My grandson Aiden works a part time job after school and on weekends. He likes to buy his own fishing tackle, with money he earns on his job.                                                                                   About 16 months ago he bought a Lews Speed Speed Spin reel, model G Spin, size 200. He liked it so much, he bought a second one for a spare. These are not high end reels and sell for around forty dollars each.                         Last weekend he spooled the unused reel and took it fishing. On the first bass he hooked, he felt a thump as the handle was turned. He brought it over, and we took the side cover off. We saw the problem right away. The main gear had chipped and there was about 1/4 inch of gear teeth broken.                           He was bummed, because the reel was out of warranty, plus he didn't have a sales receipt. He figured that it was lost. I told him to contact Lews customer service. He sent an e mail, and got a response the next morning.            After taking some photos as Lews requested,  and also had to send a pic with the model number scratched off, so this reel couldn't be used for a warranty again.                        Long story short, he got an email that said they're replacing his reel. In 10 to 14 business days, he'll have a new reel in the mailbox.                 Now he's happy.Lews stood by they're customer service, even when the reel was technically out of warranty. I'm not sure if other companies would have done this? I haven't had to request much warranty work on my own tackle, but, I'm giving Lews a high five for this, and helping Aiden with his reel.

Wow what a peice of crap.  Glad everyone involved is somehow happy about this. 

8 minutes ago, Bigbox99 said:

Wow what a peice of crap.  Glad everyone involved is somehow happy about this. 

You seem like you’re probably a lot of fun to be around.

 

Kid bought 2 reels, in his budget… one was good, one had a clear defect that presented itself immediately … it happens. I had a similar Lews reel and had no durability issues but it was heavy, so it went up on eBay. I’m an adult and can afford to spend more so now I do. This kid will probably be a Lews fan for life and there’s worse things to be into.

 

Good on Lews, good on the kid and good on Mobasser for teaching his grandson how to conduct business.

 

I see all wins here.

26 minutes ago, TheSwearingAngler said:

You seem like you’re probably a lot of fun to be around.

 

Kid bought 2 reels, in his budget… one was good, one had a clear defect that presented itself immediately … it happens. I had a similar Lews reel and had no durability issues but it was heavy, so it went up on eBay. I’m an adult and can afford to spend more so now I do. This kid will probably be a Lews fan for life and there’s worse things to be into.

 

Good on Lews, good on the kid and good on Mobasser for teaching his grandson how to conduct business.

 

I see all wins here.

Glad everyone is happy.  I personally find that type of failure to be appalling for even $40 reel when I can get a Laguna, Legalis or whatever the good cheap Shimano egg beaters are.  I'd want my $40 back rather than yet another one of those things and I'd never purchase a Lews spinning reel again after that kind of failure but thats me.  Their baitcast reels are different story and from a reputable manufacturer.  I have pretty low standards for cheap reels and have numerous examples of cheap chinease reels and I have never experienced a main gear failure like that.  That failure of multiple teeth breaking off the main gear is absolutely mind boggling.  I read the OP as:

 

Good news from Lews: [horrible mechanical failure happened to a man made horror beyond comprehension] and they sent him another one!

18 minutes ago, Bigbox99 said:

Glad everyone is happy.  I personally find that type of failure to be appalling for even $40 reel when I can get a Laguna, Legalis or whatever the good cheap Shimano egg beaters are.  I'd want my $40 back rather than yet another one of those things and I'd never purchase a Lews spinning reel again after that kind of failure but thats me.  Their baitcast reels are different story and from a reputable manufacturer.  I have pretty low standards for cheap reels and have numerous examples of cheap chinease reels and I have never experienced a main gear failure like that.  That failure of multiple teeth breaking off the main gear is absolutely mind boggling.  I read the OP as:

 

Good news from Lews: [horrible mechanical failure happened to a man made horror beyond comprehension] and they sent him another one!

does it bother you that much?  The OP was happy to share his experience.   
 

 

 

……..

 

happy to hear it worked out and peace and balance has been restored.   It’s nice when companies step up and correct mistakes hassle free. 
 

33 minutes ago, MiceNReets said:

does it bother you that much?  The OP was happy to share his experience.   
 

 

 

……..

 

happy to hear it worked out and peace and balance has been restored.   It’s nice when companies step up and correct mistakes hassle free. 
 

I am in fact, still shaking from the experience.  I will lose sleep tonight knowing that Lews spining reels exist. 

Glad they took care of him. Good to hear 

Great, I’m glad for ya Mo. Especially your grandson. $40 or $400 no life expectancy should be 15 minutes. 
Like you I’ve never had much in the way of major problems. Sure some stuff wore out. Reel issues were easy enough to fix myself.  
Over the years I had a repair and a couple of replacements with St. Croix and they went very easily. Defective and they stood behind it. 

Glad you and the grandson had a positive experience! That’s what builds brands…what they do when things go south.

 

Verdict is in that Bigbox99 should kick rocks. Shame on you boy!

Glad to hear their customer service is good. Glad the young man is getting a replacement. The broken one should serve for spare parts too.

Well done Lew’s. That is good customer service. 

On 8/21/2025 at 8:33 AM, Mobasser said:

My grandson Aiden works a part time job after school and on weekends. He likes to buy his own fishing tackle, with money he earns on his job.                                                                                   About 16 months ago he bought a Lews Speed Speed Spin reel, model G Spin, size 200. He liked it so much, he bought a second one for a spare. These are not high end reels and sell for around forty dollars each.                         Last weekend he spooled the unused reel and took it fishing. On the first bass he hooked, he felt a thump as the handle was turned. He brought it over, and we took the side cover off. We saw the problem right away. The main gear had chipped and there was about 1/4 inch of gear teeth broken.                           He was bummed, because the reel was out of warranty, plus he didn't have a sales receipt. He figured that it was lost. I told him to contact Lews customer service. He sent an e mail, and got a response the next morning.            After taking some photos as Lews requested,  and also had to send a pic with the model number scratched off, so this reel couldn't be used for a warranty again.                        Long story short, he got an email that said they're replacing his reel. In 10 to 14 business days, he'll have a new reel in the mailbox.                 Now he's happy.Lews stood by they're customer service, even when the reel was technically out of warranty. I'm not sure if other companies would have done this? I haven't had to request much warranty work on my own tackle, but, I'm giving Lews a high five for this, and helping Aiden with his reel.

I had a similarly satisfying interaction with Lews. I’m glad for the young man and heartened to see a positive post about a company as opposed to the bash fests so common online. 

Coming from a manufacturing background, it happens. One broke, the other didn’t. That’s not on Lews “per se”. Sounds like a bad lot of material. If it was “on Lew’s” I would expect both main gears to have broken. It happens. Bad material, stress in the material that isn’t seen, etc. My guess is that the main gear went through quality control and passed per spec. GENERALLY SPEAKING, the raw material is brought in and is confirmed to be the material per spec using the material certification from the manuf. After that, the material isn’t looked at any longer. It’s the machining now that has to meet specs.