I have been building custom fishing rods for a little over a year now and am starting to get alot of people that are wanting a rod. So I am in the process of starting up a little side business
to make some extra money. I was wondering if anyone had any info on what type of warranties to offer my customers. I know that most of the blank manufacturers offer one for defects but
what should I do for constuction and components.

I offered a warranty similar to the production rods for years. I learned that it doesn't work ... at least for me. My warranty has been pretty simple since 1/2011 - none. While some folks might find this shocking, it isn't. I don't sell warranties, I sell custom rods. They are welcome to inspect to their heart's content on premise, but that's the extent of my coverage. Surprisingly, very few rods are broken nowadays. Amazing what happens when the burden is shifted from builder to user.

This is what I have on all my invoices below. I have never had any problems or complaints. I typically try to offer 3 blanks for builds, a cheap, middle of the rod blank, and high end blank. I also explain which blanks come with warranties from the manufacturers. I haven't had any returns yet, but if a micro guide pops out or something, I have no problem fixing one or two guides for no charge. All my wraps have the forhan locking wrap, so I haven't had any guides pop out. I have never had a reel seat come loose, but if it did, I would repair it without a charge, because I feel something like that should not come loose if done properly *Disclaimer: below is what I use, it is not intended to offer any legal advice.

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WARRANTY
Reed Rods does not provide a warranty on any of the blanks sold. Labor is warranted for two years from the date of purchase. Many blanks come with a manufacturer’s blank warranty. These range from limited lifetime to no warranties. It is the customer’s responsibility to register their blanks once received. Any blank that is broken and covered under the manufacturer’s warranty will be stripped of all possible salvageable components and added to the new blank for a $25 fee. Customer is responsible for costs of all components needed to complete the build, including but not limited to new reel seats and grips.


LIABILITY
Reed Rods is a sole proprietorship. All rods are stress tested within limits before being sold. For all items sold, any and all liability will be limited to the price paid for the item. Payment for such item will act as acceptance of these terms. Should these terms be declined, Reed Rods refuses to complete the sale. This shall serve as a binding agreement.

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[northforkcomposites.com]

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"Angling is extremely time consuming.
That's sort of the whole point." - Thomas McGuane

For the custom builder, it's important to educate the customer on the difference between a defect and a broken rod. They are not necessarily the same thing.

Most builders can easily warranty against defects in workmanship or materials, but not against routine breakage.

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Thanks for the input. All of your comments are very helpful.

My warrenty is very similar to Jim's. I offer what I call a 5/5 warrenty, it covers 5 min or 5 ft. whichever comes first. I warrenty all my labor and broken rodsare covered on an individual basis depending on the dynamics of the break and the co. that manufactured it.

I do offer a 1 year warranty against defects in materials and workmanship. I find that even if I flex and inspect the blank, there have been 2 times that a blank broke on the first or second use. This would be a defect. Any breaks after the first couple times are almost always the fault of the angler, either due to an impact to the blank or over flexing way past 90 degrees.

After a year, the warranty will match what ever the blank manufacture offers, and I add a $40 processing fee, plus shipping.

Terry

It's pretty hard to sell things with no warranty.

Under the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) anytime you sell something there is an implied warranty of merchantability. Merchantability means that it meets customary standards. And, in particular when you are using your expertise to design the product you are also selling the product with an implied warranty of fitness for the particular purpose. You MAY be able to disclaim these warranties, and you usually have to be specific ie. no warranty of merchantability (not just no warranty), etc. In addition, some states don't allow implied warranties to be disclaimed, or not to be disclaimed for certain classes of goods. You are more likely to be able to disclaim warranties to business users than to consumers. In any event, you have to be very explicit and clear up front, and explicit statements that you don't stand by your products are hardly good sales tools.

All this is in the UCC which has been adopted in some form or other as the law in every state. It arises from common law over many centuries, and when you get down to it is just basic fair play.

The reason for so many written warranties, is NOT to give consumers something extra, it is to LIMIT what they might be owed, either with respect to time, (one year) or the kind of defect (manufacturing defects only, as judged by the manufacturer), etc.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2012 02:06AM by Steve Schoene.