Just a final update for those of you interested in rod manufacturer customer service ...

The broken rod was a Redington RS4 8'6" 3 wt. I had purchased it new in 2009 for $169. It had a lot of fishing days on it and had already been repaired twice when it recently broke the 3rd time. I sent it back to Redington and they quickly confirmed that the rod could not be repaired or replaced since it was no longer stocked or manufactured.

Redington waived the usual warranty fee and offered me a 50% coupon on a single order. I thought about both the Classic Trout and Hydrogen, but after reading So after reading some reviews, I decided to buy a Redington 9' 3wt Hydrogen for $149 (retails for $299).

Overall, I've been pretty happy with Redington products and customer service -- certainly a good value.