possum,

Some of our best and most interesting threads come from questions like yours. It's a legitimate question so there's no reason to be 'sorry'. As far as my answer to it, I've only had one rod with a guarantee and I sold it. All my others are built on inexpensive (but excellent) blanks. So I've never had to use a guarantee., However, given your description, I think I'd probably pay the fees and get the broken part replaced.

Allan