Lets head them all guys. Im about to pull the trigger on an IRod Air or a Abu Garcia Villain series. Anyone have any experiences with these two companies?
also I'd love to hear great stories and the terrible of any companies!
Lets head them all guys. Im about to pull the trigger on an IRod Air or a Abu Garcia Villain series. Anyone have any experiences with these two companies?
also I'd love to hear great stories and the terrible of any companies!
'01 Gambler DE Intimidator
250 Merc Pro XB
I've had great service from Loomis,and Dobyns
Dobyns..cut the 6" piece that has the model number/series, enclose a check, get a new rod.
Www.thkustoms.com
"Speak softly and carry a Big Stick!"-Theodore Roosevelt
USN 2002-2008
NAS Whidbey Island
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71)
Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom
oh wowOriginally Posted by polywad6963
'01 Gambler DE Intimidator
250 Merc Pro XB
I have had good experiences from Dobyns and Fitzgeralds. Dobyns has the best warranty as stated above, send the check and the cut up rod and get a new one! Kistler was a pain to deal with thats why I dont have any rods any longer from them, however this was 7-8 years ago. I received a new rod in the mail with a broken tip, obvious shipping damage, seller paid to get a replacement, sent it to Kistler and send them the rod code for the replacement and got a different one in the mail just frustrating overall. All of my rods now are 13 fishing or powells, havent had to send in for warranty, they are also cheap enough to where i wont be mad if they break and cant be replaced.
Loomis expeditor couldn't be easier. Pay the no fault fee and have a new rod in 2-3 days. Send back old rod with prepaid label. Okuma over the counter warranty is easy as well.
From my personal experiece over the past 15 years or so:
Dobyns: Paid expeditor and got new rod quickly.
Shimano: Had a lifetime warranty on a non-production rod I broke. They allowed me to "buy up" a completely different non comparable model/rod series at 50% off MSRP.
Loomis: No questions asked replacement. Just had to pay ship one way.
Daiwa: No questions asked replacement. Like Loomis, had to pay ship one way.
Powell: Paid expeditor, had to pay ship both ways
Kistler: Wasn't willing to replace, offered to sell new rod at discounted price. The discounted price was more than I paid for the rod to start with. I haven't given them a look in a long time but I'm a fan of Mark Daniels Jr, so his MAD 8' rod intrigues me because it was designed for techniques we do here on the CA Delta.
____________________________________
2020 Ranger Z521L w/ Yamaha 250SHO
I use Denali rods and have never had any issues getting a rod replaced, love the Denali n2 sweet rods
I got a Shimano crucial casting rod from west marine for Christmas a few years ago, it arrived with a broken tip. I called the local bass pro and they let me exchange it, only for the same model, because I didn't buy the rod from BPS. This was when they still had the lifetime over the counter warranty. I broke the tip off a shimano crucial spinning rod, sent it to shimano, they sent me a brand new rod, no questions asked, no charge. I broke a powell rod tip when I knocked it overboard and dove in to grab it. They charged $60 and sent me a new rod of my choice.
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Last edited by Snickers89; 07-19-2017 at 10:44 AM.
Had a Castaway Rod with a "lifetime Warranty" that I won in a drawing that broke. They would not honor the warranty, said the rod was made special for the give away and never should have had the lifetime warranty tag.
that...is not good practice. Had the tag and everything?
'01 Gambler DE Intimidator
250 Merc Pro XB
Sadly and IIRC - AllStar/Castaway/Kistler have all changed hands in ownership somewhat at least once if not more...and the graphite/material providers, mandrels, designers, engineers, manufacturing points, etc. - have also not stayed consistent.
Some of the Castaway rods/blanks from the late 90's - mid 2000's were excellent, but that is miles away in the rear view mirror today. FWIW, I absolutely loved the OG All-Star T38X, T40X and T80X blanks/rods back in the late 90's and early 2000's, but their products from the last decade has been mediocre at best and I suspect the ownership and customer service would follow suit.
Lots of other start-up brands also went this route, and will continue to go this route. Airrus, Warrior (one of my favorites before the Furnace Bay buyout), Enders, and others I don't want to wrack my brain for at the moment, lol.
Last edited by dragon1; 07-06-2017 at 01:06 PM. Reason: Added thoughts
Guys, has anyone dealt with Abu Garcia?
'01 Gambler DE Intimidator
250 Merc Pro XB
I've dealt with Abu with broken tips or an eyelet falling out. Called, and talked to them, had me take a picture of it with a picture of the rod model and they sent me a new rod. One time I had to pay like $20 since I didn't have the receipt for one rod I broke but a good experience every time.
2005 Stratos 201 Pro XL
250HP Evinrude E-Tec
"Haulin' Ass and Chasin' Bass"
I called and talked to Abu Garcia...I have a few veritas spinning rods and am not satisfied with the sensitivity and balance and told them that (they are about 6 months old) asked them if there was a way to send them in- and trade up. They said " no, but if the tip breaks we can help you" are they telling me to break my rods?
'01 Gambler DE Intimidator
250 Merc Pro XB
St. Croix is top notch. Only rods I will buy. Just got a brand new Veritas 2.0 7MH given to me. Don't like the way it feels with no reel on it.
1999 Stratos 273 DC
1999 Johnson 115
2021 Ram Limited
Good results with Falcon and G Lomis.
I'll echo what others have said about G Loomis and Shimano, all good experiences.
I'm a little frustrated with the last 2 rods I've bought however. I have a lot of Loomis rods and haven't broken a rod in a couple of years probably. There's so many other rods out there that I ventured from my normal, bought two rods in the past couple of months and both of them have broken on their first outings.
1) Megabass' new Destroyer (Daemos). Fished with it for 2 trips and it broke round #2, called their facility and it seems like it will be a smooth replacement, it's with Fed Ex right now heading back to California. Given that this rod broke basically within a couple of hours of brand new and I didn't knowingly do anything to compromise it, I consider it defective. That happens, has happened to every brand I've ever bought. Only issue I see is if I get another defective rod I'm now on the hook to purchase the replace as their warranty states I get one free replacement. Not sure i love that idea. I was considering another (Warhammer) but I'm now second guessing that, might look back to G Loomis / Shimano.
2) Phenix - bought one their K2 Torzite rods, top of the line for them I believe. Bought it in mid May from TW. Fished with it for about 15 minutes, first hook set and it breaks into 3 pieces. Again, I didn't knowingly do anythin to compromise the rod, small lake, transported in a sock in my rod box... Still waiting on a replacement fro Phenix and no real insight into when it's going to be replaced. I've sent the rod in, talked to them on the phone, they've been cool and offered other rods etc but I paid > $500 for a rod almost 2 months ago and basically haven't ever really had it in my possession. That's a little frustrating from a production cycle perspective and I'd probably not purchase another high end rod from them based on the wait time / inventory.
While some of the larger production companies maybe don't have the mystic and a few of the specialised actions of the more boutique rod manufacturers, it's tough to beat their warranties in my experience and based on most of what the above mentions.
Agreed with Phenix...I only have a couple of factory rods, one being the Phenix UMBX Classic 707MHF, and it is a tremendous blank. This said, the nightmare stories I hear from my custom builder on their blank warranty claim process and blank availability is a deal killer for me on any of their higher modulus blanks or factory rods.
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