G. Loomis rods...are you serious??

Andy Lippert · Post by **Andy Lippert** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 5:22 pm

Anyone else heard of the new "One time" expeditor change?? Not only has it doubled in price, but now you can only use the service ONCE per rod. How is it legal to change a warranty after you've already purchased a product??

They've officially lost me permanently as a consumer of their products. Ripped the sticker off my truck today that I've had on for years. Doubt I'll wear their clothes or sport their logo anymore on ANYTHING. Pretty sad, as I've loyally supported the hell out of them for the last 10 or so years.

Andy

DanIsaac · Post by **DanIsaac** » Wed Oct 12, 2011 10:29 pm

Andy,

Frustrating for sure, but that happened in July 2010, and we can thank the individuals who abused the expeditor program for the change. Expeditor is an "added value" program not a warranty. Nothing has changed with the warranty. Still free replacement if mfg defect.

We can all thank those who abused the program selling broken rods all over the internet so individuals could buy and send in for new rods pennies on the dollar. Then the increased costs per rod, handling, shipping, cost of rod etc. $50 just didn't cover the cost any longer, but I agree doubling it was bad for everyone involved.

Still a great rod, and great warranty though.

Dan

b2customrods · Post by **b2customrods** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:50 am

Talk to Shimano. They own Loomis now.

Andy Lippert · Post by **Andy Lippert** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 6:57 am

So in the name of "customers abusing a policy," Loomis (Shimano) took away a major selling point for their rods to boost a waning profit margin. Awesome. So here's a question-- I own 5 MBR 844 IMX's and have expedited two of them. How do I know which ones I can still break and which ones I can't without paying the full price??

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 7:56 am

Andy I share your concern with this product too as I have a MBR843 GLX rod that i broke this summer. I sent it in on the expeditor system and it was taken care of. But going forward i am concerned I am screwed and will be forced to pay full price again if it breaks.

My question too is whether it breaks, can I mail it in normally and wait for them to let me know if its a mfg issue or what?

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:33 am

Andy Lippert wrote:So here's a question-- I own 5 MBR 844 IMX's and have expedited two of them. How do I know which ones I can still break and which ones I can't without paying the full price??

You break any of them, you send it in for Xpeditor replacement. Doesn't matter if it's already been replaced. As long as you don't show a repeated, frequent pattern of policy abuse they'll probably honor it.

It's more of a statement to those who abused such a wide replacement policy. That $50 (it increased to $65 around 2005) no-questions-asked offer to replace an expensive rod and delivered by 2nd Day Air had to give out sometime.

Phil Burgess · Post by **Phil Burgess** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 9:05 am

sell em all and switch to DOBYNS....

TeamBeefmaster · Post by **TeamBeefmaster** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:09 am

st croix baby!!! amazing return policy, reasonably priced for their performance, and they have low priced workhorses (triumph series) to the upper echilon avid, legend and elite lines. The only rod ill buy thats not a st croix is a shimano crucial dropshot rod. those are sick

CN · Post by CN » Thu Oct 13, 2011 11:55 am

Phil Burgess wrote:sell em all and switch to DOBYNS....

Why does my Dobyn's rod say Lamiglass. What do I own?

Oldschool · Post by **Oldschool** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 12:13 pm

CN wrote:
Phil Burgess wrote:sell em all and switch to DOBYNS....
Why does my Dobyn's rod say Lamiglass. What do I own?

Dobyn's started up using lamiglas rods then changed suppliers a few years ago.
The Loomis NRX series had a one time $100 replacement, not sure about Loomis current warranty program. The NRX is a great rod...$500 is a high risk with a limited warranty program.
Tom

Dave Wilson · Post by **Dave Wilson** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 1:24 pm

IF you register a NRX rod, they send you a "wild card"- you can exchanged a broken rod at a retailer 1 time for free, no questions asked- same model rod you broke. After that, it's warranty or expediator.

Levy · Post by **Levy** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 2:26 pm

I have 2 comments on this subject.

First off, for Andy I am not putting any free advertising on my boat or truck for without being paid for it.

Second for Dan, it is no wonder why the G Loomis/Shimano name is going down, It is always easy to blame your customers for abuse as you say but if the abuse was really a problem don't you think all or even 1 of the other major rod manufacturers would have done the same thing or if not gone out of business??
I do not see any other rod manufacturer limiting thier warranty or taking such drastic action or going out of business.

