For those of you with Shimano rod warranty issues...

[Waterfoul]

I just got off the phone with Shimano Dealer Services (my business contact).  He told me that Shimano has a lifetime replacement warranty on any rod from the Convergence line up to their highest cost Cumara (which we all knew to be true).  This replacement CAN be handled at ANY Shimano dealer, BUT it is at the discression of the particular dealer if they will honor a rod not bought in their store, or do an over the counter replacement.  But ALL dealers should be able to do a replacement ORDER for any rod you bring in that broke due to a defect or while fighting a fish.  Car door slams are not covered!  The dealer simply needs to order you a new rod and send the broken one back.  Easy as pie, it costs them nothing in the end, and yet many dealers do not want to do this.  I'm not sure why.

Here at my store we can only replace the rods bought here due to corporate policy to keep it the same in every store nation wide, and we have a LOT more stores than Bass Pro, Cabellas, etc...

So if you really want it replaced and can get no satisfaction with your local dealer... call Shimano direct, get the return address, send it back, and wait for the new one.

I hope this helps a little bit.  It's not the answer I was hoping I'd get but it's what we have to deal with.

Mike

[Waterfoul]

Just talked to Ron Chess, the Michigan Shimano Rep.  You can cut the rod in half and ship it in a smaller box/tube to save on the shipping should you decide to ship it back yourself.  But you still need to call Shimano Customer Service first.

Here is a link to the Shimano Rod Warranty form with the phone number on it, and the address to ship your rod to:

http://www.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/customer_service0.download.-mainParsys-000108-downloadFile.html/rod%20warranty%20form.pdf