Reliance warranty worthless

My Reliance water heater with a 12-year warranty broke down after 4 years. I called them and they gave me Return Authorization and said that many stores in San Francisco would accept that for a replacement. In reality, there was not a single store I called that wanted anything to do with that. Reliance refused to help me any further, saying that they did not know what stores stocked their brand. I bought a new one from another brand.