Frankly the one rod company that is struggling is G-Loomis and IMHO it is due to them not changing with the times. Selling overpriced rods using old technology is never a good business model and then to negatively impact your most loyal customers by changing your warranty policy after initial purchase is Company Suicide. Shimano is still reeling from thier stupid decision to get rid of the old curado which was by far the number 1 real being sold in the world and Abu Garcia jumped right in to take a lot of that market share.

My 2 pennies!!!

Jon Levenson

fish_food · Post by **fish_food** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 3:25 pm

Levy wrote:I do not see any other rod manufacturer limiting thier warranty or taking such drastic action or going out of business.

I don't think Loomis changed their warranty--it's still the standard "we'll replace free of charge any rod that broke due to a manufacturer's defect" commonly used by other big rod makers. I recently used their warranty to replace an old Loomis CBR crankbait rod that had a faulty reel seat issue--I sent the rod in and Shimano-Loomis promply replaced it free of charge. The customer service I experienced for warranty replacement was quick and went without a hitch.

Loomis' warranty policy and their replacement program are entirely separate from one another. People always confuse one for the other.

Their $50 Xpeditor replacement program was great while it lasted. I've used it to replace rods I broke due to my own fault numerous times over the last decade. But truthfully, how long could a company subsidize a no-questions-asked replacement policy that shipped a brand new rod to you via 2nd Day Air?

I haven't had to use their new $100 Xpeditor program yet but it's still better than shelling out full price to replace a rod I broke on accident. The $50/$65 Xpeditor will be missed but I can totally see why the cost increased to $100.

DanIsaac · Post by **DanIsaac** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 8:48 pm

Levy wrote:I have 2 comments on this subject.

First off, for Andy I am not putting any free advertising on my boat or truck for without being paid for it.

Second for Dan, it is no wonder why the G Loomis/Shimano name is going down, It is always easy to blame your customers for abuse as you say but if the abuse was really a problem don't you think all or even 1 of the other major rod manufacturers would have done the same thing or if not gone out of business??
I do not see any other rod manufacturer limiting thier warranty or taking such drastic action or going out of business.

Frankly the one rod company that is struggling is G-Loomis and IMHO it is due to them not changing with the times. Selling overpriced rods using old technology is never a good business model and then to negatively impact your most loyal customers by changing your warranty policy after initial purchase is Company Suicide. Shimano is still reeling from thier stupid decision to get rid of the old curado which was by far the number 1 real being sold in the world and Abu Garcia jumped right in to take a lot of that market share.

My 2 pennies!!!

Jon Levenson

Actually, absolutely nothing has changed with GLoomis' warranty, or Shimano's for that matter.
Still FREE replacement on any defective product. Loomis you send in, Shimano is over the counter.
Hands down two of the best warranties in the business, BAR NONE. Expeditor and Warranty are two entirely different programs.

As far as "support after the sale" I can attest firsthand to the lenghts both companies go to in order to support their products. IMHO Shimano and Loomis both get it as they say, but to each their own.

I'll ask this one question. When was the last time anyone has seen any other reel company at any in-store promo to service their products free of charge? Only one other company has even attempted to do that in the past 17 years that I've been involved. Answer, not ABU, not Daiwa, not Quantum,,,,only Okuma has attempted it a couple of times and that is it, at least that I can remember. Don't take this wrong, I won't slam anyone else's products. There are lovers of each I'm sure, and all for different reasons. Merely pointing out a fact.

Nice to live in the US of A and have so many choices and the freedoms to choose isn't it......but choose wisely and get all of the facts, not merely a bunch of un-educated opinions. By all means, please do not take it from me, or anyone else. Check it out for yourself because I for one am a biased "bleed blue" Shimano guy no doubt. MY CHOICE!

Dan

Jbassn2 · Post by **Jbassn2** » Thu Oct 13, 2011 10:01 pm

Hey guys I used G Loomis for years. Got tied of sending them in for replacement. I made the switch to phenix rods and so glad I did! So glad I sold my GLX's & IMX'S for under 100.00ea. Since going with Phenix I've never had any breakage they are built with top quality products no shortcuts. Try the Ultra MBX Classics they are a great delta rod .True there are allot of high end rods but with high end prices.Take a look at Phenix you'll like them. I know I did ! Great warranty when needed.
Thanks
Good Fish'n

bantam1 · Post by **bantam1** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 6:38 am

OK Here is the official reason the Xpeditor fee was raised:

The service was started over 13 years ago. The fee was $50 and did not change until 2010. The fee went up because everything else in the world has gone up in price duirng the past 13 years. The Xpeditor covers shipping both ways. There is also the cost of the rod. Then you have the cost of the guy pulling the rod from inventory, packing it and packaging material. The cost of shipping has gone up quite a bit over the past 13 years. The cost of packaging has also gone up. The cost of materials to build the rods has gone up. GLoomis sources all of the carbon to build the rods in the US. Much more expensive here than overseas.

