This one had me steaming.

I received a phone call from someone who purchased a rod from me at a show in January. He asked me if my rods had a warranty and I said yes they do. He then told me he was on the road coming back from fishing and the rod and reel blew out of his boat and the car directly behind him ran over it and crushed it. He wanted to know if I was in the shop so that he could have it replaced.

I then told him in the nicest way that I could without laughing at him that that kind of breakage isn't covered under the manufacturers warranty and only defects in the manufacturing process is covered. He then told me that the rod is defective because it's crushed and that he can't use it anymore.

I had a heck of a time making him understand that it wasn't broken because of a defect but that it broke because of it being run over by a car. He got pretty mad at me and said that everytime he broke a rod that the store that he bought it from always replaced his broken rods. He also said that he wasn't going to buy anything else from me again and he was going to tell all of his buddies not to buy a rod from me in the future.

I then told him that that was OK with me and I had a solution for him. I said to take one of his other rods and run over it with his vehicle then take it to where he bought it from and tell him that he accidentally ran over it and ask them if they'll replace it for him. If they gave him another one I would then replace it with one of my demo rods. You know what he said ? He aske ME if I was crazy.

At that time I had to hang up on him. I think my blood pressure skyrocketed about that time.

Lance

The thing is, some of the mega stores will indeed replace such a rod.

This is why it pays to not only know your customer, but to make sure your customer knows you and your warranty policy.

These days, many fishermen believe that the word "lifetime warranty" means that the rod is supposed to be unbreakable and that they are owed a replacement for any damage or breakage no matter how it happened.

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

Lol. I used to hear some unbelievable stories when I managed Bass pro, but I never had a rod come in with tire tracks. We used to have customers send thier loomis and st croix rods back to the mfgr. Instead of replacing them. Not sure if they still do that. Great story!

Lance, I thought you were going to tell him something else he could do with the rod....! Too bad that being in business means you do not get to always deal with the good customers!
Kyle Robinson

Folks like that make the good customers even better.

This gives me an idea. I have some really fine cigars. I wonder if I can have the cigar shop replace them if they are somehow destroyed by a small fire.....

Lately even some of the "megas" (like Bass Pro) have begun to limit their return policies to 30 days - after that the customer has to go back to the manufacturer.

Mine was "the mate only dropped the hatch cover on it once - so it must have been defective" .... I opined that it was the mate who was defective and he should therefore replace it ......... Never did hear from him again

Gary:

Don't claim this as insurance. Arson is such an ugly label. :)

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

Chris Richer Wrote:
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> Gary:
>
> Don't claim this as insurance. Arson is such an
> ugly label. :)

I think he meant more along the lines that he smoked them.

That is why St Croix changed there warrantee. People would buy a rod, then after a certain time think they could break it and get a new one.

Hay if I take my rod put it over my knee and break it -- you give me a new one -- Dooooooo

Find a nice written out and worded warranty from a rod company. Print it out and give it with every rod. Got to educate them. Most of the ones I get have that little card with them. It goes with the rod.

Bill - willierods.com



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/14/2009 02:39PM by bill boettcher.

Tom Kirkman Wrote:
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> This is why it pays to not only know your
> customer, but to make sure your customer knows you
> and your warranty policy.


Unfortunately, this doesn't always work either. 100% of my clients FULLY understand my warranty when they place an order AND when they receive the rod. However, approximately 5% of them refuse to stand by their end of the agreement once a rod is damaged. Sadly enough, in these cases, I have to carefully judge the strength of their vocal cords when I choose to enforce my end of the deal.

About 5 % of the population are idiots. Nothing you can do about them. I own a couple businesses. Deal with the public every day. I do Custom Framing and Art sales. Some customers always try to decide how we should run our businesses. It is the same in almost every business where you deal with the public. I warrenty my work. But if someone does something stupid, you have to make a business decision as to how to handle it. Some times you take care of it to shut the person up. sometimes you have to "explain" things. All part of the happy world of doing a business that serves the public, or provides a product or service. If they bad-mouth you, so be it. Chances are that everyone they talk to knows they are idiots. Anybody who hears the story that Lance told us about. will understand. Or they are also a member of the 5%!
Welcome to the business world folks!
Lance, I know what you mean.
Tom, right on the nail head. You need to educate your customers about your business. And policies. As for the really "select" few, they will always be here. But they cause everyone problems. Not just their rod builder!
Kyle Robinson

Remeber: The customer is always right!
Except, of course, that guy!

Kevin, "The Customer is always Right!" was made up by one of the 5%...
Kyle

The customer is NOT always right, far from it in many instances.

However, the customer is ALWAYS the customer AND you can take that to the bank ... or not.

lance
does this mean the one that my customer broke when casting his and hit mine broke about six inches off 963 thats warranty too!!!
got to laugh!!!! and bit your tongue

Lance,

Maybe you could make him a nice ice fishing rod out of what's left, and if he ever gets the chance
to go ice fishing, then he would be ready!!

Jerry

The worm may turn!

Let out the story that the State Police are looking for the person who caused an accident by allowing a fishing rod to fly out of a boat - punctured a tire, blowout on the Intercoastal Waterway Bridge, stopped barge traffic, delayed crude shipment to the refinery, caused gas prices to rise, caused inflation, job loss, federal funding for all, rising taxes and most importantly the psssible end to lifetime warranty replacement of fishing rods for all!

I bet he would not not stick up his head again!

Kyle Roberson says that 5% of the people who buy fishing rods and do not understand the warranties are idiots . I disagree! It is those 5% that give manufactures or services a bad name. Those 5% always are trying to beat the system by trying to up grade or getting a new item for free. I would guess less than one tenth of 1 percent have a true viable complaint about a product failure

Good Wraps Bob

Some times it's necessary to fire your customer. It may cost you a little money over the short run, but you'll be much happier for it.

It's a recent trend, but if you do some research you'll see that many big businesses have started to fire their worst customers. Large retailers, cell phone companies, restaurants and cruise ship companies are just a few examples that have figured out that these problematic customers are literally not worth dealing with.