Otter rod box

I have 2 otter rod boxes and this year I noticed one doesn’t close tight like the other one. There is a gap and you can see the inside foam. I talked to an otter rep at the Scheels ice expo and showed him the pictures and asked what I could do about it. He said it looked to be a manufacturing defect and to email customers service and they would take care of it. I did that with the pics and they say it has a 1yr warranty and I need original proof of purchase to start a claim. I got the box as a gift so no receipt and you can clearly see it is a defect and not from abuse. I would think for $100 they could stand behind them a little better. I have lots of otter products and never had a problem but after this I will not be buying any more otter rod cases. Ok rant over.

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I wouldn’t accept that answer and would demand to speak with a Manager or if it’s close enough, make a drive out to Maple lake and speak to them face to face. I’ve found most companies will offer a bs response when complaining about their product that will steer about 80% away, it’s the other 20% who end up getting what they want fixed/replaced. If it’s a legit product quality issue, they will take the small loss vs letting word get out that they have issues and won’t support their products…especially when a company spokesman said to call and get it replaced…

Definite QC issue in Roto-molding. Working in the plastic industry, this looks like the mold was just treated prior to that shot, which in turn warped the part slightly. I would be shocked if they wouldn’t offer you a replacement if anyone there with knowledge in molding saw this picture.

What does the hinge side look like?

The hinge is Alum and pop rivets, I have had to bend mine a bit at time from some rougher trips.

The hinge looks fine and the case looked fine last year. I think what happened is that maybe it post cured over the summer with the heat. Both of my cases are stored the same way and the other is fine. I will email them again tonight (and push a little harder)and see if they will do anything. I am a big believer in “you get what you pay for” that is why I buy quality products. It would just be nice for a company to stand behind their products when the problem is obviously in their product.

JoeMX1825 wrote:

I wouldn’t accept that answer and would demand to speak with a Manager or if it’s close enough, make a drive out to Maple lake and speak to them face to face. I’ve found most companies will offer a bs response when complaining about their product that will steer about 80% away, it’s the other 20% who end up getting what they want fixed/replaced. If it’s a legit product quality issue, they will take the small loss vs letting word get out that they have issues and won’t support their products…especially when a company spokesman said to call and get it replaced…

agree 100 percent!

Well that puts the nail in the coffin for me. I was trying to decide on the otter box or the Ice-Fishing Innovations case. Definitely won’t be going otter now.

Chris Messerschmidt wrote:

Well that puts the nail in the coffin for me. I was trying to decide on the otter box or the Ice-Fishing Innovations case. Definitely won’t be going otter now.

oh I wouldn’t let this effect my decision, I have the Otter Rod Box, it’s the best imo…

Stanley wrote:

The hinge looks fine and the case looked fine last year. I think what happened is that maybe it post cured over the summer with the heat. Both of my cases are stored the same way and the other is fine. I will email them again tonight (and push a little harder)and see if they will do anything. I am a big believer in “you get what you pay for” that is why I buy quality products. It would just be nice for a company to stand behind their products when the problem is obviously in their product.

let us know how it goes, I’ve never heard of Otter not fixing/replacing a defect…could have just been a customer service rep on a bad day or 5 minutes before their shift ended…

JoeMX1825 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Chris Messerschmidt wrote:</div>
Well that puts the nail in the coffin for me. I was trying to decide on the otter box or the Ice-Fishing Innovations case. Definitely won’t be going otter now.

oh I wouldn’t let this effect my decision, I have the Otter Rod Box, it’s the best imo…

Same here. Had one for years. I will never wear it out.
That being said it does seem like it could warp in high heat. Mine is in the basement all summer so not a problem.

I did email otter again and expressed my disappointment in them not standing behind their products. We aren’t talking about a $10-$15 case they are top dollar and I would expect top quality. I also referenced this thread if otter wanted to look at what others thought of the situation. I understand things happen and that is fine but how you treat the customer when things do happen reflects more on your business than the product in my opinion. Their response was a copy of their warranty policy and said if I shipped it to them (on my dime) they would look at it

After looking at it and seeing I would pay shipping both ways I figured I would just cut my loss and move on but I saw any otter dealer can do warranty work so I called Scheels and asked them about it and they said they will send it to otter and I wouldn’t have to pay shipping. Yet another reason 99% of my outdoor shopping is done with Scheels they know how to treat their customers!

That seems like a reasonable remedy, I really wouldn’t expect them to pay your shipping costs, but I would expect them to pay their own… without a proof of purchase reciept, you could of got the case used on c-list 3+ years ago, so they have to protect themselves somewhat..

bottom line it’s getting taken care of

JoeMX1825 wrote:

That seems like a reasonable remedy, I really wouldn’t expect them to pay your shipping costs, but I would expect them to pay their own… without a proof of purchase reciept, you could of got the case used on c-list 3+ years ago, so they have to protect themselves somewhat..

bottom line it’s getting taken care of <img src=”//www.in-
depthoutdoors.com/wp-content/smilies/icon_smile.gif” alt=”)” class=”wp-smiley”>

I completely understand and I wasn’t expecting them to just say here is a new one. But why as customers do we need to get upset or mad at companies for them to do the right thing (not just otter) if they had said in their first email what they said the second time this wouldn’t have been an issue. And I can also see paying to ship it to them but not ship it back and that’s why I said I would just cut my losses because I am guessing round trip shipping would not be cheap. I am not totally boycotting otter they do make great products I am just going to do more shopping around in the future and not rely on their name so to speak. Now bring on the ice

If you choose to go another route, look into the Plano hard-sided gun cases. They’ll run about $30.

Most likely because they received 100 emails from people that day that were after “something for nothing”. Otter is very good with things like this but I also agree that that they need to protect themselves also.