Hey guys, I figured it was about time I did this review, it's about 2 weeks late! So, just as many of you guys did, I took on Paul's offer of 30% off an entire order. As a bat
collector connoisseur, I decided to ask Paul what his recommendations were, and had already had my eyes set on a Salix Pod Players. He suggested a selection of cricket bats that would be ideal for me, as he had already dealt with me once and knew how picky I was! In the end, I went with my first choice, which was the Salix, along with many other things such as spikes, protection and a Sidearm Pro. I told Paul to take his time, as I wasn't in urgent need of the gear, and I would have had to wait anyways because the cricket balls I wanted were out of stock! About a day or 2 later, I realised I wouldn't quite have time to knock in the bat, so I asked Paul if I could get the bat knocked in too. He was could have charged me the full price for it and I wouldn't have complained, but gave me 30% off that service too, which even at full price is very well priced.
So a few weeks after my order, I received a HUGE package (I think the poor courier man really struggled, as he was near enough out of breath!). Tearing it open, like a child would do for his Christmas presents, I oddly enough didn't go straight for the bat. I noticed that everything had been opened, and checked to ensure it was the right item, and had been placed well inside the box to ensure nothing would move around too much. The bat wax was placed inside a plastic bag just to make sure it wouldn't fall about and end up waxing everything and was placed along with the grips inside with the spikes. I was really impressed with the thought that had gone into packing up the things practically, as I have received packages before from big sports companies, who to be fair, couldn't care much about this kind of stuff. Here's a few pictures of the bat I received:
The bat weighs 2lb 9.90oz, and is actually being used by my little brother, who literally picked it out of my kitbag, and went "I like this. I'll take it...". As you can see from the bottom picture, it is actually really quite big for its weight, as the other Salix (A present from me) isn't too much bigger, but is actually 2lb 12.80oz. I have added extra scuff to protect the stickers since he likes to play the late cut. (At least that's his reasoning for hitting high up the bat at times) The ping is really fantastic, as you would expect from Salix, and the wood is pretty much perfect (besides the small blemish on the heartwood). I saw him play the biggest shot I have seen him play to date with this beauty last night, which may have even cleared the boundaries the 1st team play with! (He is quite short and not very muscular, so the bat really does help!)
I also actually bought another bat off Paul before the offer, and the service I received for that was outstanding. He was very patient with all my questions, and even showed me pictures of the bats a little video of him tapping up two Newbery Mjolnir bats with a mallet and a ball, giving his own opinion about what would suit me better given my specifications. This is probably as close as you can get to going to a specialist retail store and picking your own bats!
As you can see I haven't really focused too much on the products on this review, but more on the customer service, as this is where IJC really excel. For a young company, the reputation is built from both the quality of service and the products, and Paul really nails it in both categories, as you can tell from the pictures and my review. Both the Newbery Mjolnir and the Salix have been by far the best "off the shelf" brands I have bought, and I cannot praise the customer service enough! I would recommend any of you guys who don't have a cricket store nearby, or are afraid to shop online to contact Paul, as you will not be disappointed!
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Topic: IJC CBF30 offer - Customer service and product quality review (Read 1467 times)