flynnboy wrote:... should I be regularly checking the stability of the joint when casting to make sure it can't fly off ? ....
Yes, you should be. If you took a few casts with a loose joint you did it all by yourself. There is a small telltale click, or sensation of a knock that lets us know it's no longer tight.
And those salmon fly rods could have the same problem soon too if you're not careful. A salmon angler who does not tape joints, and who does spey casts will have exactly the same problem, but more likely a fatal breal, a splitting of the blank during a cast. The twisting action of this cast actually loosens a spigot that is put together tight.
Quoting the Sale of Goods Act may sound very knowledgable, but it does not cut much ice when the guy in the shop says" It was a good fit when we put it together in the shop. It was definitely OK then, we both saw that while we were inspecting it. This had to have happened afterwards"
BTW There is a valid way the reinforcing whipping may be absent. This is when a manufacturer ensures an extra wrap of composite fabric in the area of the spigot. Often we can see this by a visible swelling in the rod at this spot. Some top class rods have a tiny stainless steel collar for doing the job.
Real world solutions: I suggest you talk with the seller frankly and honestly. "... It happened, might have been me, don't think so, but how can I know for sure..." They undoubtedly want to be still in business next week and next year with you as their customer. Any credible business will do their level best to get you sorted out for as low a cost as can be done, even if warranty does not cover it, (but it quite probably will).
Worst case scenario, they sell you a new top at the cost to them minus VAT (it's a warranty issue they are looking after even if the maker is not) and that would be a very low cost fix.
However often they will say something like: ... " this batch had a higher failure rate than we usually expect to see, we've seen 5 already but for the number we sold there should have been only none or one. So we're not surprised to hear this and we have already talked with the distribution before you contacted us... now lets see what we can do". This is after all how a shop can get a customer for life, assuming the customer is a reasonable person and values what they do for them. Good aftersales on big items makes an awful lot of cheap internet deals look expensive when viewed over time.. If the first seller fails you, often another dealer (not all) will step into their empty shoes to gain you as a new customer, if they perceive you as worth this trouble. So you can get more than one bite at the cherry.
