St Croix warranty issues

[Dom Hendricks]

I bought a new St Croix PC70MF last year to use as a pond hopping do everything rod. Bought at cabelas and registered with St Croix the day after purchase. Yesterday afternoon I notice the the eyelet on the tip guide has lost its insert. Decide to file a warranty request for a manufacturing defect. Get a phone call back from St Croix customer service and I have to pay $20 to ship it and $55 for them to send me a new rod instead of replacing the tip guide.  I thought that warranty was for non manufacturing defects and damage. Everyone that raves about the St Croix warranty needs to take a look at the fine print. This will be my last St Croix purchase ever. Tried to take it back to cabelas and was told that the manufacturer carries the warranty. 

[Scott F]

Who warranties their products for user mistakes?

[Dom Hendricks]

For $55 St Croix will.  You have to pay the same $55 to plus shipping to even have them look at the rod for a manufacturing defect. 

[MickD]

I don't think there is a way of determining with confidence if this is a faulty tiptop or if the tiptop had been  whacked against something.  But it needs a fix.   Have you asked St. Croix to send you a replacement tiptop for you to replace yourself?  Piece of cake to replace.  It hardly seems worth shipping a rod to get this fixed.

 

 

[Dom Hendricks]

I’m going to replace the tip guide with and old Shimano one I have at the house.  Shimano sent me 3 years ago when I slammed the tip of one of their rods in a tailgate.  No charge.

 

According to the rep I talked to they do have the tip guides and sections for purchase on their website but I didn’t look. 

[A-Jay]

No one warranties a rod against user damage without requiring additional cost.

You can replace the tip yourself quite easily and for much less time & $$ than sending to St Croix for repair.  

Here's the right way to do it without damaging your blank.

 

The replacement will need to be the same or at least very close to the size of the original.

You can take it with you if you have a source of supply locally or you can get one here  . . .

https://www.mudhole.com/Components-Rod-Building/rod-guides-components/tip-tops-fishing-rod-guides

 

A-Jay

 

   

[tbone1993]

Buy local and skip the big box.  I send in about 5 St. Croix rods for warranty each week , everything from 10 year old avids to year old legend tournament bass rods. Not once have I charged someone $55 to replace an entire rod because an eyelet was broken. The only time guys pay the replacement fee ( starts at $55 is different for every rod series) is when they snap them in half or they are out of warranty.  There is a good chance cabelas sold you a rod that st croix was discontinuing. When that happens the warranty period is shortened, usually those rods are supposed to be put on clearance. 

[Fishin' Fool]

Doesn't seem worth sending it back for $75 for an insert. However keep that warranty in mind if you break your rod, for $75 they send you a new $150 rod.

[Diggy]

My friend gave me a new Okuma SBX swimbait rod with a broken tip guide. It was 5 bucks to replace it at my local rod shop, removing the old one and swapping it with a new one they provided. Go that route, less headache.

 

The more I hear about warranty hassles from companies, is the more I appreciate Abu making life easy when I had issues, can't say that for some other companies that I had to deal with. 

 

 

[anderb54]

St. Croix has a great warranty program, and a well earned reputation as being one of the best. Good luck finding one that's better. My rules of thumb with a St. Croix warranty is:

 

1) If it's less than $75 to fix, get it repaired

2) If it's more than $75 to fix, make sure it's broken enough to get a new rod from them. Tailgates of trucks and car doors will produce the best results.

[jimmyjoe]

  

2 hours ago, Dom Hendricks said:

..... send me a new rod instead of replacing the tip guide.

  Odd. Just this last year I sent an Avid spinning rod in for cracked tiptop (Kigan Z-guide). I paid to send it. They replaced it and returned it on their dime.  I wonder what's changed and why.  ?  jj

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

If the guide came apart the first few uses you could blame defect. After a year it’s at best questionable and at worst unlikely. A tip top is <$5 part two way shipping would be 10x that or more. 

[Joshua van Wyk]

1 hour ago, Diggy said:

My friend gave me a new Okuma SBX swimbait rod with a broken tip guide. It was 5 bucks to replace it at my local rod shop, removing the old one and swapping it with a new one they provided. Go that route, less headache.

 

The more I hear about warranty hassles from companies, is the more I appreciate Abu making life easy when I had issues, can't say that for some other companies that I had to deal with. 

 

 

The only two rods I've broken were an Abu Vendetta and a Cabelas Salt Striker. The Abu break was 100% my fault and they sent me a brand new rod for free, I just had to pay the 10$ shipping. The cabelas rod I got my money back no questions asked.

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, anderb54 said:

St. Croix has a great warranty program, and a well earned reputation as being one of the best. Good luck finding one that's better. My rules of thumb with a St. Croix warranty is:

 

1) If it's less than $75 to fix, get it repaired

2) If it's more than $75 to fix, make sure it's broken enough to get a new rod from them. Tailgates of trucks and car doors will produce the best results.

 

No one can take your integrity away, you and only you can give it away.

Nicely done.

