13 Fishing customer service sux

Just a heads up for anyone thinking about purchasing any 13 Fishing gear.

My Omen rod lost 2 eye inserts so I called there warranty dept. explained the problem.
The guy told me to email them with a description of the problem and they would send me a repair kit.
At that point I told him I wasn't in the rod repair business his answer to that was neither are we.
Long story short they do not stand behind their equipment.

Their equipment sucks anyway. Better off going with a different rod and reel manufacturer.

I’m sure there is more to the story. How old was the rod? Did you buy it from a store, or individual? I am not supporting or bashing anyone. I am no special pleader for 13 Fishing. I have owned exactly 1 Omen Black Rod myself. I bought it second-hand and it broke at the handle on a hookset. Because I wasn’t the orignal purchaser, I didn’t contact them for warranty, so I do t have any experience erience to gauge by. I am just wanting “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to so elequently put it.

it does

You will come out cheaper by taking their replacement guides to a local shop and getting rod repaired. It will look OEM and save you money on shipping.

It's almost standard in the rod business that companies will send replacement guides.

I really like their gear and have had no issues other than breaking a rod that was my own fault.

Sorry you have to deal with that though.

Last it I looked at 13's warranty the guides on the Omen rods weren't covered so I guess you got lucky. A few months back I was switching the handle on one of my spinning reals from one side to the other for my wife to use. Handed her the handle and she dropped it overboard. Called 13 for to buy a replacement and to took 3 phone calls and a half dozen emails just to buy it.

You wont find a decent rod warranty anymore because fishermen have abused the bejesus out of them. Not saying thats the case here, but overall years of dishonesty have lead to this. Same reason Cabelas and Academy have had to rethink their return policies, a guy closes his rod box on a $150 road and takes it back to the store and exchanges it for a brand new rod stating it was defective...

My whole point there is its not a company refusing to stand behind their product, its simply companies trying to protect themselves from the abuse consumers put on warranty programs.

I owned about ten 13 Fishing reels a couple of years ago, Concept C's and E's, KP. At least 5 of them developed the same issue, handle locked up and you couldn't even turn it. Tackle Warehouse took all of them back I bought from them, Academy took the ones purchased there. Loved the reels until they broke, the were all like brand new and less than year old. I was not impressed with 13 Fishing's customer service at all, it sucked. Tackle Warehouse on the other hand was outstanding.

Hopefully, they got the reel issue fixed. We did purchase a couple of the newer models and did not have any issues with them but after the poor customer service from 13 Fishing and the numerous other issues I got rid of all of them.

When my 13 Concept A went overboard at Grapevine I was exponentially more upset about the All-star Platinum rod it was attached to than the reel. The reel sucked.

I have 4 Concept A’s, a Creed and an X spinning reel. All about 2 years old and no issues yet. Maybe I’m just lucky. I did however snap a new Muse rod slinging a dink bass into the boat and my local tackle shop where I bought it exchanged it no questions asked.

The rest of the story is the rod was less than a year old and it was a middle eye it's not the end eye and it was purchased new but the customer service guy didn't ask any of those questions so apparently that doesn't matter they're not going to warranty anything no matter what the case is unless you want to fix it yourself

Yeah just do yourself a favor and sell the rods. They are junk. They are very light and very sensitive but very fragile. I have owned about 12 of them and I have broken at least 6. The others have had guide inserts come out or something else. Again I did love how light weight and sensitive they were but just couldn't handle breaking them anymore. I had also sent a couple in for warranty replacement and it took months to get it back. I ended up selling all my 13 rods for dirt cheap and decided to invest and some quality Dobyns, Loomis, and Shimano rods. Well worth the extra money

I own a Concept Z and A and love them both. No issues. I did email them however nad never got a response. I just love the casting distance and 22 pounds of drag for pitching and flipping. The reels also feel great in your hands.

Doesn’t matter if it’s a day or a year old. Like I said in my earlier post, they don’t warranty the guides

I just ran over a rod in my driveway when leaving for the lake the other day. I called Duckett and told them exactly what happened and they sent me a brand new replacement for $45!

With you providing the guide its only a $5-10 job at a rod shop and will look factory done. WAY cheaper than paying to ship a rod there and back.

^^^^^
truth

i lose an insert on a few rods per year. I don't even mess with calling the manufacturer, usually its due to snapping 20# fluoro and the whip-back rips out an insert. or my ADD tournament partner steps on the eye on the deck. Its not a defect, it happens. I take them to a Doug Hassler, he does super work, it costs less than shipping a rod and it helps out a fellow TFFer.

Dobyns rods has a great rod warranty policy, and they will also mail you guides or they will install them at your shipping dime.
cant beat it. Ill continue to stay away from other rod brands minus a couple.

There are a lot of companies that do not stand behind their product. They are mainly concerned with the initial sale and could care less if you have a problem after the sale. Many times you have to leave a message because you just get a recording and no one ever calls back.

I have no experience with rods but I recently had a reel with a faulty side plate latch. I emailed 13 fishing, received a reply from Steve and the process went very smoothly. Steve was excellent in dealing with issue and providing me with updates. Usually companies only get the negative, just making sure they get positive reviews as well.

How come we can post a negative message about a vendor and not be allowed to post a positive message about a vendor. Like the positive post I made regarding Tom Mayne? Sam