Anyone else have trouble with Cabelas lately?

[ThatGuy]

Easter Sunday I had my wife out fishing for a while. I was about 50 yards downstream from her changing some bugs and look up and see she's snagged pretty good and is having trouble getting it out. I tell her give me a second and I'll try to get it out for you, I turn back around and I hear that infamous sound of what sounds like a .22 going off, and there she stands with about 2 feet of a 9 foot rod in her hand and I just brush it off and say, it's okay that's why you always buy rods with warranties, or so I thought.

Monday morning I call Cabelas customer service and explain to the woman on the phone what happened and that I've had the rod since 2006 but, I don't have the receipt for it anymore. She says that's okay, we can look it up and you will get a full refund, or a rod of equal value. So the light bulb turns on in my head and ask if I can do this exchange in store? She says absolutely.

Fast forward to yesterday morning. My wife and I drive to Cabelas in Wheeling. I take my broken rod with no receipt to the customer service desk and explain to them what had happened and that the customer service said I could return it with no receipt since everything would be on file. She said I can't do anything with this without a receipt and told me to go to the fly shop and talk to them. So off to the fly fishing department I go.

I walk into their fly shop and there's not anybody in there. So I waited around for a while and finally went out to the fishing department and asked where everyone was at? He said they were outside and would be back inside in about an hour. I explained to him what was going on and he calls the store manager over. He walks in and says all you need is the SKU number and they'll give you a gift card and pick out a new rod.

I get up to customer service with MY SKU number only to find out that they would only give me about half of what I paid for it since I didn't have a receipt and that was the last price that they sold that rod for. I have never had any with Cabelas in the past but, I was kind of stuck between a rock and a hard spot in this situation. Anybody else run into a situation like this lately? It never used to be an issue with them with things like this before. Now I have a bad attitude towards them and honestly they will never get my business again.

 

[Squaretail]

Hmmm, dont know how they could look up a reciept from 2006, thats alot of info to have on file. Bless 'em if they can.
Your return is SOP where I work without a receipt if theres no way to confirm what you paid for it.
I can tell you this with no guesstimation. Warranties are slowly but surely getting slimmer and slimmer, and abuse is the culprit not that thats your case. I know more than one person on this board that have returned the same rods and waders so many times that their purchase has actually ended up costing the retailer far more than their original purchase.
To me, the bastard in your case is they tell one thing on the phone, and then you make the drive and get told another in the store.
Sucks.

 

[afishinado]

Squaretail wrote:
Hmmm, dont know how they could look up a reciept from 2006, thats alot of info to have on file. Bless 'em if they can.
Your return is SOP where I work without a receipt if theres no way to confirm what you paid for it.
I can tell you this with no guesstimation. Warranties are slowly but surely getting slimmer and slimmer, and abuse is the culprit not that thats your case. I know more than one person on this board that have returned the same rods and waders so many times that their purchase has actually ended up costing the retailer far more than their original purchase.
To me, the bastard in your case is they tell one thing on the phone, and then you make the drive and get told another in the store.
Sucks.

Agree with all above. Where other than FFing and a fly rod purchase would one expect to return a broken item eight years after it's purchase and expect a full refund or new replacement without even a receipt that reflects the actual purchase price.

 

[wildtrout2]

afishinado wrote:

Squaretail wrote:
Hmmm, dont know how they could look up a reciept from 2006, thats alot of info to have on file. Bless 'em if they can.
Your return is SOP where I work without a receipt if theres no way to confirm what you paid for it.
I can tell you this with no guesstimation. Warranties are slowly but surely getting slimmer and slimmer, and abuse is the culprit not that thats your case. I know more than one person on this board that have returned the same rods and waders so many times that their purchase has actually ended up costing the retailer far more than their original purchase.
To me, the bastard in your case is they tell one thing on the phone, and then you make the drive and get told another in the store.
Sucks.

Agree with all above. Where other than FFing and a fly rod purchase would one expect to return a broken item eight years after it's purchase and expect a full refund or new replacement without even a receipt that reflects the actual purchase price.

After 8 years, apparent abuse of the rod, and no reciept, you should consider yourself lucky they gave you anything.

 

[ThatGuy]

I do realize that if I had the receipt this situation would of went better. I just don't agree with the fact that they put a 25 year unconditional warranty on an item and then give a bargain cave price for a refund.

 

[Millsertime]

Lesson learned. Keep you receipt on warranty items. Better yet, get a Cabelas Visa and use it for all of your Cabelas purchases. There will always be a record then.

 

[Swattie87]

Agree that what they did was pretty reasonable. They can't tell what you paid for it, (I realize you didn't) but what if you bought in on clearance in the bargain cave? Now you're profiting off breaking it. It's YOUR responsibility to keep the receipt documenting what YOU paid for a warrantied item.