A-Jay

[anderb54]

16 hours ago, A-Jay said:

No one can take your integrity away, you and only you can give it away.

Nicely done.

A-Jay

I suppose my poor attempt at humor fell flat, like it usually does. I wouldn't encourage anyone to cheat the system. The point I was trying to get across is that if you're going to spend $75 or more on shipping and "repair or replace", I'd expect that the damages would warrant a new rod. That Gold Star plan is there to cover anything that isn't considered a factory defect. Something like a broken guide, or multiple, can be repaired for less than $75, so if you're going to spend that kind of money, be smart about it and send something in that you know will be replaced with a new one.

[Mastermarsh]

I have never had anything but wonderful experiences with SC and their warranty and customer service. I've had rods replaced for free because of defects & broken tips, in fact they are sending me a free replacement mojo bass that was out of warranty today. I also had an eyelet replaced on a legend X this past week, & it only cost 10 dollars. I feel like there has to be more damage to your rod than just a missing eye insert, especially if they are sending you a complete replacement.

[MickD]

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

No one warranties a rod against user damage without requiring additional cost.

You can replace the tip yourself quite easily and for much less time & $$ than sending to St Croix for repair.  

Here's the right way to do it without damaging your blank.

 

The replacement will need to be the same or at least very close to the size of the original.

You can take it with you if you have a source of supply locally or you can get one here  . . .

https://www.mudhole.com/Components-Rod-Building/rod-guides-components/tip-tops-fishing-rod-guides

 

A-Jay

 

   I cannot resist commenting that the grinding of a tiptop tube off the tip of a rod is not risk free.  For that reason, before I would commit to that I would try a little heat.  Some factory rods do use hot melt for tiptop retention, and it would be a shame to do an "overkill, risky" procedure on them if a little heat will work.  The right way to apply the heat is to tie a string or rubber band onto the ring eye and provide tension, trying to pull it off at the same time touching a lighter flame to the tube.  If it is hot melt it will slide off in a few seconds.  If it doesn't move almost immediately remove the heat and commit to the grind process.  You will be surprised how little heat it takes with hot melt adhesive, and a couple seconds of heat will not harm a blank.

 

[A-Jay]

5 minutes ago, MickD said:

 I cannot resist commenting that the grinding of a tiptop tube off the tip of a rod is not risk free.  For that reason, before I would commit to that I would try a little heat.  Some factory rods do use hot melt for tiptop retention, and it would be a shame to do an "overkill, risky" procedure on them if a little heat will work.  The right way to apply the heat is to tie a string or rubber band onto the ring eye and provide tension, trying to pull it off at the same time touching a lighter flame to the tube.  If it is hot melt it will slide off in a few seconds.  If it doesn't move almost immediately remove the heat and commit to the grind process.  You will be surprised how little heat it takes with hot melt adhesive, and a couple seconds of heat will not harm a blank.

5

I would not argue with that logic.

By the same token, I could see a distraught basshead firing up the blow torch effectively scorching the blank unnecessarily as well.

A-Jay

[MickD]

30 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

I could see a distraught basshead firing up the blow torch effectively scorching the blank

Yes, that is why I was reluctant to even mention heat.   The heat needed is so little that one can hold the tiptop in their bare fingers immediately after it slips off.  But when I started building and repairing rods, I didn't understand the technique and amount of heat needed and I fried one.

[A-Jay]

2 minutes ago, MickD said:

Yes, that is why I was reluctant to even mention heat.   The heat needed is so little that one can hold the tiptop in their bare fingers immediately after it slips off.  But when I started building and repairing rods, I didn't understand the technique and amount of heat needed and I fried one.

 

Me too.

I think it's a right of passage.

A-Jay

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Good rule of thumb when it comes to heat and rod blanks, don’t apply more than you can handle bare handed. Granted it may require a touch extra on the hot melt glue but Touch is the baseline I use. 

[jbrew73]

Busted tip is 99% user error.  Pay $75 or fix it for $5.

[jimmyjoe]

   I've been thinking this over. Are you sure that the factory didn't say twenty to fix it OR fifty-five TO UPGRADE? They used to have the fifty buck upgrade program, I guess for a good few years now. You have a Premier break, then for fifty you can upgrade to an Avid. Break an Avid, and fifty gets you a Legend Tournament Bass.  And so on.  It almost sounds like this is what they were saying and possibly were mis-understood. Maybe? Or no?     jj

[MickD]

29 minutes ago, jbrew73 said:

Busted tip is 99% user error.  Pay $75 or fix it for $5.

If "busted" means "broken," that was not what the OP reported.  The ring from the tiptop came out.

[jbrew73]

“Lost it’s insert” is usually caused from the insert getting “busted” or a damaged guide in my experience but I’m not the OP so the insert fairies could have eaten it for all I know.     I’m sorry that I  assumed anything.   If my rod had the fairies eat the insert I would replace it on my dime.  If it fell out do to poor manufacturing I would replace it as well.    If I felt I was justified in a warranty replacement I would pay $75 and move on.