Rod Warranties

[Stick in Mud]

I'm looking to buy a top-of-the-line fishing rod, and I'm wondering which companies have the best warranties. I've looked at Fenwick, St Croix, Loomis, Shimano...all the big ones, and some of the "smaller" brands Rapala, Gander Mountain series, Scheels, etc. Many of the companies offer "lifetime limited warranty," which I take to mean that if the rod breaks during "regular" usage, I get a new one. I've also heard that some of the companies are more generous in interpreting "regular" usage, so that some of them might just give a new rod if it "regularly" gets caught in a car door or is stepped on while night fishing.

So, which companies have the best warranty? Which are the most likely to replace the rod if it is broken due to my own irresponsibility? Which companies ask the fewest questions?

[Down Deep]

I've had to return two St. Croix rods. Both had to be returned to the factory which I think is a hassle because I had to find a rod tube, ship it,and wait for it it to be returned. St. Croix promptly replaced both rods (about two weeks) with no questions asked. They do furnish an informational sheet on rod care when they return the rod. Both my rods had defects. Rod one: The thread on the guides was cracking and causing them to become loose. Rod two: The butt of the rod developed a crack right next to the handle.

I would not expect a business or manufacture to pay for my inadvertent mishaps no more than I would if I had a car accident.

[Stick in Mud]

You're right--but some of them do pay for those inadvertent mishaps, and if I'm going to spend $150-200, I'd like to know which ones do!

[youngie22]

fenwick and joes sporting goods; a very good combonation... have mikey help ya out, he'll find what you want and let you know everything that you need. tell him youngie says hi; haven't made it there in a long time.

[TurnUpTheFishing]

I believe Shimano use to, not sure if they still do, but you could bring a broken rod back to a retailer and switch them for a new one.

Gander is good about replacing broken rods over the counter.

Loomis, St. Croix, Fenwick all need to be mailed back to the company. Not sure how picky they are as I have never sent one back.

[Northlander]

The easiest return policy is Gander. If it syas Gander MT. on it they will replace it no questions asked. At least thats my experience. I have had a few of their top end rods and they are very nice rods. Price is right too. I wait until they have the rod sale wich is about once a year. I broke a trolling rod somehow and they didnt even ask how it broke they just replaced it.

Shimano has a over the counter replacement with some of their rods.

St. Croix and Loomis at times are good and at others are poor. Depends on who ya talk to on that given day. At the very least you will pay for a rod tube and shipping.

Fenwick has 3yr and 6yr and I think lifetime on the Tech rods. Same thing as Croix and loomis.

If your serious about a good top end rod get a custom done. Any good custom rod company will stand behing their rods 100%. I have several Midwest Rods and Reel Rods and Bill and Al stand behind their stuff 100%. PLus they are a sponsor here on FM.

Check out the sponsor page and you will see FM has many good rod companies as sponsors.

Good luck and let us know what you wind up with.

[250XB]

Loomis as a program called Xpeditor in which they will replace a broken rod no questions asked for $50 standard ground shipping or $65 for 2 day shipping. It is nice because they ship you a new rod in a tube and you put the broken one in it and ship it back, you do not pay for shipping. I like it better than St. Croix they are slow and it will cost you about $30 in shipping, I would rather pay a little extra to get it back sooner. I have broken my fault 3 loomis rods and they have replaced all of they great service, St. Croix I shipped three rods back to have them fix something on them and had to send them back again because they a bad job and they wouldn,t pick up the shipping I was not to happy with them. Some day I will get rid of my 4 Avid rods and replace them with loomis rods.

[Stick in Mud]

Well why don't I just buy one from you?!? I'm looking for a 6'6'' Medium power with a fast action...

Northlander--any idea when that sale is? I would guess in the fall...

Do places like Scheel's, Gander, Sportsman's, etc. use top-end blanks and then just put their name on it? Someone told me that they are essentially the same rod as the St Croix, Loomis, etc, but just with a different name. I wonder if that's true.

[traveler]

I haven't returned one for a while, but over the years I've had 3 or 4 St Croix fly rods replaced( AK is really hard on them!) I think the warrenty on them is unconditional lifetime, but not on non-flyrods. I've always got a couple cardboard shipping tubes from old purchases stored in the garage, so a tube is no problem. They've always been pretty quick about it as well.

[icehousebob]

I had a Gander Guide Series that had the tip snapped when I pulled it out of the truck.Probably my fault. I had a second one that I stepped on in the boat. Definitely my fault. I carried them into the store and back to the fishing counter without a sales slip or nuthin. The guy at the the counter didn't call the department manager or service desk. He went to the rack and got me two new rods. Service is not dead.

[NCLaker]

 Originally Posted By: youngie22

fenwick and joes sporting goods; a very good combonation... have mikey help ya out, he'll find what you want and let you know everything that you need. tell him youngie says hi; haven't made it there in a long time.

If you do buy it from Joe's, make sure you keep the reciept. If you don't have the reciept, I think they charge $20 to send it in for you.

I broke my Fenwick HMG - they sent it in for me and received a new one no questions asked. Took at least a couple weeks to replace.

[Stick in Mud]

That's interesting--I've heard from a few people that Fenwick was one of the stingier companies...and it seems like a lot of this is just hit or miss. Maybe it just depends on who happens to handle the individual case?

[Wayne Ek]

Quantum has a life time warranty on a number of their rods. Either over the counter where purchased or sent back to factory. There is no additional return fee's like some companies.

[CustomRodFan]

Couple things to remember fellas. Its a retailer versus a manunfactuer concept to keep in mind. There are less than a handful of rod manufacturers worldwide. Seriously. Know that you are buying a retailing company and not a manufacturer in most cases. So, whether you feel a Cabelas rod is better than a Gander rod, you might blown away to know that they were very possibly both made by the same OEM.

Most, if not all, manufacturers are going to ask you to ship the rod to them. It's your responsibility to get it to them to inspect. They need to ascertain the damage as to product or user cause. Remember, in may instances, car doors and feet are reported as I just don't know what happned, it broke!

Manufacturers make tens of hundreds of thousands of rods. Some will, undoubtedly, squeek through quality control. They need to know and will certainly stand behind the defect.

When it comes to retailer, Icehousebob, tells the scenario where keeping a customer happy was a point of sale decision. The manufacturer is not made aware of this event. It's chalked up as a business decision. The loss is absorbed locally. If you bought a GANDER label rod, Gander isn't going to send your rod back.. They corporately placed a several thousand order and dispersed them out to their stores by drop shipping. Their only hope is that you buy this or that while back making your exchange and they can make a buck or two off of you in transaction...As I said above, you will never know who made the rod. One thing for sure is that Gander does not have a rod making division any more than Cabelas does!! Again, they buy from one of only a handful of rod manufactuers worldwide.

In closing, I'd suggest buying the rod that you feel fits your budget and needs on the notion that you are going to own it forever. Once you settle on the make and model you want literally pick every single one of them off the rack. Hold em out, check for straightness, and spine curvature. Eliminate them one by one! In the end, whats left is yours. I have had several $300 band x rods in my hand that I woudl not pay 5 bucks for!!! The reality that your rod is defective and going back to a retailer or manufacturer for warranty issues is really slim in the overall picture.

[jasondittrich]

i have had gander rods that i steped on that have broke and the guy asked me if thats what happened and replaced it without a recipt. in my mind they have a great warranty