How do the different warrenties stack up?

[fishinfool145]

Hi all

I'm new to fly fishing. I hired a guide last fall to fish the Provo in Utah and really enjoyed it. I recently purchased a new Lamson Velocity 2 reel and now I'm turning my attention to rods.

I've been an avid Bass fisherman for years (don't hold that against me!) and I have a boat full of Gloomis rods. One of the reasons that I've stuck with Loomis is the warrenty program. When I break a rod (not if) it is usually because I did something stupid. I have no doubt that I will break my fly rod at some point as well.

The Gloomis warrenty process is to go on line and order a replacement rod. Give them a credit card. They ship a new rod. You take out the new rod, put the pieces of your old rod back in, attach the preprinted label and in the end, they charge you $50. No questions asked. If you broke the rod because of a defect, it is a free replacment, but so far, I haven't had any defects...

So, from what I can tell, there are many high quality manufactures of fly rods(I haven't figured out who they all are yet). With the exception of loomis, all of these manufactures are new to me. Who has a warrenty process that stacks up to loomis? Of course I'm looking for a quality rod.

Thanks

 

[MikeG]

I personally like St. Croix's warranty.

 

[RayMO]

You may look at Orvis they also have a very good warrenty...

 

[Cooler00]

Hi Fishinfool,

This has been discussed/debated quite a bit on this and other forums. It seems to me that the market is competitive enough that most reputable rod manufacturers stand behind their product and at worst aren't to much more difficult to deal with than how you describe your dealings with Gloomis. My guess is that in most cases you're paying up front for the warranty with the initial cost of the rod.

Scott

 

[ab4usa]

I'll second the St Croix warranty and their rods. Oddly enough I have my 4 and 5 weight mated to Lamson Velocity reels and they balance nicely.

 

[GRN]

I have processed a lot of warranty claims through Sage... not one was really a defect in the rod, 99% were due to defective users (including me! :icon_roll). Many of these rods had been clearly abused, and every claim has gone through with no questions asked. As previously stated, with the premium rods you pay for it up front.

I know folks in other shops have had friction with most of the less expensive product lines, except Echo - they seem to do it right. They even replaced a practice rod that my wife and daughter broke being foolish... my daughter caught a 120# mommy fish... mommy fish won! :icon_mrgr

 

[randyflycaster]

I believe Loomis is the only company that doesn't use a warranty-card system, so if you sell a Loomis rod whoever buys it owns the warranty, no questions asked.

Randy

 

[GRN]

I believe Loomis is the only company that doesn't use a warranty-card system, so if you sell a Loomis rod whoever buys it owns the warranty, no questions asked.

Randy

Honestly, I think Winston and T&T are the only ones who pay much attention to the 'registered' detail... I know Sage and Diamondback let a lot go through, and from what I hear so does Scott.

 

[Rip Tide]

I believe in 'personal responsibility' and don't even consider the warranty.

 

[fishinfool145]

A lot of good info here. As several have said, when buying a premium rod, you probably pay for the replacement up front. Makes you wonder about the mark up? It seems that all of the premium rod builders are pretty good about claims.

It's good to know that if I spend the $$$ for a good rod, the manufactures, whoever they may be, are good with replacments. It doesn't sound like any are quite as easy as loomis though. Hmm.. Time to go shopping.

Thanks to everyone.

 

[MikeG]

I know the mark up on several rods including sage and st. croix, it is quite amazing how much the markup can be.

 

[saltflytyer]

Hi all

I'm new to fly fishing. I hired a guide last fall to fish the Provo in Utah and really enjoyed it. I recently purchased a new Lamson Velocity 2 reel and now I'm turning my attention to rods.

I've been an avid Bass fisherman for years (don't hold that against me!) and I have a boat full of Gloomis rods. One of the reasons that I've stuck with Loomis is the warrenty program. When I break a rod (not if) it is usually because I did something stupid. I have no doubt that I will break my fly rod at some point as well.

The Gloomis warrenty process is to go on line and order a replacement rod. Give them a credit card. They ship a new rod. You take out the new rod, put the pieces of your old rod back in, attach the preprinted label and in the end, they charge you $50. No questions asked. If you broke the rod because of a defect, it is a free replacment, but so far, I haven't had any defects...

So, from what I can tell, there are many high quality manufactures of fly rods(I haven't figured out who they all are yet). With the exception of loomis, all of these manufactures are new to me. Who has a warrenty process that stacks up to loomis? Of course I'm looking for a quality rod.

Thanks

Almost a tie for loomis is TFO. $25, and turn around time is about a day. For those that live in texas and want to drive to tfo,just give them your rod and they will give you a new one. Sage= medium good. They are located on a island so it takes a couple extra days to get their and get back. Plus they rebuild the rod, which can take 2-4 weeks. I have had to wait 6 weeks for a Sage. Fair price, $50, but obviously not as good as gloomis. Echo, good.
Powell: horrible. Charge $60 for rod that is built in south korea.

 

[saltflytyer]

I believe in 'personal responsibility' and don't even consider the warranty.

