Quote Originally Posted by maodiver View Post
What Larry said. If I am willing to pay extra for a rod with an unconditional warranty, then the rod has an unconditional warranty...even if I buy it on sale.
I agree. Here's my guarantee story. A few years ago I bought a top-line Cabela's rod; it was on clearance but to my understanding still came with the Cabela's lifetime warranty. The tip broke and I returned it. They looked up what I'd paid for it and they wanted to replace it with a much cheaper rod. I argued that the warranty stated it would be replaced with a comparable rod, and that nobody told me when I bought it that the warranty would no longer apply. I went round and round with several layers of customer service and never got anywhere.

Finally I wrote a letter to Jim and Dick; they were retired but supposedly still on the board. I explained the situation and said that I was a long-time customer and that I knew if they were still running the company I wouldn't be having this issue. I also stated that I would find it hard to remain a customer due to the situation.

Now, I have no idea whether or not either of them actually saw the letter, but someone did, because I got a call from the VP of customer service who told me that there had been a "misunderstanding" and that of course they would be replacing my rod with the current comparable model. I had already replaced it so I asked if I could get the new rod in a different weight, and they said sure. I still have the rod, and I'm still a customer, even though it took me a bit of work.