Rod repair costs
- Thread starter Stonedfish
- Start date
Not to belabor the point, or to drag you into it, but this is my view...
If you can't afford to honor your business agreements, and face it, that's what an unconditional guarantee is, then you should go out of business, no its ands or buts.
In a free market system another competitor with a better, more well thought out 'mousetrap guarantee' will fill the void left by the previous competitors poorly thought out 'mousetrap guarantee'.
The idea that a business can promise one thing, do another, and then be defended for doing so because they might lose money is pretty much the core issue here.
Maybe they can get a government subsidy to honor their warranties.
I have zero interest in allowing the continual abdication of responsibilities by businesses of their warrantees, guarantees, environmental responsibilities, pensions or anything else. It's simply ridiculous in my view.
If Sage went out of business tomorrow I wouldn't lose a minutes sleep.
If you can't afford to honor your business agreements, and face it, that's what an unconditional guarantee is, then you should go out of business, no its ands or buts.
In a free market system another competitor with a better, more well thought out 'mousetrap guarantee' will fill the void left by the previous competitors poorly thought out 'mousetrap guarantee'.
The idea that a business can promise one thing, do another, and then be defended for doing so because they might lose money is pretty much the core issue here.
Maybe they can get a government subsidy to honor their warranties.
I have zero interest in allowing the continual abdication of responsibilities by businesses of their warrantees, guarantees, environmental responsibilities, pensions or anything else. It's simply ridiculous in my view.
If Sage went out of business tomorrow I wouldn't lose a minutes sleep.
This is a prime example of why I appreciate a company like Echo. They make fantastic fishing tools that don't cost an arm and a leg. They have great customer service if I choose to go that route, but mostly at the prices they charge I don't worry too much about breaking a rod and just move on.
I own thousand dollar fly rods. They are great rods. But the only thing that allows me to confidently use them is their warranty. The second that goes away I have zero interest in spending that much money on a fishing rod.
I own thousand dollar fly rods. They are great rods. But the only thing that allows me to confidently use them is their warranty. The second that goes away I have zero interest in spending that much money on a fishing rod.
A Yeti bruh? Overhyped coolers... sorry Evan... venting. I believe you work for a newer smaller rod company who probably better tailored their rod service agreement...”nominal fee”... old Sage
Attachments
I see a "nominal fee" in there. So i'm not sure how much this would change anything.
For some reason I thought it had listed $50 on the certificate... bought this rod as a young teen.
That's one thing I alluded to a few pages back: There is often a difference between "official overall policy" and "current rates for service fees." The second tends to change quite a bit with all manufacturers while the first part often doesn't change all that much.
Bruce Baker
Steelhead
From what I read the nominal fee is only associated with rods or blanks that have been customized or modified.
flybill
Life of the Party
Interesting thread.. I think that rod companies, like Orvis, Sage, Winston, TFO, Echo etc do / will have to honor their warranties. However they will honor them as they were written legally. The price of the warranty is reflected in the price of the rod at the time it was bought. My understanding is that most of the warranties only cover the original owner and are not transferrable, so for me I don't look for much in the way of used rods unless I am looking for the action of an older rod that I know I want.
Also, I think that some warranties are unlimited, in time or how the rod breaks. It depends if the break was caused by a defect in the rod (ie graphite flaw or bad blank or construction).
I've built rods for a while now, worked at Orvis and even had a few rods break. My breakage was from lots of use, or my fault when I broke a tip off in a door or had a rod that was old and had been hit by the big heavy streamers I was fishing over years of use.
I had one of my rod tips break when I took it out fo the rod case, after driving out to MT. It failed due to lots of use, and yet I only had to pay $50 to TFO get it repaired. Orvis had/has a $50 fee for a broken rod, maybe more now, which basically covered shipping to and from the rod shop. I don't know other manufacturers like Sage or Echo's fees, if any.
I have seen a lot of broken rods, at Orvis and when I built rods commercially for a year. Plus friends rods and my own broken rods. I can usually tell how a rod was broken by examining the broken pieces and get an idea if the rod broke from lots of use (fishing) or a defect in the rod. I'm sure Evan can too or anyone who has seen a lot of broken rods.
I think that rod companies will and probably should change the way they think about how their warranty program works and is honored. For older rods they just have to honor their warranty as written and enforce it or give people a break (pun intended) if it's a first time claim.
For new rods, they could change pricing based on the warranty you want. The car or electronics model with no warranty and a cheap upfront cost and a very high breakage or repair cost.
Or an extended warranty (time frame) with lower costs to replace a broken rod or repair it. With upgrade costs, if any, as well.
Just like when you buy a new microwave, kitchen appliance, washer / dryer, etc.... or a new, used or certified used car. The same will apply to waders, boots, jackets in the fly fishing industry.
