which companies have the best rod warranties? also, are their any companies based out of pennsylvania?
thanks
chris
“Live Free Or Die!”
-General John Stark
IMHO a ?life time? warranty is totally useless and nothing more than a marketing scam.
I have several glass rods that I bought 40+ years ago with ?life time? warranties that aren?t worth the postage it would cost to send them in for the work they need. That is to say that in some cases it would cost more in postage today than I originally paid for the rod. Besides, seeing all those battle scars brings back memories that are worth far more to me than being able to fish the rods again would be.
The way I see it there are several problems with lifetime warranties. First, the newer rods are so much better that, except for nostalgia?s sake, I don?t want to fish those older rods anymore. Plus, the older rods with all their memories are best kept just the way they are.
Second, after so many years most companies are no longer able to repair your old rod. They just can?t keep all those old parts and blanks in inventory. They?ll offer you an upgrade to a newer rod perhaps at a discount but they want you to surrender your old rod. No thanks!
Third, from what we?re seeing in today?s economy whatever the terms of your warranty were when you bought the rod may not be the case 20 or 30 or 40 years down the road. For one, there?s a very good chance the company won?t be in business 20 or so years down the road. Plus a lot of companies want you to pay a fee (TFO wants $25) for warranty work now. Presumably, depending on inflation, in 7 years of so they?ll want a $50 fee and in 15 years $100 and in 30 years maybe $250? Plus whatever shipping will cost then? And you only paid how much for the rod when you bought it?
Based on my 40+ years of fishing experience a 10 year warranty would have fit all of my real life needs, 15 years max. Just remember warranties aren?t free. You pay for them whether you use them or not. And the longer they?re good for the more you pay.
(Disclaimer ? None of the above applies to bamboo rods. Cane is a whole different story.)
I agree with JC although I am a mere child. Asking a question of who has the best warrantee simply promulgates the silly warrantees that are just now beginning to go out of style. That is charging higher original prices to replace rods someone tires of or is not careful enough with due to the silly warrantee. Let us all be responsible for our actions and pay less in the beginning. I have two fly rods, one new and one which is unscared after about 40 years of use.
I’ve used Scott and Redington for warranty work. I thought Scott went above and beyond the call of service. The repair was very fast and as expected.
Redington was OK. They did provide a replacement, but it wasn’t with the same quality of rod that was broken…
I’ve heard very good things about the warranty work done by Sage. I think they are on par with Scott and others.
A good friend tried to get a Powell rod repaired. It didn’t go well and from my point of view, Powell didn’t uphold the warranty.
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Well, it seems that so far the responses are limited to negative opinion on the intinsic value of warranties and are even critical of the original question - which seems unfair to the poster.
As to the question, a warranty is only as good as the people that back it up. Based on my experience and that of friends and acquaintances that had warranty claims, all of the major fly rod manufacturers, including those that are sponsors of this site, stand behind their warranties and honor them.
Are warranties that only cover manufacturer’s defects, charge $25 for service, or $50, or $25 per rod section, or different amounts for tip an butt sections any better or worse than each other. Only the purchaser can determine that based on their own subjective evaluation of the rod.
I buy the rod. I couldn’t care less about the warantee. BUT, then again, I don’t spend $400.00. But even if I did, I think I’d be of the same opinion.
Eagle Claw just recently sent me a replacement rod after I asked them to match the tip section to an old fave of mine.This thing had to be 30yrs old and I was willing to pay. The amazing part of this story, is that again recently someone here mentioned that they bought the SAME model that I got in exchange for $13.00. Ands even more amazing is that Eagle Claw honored some kind of warantee I wasn’t even aware of. For a $13.00 Rod ???
Mark
PS: MY only “complaint” is the the exchange rod is labeled as a 6/7 wt. Well NO WAY. It would be a stretch to be a 2wt and that’s exactly what I’ve lined it.
I’d rather be in Wyoming!
[This message has been edited by Marco (edited 15 January 2006).]
Best: LL Bean-any time, any reason.
Orvis has treated me very well on two rods. One I broke (may have steped on it) and one which may have had a defect show up after a few years.
I find if you don’t lie about what happened, it helps. Loomis treated me OK after I stabbed a tree with a GLX-Not free, but reasonable.
ll bean huh? sweet, i have been a fan of them for years and was contemplating purchaseing from them since i’ve always been treated so well by them but i’ve been hearing so much about orvis in general and other good stuff about st croix and cortland giving me much to research about,
what do others think of ll bean rods etc
Fortunately, I have only had to use the warranty twice, and both times, the manufacturer took care of it with exception of the postage on one occasion. On the other, it was a White River fly rod that had a guide come loose and they replaced the whole rod for free…thought that was pretty cool.
