poor service-reader's digest version

Hey Everyone,

I purchased a "brand name" graphite fly rod a past summer at a local retailer with life time manufacturer warranty. Rod fished great!!!
It was his last 5wt and I got it for about $150. Broke the tip about 10 months later in May. So I contact the manufacturer, one of the staff says its $50 shipping included for the tip. So I email my info to purchase and get a response from the owner stating their graphite rod count was incorrect and they have no tips but offers to give me $150 off a $650 high end rod that fishes like no other:-)

I call my local retailer, he retails the high end rod for $350 (with manufacturer warranty and I now know first hand what that warranty is worth:cry:), another store sells the high end rod for $400. both prices way way way lower than the manufacturer, what's up with that?

Personally, I believe the local retailer didn't do anything wrong. Technically, neither did the manufacturer, but I just can't understand the manufacturer's warranty system, pricing or way of doing business. Especially when the manufacturer sells direct on-line as well and has the broken rod in question for sale on his website for about $170 on close-out. I would think he'd at least offer a deal on that one?

I've had many many rods over the years and while I have't made too many warranty claims, I've never felt quite so dicked around.


I'll never buy from them again, am I off base here?

I don't think you are off base at all. This sounds like a very deceptive business practice. You were sold a rod without any real warranty.

Ted

No I do not think you are off base, the rod came with a lifetime warranty, it is up to the makers to replace your rod. If they have no more they should replace it with the next generation rod free of charge. No ifs and no buts, anything else is just plain dishonesty in my book.
All the best.
Mike

Dicked around.............perfect analogy!!!!

I would email and explain that lifetime means life time and that you expect them to stand up behind it. the reason I would go with email is that any responce will be in writing. you might also include a link to this thread.

Eric

Call the mfgr back and tell them you expect them to honor their warranty, or that you will never do business with them again and will be perfectly happy to let your 9000+ friends here at FAOL know what you think of their customer service.

You got royally %&^$ed over. I noticed you didn't mention the rod brand. Why not? It might save others from making the same mistake, as well as send a message to that particular rod company that it doesn't pay to do that to their customers. Word gets around here in a big way, and it can be enough to put them under if they don't wisen up. Next time stick with a real name brand like Temple Fork Outfitters.

I would be on that guy like white on rice. Mike Thomas described perfectly how a lifetime fly rod warranty SHOULD work. In these tough economic times, the cream rises to the top and manufacturers like you are dealing with will sink to new lows in denying their promises to their customers. As Mato Kuwapi said, you should name the manufacturer so someone else here does not get the "shaft," and if he ultimately delivers as promised, you can post that here to clear his name. Right now it doesn't look good for this company.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eric-WD

I would email and explain that lifetime means life time and that you expect them to stand up behind it. the reason I would go with email is that any responce will be in writing. you might also include a link to this thread.
Eric

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I find a nice email explaining that you believe you likely talked to a new hire. You find it hard to believe or expect such a fine company as theirs would use such a deceptive practice. And explain to them exactly exactly what you believe you bought and exactly what you expect them to do about it. The link included will help. I also find including a CC to the states district attorney, consumer affairs office, Better Business office, etc.also generally gets a response. :)

I had a very similar situation with a VERY well known company many years back on a spinning rod. The short version of the story was they didn't make the rod any more, it was maybe one of the last of the top end of their fiberglass, and offered me a discount on a graphite. When I wrote a letter of protest (this was before email), the president responded that the lifetime waranty was for the life of the rod, not the owner. I did not receive any further assistance, but me nor any of my friends have purchased a rod from that company in the last 20+ years. I am not mentioning their name as they are a sponsor.

first of all, my last rod was a TFO and it's fantastic!

You all bring up great points that made me re-visit my emails so I should clarify a little further.

Well this all went down in sept of 2010 soI wasn't very proactive and I feel it's been too long to start it up again, or maybe I'm wrong. I just came across the broken rod while cleaning and it burned me up a bit and I just had to vent here. Don't get me wrong, I'd love a replacement:-)


I should also mention that after requesting a replacement of equal value, the owner emailed:
"Hi Ian,

******* graphite rod was never on a life time warranty, especially on close-out sales. Please take this matter to a dealer where you purchased this rod."