The only legitimate beef you'd have is if the rep you called at customer service confirmed a different specific replacement value than the manager did in store. As you described it though, it sounds like customer service just said you'd get the price of the rod. Since you didn't have your receipt, they gave you the last known price they had for the rod. I would have realized that I failed to prove to what I paid for the item, and would have left satisfied with how the manager handled it.

 

[ThatGuy]

It would be nice if they had a registration program like St. Croix has that way everything is on file and there are no questions asked.

Anyways, I'm better now that I vented...haha. I did end up getting a clear cure good kit, some tying materials, and toys for the dogs in exchange. Now I just have to get my lovely wife a new rod. Any suggestions?

 

[BrookieChaser]

I buy two kinds of fly rods, Sage... and Sage.

 

[captbugger]

Fyi cortland seems to have the best rod warranty along with st. Croix. I would go with any of those

 

[Tony300wby]

I think you should be praising Cabelas, not complaining. They gave you credit for a 8 year old rod that was broken due to user error.

Good luck, Tony

 

[ThatGuy]

I do agree but, the rod was purchased with a 25 year unconditional warranty. Should they be obligated to do something about it? I think so. Maybe they should offer a repair program like most of the other rod manufacturers. I would of been more than happy to get that rod fixed and my wife still be able to fish with it but that option was never offered.

 

[PALongbow]

I bought a Cabelas guide tent a few years ago and the zipper/stitching around the the tent door broke. I called them up and they said they would give me a percentage of the total cost of the tent (prorated) since the tent was a few years old. I was satisfied with that deal since the tent was a few years old but I had a very similar experience.

Ron

 

[blueheron]

You don't fix a rod, you get a new section, not likely on an older model offshore rod. The receipt is key for a warranty.

 

[echuck66]

About nine years ago, I got a gift certificate for Cabela's and went to the store in Wheeling, WV, where I bought a very nice Cabela's branded spinning rod. The very next week, I hooked a fairly large bass and the rod snapped like a twig.

I took it back and they basically said I was SOL. So, after that experience, I will NEVER purchase another fishing rod from them (of any brand).

I now buy only one brand of fly rod... Orvis. They have a 25 year unconditional warranty and for me, that's better than any 'manufacturer defects' warranty in existence.

 

[Bonzoso]

Hey,

If you don't want to loose money then don't offer an unconditional guarantee. You all seem to be excusing this company from trying to sell more rods using this kind of warranty as an incentive to buy. Reneging after the fact is dishonest. Computer data should easily be accessible from 2006. Sears did this for years with Craftsman tools. All you had to do is bring in the broken tool and they'd replace it. They should minimally give him a replacement rod of equal value. I get sick and tired of hearing about people spending good money for valuable items, being enticed by warranties, and then being left holding the bag. If you can't back up your warranty then don't offer one.

 

[PAgeologist]

My cousin bought a mid range St Croix. He broke it fighting a large trout last week. It cost him $20 to have a new section shipped to him - no questions asked. And he had it in a couple days.

 

[ThatGuy]

^^^ This is why I've been buying St. Croix rods lately. My buddy snapped the tip on his brand new Imperial this fall on a salmon. Within a week the rod was back in service.

 

[RCFetter]

Bonzoso wrote:
Hey,

If you don't want to loose money then don't offer an unconditional guarantee. You all seem to be excusing this company from trying to sell more rods using this kind of warranty as an incentive to buy. If you can't back up your warranty then don't offer one.

The issue with Cabela's is the lack of a receipt. It's clearly stated on their web site.

Plus there is no warranty on "bargain basement" sales. Without a receipt there is no way of knowing if the rod was bought on sale. Unconditional refers to the nature or cause of the problem. You need to have a receipt.

 

[FiveWeight]

Squaretail wrote:
Hmmm, dont know how they could look up a reciept from 2006, thats alot of info to have on file. Bless 'em if they can.
Your return is SOP where I work without a receipt if theres no way to confirm what you paid for it.
I can tell you this with no guesstimation. Warranties are slowly but surely getting slimmer and slimmer, and abuse is the culprit not that thats your case. I know more than one person on this board that have returned the same rods and waders so many times that their purchase has actually ended up costing the retailer far more than their original purchase.
To me, the bastard in your case is they tell one thing on the phone, and then you make the drive and get told another in the store.
Sucks.

They did it with waders I took back. I took waders back that I bought right after the Hamburg store opened. I took them back in 09 I think. Walked up to the service counter gave them my story no receipt and all. She asked if I put them on a credit card I said yes it would have been one of these two. She found it within 1 minute. Store card for the same amount. But from what I understand they are pro rating stuff now and that is understandable.