IMHO, products damaged by user accidents or abuse should NEVER be replaced
for "free", and we are kidding ourselves if we pretend they should be. No
business trying to stay alive can just eat the costs involved, meaning they
are obviously passed on to future customers by raising prices on their
products.

Personally, in almost 60 years of fishing, I have been lucky to never having
broken a rod through any accidents or abuse (probably because I am careful
by nature), so I therefore resent having to pay for the carelessness of
others. I believe that it is only right that businesses wake up and revert
to the honest policy that "You break it, you buy it," and quit penalizing
the rest of us.

--
Bob Rickard
(AKA Dr. Spinnerbait)
www.secretweaponlures.com
--------------------------=x O')))


"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
I was going through all my rods and could not believe the number of rods I
broke in the last year. I decided to box them and send them back to the
various manufacturers.

Some legitimately should be replaced under warranty for things like bad
guide wrapping or eyelet inserts popping out. Others were broken due to
my
carelessness and a few I just don't know why the broke. With each one I
included an honest description of how they got broken and what was wrong
with them. I also included a check for $10 for return shipping with each
package except for Lamiglass which specifies 14.50 on their website.

Here is what I have so far.

Silstar/Pinnacle. One Rod Sent. The fastest return was from them. I
sent
them a rod I gave my son for his birthday. I set a tool box down on it
when
fishing and broke it. Out of warranty, and definitely not the fault of
the
rod. They sent back a better quality rod than the broken one because the
broken one was no longer in production. No problems, no questions.

St Croix one rod was definitely defective with an insert that had popped
out, and I "found" the tip broken off the other. I think atleast one of
them was less than a year old, but I could not find the receipts. The
arrived the day after the Silstar rod with a note about things I should do
to take better care of my rods.

Quantum. Two rods. Both probably broken from carelessness. No problem.
One was no longer in production so they upgrade to slightly more expensive
rod. I had no receipts included with these rods. These arrived back the
same day as the St Croix rods.

Bass Pro Shops. Returned two identical Bionic Blade IM-8 rods. Both were
defective. One had bad eyelet wrap glue and the eyes were coming off the
other broke mid section when it was picked up with very little use or
abuse
(I don't care for these all that much because they are heavy.) I received
one brand new replacement today, with reason why they only sent one.

Fenwick. Sent two almost new Eagle GT rods along with a receipt for 5
rods.
(I like these for light spinner baits and crank baits.) One was
definitely
defective, and one was stepped on. I haven't yet heard from them. They
received my package on t he 17th.

Lamiglas. Sent one 3 wt rod with receipt, and a check for 14.50.
definitely under warranty damage was questionable. The tip of the rod
broke
off in transit to the ABA classic in November. The rod had seen very
little
use, and I don't think I did anything to damage it. When I took it out of
the rod cover the tip was hanging from the line. I haven't heard from
them
yet. The did cash my check. It hit my account on the 24th. The package
was delivered to them on the 17th.

Pflueger. Sent two rods with no receipt. Both damaged by abuse. No
response.

I would say that Silstar and St Croix both went beyond what they were
obligated to do. I am concerned about Lamiglass and Fenwick. I haven't a
clue what to think about Bass Pro Shops given their normally more than
generous return policy.

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com