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 | Tips: HOW TO BUY A $240 ROD FOR A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY. |
 During this off season, I made the decision to upgrade a couple of my rods. After all, I reasoned that if I am going to continue to fish in tournaments, I need the equipment to compete. So I spent the cold months of winter walking the isles of the local tackle suppliers and studying every article and review I could find on rods. Finally, I made my decision.
I turned to my Bass Pro Shops catalog to place my order …. STICKER SHOCK! The rod I need lists of $239.99 plus $22.95 shipping. That’s $262.94 for one of the two rods I want!
Against my better judgment, I turned to the sacred ground of bargains … E-bay. I was in need of a super bargain!
To my delight, there it was! A brand new 6’6” medium heavy, fast tip, stick of graphite design for finesse jigging. This is the very rod that will transform me into a better fisherman. And all for the bargain “buy it now” price of $199.99 (plus $20.00 shipping).
I placed the order … I made the deal! I already felt like a better fisherman!
Two weeks later, as I pulled into my driveway, I saw a package setting by
my garage door. Something was wrong. The packing tube wasn’t straight … it was bent into the shape of an “L”. The rod inside was broken in two pieces, six inches above the handle.
I was disappointed but not too concerned, it was still a 1 ½ months till the first tournament. I had plenty of time to get this taken care of.
I wasn’t sure what to do, but I set about making calls in hopes of a quick solution. I discovered there were four options available.
Option #1 – File a claim with the United States Postal Service
The clerk at the post office told me I would need to get proof of insurance from the seller and bring the whole package back to them. Then they would send it to St. Louis to determine if it was a delivery issue or a packaging issue. If it was determined to be a delivery issue, a check for $199.99 would be issued. She said it would be a minimum of three months before the package would be reviewed because they had so many claims.
I asked what would happen if the inspector determined if it was a packaging error? She said, “In that case you probably won’t hear anything”.
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With this option, in three months, I’ll get either $199.99 or nothing back. Then I can buy a new rod from Bass Pro Shops for $262.94.
I’ll have a new $240.00 rod for a total investment of either $282.94 or $482.93.
Option #2 – Return the rod to the seller The seller assured me that he would help me in any way he could, but it was a issue with the USPS at this point. He said I could spend twenty dollars to send the package back to him and he would file a claim with the post office. He would then reimburse me the full invoiced price of the item (less the original $20 shipping) when he receives the claim check. He said he usually gets the claim resolve within thirty days and has not ever had a claim refused. --------------------------------------------------------- After spending an additional twenty dollars for this option, in about a month, I should get a $199.99 refund. Then I can buy a new rod from Bass Pro Shops for $262.94.
I’ll have a new$240.00 rod for a total investment of $302.94.
Option #3 – Exercise the warranty option with the manufacture. The seller suggested I send the rod to the manufacture because it has a lifetime replacement warranty. I found that the manufacturer’s warranty will replace the rod, but … because the rod was damaged by abuse (as opposed to workmanship) I would need to ship the rod ($20.00 again) along with $50.00 to have the rod replaced. --------------------------------------------------------- With this option, I’ll have a new $240.00 rod for a total investment of $289.99.
Option #4 – Do nothing. Hang the two pieces on the wall as a reminder of what can happen when you get greedy. --------------------------------------------------------- With this option, I won’t have a new rod but my wife will have $219.99 worth of “I told you so”.
I don’t know if this rod will make me a better fisherman but this experience has made me a bit wiser. I think I’ll go with option #3 and I don’t think I will mention option #4 around my wife.
Also, I think I’ll wait till my local Bass Pro Shop gets the other rod I want in stock. I can’t afford another bargain like this one.
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Re: HOW TO BUY A $240 ROD FOR A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY. (Score: 1)
by BassLaw13 (heath@raytownbassclub.net) on Monday, February 15 @ 09:03:40 CST
(User Info | Send a Message) | I bought a rod from an eBay seller with a 99.7% favorable rating. I THOUGHT I had found a "real deal" because the offer I made that was accepted by the seller was $250.00 for a St. Croix LegendXtreme that retails for $390.00.
The price went from $250 to $266, though, because I had to pay shipping, but still, $266 for a $390 rod, still the "real deal", right? The US Post Office was the carrier and they dropped the rod at my office (where I have all of my packages shipped) on a Saturday when no one was there. I just happened to go in to get some work done the day it was delivered--more on that later.
My rod had the exact same "bend" in the shipping tube as this article's author. Of course, the rod was broken about 6 inches above the handle. I emailed the seller immediately and got no response. I called later in the day but no owner was available to discuss this and I was told to call back on Monday. I did and was told to hold onto the broken rod until the seller got the insurance figured out.
Over a week later, I called back again because I hadn't heard anything. "Oh, we're glad you called. We couldn't figure out who had the broken rod." Apparently they don't save emails with my name and address attached. Anyway, they told me to send the rod back and they would IMMEDIATELY ship me a replacement on receipt of a confirmation number--guaranteeing I had shipped it back, I guess.
I took the rod to the post office and shipped it. To get a confirmation number, I had to shell out another $16.00 (total is now up to $282). I emailed this $16 number to the seller as requested. Five days later, I still haven't heard a word from these folks so I send what I considered to be my final email. I explained to them very carefully what I wanted, when I wanted it, and how I was willing to go beyond the original agreement to get it. I couched this email in legal terminology but commonly understood legal terminology.
They didn't accept my offer to pay the extra for UPS or FedEx, but they did mail it right away. I got the rod this last Saturday, 3 days after they FINALLY responded to my email. They shipped it "Priority" which cost them almost $30.00. And now I'm the proud owner of a LegendXtreme. Moral of the story, I'll never buy another rod from eBay unless they will ship it UPS or FedEx. I still got a deal, just not as good a deal as I had originally hoped.
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