Michael T Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 Long story short, my Avid 7-weight fly rod broke 4 times over the course of 1.5 years. The 4th break was 5 minutes into a Smallie Hunters outing and less then a dozen casts AFTER I got it back from the 3rd repair! After speaking with a service manager and explaining the situation, he volunteered that I receive a new rod. A brand new Avid with the IPC blank technology was delivered today! Yippee! It's nice when a company takes care of its customers....even though it took being a squeeky wheel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary L Posted August 21, 2007 Report Share Posted August 21, 2007 That is great Michael and those are the types of companies that we want to give our support to also. We find so many companies that blow you off and do not stand behindn the products they produce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ronk Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Long story short, my Avid 7-weight fly rod broke 4 times over the course of 1.5 years. The 4th break was 5 minutes into a Smallie Hunters outing and less then a dozen casts AFTER I got it back from the 3rd repair! After speaking with a service manager and explaining the situation, he volunteered that I receive a new rod. A brand new Avid with the IPC blank technology was delivered today! Yippee! It's nice when a company takes care of its customers....even though it took being a squeeky wheel. Most flyrod makers provide free repair/replacement against breakage.Rather than praising yours I would question the quality of any rod so susceptible to breakage leaving me up s...s creek sans paddle 4 times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted August 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 As far as I'm aware, all major rod companies do provide rod repair, but not for free. Depending on the company, there's a $20, $30, or more, charge which covers "shipping and handling." That's not free. And, there are some product lines that are not covered for the life of the rod. I'm thankful that St Croix did replace the rod with the newer more expensive version, but I'm not happy that I had to escalate the phone call to speak with a service manager. It wasn't the best customer service I've ever received either, but in the end, they did come through. That rod was a lemon, no doubt about it. But they've been in business for years and continue to produce quality products. If they didn't, they wouldn't be an industry leader. While I was livid after the 3rd and 4th breaks, I'm not going to condemn them for my bad rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kend Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 St Croix absorbs all the expenses for rod repair and replacement. The "shipping & handling" fees are what the shipper charges---NOT St Croix. UPS, FedX, or the like, don't ship goods for FREE! I've been fishing nearly a 100 different St Croix rods for over 25 years, and have NEVER had a lemon. I've put some rods through some pretty tuff situations---and they never broke, when used properly. Most rods break due to "user abuse or misuse". I'm not implying, that was it in this case. Most anglers experience breakage due to "high-sticking" a rod--- ie, raising the rod to a 11 to 1 o'clock position, while trying to raise the fish out of the water, or break loose from a snag. The rod is over stressed at the bend, and subject to breakage. Expensive rods will break, when subjected to over stressing. Rod designers use a test fixture to "load-test" a rod. They can determine the angle the rod was at, when it broke. I see some anglers bending their rods like into a horseshoe shaped arc---BAD! I cringe when I see this---they just don't know how to use a rod properly. This is typical with most catfishermen, or the like---they're like trying to drag in a tire rim, or pull the drain plug out of the lake or river bottom. Obtain a copy of St Croix or GLoomis "rod user guide"---well illustrated for proper rod use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted August 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 The "shipping & handling" fees are what the shipper charges---NOT St Croix. UPS, FedX, or the like, don't ship goods for FREE! St Croix charges $20 for rod repair. Have you ever shipped something to St Croix? Aparently not, because it's less than $4 from my house. Do the math kend; not all the money is for shipping. In the letter I wrote to St Croix after the 3rd break, I asked them to test the rod to confirm its integrity. I even explained that my "made in China" fly rod, which is a beautiful little 4/5 weight rod that've I've used more than the Avid, have had 2 more years than the Avid, has seen the same fishing conditions, and has casted all but the heaviest of flies the Avid has, has never broken. So after the 4th break when I'm speaking with the service manager, I asked what they found from testing the rod. He said that "only a visual inspection is done to rods coming in for repair." I was willing to say that the first 2 times my rod broke it was my fault. The breaks were always at the male of the ferrule connection. I would assemble the rod with a light touch of wax (provided by st croix) and use the twist and push method. When I got the rod back after the second repair, I was paranoid as hell about making sure the male and female sections of the rod stayed tight through the day. I was checking the joints every few casts. When the 3rd break occurred at the same section, I was completely convinced it wasn't me. Too bad you didn't have the opportunity to cast 101 St Croix rods where the last one was mine....you would have cast a lemon and your post would have been different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bterrill Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Next time just snap the thing in half and get a new one. Problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael T Posted August 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 Next time just snap the thing in half and get a new one. Problem solved. BWAHAhahaha........it did occur to me that I should bring the rod to my wood shop, turn on the table saw, and cut it up into 40 little pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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