Shameless Plug

Lets talk a little about Orvis. Some of my friends think that I am biased towards them because I was an Orvis endorsed guide for a few years but let me be the first to tell you that is not true. Through my early years I was not a fan of Orvis, quite the opposite. I didn't like them at all and many other anglers don't as well, many of them for their mainstream standing and some of their products are manufactured overseas.
This is a grave error. Orvis makes some fantastic products, their Helios rod is the best all around rod I have ever used. Period. But the big thing, the biggest thing, is their customer service. Orvis has the best customer service in the business. They provide a 25 year guarantee on their products but let me tell you when I was working in the shop I sent quite a few broken items back to them for customers that were over 25 years and they backed them all.
They don't even ask questions, most companies out there offer a manufacturers defect guarantee and that's great but Orvis doesn't give a shit how it got broke, they will fix or replace it no questions asked and if its no longer produced they will send you the equivalent.
Some guides bring up the fact that they see more Orvis equipment broken than other companies and that is true. However, more people use it and many beginners use it until they get further along and want to be more trendy.
In the end, if you're shopping for gear give them a good look, you'll be surprised with the quality of their product line and astounded if you should ever need a repair.