I just finished a replacement rod for a good friend & customer. A recent build ( less than a week) broke between the seat and butt guide. The blank was replaced under warranty. I didn't charge for the rebuild.

Now I need a policy for the future. I am thinking of a flat $50 on a rebuild using salvaged components, plus the replacement blank unless it is covered. My craftsmanship is covered 100% for life.

Am I in the ballpark?

Chuck

Maybe. Many fishermen are going to look at that and say, "Hey, why should I pay anything for a replacement if the failure was due to a defect?" And they have a point.

Some builders cover the whole thing and simply charge enough up front to eat some labor costs on the few rods that do require warranty replacement. Others take the route you propose and set a standard labor fee for replacing rods where the manufacturer replaces the blank at no charge.

The main thing is to come up with something you and your customer can live with, put it in writing and make sure the customer understands it at the time the rod is ordered.

...............

Good points. Thanks. I will mull that over and see what other thoughts surface. I know that if I just bought a rod and was told that the blank had a lifetime warranty I wouldn't expect to pay for a defective blank. So what if the break is not covered by the manufacturer? Maybe then a flat charge would be reasonable.

This is only the second rod I have had trouble with in 3 years of selling rods. The first was just a guide rewrap which I also did for free.

What I do is replace the first breakage at no charge. Second and consequent breakages at cost of all items that can't be reused. I don't think the flat fee for warranty rebuild will go over too well.

Something to think about -

All production builders stress load blanks prior to investing their labor -

Do you know who performed the stress test and when that blank was stress tested?

I am not talking about a load test performed for guide positioning -

Hey Chuck,

You can do what I did several years agon and then again most recently to update my website. GOOGLE custom fishing rods ,or any other wording, and just read as many "warranties" as your mind and butt can handle.
This will give you an idea of what is out there.

Ever wonder why the finished rods are so expensive with companies that offer a "Lifetime no-questions-asked Warranty"????? How many rods are you paying for when you buy the first one????? FREE ain't FREE!

Good luck in designing your own "Repair Policy"

Charlie

This topic brings up memories of "the rod from heck". I agreed to fix a fly rod for a friend ( this was when I was building rods for friends and family, and charging for parts). This rod was a 9' 5 wt 2 piece fly rod that was custom wrapped as a retirement present for my friend. He snapped about 2" off the tip of the rod. I sent the rod back to the company, and requested a replacement top section, and the return of the guides on the old section. Some time later I received the old bottom section, a new top section, and no guides from the old top section. I called my friend, and he was happy to go along with my suggestion of changing to single foot wire snake guides. I wrapped the new top section, and before I ran the finish, I took the rod out to test cast it. On the 5th cast, I snapped about 2 feet out of the top section. I sent the whole rod back to the company, and requested another top section, and the return of the new guides. Several days later, I recieved a call from the company telling me that they had missed a crack in the butt section, and this was probably the reason for the top section breaking. They were replacing both the butt section and the top section. I requested once again that they return both of the old sections of the rod. I received a new butt section and 2 new top sections. I called my friend, and he agreed that this was a whole new rebuild, and needed new parts. The end of the story is; After 6 months, and much frustration on both the owners and my part, I handed the rod over to the owner. He paid me for my "out of pocket" expense.

I guess the question is; How do you charge for things like this up front? My friend basically paid enough for this repair of an old rod to buy a new factory rod.

The way I see it ... I am selling a high-performance fishing rod and/or a functional piece of art. What I am not selling is a warranty that includes a lifetime supply of free rods. IMO, no matter what you do - you simply won't make everyone happy. So ... you might as well make yourself comfortable and please those that you can.

Based on that ... my warranty covers craftsmanship only. All components are subject to the manufacturer's respective warranties.

Of course, I do take proper measures to ensure my builds have complete and full integrity before leaving the shop - it is the least I can do AND it is the most I will do. I just haven't found any other solution to be suitable enough for me to continue selling to the public.

IMO, you will never be able to compete with factory builds on their terms ... the most significant of which is liberal replacements.

The problem there is that your customers are buying a complete fishing rod - not just your labor in putting a rod together. At least that how most of them see it.