I'm fortuanate to have broken few rods, but I do take care of the 35 or so rods that I own, many that I have built. Most have a warranty of some kind, but some where the company isn't around or has changed ownership aren't covered under any warranty (my CND 14' 3" Solstice) which if I break it I have to repair it myself or find one used. I built it myself, with help, so I would have to do the repairs myself if I can find a replacement piece to fix the rod or make it a frankenrod.. which would change the action.
There is no one size fits all answer. For me I rarely buy a used rod, with the exception of older rods, mainly bamboo. I assume when I buy one that there is no warranty and get a good case for it and take good care of it! If there is a warranty on an older rod, I will pay what the company tells me it will cost, try to negotiate a lower cost or retire the rod if it's too high.
Also, I think that some warranties are unlimited, in time or how the rod breaks. It depends if the break was caused by a defect in the rod (ie graphite flaw or bad blank or construction).
I've built rods for a while now, worked at Orvis and even had a few rods break. My breakage was from lots of use, or my fault when I broke a tip off in a door or had a rod that was old and had been hit by the big heavy streamers I was fishing over years of use.
I had one of my rod tips break when I took it out fo the rod case, after driving out to MT. It failed due to lots of use, and yet I only had to pay $50 to TFO get it repaired. Orvis had/has a $50 fee for a broken rod, maybe more now, which basically covered shipping to and from the rod shop. I don't know other manufacturers like Sage or Echo's fees, if any.
I have seen a lot of broken rods, at Orvis and when I built rods commercially for a year. Plus friends rods and my own broken rods. I can usually tell how a rod was broken by examining the broken pieces and get an idea if the rod broke from lots of use (fishing) or a defect in the rod. I'm sure Evan can too or anyone who has seen a lot of broken rods.
I think that rod companies will and probably should change the way they think about how their warranty program works and is honored. For older rods they just have to honor their warranty as written and enforce it or give people a break (pun intended) if it's a first time claim.
For new rods, they could change pricing based on the warranty you want. The car or electronics model with no warranty and a cheap upfront cost and a very high breakage or repair cost.
Or an extended warranty (time frame) with lower costs to replace a broken rod or repair it. With upgrade costs, if any, as well.
Just like when you buy a new microwave, kitchen appliance, washer / dryer, etc.... or a new, used or certified used car. The same will apply to waders, boots, jackets in the fly fishing industry.
I'm fortuanate to have broken few rods, but I do take care of the 35 or so rods that I own, many that I have built. Most have a warranty of some kind, but some where the company isn't around or has changed ownership aren't covered under any warranty (my CND 14' 3" Solstice) which if I break it I have to repair it myself or find one used. I built it myself, with help, so I would have to do the repairs myself if I can find a replacement piece to fix the rod or make it a frankenrod.. which would change the action.
There is no one size fits all answer. For me I rarely buy a used rod, with the exception of older rods, mainly bamboo. I assume when I buy one that there is no warranty and get a good case for it and take good care of it! If there is a warranty on an older rod, I will pay what the company tells me it will cost, try to negotiate a lower cost or retire the rod if it's too high.
Yep and when they went to a computer based customer account for registry of products a few years back none of the cards I sent in transferred over to my account except one, a Sage Xi3. I registered my new Bolt. Then I called and talked to the lady that answered the phone and asked why some of my other rods (389LL, 691, 896, 990 XP’s and a couple others that I bought from fly shops and sent in the registration card were not showing in my account. She stated that they were still working on that, not to worry, etc. so this was 3-4 years ago perhaps. Last time I checked they still had not updated my account. I guess I could try to re-register them but I’m not sure I could answer all the questions correctly now…..date of purchase? Where? Price you paid? And I’m not even sure I have an account any more with there new re-designed amalgamated web site. I’ll have to try later and see what happens.
Yep I just tried to log in and I no longer have an account. My email address which is the same one I have had for nearly 20 years is no longer recognized. So how do I now prove that I’m the original owner of my rods? Has anyone created an account with Sage? If so does is still exist or not?
A phone call will be made. Share the results when it happens. Probably next week.
A phone call will be made. Share the results when it happens. Probably next week.
cedarslug
Steelhead
Interesting, it seemed like I had to recreate an account on Farbank's website as well.
I wonder if they lost user information and warranty during the website/repair revamp. If they did lose data of the original owner, then it makes sense why they updated the repair policy as a catch all based upon rod age.
Pescaphile
Steelhead
I remember being told back in the 90s that the registration cards were merely to get you on their marketing list and that nothing else was done with them. I do know of several instances where owners of second-hand Sage rods got exactly the same warranty service as would've been provided to the original purchaser. I suspect this practice was changed.
I stopped paying attention to what any maker's latest line of rods was long ago. Was the Xi3 that they entered into their database the latest model of yours that had a registration card?
mr.badexample
Smolt
if you can get them to answer the phone... or actually respond to multiple emails requesting a replacement blank... I was advised by someone who knows that this could take months and only if you persist.
