It happened again.

When I took my dad fishing a few weeks back we had a major failure of an old ABU cardinal reel. This reel was about 15 years old and just came apart as we were putting some new line on it. The old graphite frame had developed a crack somehow. Anyway, I sent it off to Pure-Fishing (aka ABU, Fenwick, Berkley) with a 10 word note and $15.00 requesting repair or replacement of the reel. They received it on the 9th of this month, gotta love that internet tracking feature, and today I get a BRAND NEW REEL.

I have bought reels missing handles for a buck or less at garage sales and sent them in to have a new handled fitted, only to receive a brand new or reconditioned reel. I believe this makes reel #5 that has been handled this way. I didn't ask for a new reel, just repair or replace with a like rebuild.

I have also sent in three Fenwick ultra-light rods with broken tips or other issues and have received brand new gear back, no questions asked.

I sent back a 50 lb electronic scale that had the battery die prematurely on it, got a replacement, no questions asked.

I have a 6500 C3 that I can't seem to tune, and the push button sticks after a cast, so I will send that one in as well. I'll let you know how this one turns out.

I hope that other fishing gear companies follow this example. So the next time you look at the 8 rods in my boat and see them wearing ABU reels, you'll know why.

Andy