rod warranties
Don't want to derail the other thread...so...
Some interesting comments concerning warranties came out of the other thread so I am wondering what your thoughts are. Given that most if not all manufacturers offer limited warranties on materials and workmanship of their products; Some scenarios; You buy a shiny new F250 and scrape the bumper pulling out of your garage...should FORD repair that free of charge for you? That $20,000 600mm F4 CANON lens you just bought for your camera rolls off the table onto the floor....should CANON replace it free of charge for you? You cut that $100 RIO floating flyline between two rocks...should RIO replace it for free? You crush your recently purchased flyrod in your car door (which apparently folks did in the other thread)….should the manufacturer replace it for free? |
The warranty is why I don't make rods commercially. I could never afford to warranty them. The cost of shipping and redoing a rod is almost as much as the rod initially cost. It's also the reason rods are stupid expensive. Rod failure from the factory is pretty rare, but manufacturers cover peoples stupidity, who knows why?
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These companies aren't taking the loss you might think they are on warranties. I once worked at a warehouse that handled warranty claims, walk in price of $30 for a new piece on a rod where the warehouse paid $40 for all four pieces of a rod. There's a lot of markup when you consider profits need to be made in addition to operating costs for a manufacturer, possibly a distributor, then for the retailer.
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The warranty is a THE selling point of TFO rods. No, a company should not HAVE to pay for idiot breakage, but they do. That’s why they sell.
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YOU are the one that pays for the guy that slams the car door on his rod.... |
As a former retail store manager for many years and one of my stops was for one of the local fishing stores I have heard it all. Fishermen have to be be one of the worst for stories that are not even believable and I have looked after a lot more expensive products than fishing. Most dont get it. Buy a carbon rod and try to pull a big snag and snap and thats the mfg fault. Ice fish with an 18 inch light duty rod and this big pike grabbed it and broke it and want another. In many cases the rod does not even go back to the mfg the store just eats the cost and is a good reason warranty is denied as it becomes a loss to the store but get a better discount overall to make up for them. If a bad batch or bad design it can cost. Be realistic and if you screw up maybe you just learn an expensive lesson. Realistically most products do work well if you do as they are designed and follow instructions which we all know men do not do well. Just sayin and 20 plus years of retail management telling like it really is.
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Lifetime rod warranties have become the standard in the industry. If you want to sell your rods, you have to offer a competitive warranty,,, consumers expect it now.
Yes at the end of the day, it does make fly rods more expensive, but it also gives the buyer the assurance that his investment in a fly rod is protected. |
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All the companies I've sent a broken fly rod to, charge a "handling fee" on top of the shipping I pay to send it to them. All these companies call it a rod "warranty"...... it shouldn't be worded that way. Its a false illusion, if it were a warranty, it'd be replaced without a "handling fee" I agree with paying for the replacement though, unless in the rare event it was a manufacturer's defect. |
Each company has their own warranty policy and conditions. It rarely a “you break out of neglect and we will send you a free rod”. Some companies have repairs or replacements for strictly manufacturing errors where others (expensive rods) have a free replacement (with a processing fee), but the extra free replacement rod is built into the $800+ rod cost. Companies are not willing to give away profits for others’ mistakes.
You might find this article interesting. https://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs...od-warranties/ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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To boah...Of course guides will eventually wear out...but you can significantly reduce guide wear by regular line cleaning and line replacement. A dirty line will act like sandpaper and groove guides prematurely. My post was initiated by the other thread where some folks seemed to think that crushing their rod in a car door entitled them to get a free replacement rod.... |
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Again, the point of discussion is not a manufacturers defect. I think most manufacturers will stand by their product if used properly. But rather should they honor that for improper user handling...or downright abuse? |
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It sure does. In most products that offer replacement warranties they basically know what the breakage rate is going to be and then divide those costs and add it to everyones cost. You are paying for it but most feel much better. It is almost like insurance where you are paying for the replacement initially and just pay a deductible later if needed.
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I think the option of replacing sections of rod for a fee is the best solution. Allows the user to be able to use their rod, but pays for incompetence. The caveat is actual manufacturing defect, which should be replaced by the company.
I’ve had a brand new (from manufacturer) rod snap at the butt section from casting on the lawn. That should be on them. It wasn’t though, and cost me $60 for a replacement section. Worth it though — it’s the best 6wt I’ve ever casted and it’s fights fish like a beast 🤙🏼💪🏼 |
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I think these approaches are basically in line with most of the comments above. The attractive part for me is being able to purchase broken tip sections locally, not having someone else pay for my clumsiness. I would hope that both manufacturers are covering all the costs of these replacement programs with the fees they charge me, not in the original cost of the rod. I never purchase an extended warranty for any other product and don't want to for fly rods either. Ken |
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Also calculated into that is most people who do break a rod don't know it might be warrantied or can't be bothered so just go buy another rod. The percentage of rods that actually are sent/returned for warranty is quite low. It's kind of like rifle scopes, the cost of repair/replacement / warranty return rate is factored into the retail price. it's just another marketing tool. |
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o.k Lesson learned, that was the 1st (and last) time I bought a GLoomis product. |
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That it is for most retail products. Sometimes there is none and sometimes a new product is a bust and costs them a fortune. Seen that a few times before too. Then either the product gets a makeover or they raise the price up to cover it. And yes there are a lot of people that bring rods back for warranty. I know because I got to deal with the difficult ones.:argue2:
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A few years back my kids bought me an Echo rod for Christmas. Second time using it and the tip breaks off. I hadn't done anything different than the hundreds of other times I've fly fished and never broke a rod.
Contacted Echo and they had me scrape the name off the broken rod and send a picture. A month later I call to see where my new rod is and guess what? They don't make that rod any more. They then sent me the next model up in line, with the closest sizing they had. 8' replacing an 8'6" 4wt Lots of optic companies offer no fault warranty as well. That's why Vortex are the greatest! :) |
Well for me, I'd rather pay what it's worth and not subsidize destructo's. That goes for rods and optics. I look after my stuff and resent paying insurance for those that don't.
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That is exactly how it should happen. I sell rods I manufacture. You break it, I repair it following the lead of General Motors. My fault, I fix. Your fault, I fix, you pay. Don |
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