I'm with ya with the Berkley rods.... I have a spinning and a casting rod. Have to be a little careful with them though. The inserts in the eyelets break pretty easy and then the sharp edges shred mono and clip braid right off. I'm hoping I got a reject, but that is exactly what happened with my 6'6 casting rod. The action and backbone is great in them both.
I'm hoping yours was defective. I ended up with 9 of these. It's only been one season but I used them hard. Three or four on a trip, once or twice a week. They were always beating around the floor of the canoe or truck. FWIW, the thing I like best (over the weight) is that while they have backbone, they still have some give in the tip so they load easily. Many rods today have all the action of a phone pole.