not the 1st time ive heard of bad service from the tackle industry mate....one thing i can reccomend is if u ever take yr reel apart put in a smear where the external plates join to provide some sought of 'seal' it should help a little.....vaseline works here quite well if yr rock hoping as u want something thick that wont go anywhere esp near yr internals.......

hope yr well, have u been fishing lateley...since ive come back from dirks ive done nothing apart from golf and bought a expy last week so im hoping to get out on a boat or get up to wagoe for a reef bash....i saw that tailor u pulled from the drink on popper. nice.......maybe catch up for a weekend fish one sat nite somewhere ??

Hey mate, yep things break, I fix them for a living, it's just the customer service and crap warranty that's disappointing. I mentioned to a few guys of this site that I will go for a fish this sat ,weed pending

 It actually does say on the warranty card that they dont cover normal wear and tear, and unfortunatley bearing corrosion and that sort of thing fall under that category. 

The warranty is more for if something mechanical fails. Ie if the reel foot snaps off or something like that.

Yeah it actually sounds like it is a normal wear and tear thing. Baitrunners are not true surf reels. I think the big problem here was the attitude of the guy you spoke to. Had he been a bit nicer about it and had better customer service skills you might not have had such a bad taste in your mouth.  A nice tone makes a world of difference.

Don't be sure of that. The exact words as per their rep were" if you use it in a salt environment corrosion will happen and damage the reel"
This reel has been treated well, so there is clearly a quality problem if the drag bearing is going to seize every 9 months. I am gonna pay the $60 for a new bearing it's not the end of the world. Just a word of warning to others not to expect some shimano gear to handle salt air, which is what I expect when I buy a reel. And the 10 year warranty counts for not much at all

Not having a go at you but I have worked in the tackle industry and you need to remember that every reel that comes back always came with the "I don't know how that could have happened", even when you can see obvious signs of mistreatment so they can't help but be a little skeptical. Not saying that's your case but they have heard them all.

All of my dealings with Shimano when they have serviced any of my reels or provided spare parts has been nothing short of very helpful and top notch, it's a shame you feel hard done by.

 I have to agree with Lucky on this one, I purchased a brand new "older" 5000 FA Stella from the states only a matter of weeks ago, and managed to thread the handle shaft. I rang Shimano and told the story of where I had purchased it etc.,  quoted the part number I needed and the guy proceeded to tell me that it may be an issue because the FA 5000 Stella was never sold in Australia and parts could be a problem. He said send the reel in and they will fix it one way or another. Expecting a reasonable bill, I was quite surprised when I received my reel back fixed inside of a week without charge for parts or postage. By no means did I expect that and as a consequence I can't speak highly enough of Shimano Australia.

Not good to hear about the attitude. Even if the warranty does not cover things like corroded bearings, the way he said it was not really acceptable. Not so sure daiwa/penn would be any different in terms of the conditions though. Would expect it to last longer than 9 months I agree, but not sure how good the sealing is on the baitrunner and no bearings are completely corrosion-proof (shimano have their "ARB" ones which are a lot more resistant).

I think the standard service may be $60 (it was $45 for a overhead reel but spinners may be more), which is what you were paying for not the bearing. They often replace bearings free on a service. Kind of like a car I guess. If there was nothing wrong with the reel, may cost you the same amount (as supposedly you're paying for them to strip, check, clean, regrease the reel, etc). If you know the part you need, sometimes they will just send you it out free anyways though.

Bunny I used it in the boat quite a few times, I used it on the beach a couple of times but it is an awkward reel for casting so it went to the beach only about 5 times (this is different to other shimano baitrunners, see link below) its aimed at rock and beach anglers but not a salty enviroment?

Tim I think it would have been pretty obvious to the technician that the reel hadn't been abused after when they did pulled it down, helpful isn't the service I received from Dumphey.... skeptical would be better to describe it.

I think you guys may be missing the point a bit here, I have had times with other reels including shimano reels that they have been drenched on the boat or dropped in the surf.  I obviously then take measures to get rid of the salty water and pull down the reel myself clean and re lubricate etc.  If a bearing seized after that I would say fair enough and get it replaced knowing that it had been exposed to the salt water through my own fault.  This reel was looked after and never had 'rough' treatment.

As quoted by distributors
When distance casting is a factor, there’s the Big BaitRunner Long Cast. Most notable is its shallow, tapered spool. A product of the tournament casting scene, this unusual design adds considerable distance to a cast, as line peels from the spool with minimum resistance - making it the ideal choice for rock and beach anglers alike.

http://www.motackle.com.au/index.cfm?pr=product&product_id=92

doesnt sound like it has lived up to expectations 9 months into use, cant go in the enviroment its designed for.  Now its beeen fixed will it break down again???

Rig ive heard of bad service from daiwa also....depends whos on the other end thats all, like the daiwa rep not even returning calls left by a mate who tried a couple of times........it was resolved when said friend went back to the tackle store explained the situation and it was resolved aftera bit of to and thro from said tackle store..........

Daiwa Needle Nose Reel Oiler       i use this and works a treat in those hard to reach places and it runs like water, perfect for roller bearings etc
 

It's not a daiwa or shimano thing mate, I am not loyal to any brand just use what suits the purpose best which I's a bit ironic in this case. Since this reel was out of service i went back to a Chinese penn 850 and wonder why i ever retired it. The bearing that seized is right in the middle of the reel and pretty much unreachable without spending 20 mins on screwdriver and spanner work. What would you do if this happened to a $1300 reel

Service & Communication - it is very unfortunate that in this day and age you still have to receive such poor service from a brand that should endeavour to be top notch in their field with service, communication and brand empowerment - however it comes down to certain individuals, employees;

if I were you Rig I would make sure that the top brass of Shimano get notified of your experiance - I am sure that they would be too pleased to know if someone on their crew f@#$%-up their business and future investments!! I would want to know if it was my business!!

Most times it comes down to how far the dealer is willing to go to help solve the problem.

With a bit of persuasion from the dealer, who the rep has to keep happy to get repeat business.

This type of service you normally get from the smaller businesses.

Just something to keep in mind when trying to save a few dollars by purchasing from a Large business, rather than a small one

where you will more often than not get better service and looked after.

All products no matter how good the quality, will have a bad one out there.

At the end of the day the company should back their products and do the right thing.

For the cost of a bearing replacement(which would be no more than a few dollars to them) they may have lost thousands in future purchases

from you.

Picked the reel up on friday, it certainly didnt get a service just the bearing replaced.  It isnt as smooth as it was originally but works so in hindsight I shoudl have replaced the bearing myself for a cost of about $10 tops and half an hour labour.

I took the reel to bluewater morely as I had purchased the reel from a bluewater store originally and was hoping to get warranty they sent it to shimano for me.  When I picked it back up the guy behind the counter didn't want to discuss the matter any further just grab the money and busy himself with something else behind the counter.  This sort of great service and customer relationship just guarnteed that I will not step foot back in that store again.

Matty I spend a bit on gear as I usually fish 4 or 5 times a fortnight so I just purchased a replacement reel from a store in adelaide cheaper than anywhere else in OZ free overnight delivery and a daiwa cap chucked in for free.  I fish alot of comps and don't need crap gear letting me down when I need it most.

Anyone want to buy a cheap baitrunner lol, pm me your offers