I bought a new reel two weeks ago and used it on a fishing trip last
weekend. When I caught my first fish the bail on the spinning reel
opened completely - the line guide, bearings, screw, etc all went flying
overboard.

I contacted Penn and had the schematic in front of me. I explained the
situation to the woman and read off the parts I needed to repair the
reel. The short version is she gave me the option of paying about $20
for replacement parts for a brand new $125 reel, driving 40 miles to the
nearest service center to drop it off and pick it up at a later date, or
taking a return call from a technician. I told her options 1 and 2
weren't acceptable and asked for the return call. In an hour I got a
call from a guy at Penn who started the conversation by asking for my
address. I gave it to him and he said all of the parts would be in the
mail the same day. I asked him if I should put Loctite on the screw and
he said it wasn't necessary and that the lock washer was probably not
installed.

The reason for my post is that there are some very good companies and
some not so good. Garmin, for example, is at the top of my list for
customer service. Fenwick is another for fresh water rods and Shimano
took great care of a small problem with a new reel without a question.
In this case, the woman in customer service didn't have the authority to
satisfy a customer but they do have people who can. Those tiny parts
will cost THEM maybe $5 to send to me. The moral of the story, with
Penn at least, is you have to speak to the right person. If you have a
legitimate problem, they will take care of you.

I promised her to post the results of my problem on the internet and
here it is. Penn is a very good company if you speak to the right person.