Having been on both sides of the warranty issue (manufacturer and in retail) I have problems with lifetime warranties on some things. I do believe that they have their place and are in need with today’s consumer.
Actually I think most all higher end rods have a full guarentee now, with a few companies you may pay a modest fee of shipping charges, it’s built into the price. That is also one of the ways rod companys keep the lower cost rods cheaper, no guarentee. I have heard stories of guys breaking rods on purpose at the end of the season to get a new rod. Companies like Orvis change thier rod lines every few years or so, if you send back an old Orvis rod that they no longer make they up-grade you to a newer model.
I like the warranty. For some reason the folks on here seem to think that if they dropped the “W” that the company would also drop the price! Dream on! It will never happen. When Orvis first came out with the lifetime (now 20 year, I think) I don’t remember the price going up to cover anymore than they go up a bit about every year. Funny thing, just like Sears, they were always pretty good about replacing gear without it. So if you want to say it is a marketing devise, sure it is, and a darn good one, but if you think it is the cause that the rod isn’t half or 2/3 the price it is you are not being realistic. Believe me they would have been the price they are now anyway. As with about anything you buy, a lot of it is the ‘name’ you are paying for. Could we all catch fish with a $50 rod? Sure we could. Are the more expensive rods better made? Are they lighter? Are they better looking? Probably are.
One way to get around it is to buy Bamboo. It will almost certainly increase in value and you almost certainly will automatically take more care with it.
mantis, …
Could we all catch fish with a $50 rod?
You bet, … One nice thing is, … the 50$ rods I use are garanteed for several years too. No mail in …nothing, … Just go to ANY distibuter and they give you a brand new one off the rack.
Warranties are fine, … I have some $$$ rods and know they be around to honor them. The turn around time IS important though. Most are really good at this too.
Christopher Chin, Jonquiere Quebec
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The biggest problem with this situation today is that people expect to be covered by the rod company when they shut the car door on a rod tip. Companies shouldn’t be expectedto cover things like that.
Shirleybug
Never happen! There are too many people who want to fish Orvis, or Scott, or T&T or Winston and warranty or not you will never see these companies lower their prices. They don’t have to compete with low end rods. I see it all the time at the shows. Over the past two or three years I’ve picked up several inexpensive rods, 2 Native rodsand 2 Korean made rods. all for a bit less than a hundred each. one of each of them cast quite well…but it is quite easy to feel the difference from my Winston, Scott or Orvis… Not that it matters anymore because all I am fishing now are bamboo rods. There is one guy who you probably all know who comes to the shows and who swears by the inexpensive rods…says they are just as good as the most expensive rods. He is rather well known and so gets some of these inexpensive rods for free…because he talks them up. He is also the same guy who will say he is not hungry, then pick food off your plate. I have seen him fill up on bar snacks, then hang around the bar until someone offers to buy him a drink. He would never buy a steak dinner saying a Micky D’s is just as filling but offer to buy him a steak and he will relish it. As I said, sure you can catch fish on a stick , string and safety pin and you can justify it anyway you want. Do and fish with whatever makes you happy.
Don’t forget, no one told Orvis or anyone else they ‘had’ to put a warranty on a rod. Orvis would take care of you even B4 they came up with the warranty. Orvis didn’t corner the market on rods when they did so. They sold a few more rods, sure but did not even come close to cornering the market. Other mfgs may have been afraid the sky was falling and overreacted but these rods would all be just as expensive if the word warranty was never invented.
No graphite rod ever built is worth $600 or more . A gal. of gas ain’t worth $2.75 either… It’s called capitalism. Can anyone say they bought anything at all strictly because of a warranty and that was the only reason they bought it? Be totaly truthful and not just want to be argumentative now.
If anyone is happy fishing witha $40 rod and don’t even want to try a more expensive rod “God Bless them.” If anyone wants to fool themselves into believing that the only reasonm rods ar 6 or 8 hundred bucks is because of a warranty I betcha they still put cookies out for Santa.
I love good old rods…
warranty has NOTHING to do with choice. If my used Winston or T&T rod breaks, I will pay to have it repaired.
I want to fish the rod I want to fish. These rods are 20+ years old & as sweet as the day they were made (with quality, care, & precision) as they are today… AND can NOT be replaced by today’s rods warranty or not.