Of course this depends on how you sell rods. I never allowed the customer to specify a particular blank or manufacturer for the components. Those were all my picks so I felt that I was selling a complete rod and needed to warranty that complete rod.

There are a lot of ways to do this but the bottom line is to make sure that your customer understands your particular warranty policy prior to ordering the rod.

.............

For the most part I follow what Kevin does. First is on me, after that it's on you for anything I can't replace.

I don't believe in putting the customer through the run around with varying parts warranties, different blank manufacturer policies, etc. They bring me the rod, they want me to fix it. Everything else is done behind the scenes and up to me on if I send the blank the manufacturer.

I also think how you handle warranty replacement will be different given the volume of rods you are selling. I can absorb a break easier than someone doing 2 rods a month.

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When I was in the custom rod building business with a store front for over 30 years in Western Washington. I carried only 3 rod blank manufactures an the top of the line components. I was fortunate to live less than 2 hours from the rod plants. I was able to go and hand pick my blanks. Then go to my supplier and get a PO. This way I knew my blanks were number ones when I took them home. As for warranty I had a cost build up in my total bill. The add on cost was not much. I took the add on money and put it in to a separate account. I was a one man shop and building an average of three custom rods a week. I also did rod and reel repair. I might have had 3 rods a year come back because of some kind failure. In most cases these failures were coved by the manufacture or caused by the customer . Any way I had no out of pocket expense. Reason being with that little add on it covered all my expenses. An at the end of a year I had extra play money. I always gave my customers a card on how to take care of their new rods and what my warranty consisted of. My finishes had a unconditional life time warranty to the original owner. Back then I did simple thread art and No weaves. Just remember this when you put a little extra in the billing do not bill a whole rod just a extra 5 bucks over a time will builds up. I am retired now at 67 so I just build for myself and family. Being retired I get a chance to experiment more.

Good Wraps Bob

He Alex I am in your ball park Over the years when I bought a blank for a customer I always bought 2 some time 4 I always had a replacement it seamed like setting on a shelf. When I retired 10 years ago from a store front I had 50 blanks of many models and styles. This is no joke I had over 100 different spools of new thread never been used. I am constantly making my wife made by buying new blank and different components. I enjoyed being in the rod business it was not a job.

Good Wraps Bob

I just repaired the handle of a rod I built for a customer who slammed it in his trunk. I didn't charge him anything since it was a simple repair. That same customer tried to reef a lure out of a tree (he fishes mainly in small rivers) and broke the tip section of a 2 piece ultralight. It snapped about 8 inches above the ferrule. Fortunately the rod manufacturer replaced the section. I too had to send all of the rod sections back and asked for the broken section to be returned for parts. They came back with the replacement. My warranty is for the craftmanship of the build, not the materials as they are generally covered by the factory. Any repairs after the factory warranty is over is on the customer's dime. Any breaks in the butt section are evaluated on a case by case basis if the rod is in warranty.

It sounds like your friend is hard on equipment. This is why you add a little bite extra to the price. You are also an ambassador to the companies you purchased components from . You have to know all you can about the products you use to build your rods. This is why a customer comes to a custom (Rod Designer)

Good Wraps Bob

Update - I delivered the replacement. When I told him "no charge" he said; "Good, then I'll be ordering more rods".

Question for Alex and Kevin. Do you put that in writing? Do you specify a time period? Just trying to get a handle on what's fair. I am leaning towards doing the same - first one on me.

Chuck

Chuck you are now on the way!

The break you described in your original post came from either a defective blank or a blank that was broken due to a stress overload probably during violent hook set with a braided line. If you are buiding on premium quality high modulus blanks and it was the latter the chances that you will meet the customer again under similar circumstances are quite high.

Tough business and the score must be kept accurately

You will always be on trial

You also have the right to tell the customer that he is on trial as well -

If he likes your rods and keeps returning for more make it very clear that your rods building is similar to a strike out in baseball !

1, 2, 3 and he is out!!

Chuck I think in your situation you need to a little more to your cost of each rod you build. This well pay for retuning a broken rod and the cost of replacement parts if not covered by a warranty plus labor. Say if you add a hidden cost of 5 dollars to each rod you build, An you build, lets say 100 rods That is a good nest egg at the end of the year

Good Wraps Bob