WWMD: Need Help With Head Warranty Issue

So, here's the story:

Oct 2005: Purchase 1 pair of brand new iM103's from www.backcountry.com

Nov 2005: Skis mounted with Fritschti FreeridesXL for 345mm boot sole at Chalet Sports in Bozeman, MT.

Dec 2005:
1) After approximately 1000vert of skiing and 1 day, I notice one ski has a cracked sidewall on inside edge in addition to delamination behind the crack both above and below the sidewall. Shit.

2) Bring skis to Chalet Sports to see if they can warranty, no luck as they are not Head dealer. Bindings removed and I'm wished good luck.

3) Speak with Backcountry.com service department and am informed that they have nothing to do with already used products and to contact Head directly.

4) Call Head, speak with rep, find out to go to pHd skis in Bozeman for Head dealer.

5) Go to pHd, speak to owner who promptly explodes (screaming) at me for not buying these skis at his shop, refuses anything and everything to do with me paying him to help send them the Head, loses a customer forever.

6) Contact Head again, inform them of situation. Find sympathizer who helps me send skis into warranty dept myself. Recieve this email from Head:

"What kind of bindings are you using on these and why are they mounted so far back? The holes for your bindings are 14cm from the center mark on the toe and 23cm back of center to the heel. The ski cracked at its thinnest point directly perpendicular from your heel screw. This is the furthest back of any 103 I have seen cracked and I attribute it to the binding position. They will be returned to your address enclosed with the skis.

I would ski these (mounted a little bit more forward) for the rest of the season until we get more Supermojos and try and find a shop that will return them for you"

Jan 2006: After several emails and calls, still no luck on hearing back from Head trying to answer their questions. Now I'm in a bit of a bind as it's going off everywhere and I have no skis! On one hand I feel this whole thing could have been remedied quickly and easily by pHD being polite. On the other hand, if what Head says is true than Chalet is at fault, but they've been my local shop for a while now and have always done great work in the past. Or is it Backcountry.com's fault, for while I've made many purchases from them before and have always been treated right, refused to do anything on a 1 DAY SKIED ski. These skis were PRISTINE. I'm afraid that even if I repair the skis and remount forward with my p18's, I'll break them (200lbs, very aggresive). And what do you make of that last line "until we get more supermojos" (sounds promising?!)

Well that's my story, any insight on this situation would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Leif

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

So, here's the story:

Oct 2005: Purchase 1 pair of brand new iM103's from www.backcountry.com

Nov 2005: Skis mounted with Fritschti FreeridesXL for 345mm boot sole at Chalet Sports in Bozeman, MT.

Dec 2005:
1) After approximately 1000vert of skiing and 1 day, I notice one ski has a cracked sidewall on inside edge in addition to delamination behind the crack both above and below the sidewall. Shit.

2) Bring skis to Chalet Sports to see if they can warranty, no luck as they are not Head dealer. Bindings removed and I'm wished good luck.

3) Speak with Backcountry.com service department and am informed that they have nothing to do with already used products and to contact Head directly.

4) Call Head, speak with rep, find out to go to pHd skis in Bozeman for Head dealer.

5) Go to pHd, speak to owner who promptly explodes (screaming) at me for not buying these skis at his shop, refuses anything and everything to do with me paying him to help send them the Head, loses a customer forever.

6) Contact Head again, inform them of situation. Find sympathizer who helps me send skis into warranty dept myself. Recieve this email from Head:

"What kind of bindings are you using on these and why are they mounted so far back? The holes for your bindings are 14cm from the center mark on the toe and 23cm back of center to the heel. The ski cracked at its thinnest point directly perpendicular from your heel screw. This is the furthest back of any 103 I have seen cracked and I attribute it to the binding position. They will be returned to your address enclosed with the skis.

I would ski these (mounted a little bit more forward) for the rest of the season until we get more Supermojos and try and find a shop that will return them for you"

Jan 2006: After several emails and calls, still no luck on hearing back from Head trying to answer their questions. Now I'm in a bit of a bind as it's going off everywhere and I have no skis! On one hand I feel this whole thing could have been remedied quickly and easily by pHD being polite. On the other hand, if what Head says is true than Chalet is at fault, but they've been my local shop for a while now and have always done great work in the past. Or is it Backcountry.com's fault, for while I've made many purchases from them before and have always been treated right, refused to do anything on a 1 DAY SKIED ski. These skis were PRISTINE. I'm afraid that even if I repair the skis and remount forward with my p18's, I'll break them (200lbs, very aggresive). And what do you make of that last line "until we get more supermojos" (sounds promising?!)

