I'm w/ Steve on this one - when I trash something thru stupidity (most recent was last summer's Ben Doerr which I stepped on on a jetty) I eat the coast myself as opposed to demanding a replacement.
I broke 2 fly lines last year; both Bean's sink tips; one was a heavily used 7 wt which I used for 2 years and beat the crap out of. I bought a new one; no questions asked. the other was a 6 month old 9 wt which was usaed 1/2 year and which parted at the joint of the tip and the running line. While I used the line and no doubt contributed to its demise; 6 months seemed a bit short to me so back it went for a refund.
I know many people feel it is their right to use the return policy as a revolving door for new equipment; I have a real problem with falsely claiming a defective piece of equipment when the problem wa smy own darned fault.