I guess my experience has been a bit different. The store here in San Antonio is quiet and clean.
The prices may be high on most things but the sales are good.
They have great sales on their store brand clothes.
The rods and reels are laid out well. I have received help behind the glass case. I know where to find things there.
There is an Academy close by that is sad. The variety is small unless you are looking for H20 baits. The rod and reel sections are not convenient and the rods are just jumbled together.
I have a Dick's that is close by. Nice store. No complaints.
The BPS is about 20 minutes from my house so it's not as convenient.

At one time they had DT-6 for $3.99 in a clearance bin. I would stop by and buy everyone they had. That's about the extent of my shopping with them.

The only reason I spent any money at gm within the past few years is because , they had .40 and .380 ammo when nobody else did. Other than that I will take academy or Cabela's any day. fishing selection at gm is worthless.

For what it's worth, I think you kind of answered your own question. I don't believe local retail stores are required to honor a MANUFACTURER's warranty on a product (after the store's own return policy dates/procedures have been exceeded/negated.)

Based on what you said, the lifetime warranty you're referencing is through the MANUFACTURER, not necessarily the store that sold the product (unless it's the store's own brand-name product like Academy's H2O Express line).

Some stores will honor it (a manufacturer's warranty), some will not. And from my recent shopping experiences, many stores (home improvement stores, box stores, outdoor stores, etc.) are now offering their own "protection plans" these days. It's a sign of the times in retail.

I'd guess that you should still be able to get the warranty honored by the company that actually made the product. Just look up their Web site and call their customer service number and I'd bet they'll take care of it.

BTW, I'd expect more and more stores to adopt this practice in the future due to rising costs (healthcare, energy costs, leasing costs, etc.). Unfortunately, the business climate in America ain't what it used to be, thanks to our fearless leaders in D.C.

But keep in mind, I'm no expert at all on what I mentioned above. Although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express recently!

To make sure I wasn't feeding anyone bogus info, I just googled "does a store have to honor a manufacturer's warranty?"

The results were a bit surprising - to me, at least - on how many companies and even manufacturers aren't/won't honor warranties.

I did find this link for you from Consumer Reports that talks about your rights as a consumer:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2010/09/your-rights-as-a-consumer/index.htm

The store in Arlington is pretty new, I went in there expecting some grand opening deals and found NOTHING! Prices were very high and nothing was on sale in the fishing dept. that I saw. Not a fan!

BD

Havent yall ever heard of tackle warehouse? They pretty much have everything you could want (except for store brands like h2o and bps series)..especially if you already know what you want then it's very convenient..shipping is only like $6 .. I cant drive anywhere for that cheap.

I forgot to mention that Dick's pretty much has the same policy. If you don't buy their "warranty" they refer you to the manufacturer.
When one of their store brand rods broke on me they referred me to the manufacturer. They don't even want to deal with their own rods.
I emailed their support and the person was very helpful. Told me to take the email into the store and ask for another rod. That did the trick although the store people were still confused.

The rod companies don't want the retailers administering their warranty for them. I think this will become the norm at everywhere but Academy.

I agree the selection at Gander leaves to be desired. If don't shop there often for that reason.

Gander Mountain is ridiculous at the prices of the product, the same thing can be found at Academy or even Wal-Mart for far cheaper. The clearance section there is the only reason I even frequent the store. The manufacturer warranty is understandable though, too many thieves in the world and after all it is a Manufacturer warranty not a store warranty.

Overall though I would avoid Gander Mountain like the plague.

Not defending Gander Mountain and their practices here but I would like to show a different perspective to this situation. I work for a very popular manufacturer of precision wood working tools. It is much better when there is a warranty issue for the customer to come to the manufacturer. It helps us to know if there is an issue with something we are making, gives us the opportunity to add a little extra something(discount/free swag/make things right) for peoples troubles with our product, the retailer is not out anything thus maintaining good relations between retailer and vendor, and we can usually have someone back up and running a lot quicker than if they return a product to the store. I have had this happen with rods before and it is a pain since you want to leave with a new rod in hand ready to fish that day so from a customer standpoint it sucks. From the retailer/manufacturer standpoint it is the best way to handle a warranty situation.

My son worked at the GM in Lewisville for about nine months. He helped it open and assisted the store manager with tackle selection and having them get what fisherman actually use. It was a battle but he was able to get them on board with some usable items. He was told by his manager he could offer family a 20% discount and did so for me one afternoon. I picked a few things out and his manager rang me up, I paid and left the store. My son calls me a month later and said "corporate" did an audit found out that he gave me a discount and they fired him. I asked him what happened to the manager that rang me up (and was the party processing the discount)he said nothing. I will NEVER shop there again. Don't tell an 18 year old kid it's OK to give a discount to a family member and then throw him under the bus. Poorly ran outfit...

academy always honors in store replacements for anything and takes great care of me. I have had the same issue as the OP from cabelas WITH extended in house warranty that was completely redundant and covered nothing more than the manufacturer warranty, but they STILL fussed about covering it, with original receipt and extended warranty contract in hand.

Due to that single experience, they lost all future business from me and anyone I know personally. Meanwhile Academy always earns my business.

The customer service at GM in sugar land/rosenberg is atrocious. Seems that most people go there for their super firearms center and fishing supply is fair. About the only perk is that they have free LoneStar Outdoor News outside the store.

Never been in a GM but went to the one in Arlington. Was a little dissapointed though they do have a different selection of of soft plastics than Dick's or Academy in Arlington. Ton's of Berkley, Lake Fork Lures, etc that I never see at Academy/Dicks.