About a month ago, I wrote a post about how I accidentally broke my girlfriend's Echo four weight. (Click here to read the post if you need to get caught up to speed). Please allow me to summarize to catch you up. The rod was actually a birthday present that I bought for her and specifically, it was an Echo Carbon XL. It had a really smooth cast and great action while playing a fish. I accidentally broke the rod when I bent the tip towards me in an effort to untangle a kknot now that...the wind...yeah, the wind caused. Anyway, I was sure it was under warranty but I had never sent in a rod for repair so I felt nervous about being in uncharted waters. Here was my initial list of questions:
Where do I send it?
How long until I get it back?
Will it be an entirely new rod or do they just replace the section?
How much will it cost?
So allow me to walk you through this. The first thing I did was access the Echo website. There, plain as day, in the upper right hand corner was a tab titled "Warranty & Repair". From there, I clicked on the button that said I needed to send in a repair, that I was a retail customer, and the specifics of the damage. I then learned that a $35.00 cost was involved. At first I thought that was a little steep but then realized that this was a rod that cost $150.00 and then it didn't seem so bad. I then learned that I could either include a check for $35 in the container that I shipped the rod in or I could give written permission for Echo to bill a credit card. I submitted my warranty and repair info and created my account on August 21 and received two emails from Echo detailing those events. I then mailed the rod and check a couple of days later. I then received two emails from Echo on August 29. The first said that the repair had been received and the second said that the repair was completed. A few days later I received a long, tubular package in the mail. I was excited to see what had been done and was pretty surprised by what I found.
The rod hadn't been repaired. Instead, they sent a brand new rod, tube, and sock! Now I had heard that this is pretty common with some of the bigger fly rod companies but I was still a little surprised when I got a brand new rod in the mail. In addition to that, I was also very satisfied with the amount of communication that I received from Echo via email. This rod is a favorite of my girlfriends (and mine when she doesn't fish with me) and it was a gift on top of that. In other words, it is special. So when I received an update with each step of the process, it was reassuring to know that I had followed the procedures and protocol and that they were following their steps as well. I was also incredibly happy with the quick turnaround time. We didn't have any upcoming trips and it wasn't a time sensitive situation, but it was nice to see Echo move quickly and efficiently.
In closing, I am incredibly happy with Echo's communication and customer service. I am also appreciative of their warranty plan and process. I'm not getting paid or anything for this post, in case you were wondering. This is an unbiased look at the program and process that I hope you find educational and maybe useful in the future. With that being said, I give Echo my full endorsement of their products, customer service, and warranty plan. Thank you Echo and keep up the good work!
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