such a thing. In my opinion the smart company stays away from discussing problems on internet forums. Handle all problems by phone, or person to person. The internet absolutely sucks for effective communication.