So as you can imagine we were losing money on every Xpeditor order that went out the door at $50. A decision had to be made to either stop the service or raise the fees. We ended up raising the fees to preserve the service option.

Yes there was abuse but it did not affect our decision to raise the fee. We are not punishing our customers as many of you are trying to say. Several people also thought the Xpeditor was the warranty and would use it in place. We changed the policy to a one time replacement on current model rods. In my opinion this is fair. Everyone can have an oops moment. I know I have broken a few rods this way. We also recognize that several customers may own more than one of the same rod model. So there is no real way to track the one time thing if you get what I am saying.

We have changed over to a Wild Card program now with the NRX and new GL2 model rods. This is a card you receive when you register the rod. This provides you with a one time no questions asked replacement through your dealer. It's like a free Xpeditor replacement with no shipping involved. This will end up being the new program in the future.

DanIsaac · Post by **DanIsaac** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 8:36 am

Thank you sir for the clarification.....and info. Just to clarify though. I never blamed a "customer" for any abuse. Quote "those" meaning opportunists that would, usually did. Anyways, that new "oops card" should make it much easier for everyone gping forward. Thanks again!

Dan

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 9:22 am

ok...i've used the Expeditor on two occasions, once when it was the $50 method( nice for sure but paid the shipping to Loomis) and then $100. With the 100 method I had my replacement rod in 4 days. Pretty impressive. I've yet to find another company to get a turn around that quickly...granted I've mailed out another punch rod last week and haven't heard a WORD yet as to what they are doing. Getting a little frustrated. I can tell you this, i was a helluva lot happier paying the $100 expeditor instead of the full price of $350 or more for my GLX replacement!

and as they "warranty" states, if its defective its a free replacement. Expeditor isn't a Warranty, its a no questions asked replacement. People get so comfortable and don't read the actual writing.

I am NOT a Loomis guy at all...i have Loomis, Dobyns, Powells, Quantum, and Lamiglas rods. I fish what feels BEST for the given situations too.

bantam1 · Post by **bantam1** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 11:47 am

elfish16 wrote:ok...i've used the Expeditor on two occasions, once when it was the $50 method( nice for sure but paid the shipping to Loomis) and then $100. With the 100 method I had my replacement rod in 4 days. Pretty impressive. I've yet to find another company to get a turn around that quickly...granted I've mailed out another punch rod last week and haven't heard a WORD yet as to what they are doing. Getting a little frustrated. I can tell you this, i was a helluva lot happier paying the $100 expeditor instead of the full price of $350 or more for my GLX replacement!

and as they "warranty" states, if its defective its a free replacement. Expeditor isn't a Warranty, its a no questions asked replacement. People get so comfortable and don't read the actual writing.

I am NOT a Loomis guy at all...i have Loomis, Dobyns, Powells, Quantum, and Lamiglas rods. I fish what feels BEST for the given situations too.

If you sent in a rod for warranty through GLoomis expect 2 weeks for turnaround time. We will not contact you unless there is a problem.

elfish16 · Post by **elfish16** » Fri Oct 14, 2011 1:13 pm

bantam1 wrote:
elfish16 wrote:ok...i've used the Expeditor on two occasions, once when it was the $50 method( nice for sure but paid the shipping to Loomis) and then $100. With the 100 method I had my replacement rod in 4 days. Pretty impressive. I've yet to find another company to get a turn around that quickly...granted I've mailed out another punch rod last week and haven't heard a WORD yet as to what they are doing. Getting a little frustrated. I can tell you this, i was a helluva lot happier paying the $100 expeditor instead of the full price of $350 or more for my GLX replacement!

and as they "warranty" states, if its defective its a free replacement. Expeditor isn't a Warranty, its a no questions asked replacement. People get so comfortable and don't read the actual writing.

I am NOT a Loomis guy at all...i have Loomis, Dobyns, Powells, Quantum, and Lamiglas rods. I fish what feels BEST for the given situations too.
If you sent in a rod for warranty through GLoomis expect 2 weeks for turnaround time. We will not contact you unless there is a problem.

When I stated another rod I sent and its been over a week for warranty I am talking about another BRAND rod...not loomis.