I bought one in 8wt. Before I even caught a fish with it, I was reeling in line and the reel basically exploded sending random pieces everywhere. The rod itself isn't the greatest but at least it hasn't self-destructed yet.
If you read the reviews on their site, it seems like a pretty common thing.
Can you give a price range you want to stay in? Where will he be fishing and what will he be catching? There's a couple of options I know of for a good price that might just work for you.