Rod warranty replacement costs

St. Croix used to be great and I swore by them... but they have gotten really strict. They back their product but they send you through the ringer to get anything fixed. You will have to ship it in and they may or may not charge you to fix it. They usually email you and tell you if you have to pay extra. I recently went through the process and had to go through a friend of a friend that's on their pro staff and even he said their warranty system has gone down hill. With that I have 5 high dollar st croixs but moving forward I have changed to phenix rods!