Winston Warranty

[nick0danger]

That is why i only buy new rods, except TFO cause they will warrenty them no problem at least here in canada.

[RS1]

It is a questionable practice for a manufacturer to try to artificially control the price of their product. There are several fly tackle companies that only sell through authorized dealers. Their products cost the same wherever you go. Winston is taking this a step further by refusing to honor their warranty unless you buy from an authorized vendor. I don't support manufacturers who don't stand behind their products, and I certainly don't support price fixing.

How do you artificially control the price of your product? If Winston says you, as an authorized dealer, will retail a 5W BIIX for $XXX.XX how is that artificially controlling the price? Sage, T&T, Scott and others say the rods will sell for a certain price, then the dealers will sell them for that price. When a dealer becomes a Winston dealer, I'm sure they sign a paper that says they'll sell for retail. Nothing wrong with that. Same goes for Sage, or T&T or Scott or others.
It's a Winston built rod, if they only want certain dealers to sell their product, it's up to them. Not you or anyone else. If you don't want a Winston, don't buy one. I do have a BIIX that I bought from a buddy. I've had it for 3 years now. I don't have a warranty, and like Bamboozle said, it's just an insurance policy. If you are in the habit of breaking rods, then by all means make sure you buy one with a great warranty. Myself, I don't look at the warranty when buying a rod. If I were to come across another Winston I wanted, used or sold by an unauthorized dealer and it wouldn't stop me from buying it. I don't abuse my equipment, and if I ever did break a rod, well I'll guess I'd cowboy up and pay to get it fixed. It ain't that big of a deal. I broke it, it's my fault.

[Brian Moffitt]

RS1,

What you just described is an artificial price control in a strict economic sense. Instead of allowing the market to determine the price for your good/service the manufacturer is setting a price (generally defined as a price floor) and not allowing the good/service to be sold for less based on market conditions.

As you note anyone who sells Winston (or Sage or Loomis, or...) agrees to sell their items in this manner, and that is just part of the game. As I noted in a previous post the Supreme Court has rulled this type of pricing model is legal. Sadly though, this is normally only seen with "premium" brands where the price floor is set to keep prices artificially high (to "retain the value of the brand").

That Winston chooses to honor the waranty for rods only sold their dealer network is again certainly their choice. Quite honestly I can't fault them for this choice and I tend to agree with their policy of extending this warranty only to the original purchaser. That being said, I clearly don't agree with their pricing policies (nor the pricing policies of most fly fishing equipment manufacturers).

Brian

[Uncle Barry]

Good morning.
This is surely a funny thread ?

Whats the problem with Warranty.
If you don't like the suppliers conditions, then don't buy the product, easy as that.

you would conduct things the same way with a car, boat or anything that consumed your hard earned dollar, so why the problem with fishing gear.

and as a builder/supplier.
if there is a manufactures fault, within or on a rod, then it will show up in the first couple of minutes of very hard casting, 99.9% of times.

and no matter what some people think, 99.9% of suppliers are the good guys and will bend over backwards to help a customer or someone with their product,
IF, that same person is just as nice, but come in agro and things could be very different.

'artificial price control'..call it what you want,
its alive and well !
and against the law in the US and my country,
but ...............

Kind regards,
UB

[Normand]

and as a builder/supplier.
if there is a manufactures fault, within or on a rod, then it will show up in the first couple of minutes of very hard casting, 99.9% of times.

that should have been caught by the companies quality control department and never left the factory to get in the hands of a customer

[Uncle Barry]

Hi Norm.
Your 100% correct, however sometimes, nothing happens till the rod is totally loaded after about 3 minutes of false casting with a lot of being carried in the sky.

Kind regards,
UB