Strings & Cables – Walt in PA

Around this time last year, I pulled my 2011 Elite Pulse out of its case and noticed that the strings and cables were beginning to look a little tired. I had a little serving separation at the cam and slight fraying at the cable guard. At the time, Indoor Spot Leagues were about to start and I didn't want to replace my strings and cables until we were finished. Even though I wouldn't be replacing them right away, I started doing a little online price shopping. I visited countless websites and discovered that ordering the string was actually very simple. The hard part was selecting a quality string builder to make them. On one end of the spectrum were builders that cranked out hundreds of strings. On the other end, there were small-time builders making strings on the side. I had a difficult time narrowing down what I perceived as the best bang for my buck and a serious case of analysis paralysis set in. Ultimately I wound up getting frustrated and put off making the purchase. A year has gone by since that initial search and this time I was determined to replace my strings and cables before leagues kicked off. Out of the blue, I came across a recommendation for Superior Bowstrings One day, I was browsing Facebook when a post popped up in the Target Archers Group. The post was from a guy selling torqueless d-loops. I read through the comments and one of them was a question about making a set of strings and cables to go along with the d-loop. The seller commented that he didn't make strings, which was followed up by a couple of people posting pictures and recommending Superior Bowstrings. Before placing my order I did a quick Google search. Results were uneventful and I found myself on their Facebook Page reading reviews. Most people seems pleased with their purchase and gave them 4 or 5-star ratings. I did the same type of search on the Archery Talk Forum, Archery Talk Facebook Group, and Target Archers Facebook Group. Nothing jumped out at me, so I placed an order. At this point, I had spoken to a few friends and the general consensus was that a typical builder will have strings at your doorstep in two weeks. A week had gone by and I was curious, so I logged into my account on the Superior Bowstrings website to check the status of my order. Paid - Not Shipped (or something along those lines) was noted on my account. I fired off a quick email, through their contact form, asking what the typical build-time was on a set of strings and cables. I wasn't in a mad rush, I knew that these things take time, but I was curious as to when I could expect my order. Another week went by and I didn't get a response to my question. The strings still hadn't arrived so I headed back to the Superior Bowstrings website to check on my order. To my surprise, the domain had expired and I was being redirected to a landing page. As someone with a couple of domains, I knew that this sort of thing happens from time to time. Even so, I was a little worried about the lack of communication. I posted the picture of the expired domain on the Target Archers Facebook Group and asked if anyone had any experience with Superior Bowstrings. Within minutes the owner of the company was tagged in my post and sent me a message. The message said that he hadn't seen my order or payment come in and that he'd look into it. I sent him a screenshot of my email order and payment confirmation and waited. Before he got back to me, a flood of comments began coming in. Few of them were positive. It seemed as though I wasn't the only person waiting on strings - some people were waiting upwards of three weeks and were experiencing the same lack of communication. The owner got back to me saying that he didn't see my order and apologized for the inconvenience. He went on to promise that he would make my strings and cables that evening if I would delete my post. The promise struck me as odd - almost like he was more concerned with the post being taken down than making the situation right. I told him I'd take the post down after receiving my strings and things took a turn for the worse. Because I wasn't willing to take down the post right away, he said something to the effect that he wasn't going to rush to get them done right away. Meanwhile, Wolfden Bowstrings commented on the post that he would make it right by building me a free set of strings. I also received a message from another guy outlining his experience with delays and missing pieces of the order from Superior Bowstrings. Frustrated, I messaged the owner that had I seen all of these negative comments prior to placing my order, I would have purchased strings and cables from someone else. I also told him that he could go ahead and cancel my order. I messaged Wolfden that I would like to take him up on the offer and sent him my specs. He responded that he'd have my strings built in a couple of days and they'd be shipped by the end of the week. Before walking away from the computer for the night, I filed a dispute with PalPay and told my wife that if the refund came through that I'd be sending it to Wolfden for making the situation right. The following day I logged in and found a message from the owner which contained photos of my completed string and cables as well as a photo of the pre-paid shipping label. With the situation seemingly resolved, I contacted Wolfden to explain the situation and ordered a set of strings for a separate bow (as a thank you - he really didn't have to step in and I'm grateful). When the strings arrived, a couple of days later, I looked them over and was happy with the build quality. Matching speed buttons were installed (which I wasn't really expecting) and the string was served for my string stop. I had a friend lend me a hand installing the strings and tuning my bow. The old Elite looks great and I'm happy with the outcome - even if communication was lacking. Despite the strings being well-built with no obvious defects, the next time I need custom strings and cables I'll be going with Wolfden.