St. Croix

[MJBo]

Had a rod snap in half on a fish recently (less than 1 yr old). It must have been compromised because the thing literally blew up on a hookset. I'm trying to return it but St Croix won't let me have it replaced where I bought it and are making me pay to ship it to their factory and pay 20$ for a new one to be shipped to me. I'm really flamed. I've never had a rod behave so poorly and I've never experienced worse customer service. I'll never buy another St Croix. Just posting because I want everyone to be aware that if they break their St Croix it'll cost em 40$ to get it replace plus a trip to fed ex. If anyone thinks I'm wrong to be [PoorWordUsage]ed please talk me down (sorry- all fired up cause I just got off the phone with "customer service").

[Guest]

In a situation like this, I'd be glad just to get a new rod for $40.00 ESPECIALLY a St. Croix.. I've never had problems with them. I had a rod tip go bad and it was past the 1 year period. The guys sent me a tip repair kit, free of charge, no questions asked. And this was on a Premier rod.. I currently own 3 legend elites because of this.

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Had a rod snap in half on a fish recently (less than 1 yr old). It must have been compromised because the thing literally blew up on a hookset. I'm trying to return it but St Croix won't let me have it replaced where I bought it and are making me pay to ship it to their factory and pay 20$ for a new one to be shipped to me. I'm really flamed. I've never had a rod behave so poorly and I've never experienced worse customer service. I'll never buy another St Croix. Just posting because I want everyone to be aware that if they break their St Croix it'll cost em 40$ to get it replace plus a trip to fed ex. If anyone thinks I'm wrong to be [PoorWordUsage]ed please talk me down (sorry- all fired up cause I just got off the phone with "customer service").

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[Hotspotter]

MJ:

Understand your frustration on the $20 shipping fee to get it to St. Croix. I don't understand the $40, or the problem with customer service however, as I've dealt with them on several occasions (and several rods), and I've never had a problem.

I see what you're saying about the rod probably being compromised in some way. However, if it's ever your fault, as it's been mine several times, and you snap a rod that you have to send back, $20 plus shipping there seems like a small fee to pay to have a rod for a lifetime (avid series and up).

From what I've fished, there about as good as it gets for most species in terms of sensitivity, light-weight, and durability (considering the lifetime replacement warranty). Most custom rods are built on their blanks as well.

Hopefully this is an isolated incident, and you enjoy the product they return to you! Good luck with the replacement,

Joel

[MJBo]

I hear ya about when its your fault. When I was younger I had the classic "slammed my car door on it" incident, so I went back to gander Mtn said "I slammed my car door on it" and walked out with a new fenwick(felt very fortunate). Fast forward to St. Croix and this time its actually not my fault. Now I've gotta pay 40 bucks (shipping both ways) for a defective 130$ rod. I guess thats why I'm angry. THe darn thing just broke. Actually probably cost me a good fish too.

Sounds like I'm in the minority though. Guess I'll just suck it up and ship it back.

[Hockey Guy]

You are NOT in the wrong to be angry as far as I'm concerned. IMO, a company like St. Croix needs to be above the rest in terms of customer service. If you spend that kind of money for a rod you should be treated as good or better than you are treated at Gander or any place else. If you break a Shimano, you can take it in to any Shimano dealer and they will replace it on the spot.

I use mainly Gander Guide Series rods because I think they are just as good as my $285 Fenwick. I also have a couple Shimano's that I don't have any complaints about. One of the benefits to using these is that I can have them replaced in 5 minutes at Gander or Thorne Bros. and it doesn't cost me a dime.

I'm sorry. I know most of you guys are going to bash me, but I think companies like St. Croix and Fenwick need to treat customers above and beyond what they would expect. I think customer service is something that is going down hill in a lot of companies. If a company wants to be thought of as elite, they need to treat their customers like they’re elite. It’s like the difference between Honda and Acura or Toyota and Lexus. If I drive an Acura or Lexus, I expect outstanding customer service. More so than if I’m in a Honda or Toyota. Probably not the best example because we all know you would never need customer service with a Honda or Toyota, but you get the point.

[cupper]

This same EXACT thing happened to a friend of mine. Bought a brand new St. Croix... took it to Canada to fish lake trout... first fish and SNAP!! The rod explodes, fish gone, and my buddy is out $130. He called St. Croix and got the same responses from customer service. Needless to say he, nor I, will ever buy their gear. There are plenty of other quality rods on the market... and some for less money. I understand that most people probably love their St. Croix, but I know too many people who have had horrible experiences with them. Broken rods happen, but poor customer service is in-excusable.

[traveler]

I've been dealing with St Croix for years; every trip to AK it seems like I break a rod somehow:) Shipping plus 10 bucks (20 now?) for a replacement high quality rod, I just don't see how that isn't a great deal. Sure you can buy a Shimano (club) and get it replaced on the spot, but I'd sooner fish with a quality rod and live wth a return every couple of years. BTW, some of those breaks you guys don't think are your fault just might be. Just cause ya didn't slam it in a car door doesn't mean it didn't get nicked during transit, in the boat, etc... Better graphite rods are much more prone to breakage from sometimes unseen damage. Again, I'd sooner fish quality and take my lumps in the return game.

[Guest]

I had a Fenwick rod go bad too. My wife accidently slip the tip into a swivel seat and as I was loading the boat the swivel seat turned and snapped the rod... They're not replacing it onsite anymore so you have to still pay the 20.00 to ship it in for replacement. Which, I did happily and got a new Fenwick

[CaptainMusky]

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I've been dealing with St Croix for years; every trip to AK it seems like I break a rod somehow:) Shipping plus 10 bucks (20 now?) for a replacement high quality rod, I just don't see how that isn't a great deal. Sure you can buy a Shimano (club) and get it replaced on the spot, but I'd sooner fish with a quality rod and live wth a return every couple of years. BTW, some of those breaks you guys don't think are your fault just might be. Just cause ya didn't slam it in a car door doesn't mean it didn't get nicked during transit, in the boat, etc... Better graphite rods are much more prone to breakage from sometimes unseen damage. Again, I'd sooner fish quality and take my lumps in the return game.

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If I pay $130 for a rod, they better not only outperform a $80 rod, but also better stand behind their product BETTER than the $80 rod does. Otherwise what is the point? I have had excellent luck with Shimano Compres and Gander Mtn rods (with a 2 year warranty), by far the best bang for the buck and they are far from clubs and have the very same graphite construction the "quality" rods have, but at a reasonable price. In fact, Gander used to get their blanks for some of their rods from St Croix, but still offered their rods at a considerably lower price. How can that beat? Where is the extra $$$ going?

Now I believe they are Ticas or something like that, but they are still an excellent rod for any price range. I have used by Compre for 7 years and it is now 3 inches shorter than when I bought it, but it is still an excellent rod and it cost me $60 back then.

Just because you spend $130 doesn't mean you are getting better equipment. Musky lures are expensive enough, we don't need to spend money foolishly on expensive equipment when it is not any better.