But he only said this after I told him the retailer sold it with manufacturer warranty.

This manufacturer isn't a sponsor but I'm still not saying anything at his point because I'm not sure anyone's done anything wrong.

The retailer claims the manufacturer backed the warranty the day i bought it so I don't feel he's responsible. The manufacturer never really made any claim to me. So I don't feel as though he's done me wrong but I'm a bit surprised that the manufacturer wasn't a bit more accommodating as i was willing to mail him the broken rod and even pay for just the tip. He claims not to have a tip,yet he still sells the rod direct online. Still a bit strange to me. What do you guys think?

how thell would he know if you got it on closeout? have a friend send it back for you as if he bought it new. you are not wrong...so post the name. I don't want to buy that rod company. This is the reason I buy Redington.

I hate this, but sometimes you have to play the dirty little games that less reputable companies play. Have someone send it back claiming it was a gift. If they don't honor the warranty, email or call them & let them know WHO you will lodge complaints with & WHERE you will post your negative experience.
Keep in mind that (at least in my experience) class A companies with solid customer service would NEVER put you through what this outfit did & YES, you should name them. A large part of my shopping decisions are made by researching "What if something goes wrong?". I have never had issues with Hook & Hackle, St Croix, Sage, LL Bean, Orvis, Cabelas, et al.
Bottom line is that even if this works out to your benefit, REMEMBER what you had to go through to get them to honor their promise.
Mike

I have a few observations here.
1) The purpose of a warrantee is to encourage you to buy, and by honoring it, to encourage you to buy more and recommend it to others. That's not happening here.
2) If it is a 'brand name' rod, then it is not much of a brand if it doesn't stand behind a warrantee.
23) What does 'life of the rod ' mean? Does that mean that when it is broken the life is over so there is no warrantee? Or does it mean when the rod is discontinued its life stops? That's not much of a warrantee.
4) I agree with others, if the rod you purchased is no longer available (although apparently it is), the current matching rod in the lineup should be sent to you. St. Croix did that with me when my Legend (2pc black) broke and I received a 4pc Legend Ultra. It did cost $75 for upgrade and shipping but I thought that was fair.
5) I also agree with others, let us know the name of the company that does not have good communication with either you or their retailers, and who is therefore causing you grief.
6) Bug the daylights out of them until you get satisfaction - hopefully you have a warrantee card or their warrantee is shown online. The squeaky door gets the oil (and the rod).

Yell loud and long on forums, Facebook and anywhere else people will listen and name names! Toyota pulled a nasty on a son whose mother had just been murdered here in the Denver area and just came and got her car without even seeing if he could take over the payments. The local press got hold of it and people started hounding them on Facebook. It took less than 24 hours for them to return the car and forgive the loan completely. It was cheaper than trying to overcome the bad press.

Tell us who it is so we can help you spread the word that this company is trying to give you the shaft.

I have read this post and I have only one concern. You stated: "he still sells the rod direct online." I do not know of any reputable rod manufacturer that sells their rods direct to the consumer online. The reputable rod companies only sell through dealerships. If this person/company is selling direct to the consumer, then you are not dealing with someone that you can really trust and they probably do not have any warrantee.

Just a thought and nothing more.....

I sure would appreciate the name of the company. Don't protect this rip-off operation. 8T :)

I've made posts about the great customer service I've received from various companies and always say which company it was. Same should be true for bad customer service. Please say which rod company it is -- also Jesse, the rod company who is a sponsor here. Why not? I'm sure whatever company, there will be replies from people detailing good experiences too- it will help the company to be competitive and improve. As far as "reputable" companies selling only through dealers, I'm not sure I can agree with that. I've had no warranty issues with rods in over 30 years, so I can't add personal experience. I do however, want to spend my hard-earned $$$ (when the time comes) on products which are worth it. As it is, I will never spend $650, or $400 on a rod, or probably not $250 on one.

Bottom line - you got hosed. Having said that, you are lucky you did not pay full retail for that rod.

I agree that they should have replaced the rod. I also agree that you need to document the warranty policy by copying the policy from thier web site OR via an email from them. Once you have that, you can sue them in small claims court and/or you can write the FTC and document the false advertising. If you do not get the problem resolved, I would file a complaint.