Been a Shimano fan since the day I bought my Curado (magnificent reel, 10/10 would recommend. If it ever breaks or quits on me I’ll probably replace it with an identical one lol). The other day I decided I wanted to try out one of their rods. Bought a medium, 6’10 SLX casting rod. I got the pleasure of casting it 6 times. It was beautiful every single cast. I then decided to switch rods. Leaned the Shimano against a rock, at maybe a 25* angle. 10 minutes later, the fucking wind pushed it over. It fell maybe a foot to the ground, and the fucking tip snapped. From what I’ve looked up so far, its very possible it could be a manufacturing issue based on the break (how clean and relatively even the break is, and how little actually broke off.
I bought this damn rod 6 hours before it broke with purchase proof, photos, and timestamps of the rod breaking. I emailed support with absolutely no response. When I called them they told me that I needed to pay to ship the broken rod to them for inspection. They want ME to pay? Then I have to wait another week or two before they decide if I’m worthy of them making me wait another 2 weeks before I MIGHT receive a new rod? The fuck??? At this point I don’t even want a new Shimano rod, I’d much rather have my $100 back and buy something else.
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
Posted by TheCatBolt1
8 Comments
Damn, straight bs.
I build custom rods and have dissected a few. That’s an awfully clean break. Looks like it was even cut. Wonder if there was a flaw in the rolling process
You issue. I’m sorry but yeah American consumer laws are horrendous lol.
That’s a very clean cut, there was likely a micro crack there and this was definitely damaged somewhere along the line. Could be during shipping, someone might’ve dropped it prior to your buying.
Either way just get it exchanged, these are good rods.
I’m curious whether people see this as a Shimano quality issue or user error, so I’ll leave a comment and come back later.
# Have you tried contacting the retailer you bought it from? I’d start there. They may return/replace it.
I understand that people like matching combos, but for rods you’re better off buying from a medium-sized local manufacturer or custom rod builder imo. They have more incentive to make quality and useful products, and to reimburse you if something like this happens. On the other hand, major reel manufacturers are more incentivized to focus on the looks, branding, marketing, and it isn’t going to hurt their sales if you post a photo like this.
Back to the Ugly Stick.