Later,
Peter
The best warranty is one that doesn’t exist; the one which would treat the manufacturer and consumer fairly:
If it’s your, (manufacturer), fault or error, it doesn’t cost me a cent; no postage, no insurance; no nothing.
If it’s my fault, (scratches, breakage due to neglect or stupidity, loss); I pay something, maybe full market value of the repair.
To my knowledge, no manufacturers offer anything like this. They all want to “bamboozle” us with no-fault/unconditional warranty claims when no other industry does the same thing on similarly priced items. I also don’t want to pay for it on the front end and have to pay for it again on the back end if I ever use it; sounds like car insurance, doesn’t it?
Just like car insurance; we unfortunately ALL pay for the idiots and unscrupulous who just can’t accept responsibility for the errors of their ways. As a result most or all manufacturers don’t pay for inbound freight even when it’s their fault or error; and many charge a handling fee for a supposed warranty repair.
How pi$$ed would you be if your new car warranty included a service fee if you experienced a recall?
As far as I’m concerned, I can do without as long as the not getting it price is lower than the getting it price; (the it in this case describing the warranty, not, (getting) screwed!
[This message has been edited by Bamboozle (edited 16 January 2006).]
Boy, this thread opened up a can of worms. The original thread was about who has the best warranties and are they based out of PA. I live in PA and look for deals in my home state too.
I too, like LLBean, but we know where they are from. Cabela’s is good, and they have a store in PA.
Some of the top named rods listed above all basically have a nice warranty, as do some of the lower priced rods. Redington was good in that you could go anywhere that sold Redington and pick up a new one if yours broke. Home or away. Some others this too.
It comes down to your choice of what you want to pay for,or how much.
I may have to kindly disagree with some statements made about the costs of rods not reflecting the warranty given.
IMO, if a rod costs,say $50 and it has a no fault/lifetime warranty and 30% of rod sales come back for replacement, how long is that company going to be in business? Charge $150 for the same rod and you can weather the broken returns and little better.
I make rods and I give a warranty.That is for the person that judges your craftmanship only by the warranty that you offer. How long will you guarantee this rod, they ask. Lets face it, most rods will break within 90 days of purchase if there is a malfunction with the rod blank. After that,one wonders how the rod broke unless their was misuse. I would like people to be upfront and honest. It was said here and I have to agree,you don’t need a warranty, only a good working relationship.
JC,
I don’t disagree, but I do have to comment that L.L. Bean started all this nonsense not Orvis. . . now Orvis may have been the company that popularized it but L.L. Bean has been doing it since their inception.
I don’t think there should be lifetime warranties on these things, but I sure won’t hesitate to use them on the rods that have them. No one told so and so to offer an unconditional warranty and I’m paying for it anyway.
I gave away my Orvis Trident TLS to a 15 year old kid after about the 5th time it broke in three years, I told him that if he wanted to
pay to get it fixed then the rod was his. Just my luck, Orvis payed for his shipping and handling and gave him a completely new rod, but I don’t regret it one bit. I saved up a little money and bought a Dan Craft blank and built myself a rod to replace the Orvis. I’ve got to say I’m impressed the rod casts better than the Orvis, It probably takes somewhat more abuse and hasn’t broken on me yet. I pampered that TLS and all I got out of it was a long series to $25 dollar fees “for shipping and handling,” and that’s on top of what it cost me to take it down to UPS store to get it shipped to Orvis in the first place.
[This message has been edited by Bill Blake (edited 16 January 2006).]
I have only had cause to use the warranty on a Sage when I had managed to clouser it with a cast I should never have made in the first place. I returned it direct to Sage, as the UK Agent has a bit of a poor reputation (not sure if this has changed) and everything went smoothly.
Think the Orvis guarantee is the best though IMO, just turn up at the shop and they change it.
JME
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To me a warranty should cover a manufacturers defect period. I have an Orvis rod with a 25 year warranty, the only rod I ever personally broke, I closed the rear locker on my Boston Whaler and wasn’t paying attention so I caught the tip and nipped it clean off 1 1/2" down. Simply put why should Orvis pay for my stupidity so I measured the new top and found it the same as the tip so I simply heated the tip top and refit it w/o a wrap… been this way for nearly 18 years. All my other rods are bamboo so I take care of everything I own with a bit more attention to detail since that day. Cheers…
Oct Woods
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[This message has been edited by October Woods (edited 17 January 2006).]