"Ken Fortenberry" wrote in message SNIP

Slam it in a car door and you're on your own! I don't warranty
stupid..... ;-)

LOL !! I don't blame you. I've never busted a fly rod in a car door
but I did have an unfortunate encounter with a malicious screen door
one time. ;-)

A lot of folks complain about unconditional warranties needlessly
raising the price of rods but how do you tell the difference between
stupid and material failure without a forensics team from CSI ? And
if you do determine the break was due to stupid is it worth the ill
will it generates to say so to a customer ? I understand that the guy
who sells 100-200 rods a year can't have an unconditional warranty
but it's a nice thing to have and I don't mind paying a little extra
for the insurance.

It's really not that hard to tell when a rod is broken through a dumbsh!t
move, there's things an experienced eye can tell. Harder to tell is abuse.

I guess I've been fortunate in that I've had to build few replacement rods,
although I have had a couple rods sent back to me with notes explaining how
dumb they were in breaking the rod. Those guys I give a big price break to,
usually just charging for the cost of the blank and I don't demand
reimbursement for my labor.

One guy said "I don't know how it happened, but the rod broke when I was
reeling in a small fish." I emailed him back saying the sneaker print right
at the break site and the bent guide might have something to do with the
break. He emailed me back and admitted that's what happened, he set the rod
down on the deck and stepped on it. I built another rod for him, with a
price break, but he paid for his stupidity and attempt at duplicity.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com