My Dad buys a St. Croix at BPS on Monday. Takes it out and uses it Tuesday morning. He said he caught 4 or 5 bass on it, then he is lifting one out of the water (he didn't say how big) and the rod broke about 1/3 of the way down from the tip.

He took it back to BPS on Tuesday afternoon and they said that he would have to call St. Croix.

Now I don't know what was said, but the Dept. manager comes over and says since it was just bought the day before they would exchange it. I believe his new one is a Falcon.

They have some top-notch customer service, and will usually replace it even if it is your fault.

I rolled a lighting rod up in my window and the tip snapped right under the guide.

I took it back to bass pro and they gave me store credit no questions asked.

They have some great customer service.

I can almost assure you that this was BPS and/or St Croix just trying to keep a customer happy. More often than not, there is no inherent defect that leads directly to blank failure. Especially with high-modulus graphite, one should never flex a rod beyond the 90* point. This happens by lifting fish, high-sticking hook sets and grabbing the end to check the action too aggressively.

I have a man crush on all the guys at BPS. There customer service is outstanding :)