Shimano Rods - Over The Counter Warranty Exchange

[Mistermojo]

Just a heads up that local (twin cities) dealers are not replacing Shimano Rods over-the-counter under the lifetime warranty, even though the rods are advertised in this manner by Shimano. They will send the rods in for you, but one dealer told me that Shimano is not being very cooperative in sending rods back to the dealers so the stores are opting to penalize the consumers instead. The only place I found locally that would do an in-store swap is the big muskie store up in Blaine, and they charge a $20 processing fee to do so.

Supposedly since Shimano and G.Loomis are owned by the same parent company, Shimano may start doing something like G.Loomis does where they expedite a rod to you and hold the money on your credit card until they get the old one back, which will still take a few days, and sounds risky if they determine they aren't going to cover it.

If you need a rod quick, time to buy a new one!

[Jarrod32]

I work retail, and we are seeing this more and more with the fishing rod companies. They want to handle it directly.

Far, far too many "warranty returns" on rods that get stepped on or slammed in a tailgate (things that are NOT covered under warranty).

So, the fishing rod companies want to directly inspect the broken rod in order to determine if it is a warranty issue or not. Stores are left in a tough position - they can't just automatically exchange a product, because if it is not a warranty issue then the store does not get credit from the company/supplier and is out the cost of the rod.

It kind of sucks, I know, but blame is to be placed on the people who abuse the privilege of exchanging products by trying to get warranty exchanges on rods that they break outside of normal use (slamming them in a tailgate, stepping on them, etc.). Blame those folks.

If it is a warranty issue, the rod will need to be sent directly to the company for exchange.

[Mistermojo]

My issue with this, is that Shimano advertises the warranty as over the counter, and the dealer sells the product without disclosure of the fact that they will not honor the warranty in the specified manner. I didn't see anything blacked out or omitted from the fishing rod product tag, making the dealer complicit in selling the product somewhat deceptively. I don't want to throw around the "false advertising" claim, but it seems like that's almost what it is. I spend the extra money to buy a good fishing rod, with a specific warranty, and now I'm told that I can't make the exchange as was promised. If I wanted to deal with mail-in warranty, there are other brands I can buy instead.

Money squabbles between Shimano and the dealer are not my concern. Either don't sell Shimano, or live up to the warranty agreement as implied by my agreement to purchase the item with the given stipulations (current warranty policy.)

I don't claim to be a business law expert, but I have had enough business law and ethics classes to know that something smells a bit ripe.

[Jarrod32]

Fair point. If Shimano is marketing an over-the-counter warranty, they need to back up the retailer. Or, the retailer needs to be clear and up front that they are not backing Shimano's promise.

If Shimano is going to put the retailer in the position of backing their warranty and then won't back up the retailer, it won't be long before no retailer is going to carry Shimano's product.

But the retailer shouldn't be put into the position of taking the financial hit for backing Shimano's warranty. If Shimano isn't willing to back their product, well...that tells you something about Shimano.

[JohnMickish]

You have to ask yourself, what is Shimano warranting? Is it materials and workmanship or are they prividing a warranty that says if you do something out of your own neglienge they will take care of you?

[jmd1]

So one question, did the rod break from defects or did it get stepped on/slammed in tailgate? Can you imagine in a retail business that deals with everything what people try and returns damaged? I have a co worker, dumber than a box of rocks, bought a wally world above ground pool for 900 bucks. Put it up on a sat am, went the whole week, got up next sat am and it was buried in the ground darn near to the top. somewhere in the set up he failed to get part of the liner secured and over the week it leaked over 5500 gallons of water under the pool. He pulled it apart, piled it up in his truck and took it back to the store for a refund. Even went as far as calling the sewer dept to tell them they had a leak that undermined his yard. No leak found, but they could tell where the sink hole started. Long story short, he did not get his pool replaced, but what if he would have. Who pays in the end?

[Jarrod32]

Can you imagine in a retail business that deals with everything what people try and returns damaged?

Deal with it every day. Or the clowns that buy a tool because they need to do one particular job, then return it because "they don't like it" or "don't want it anymore".

[Mistermojo]

If I'm a dumba*s and slam my rod in the car door or step on it in the bottom of the boat, then that's my issue and I don't expect to be compensated, and that's not the issue here. My issue is that the "rules of the game" were changed after the game had begun and consumers are unaware of the rule change until they are in a position like I was. I will still probably buy Shimano rods as they are a pretty good value, but going forward I know the situation will be different. Not a huge issue.

Now, if anyone can suggest another brand/model I should be looking at in the $100 or so price range for my next rod, then I'm all ears

Thanks for humoring my caveat emptor discussion.

[Jarrod32]

No, your complaint is fair. It shouldn't be falsely represented. It should be (should have been) made clear up front what the warranty process would be. And I did not mean to insinuate that you were careless. My point was that there are a number of people who have tried to get a warranty replacement on something like that in the past, which has led to the necessity of stopping the process of no-questions-asked exchanges at the retail level. Those who have abused the process in the past have now made it more difficult for everyone.

Personally, I'm a fan of the St. Croix rods...there are many of them in that $100 range. And they generally back up their warranty...but you do have to send it in to the company.

[Ufatz]

I am surprised the companies did not start modifying this policy long ago. Orvis started all this twenty years ago. The philosophy is " Sure, we'll give them a replacement rod because the returns will be maybe .075 of total rod sales. Then we boost the rod prices to absurd levels, gradually, and make more money anyway."

Then along came the "get something free" generation and the rush was on. If you have turned a rod in because your kid slammed it in the door then it is YOUR fault Shimano has changed the policy. If your buddy laughingly told you how "I got me a new rod....haw haw haw" then HE helped bring down the policy.

The Loomis policy has always been MORE than fair. Shimano probably figures the store sales personnel are TOO willing to just hand out another rod, probably to a good customer they know, and they are tired of it. Seems FAIR to me they get a chance to see the rod.

Loomis and Shimano make some of the best rods on the market today.

And just so you'll know....some of us old time retail fly fishing guys find the idea of $600 graphite flyrods a real hoot!!

But hey!....if you wanna pay it that is your right. Right?

[651fisherman]

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