That is a good thing to believe in. BUT... when you buy a tfo, say a ticr, it costs them about $35 to have made in south korea including shipping. Part of the cost you are paying for a tfo is a second rod. The $25 waranty cost covers shipping and manpower toget the rod, so I hope you are going with the lower priced rods with no warranty!

TFO is not raking in the money BTW. If they were making obscenely exhorbiant profits Rick Pope wouldnt be at the office 40 hours a week, many times you get him on the phone instead of the receptionist! Even tho TFO pays about $35 for a ticr and sells it to fly shops for about $100, you have to figure in that they have to pay for the new rod (or repair), plus costs such as advertising, sales reps, etc etc.

If TFO was rolling in cash the owners wouldnt be working, they would just be off fishing letting their accountants count up their wheebarrows of money.

 

[Rip Tide]

Re: How do the different warranties stack up?

so I hope you are going with the lower priced rods with no warranty!

I have a number of older factory rods that have no warranty coverage and only a few newer that do
All my other modern rods are home rolled.
Normally blanks are covered only for factory defects.... not angler error
That's all anyone should expect, in my opinion

Paying up-front for a replacement fee is just a licence for those who don't care for their gear to abuse the system.
Responsible anglers that will never use their warranty pay their high rod prices for rods purposely broken.... just so some jamoke can get themselves a new, free rod every year.
The whole warranty system should be scraped

 

[fishinfool145]

Almost a tie for loomis is TFO. $25, and turn around time is about a day. For those that live in texas and want to drive to tfo,just give them your rod and they will give you a new one. Sage= medium good. They are located on a island so it takes a couple extra days to get their and get back. Plus they rebuild the rod, which can take 2-4 weeks. I have had to wait 6 weeks for a Sage. Fair price, $50, but obviously not as good as gloomis. Echo, good.
Powell: horrible. Charge $60 for rod that is built in south korea.

I was looking at the TFO site. I like the way they handle things. I'm looking forward to putting my hands on one. How do they stack up performance wise against the equally priced loomis. I think Loomis makes a $250 rod. lol It might be good for a first rod.

 

[GRN]

I know the mark up on several rods including sage and st. croix, it is quite amazing how much the markup can be.

It's not really any more than anything else % wise in the retail scene at the POP level... for the average small shop the margin on core hard goods is 40-45 points gross. Add shipping costs, interest, and general overhead to a relatively low volume venture and that margin gets eaten up pretty quick. You don't think so many small shops are closing because they got rich and retired do you? :wink:

There's a lot higher margin in soft goods... especially Fishpond & Redington.

 

[GRN]

Sage= medium good. They are located on a island so it takes a couple extra days to get their and get back. Plus they rebuild the rod, which can take 2-4 weeks. I have had to wait 6 weeks for a Sage. Fair price, $50, but obviously not as good as gloomis.

Bainbridge Island isn't exactly in the middle of the Pacific... it's a suburb of Seattle! They don't rebuild the rod, just a new section (which takes 2 days)... they have you send the whole rod to make sure the new section fits/integrates with the rest to original factory standards. I have processed dozens of Sage warranty claims for customers and our guide service (and a few of my own...), and the longest it's taken for us to get a rod back is 3-4 weeks, during peak season. In the off season it's usually 2 weeks. I'm sorry you had such an unusual experience, but I assure you it was unusual.

Now Orvis on the other hand... I got my rod back in 8 working days (granted they are only 2 hours down the road), and all it cost me was shipping to Manchester. I was VERY impressed until I cast the rod... the new section was so mismatched with the rest of the rod that it completely ruined the only Orvis rod I have ever liked. After 3 attempts (now 10 weeks later) to get it right, I gave up and gave the rod away. I'll never own another Orvis rod because of that experience.

 

[MikeG]

It's not really any more than anything else % wise in the retail scene at the POP level... for the average small shop the margin on core hard goods is 40-45 points gross. Add shipping costs, interest, and general overhead to a relatively low volume venture and that margin gets eaten up pretty quick. You don't think so many small shops are closing because they got rich and retired do you? :wink:

There's a lot higher margin in soft goods... especially Fishpond & Redington.

Take a look at these numbers. I bought a 9' 9wt St. Croix Legend Elite at work through a special deal at work. That rod is $470.00 list price. I got it for about 20% more than whole sale price, which cost me $220. Talk about one hell of a mark up.

 

[GRN]

Take a look at these numbers. I bought a 9' 9wt St. Croix Legend Elite at work through a special deal at work. That rod is $470.00 list price. I got it for about 20% more than whole sale price, which cost me $220. Talk about one hell of a mark up.

St. Croix didn't offer that much margin when we carried them... but you may also be in a different volume/pricing bracket than we were. We don't see that kind of margin in any of the rod and reel lines we carry.

 

[Jackster]

Re: How do the different warranties stack up?

Paying up-front for a replacement fee is just a licence for those who don't care for their gear to abuse the system.

Thank you!
Let's face it, good fly rods are fragile and demand certain respect and care up until the warranty nightmare took over. Now that THAT cat is out of the bag, we ALL pay for those warranties... even those of us who have never used them.
As for the fragile part, Gary Loomis once said he can make a rod that won't break, the problem is, no one would buy it!