Which of these have the best "over-the-counter" rod warranty?

Shimano, Powell, e21 or Daiwa?

I know some of them you have to send back to the mfg with money if you can't find a dealer.

Any rod you buy at ACADEMY

shimano should. dont know about the others.

I found this and no money is required to be sent.


Shimano Warranty Information

Limited Lifetime Warranty Program

We offer this program for our Cumara™, Crucial®, Compre®, Clarus®, Cennan™, Convergence®, Talora®, Calcutta®, Teramar®, Cantar®, Trevala®, Trevala® F, Tiralejo™, Talavera®, Tallus® IGFA®, Tallus® Trolling, Tallus® Stand Up, Tallus® Rail Rods, Tallus® Blue Water, Tallus® Ulua and Tallus® Kingfish series rods.

Have fun and enjoy the security of our Limited Lifetime Warranty program. We will replace the original retail purchaser’s rod, at no charge, when the damage has occurred under normal fishing conditions.

Rods damaged by accident or by misuse are not covered under this Limited Lifetime Warranty program but may be repaired or replaced at our discretion for a nominal fee. This program makes our warranty replacement simple. We give you two choices to select from under our Limited Lifetime Warranty program:

1) OVER-THE-COUNTER REPLACEMENT

The first choice is our over-the-counter replacement program, offered at participating dealers. These participating dealers have the option of honoring valid warranty claims in their store or can refer any claim back to Shimano®. All you have to do is bring back the damaged rod to the dealer from where you purchased it, accompanied with your valid dated sales receipt.

2) SEND THE ROD BACK

The second choice under our Limited Lifetime Warranty program is to send the rod directly back to Shimano® for evaluation. Our address is listed on the back cover. If you choose to send it back to us, send it postage prepaid and insured, accompanied by your valid and dated sales receipt with a brief note describing the difficulty you are experiencing. Rods that are repaired or replaced under this Limited Lifetime Warranty program will be shipped back to you with Shimano® paying the returned shipping charges.

AGREE

The "over the counter" replacement is dependant on the store and not the rod brand. As mentioned, Acadamy has this policy as does Cabela's. The problem you can have is that once a rod is discontinued and closed out, you'll only get exchange value for the lowest price they sold the rod. That means you'll only get $59 for that $130 American Rodsmith at Acadamy, this happened to a friend.

The best manufacturer's warranty is Loomis. Break a rod due to stupidity, been there done that, and use their Xpeditor service and for $50 you have a new rod in 3 or 4 days, no questions asked.

Dobyns. lifetime, OR an over the counter $50 "NO FAULT" warranty.. meaning you are at no fault with who/how it got broken. similar to Loomis's warranty- except you get your rod right then and there. I will say I used to be a diehard Loomis fan(IMX series), UNTIL i fished with the Dobyns..

are Powell and Dobyns rods about the same. heard they used to be made from same company or something like that? what's the warranty difference between those 2?

http://www.powellco.com/warranty.html

That is a link to the Powell warranty.

G. Loomis has the best warranty I have ever seen. Sent a ten year old rod back to them, had a brand new one within a week. Hands down, the best warranty-backed rod on the market.

How much do GLoomis rods cost to make? I bet they lose next to nothing/make money when we pay $50 to replace a rod.

I think the $50 is to keep the losers who would swap every year out of business. But yea, they are still making good money when you "no fault" one of your rods for $50.

They don't, not even close. Remember, the $50 covers shipping each way and that isn't cheap. Their cost on the cheapest models is about $50. But, you can rest assured that they have built the replacement cost into each rod. They can tell you their exact return percentage for every single model and how much additional cost is added in to cover the returns.

i'd have to say Shimano has the best warranty. free, no questions asked over the counter exchange. how can you beat that?