this problem is not a recent issue, i had trouble with them standing behind BPS products 2 years ago (not another company's merchandise but the actual stuff with BPS on the side of it). i do all my business with cabelas and just returned a $ 300 bait tank with no questions asked. the defect was in no way cabelas responsibility but they even emailed me the return ups return label. great customer service.
if i am in the market for rods or reels i always deal with "tackledirect.com"
usually they beat everybodys price and most of the time you can wrangle free shipping out of them. they are great to deal with.