Stupid Gandermountain.....13 Omen Abuse

[TNBassin']

I'm in Knoxville today with the woman and stopped by Gander to check out the Omens. Wow. What a great looking and feeling rod, after they took off the theft sensor for me. Trouble was, they didn't have one single *** in a 7 1' or 7 3' mh that wasn't scuffed all to hell. Needless to say I walked away disappointed. That unfinished graphite is gonna be a beyotch to keep nice, so a rod cover is a must.

[motodmast]

Sorry to hear that! That blows. Now you know what rod you like, order from a online store

[EvanT123]

Yea you don't want to bounce it off your foot.

[TNBassin']

I mean wow. That is a high end rod with a low end price. Much better feeling reel seat than my Veritas.

[fl_bass]

I would have asked for a discount.

[TNBassin']

I would have asked for a discount.

I doubt that would fly. I did ask if they had any stock in the back, but nope. TW here I come.

[fl_bass]

I doubt that would fly. I did ask if they had any stock in the back, but nope. TW here I come.

I'm always of the opinion that the 10 mins it takes to ask it can't hurt. Worst case you still walk out without it, best case 10-20% off and you got a sweet rod.

[ww2farmer]

So............maybe it's just me, but how is it a "high end" rod if it can't even stand up to being shipped, handled and displayed in the store?

[TNBassin']

Customers handle stuff waaaaay rougher than I would. The fact that the graphite blank isn't coated with anything doesn't help when dealing with ham fisted, careless people. Bps has rods with busted guides littering their racks here. People drop them, wack them into the racks, into other rods, drop them.....you name it. Stuff we would never do to our rods.

[Fishwhittler]

So............maybe it's just me, but how is it a "high end" rod if it can't even stand up to being shipped, handled and displayed in the store?

 

Take a rod out of the racks at Walmart and try to avoid banging it against the other rods in the rack.  It can be done, but most people who shop in Walmart aren't going to be too careful about that.

 

I would hesitate to purchase any graphite rod that had scuffs on it.  If the rod is scuffed, it's not terribly unlikely that the rod has worse damage under the skin.  Here's an excerpt from a very good (and lengthy) article:

 

But the misconception of brittleness still plagues them, and the reason for this is because as the modulus gets higher, the less material is needed and therefore used. This means that the wall thickness in the blank, which is basically a hollow tube, is thinner. “Remember what I said before – weight is the deterrence to performance,” Loomis said, and went on to tell a story:

“I had a gentleman come in with a fly rod that broke near the handle, and he was asking for a new rod. I examined his broken rod and knew from the break – it was splintered – that his rod broke from abuse. So I asked him how it broke, and the man, being sincere, told me it broke while fighting a fish. I explained that it would be nearly impossible for the rod to break this way. But to be fair, (I told him) if he could break another rod the same way, I would give him three brand-new rods of his choice, but if he couldn’t, that he would pay for the repairs, and the man agreed.

“So I took him out in the back by the shipping docks and handed him an identical rod. With the rod in his hands, I grabbed the blank and asked him to apply the same pressure he was using when it broke. The man was applying a great deal of stress on the rod, and it wasn’t breaking. So I asked if he wanted to apply even more pressure, and the man responded that he didn’t think he could, but he insisted that is how his rod broke.

“So then I told him, ‘We are going to break this rod, so that it breaks just like yours did.’ I then laid the blank on a rubber mat and I kneeled on it by the handle, and we tried it again but it didn’t break. Then I laid it on the concrete and kneeled on it. Examining the rod, you couldn’t see it was damaged, but this time the rod broke just like his did, and the man simply asked where he needed to pay to get his rod repaired.” 

The point of this story is that these high-modulus, high-strain-rate, thin-walled rods are extremely strong and are highly unlikely ever to break under normal use. Almost all rods are damaged by other means – an angler accidentally stepping on them, hitting them against a hard surface while casting, or storing them where a toolbox or some other heavy object can slide into them. Then, with the damage done, the rod collapses while under the stress of fighting a fish. So while high-modulus, high-strain-rate rods are not brittle, they do require more care in storage and transport.

 

The full article can be read here:  Gary Loomis talks about rod breakage

[eyedabassman]

I'm in Knoxville today with the woman and stopped by Gander to check out the Omens. Wow. What a great looking and feeling rod, after they took off the theft sensor for me. Trouble was, they didn't have one single *** in a 7 1' or 7 3' mh that wasn't scuffed all to hell. Needless to say I walked away disappointed. That unfinished graphite is gonna be a beyotch to keep nice, so a rod cover is a must.

 I did retire about two years ago and i work part time at Gander in the fishing dept.! At our store they tend to bend over backwards at times. So go back to that store and ask to speak to the fishing manager or the store manager and show him the rod you wanted and the cond. it is in and ask for a % off.I bet you they give you something, the worst they can do is say no.

[ChrisAW]

Eyedabassman is right. I would have the same thing happen when I worked there. But I can tell you it is NOT a Gander problem. We had more 13 rods come in broken from their own warehouse than ours. And then there are the customers... Yeah, I'm sorry but you can't blame the retailer for things outside of their power to control.

[ColdSVT]

Eyedabassman is right. I would have the same thing happen when I worked there. But I can tell you it is NOT a Gander problem. We had more 13 rods come in broken from their own warehouse than ours. And then there are the customers... Yeah, I'm sorry but you can't blame the retailer for things outside of their power to control.

not just 13. rods from all kinds of companies from berkley, abu, shskespere, quantum, 13, !croix and cortland come into my local shot busted on the truck. why? because the ups, fedex, and other shipping companies just throe crap into the truck and stack all kinds of stuff ontop. they dont care what is in the box as long as it gets to where it is going on time