The following is quoted from me from another forum from 12/1/16 that I posted here but for some reason I can't find it.

"Let me start by saying there is nothing wrong with the new Shimano Stradic Ci4+ 2500FB because I really want one and thought I was getting one in the mail yesterday...but I didn't.  I placed my order in the last week of November at a major chain store that sells outdoors and sports gear for a new Stradic Ci4+ at $229 with free shipping. It shipped a few days later and I was very anxious to receive it yesterday in the mail. When I got home for work, there is was in the mailbox!  I got inside the house and opened the package and the first thing I noticed on the box for the Stradic Ci4+ 2500FB was that the little circular tape section that holds the box closed was removed and re-stuck on top. I thought, no big deal. THEN I OPENED THE BOX. Inside was a mutant reel. Not the reel I ordered, not even a full Shimano. Instead, it was an old Shimano Stradic Ci4+ 3000FA spool on what appeared to be an Eagle Claw or Okuma reel with like 13+1 bearings. I was taken back so much that I actually laughed out loud.  Because of a house fire down the street, I could not call the company from the house phone and had to pick up my child at the babysitter, so I called the company from my cell phone where I spoke with a gentleman who did not know what do you. He asked me if there was a UPS return shipping label in the box (which there wasn't) and said I could just use the little piece of paper that said "First Class Mail - No postage necessary if mailed in the U.S. that was in the box on a removable sticky paper. I told him I had never experienced this and to mark the reel as not the right model in the order notes because I wanted my credit back correctly when they receive the reel.
So at 4:56 I jumped in the car and called the post office to ask if they could wait an extra two minutes so I could drop the package off and get it out in the mail that day. They did and I was happy...BUT...when I got in the car and was driving home, I called the company back to let them know that I dropped if off and they should be receiving it, and this time, the woman I spoke with said I would have to pay the return shipping when received because I didn't use a UPS label. At that point, I sort of lost it and was a bit rude because she basically told me that the package without the tracking was most likely going to go into postal limbo and I wouldn't receive credit because they would not receive it.  So just as I was pulling into my garage, I had to back up and head back to the post office...this time it's 5:21 and I had to physically knock at the gates to get the lady to come out and give me the package back. Then the lady on the phone (who put me on hold), said no that's ok you could have still put it in the post office and it was her mistake (she thought it was delivered UPS so it had to go UPS but it was USPS). Needless to say, she said she would email me a free UPS label instantly. I am still waiting on that since it never arrived to my email and after I asked her to confirm my email she laughed and said, "oh man, not I have to close this screen out and do this...".
When I got home, my blood pressure must have been at stroke level so after not receiving the email after an hour, I called back AGAIN. They told me it would take at least 1-2 business days to get the return shipping label. Finally at about 7:30pm, I contacted the local store for this company (about 30 minutes away) and told them I needed to get this returned and explained the whole situation. I drove down last night and they returned the mutant reel and the girl laughed saying that someone else brought shoes in the same day that were shipped in two different sizes.  And now, my Stradic Ci4+ 2500FB that I was supposed to get yesterday for my Zodias rod is out of stock and unable at the time to be re-ordered. This is a reputable chain store folks...when I spoke with customer service three times over the course of two hours and spent over and hour and almost a half on the phone all said, they said sorry there is no set policy to follow at this time regarding how returns are processed and credited, and that they didn't have anyone higher up in the company to talk to. How can this be possible?  Hopefully, I can get my reel eventually and it will be a gem of a reel...I am really looking forward to the Ci4+ 2500FB. Sorry for the rant..."

 

Here is an update from today:

UPDATE:

So the other day, I got an email thanking me for an order through the same retailer I purchased the original reel but it had a $0.00 charge and when I tried to check the order, it said it could not find the order number. I thought it was an error and left well enough alone.  Last night, I received a shipping confirmation for that same order with a delivery date of today and my conscience kept me thinking to call in and check about the order but it was after 11pm. I checked the tracking out of curiosity today and it said a package was delivered with a charge of $0.01 with no tax and no shipping.  I was anxious all day to get home and check it out. INSIDE, a Stradic Ci4+ 2500HG FB! Again, I was taken back but in a good way. My conscience said I couldn't just accept a free reel. So, I called the number on the packing slip to talk to a customer service representative. I spoke with a nice lady to whom I explained the original situation and basically said thank you for what looked like a comped reel. I said I was confused because it was basically free and asked what (if anything) I needed to do. After asking if I needed to do anything further since it was only a $0.01 charge, she just asked if I returned the old one. I said I did an was already credited for it but this was basically gifted to me for a penny. She sort of chuckled told me I was fine and I didn't have to do anything else. I said are you sure and she said yes. I said well then Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and hung up with a wow feeling that this ended up happening after a crazy experience just about two weeks ago. I have never heard of this happening and wanted to call in because I felt it was good to do, and wanted to make sure everything was fine.

Happy Holidays to you & yours

A-Jay

LOL!  Nice!  Same to you!  

Grats on the free reel!  Did you take any pictures of the mutant reel you were originally sent?  I'm curious to see what that looked like...

This was the reel body:

https://www.amazon.com/Sougayilang-Spinning-Bearings-Freshwater-Saltwater/dp/B01GA0UVDE

With a somewhat crooked Stradic Ci4+ 3000 FA size spool on it (only the 2013/2014 model).

It was crazy.  I have pictures of it that I can probably post later.  Thanks!