MHX Limited Lifetime Warranty.

[Magilla]

Just a heads up on what the MHX "Limited Lifetime Warranty" means.

I have made up quite a few MHX rod blanks for myself and have found them to be quite good for the price, the High Mod blanks are particularly nice.

A little while ago I did have one HM blank fail on its very first fish and just a small one. The blank failed about 30cm from the tip when under light to moderate load. I checked the break and there was no sign of any trauma, just a clean break. I never bothered making a warranty claim as I know that most breakages are angler error either through neglect or misuse and I didn't want the hassle of explaining my actions.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I had another MHX blank fail, this time one of their freshwater blanks that I have been using for whiting. This time the blank failed while casting a very light whiting popper. A check again revealed a clean break with no trauma.

I was a little annoyed at having two unexplained breakages after having none for the last 50 years so I checked the warranty details on their website. It said I had to cut off the broken pieces of blank and send them to the US along with $25US for return postage. This would mean about a $50 Au outlay so I decided it was not worth it as one of the blanks was less than that.

I thought it best to let the store (Mudhole) know what had happened for their own records as there may have been a quality control issue so I sent them an email detailing what had happened. I received a reply from the store saying they would forward the email to their warranty section and they would take care of me even though I had not submitted a warranty claim.

A week later I received an email from their warranty section saying it was not a warranty claim as the blanks were 3 years old and " Had there been a defect in these blanks they would have failed shortly after usage began". I don't know how that would stand up to Australian consumer laws but given the cost of making a warranty claim it is irrelevant to most.

It appears the "limited lifetime warranty" only applies until you actually use the rod, after that it must be user neglect or misuse. I still like my other MHX blanks but no longer have the confidence to rely on them totally and will now take a backup with me whenever I intend to use one of their rods.

[speakes1]

Very interesting, "Limited Lifetime Warranty" is VERY limited, I too use a lot of MHX blanks, maybe I should load them up immediately after the build to ensure they do not fail.
Thanks for the info.

[dostylz]

This is an interesting topic.

From my understanding of your situation - you have a MHX blank that you have been using for the last 3 years with no problems (had you been using it for 3 years? or was it just 3 years old but you recently bought it), then 1 day it inexplicably broke when you went to use it.

That detail has been passed on to the manufacturer via the store and they have deemed that it doesn't fall under their warranty acceptance because it has been used with no problems for the last 3 years until is inexplicably broke.

And you disagree with their position?

[XeroTAO]

Interesting read as i have a few MHX blanks aswell

I dont think its worth the hassle to pay $50aud to send the broken bits to them

fingers crossed they'll give me a couple of years of service

[Magilla]

Originally Posted by dostylz

This is an interesting topic.

From my understanding of your situation - you have a MHX blank that you have been using for the last 3 years with no problems (had you been using it for 3 years? or was it just 3 years old but you recently bought it), then 1 day it inexplicably broke when you went to use it.

That detail has been passed on to the manufacturer via the store and they have deemed that it doesn't fall under their warranty acceptance because it has been used with no problems for the last 3 years until is inexplicably broke.

And you disagree with their position?

There were two blanks that failed.

No warranty claim was submitted, just a note to inform the store there may be a problem.

Their warranty department went on the defensive despite no warranty claim being submitted and without any information on the amount of use the blanks have had. Maybe an email asking for more information would have been more appropriate.

One of the blanks broke on its first fish as stated in the original post, the other blank had only had limited use.

For the record I have been building rods for over 45 years, probably well over a hundred, and have never had one unexplained failure. This fact was in my email to Mudhole. I presently have about 40 rods, a couple are over five years old and have never been used. I also have about 40 reels, the oldest is an ABU 5000C that I bought 45 years ago and is still in perfect working condition, I look after my gear.

This thread was only started to inform anyone contemplating buying an MHX blank what they could expect if they were to actually make a warranty claim. I think that most people would expect a lifetime warranty to be just that, not a warranty that expires after the first use.

[Ado]

I've had 2 average blanks go on me from MH, they went straight on the defensive as you said, I informed them I wasn't after warranty and just wanted a small discount on my next order. The next email I got was from was from someone higher up saying that I was going to be credited the rods value on my next order. I guess it's who you deal with there... I build everything on Samurai blanks for peace of mind now now but still buy components from MH.

[BrizVegasBretto]

Originally Posted by Magilla

I don't know how that would stand up to Australian consumer laws but given the cost of making a warranty claim it is irrelevant to most.

Its a bit of catch 22 situation pursuing warranty issues under ACL. If the warrantor fell under Australian jurisdiction the ACL empowers the consumer to be able to take matters into their own hands, but the consumer also wears the cost of initiating any action should conciliation attempts fail. The application costs help to keep small matters from clogging up courts/tribunals.

From the consumer affair compliance side of things, fishing manufacturers/retailers will almost always use a defence of 'user error' to combat any claim of 'product defect'. It doesn't appear easy to counter either. Its unlikely that Australian compliance bodies would look into it in much detail, and that's not due to the cost of your rod blank (the smallest quantum matter I've had come across my desk concerning warranties was $5.00).

[Braith]

What model where these broken rods? I have tipped an SJ720 by being rough on the rod.
I still love this blank and am going to buy 2 more if I can't find something better.
Braith