Well that's my story, any insight on this situation would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Leif

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do you have th RA number for the return? if so, track down the head sales rep for your area at a demo event. they can call and check the status of the claim. you should also inform the rep of the retailers comments to you. not cool at all

it sounds like the ski is being returned and they will warrenty at the end of the year, when more stock is recieved from austria

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

So, here's the story:

Oct 2005: Purchase 1 pair of brand new iM103's from www.backcountry.com

Nov 2005: Skis mounted with Fritschti FreeridesXL for 345mm boot sole at Chalet Sports in Bozeman, MT.

Dec 2005:
1) After approximately 1000vert of skiing and 1 day, I notice one ski has a cracked sidewall on inside edge in addition to delamination behind the crack both above and below the sidewall. Shit.

2) Bring skis to Chalet Sports to see if they can warranty, no luck as they are not Head dealer. Bindings removed and I'm wished good luck.

3) Speak with Backcountry.com service department and am informed that they have nothing to do with already used products and to contact Head directly.

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That's too bad to hear from backcountry.com. They are the ones who have your money and should be the dealer to help you get them warranteed. You might want to keep pressing them and see if you get anywhere. If they cannot provide service to their customers they are going to lose them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

4) Call Head, speak with rep, find out to go to pHd skis in Bozeman for Head dealer.

5) Go to pHd, speak to owner who promptly explodes (screaming) at me for not buying these skis at his shop, refuses anything and everything to do with me paying him to help send them the Head, loses a customer forever.

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Sounds about like Kevin. A little bit of a napoleon syndrome going on there. It would do him well to realize that there are customers and potential customers. A hell of a lot more potential ones and maybe if he is helpful now it will pay off later. He reacts the same way even if you show up with skis bought from a different brick and mortar retailer.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

6) Contact Head again, inform them of situation.

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Did you make sure to let Head know that an authorized dealer refused to help you warranty skis you had bought brand new from another authorized dealer?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

Find sympathizer who helps me send skis into warranty dept myself. Recieve this email from Head:

"What kind of bindings are you using on these and why are they mounted so far back? The holes for your bindings are 14cm from the center mark on the toe and 23cm back of center to the heel. The ski cracked at its thinnest point directly perpendicular from your heel screw. This is the furthest back of any 103 I have seen cracked and I attribute it to the binding position. They will be returned to your address enclosed with the skis.

I would ski these (mounted a little bit more forward) for the rest of the season until we get more Supermojos and try and find a shop that will return them for you"

Jan 2006: After several emails and calls, still no luck on hearing back from Head trying to answer their questions. Now I'm in a bit of a bind as it's going off everywhere and I have no skis! On one hand I feel this whole thing could have been remedied quickly and easily by pHD being polite. On the other hand, if what Head says is true than Chalet is at fault, but they've been my local shop for a while now and have always done great work in the past. Or is it Backcountry.com's fault, for while I've made many purchases from them before and have always been treated right, refused to do anything on a 1 DAY SKIED ski. These skis were PRISTINE. I'm afraid that even if I repair the skis and remount forward with my p18's, I'll break them (200lbs, very aggresive). And what do you make of that last line "until we get more supermojos" (sounds promising?!)

Well that's my story, any insight on this situation would be most appreciated. Thanks.

Leif

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Nothing gets done in the second half of december in an office. I would expect you will be hearing from Head (or should be able to make contact with them) in the next couple days. Explain that you mounted them with freerides and that is why the hole pattern is weird. Try to see if you can get anywhere with backcountry.com. That is really shitty that they will take your money and not even let you know that they will not help you with any warranty issues. Just keep being the squeaky wheel and maybe you will get somewhere. I think your only real option at this point is to remount them with the Looks and hope for the best.

BTW, What length m103's?

heh

sma thing happened to my roomate's 103's (193)

both skis- all four side walls are blown the @%*@ out and he has skied them 10 days.

He skis hard, is about 180#, but come on

no impact damage btw

POS construction, great performance

They're 183's. I did in fact inform Head about Kevin and his reluctance to help. The part that gets me is that just the other day I had broken my G4's and was in the market for another pair of skis...

I'm sure you're right about Head being on vacation, guess I'll just have to wait and see. Any ideas on what to say to backcountry? They made themselves pretty clear that they couldn't be of service but they've always been helpful in the past so I dunno. Thanks for the replys.

i dont know what to say to backcountry.com. there are a few of their employees on the board, maybe one of them will see this and give you some ideas. maybe approach the angle that they did not make it clear that they would not help with warranty issues before purchase. dunno.

I bought a pair of m103's (193) from slippy slightly used and bent one within 10 days. since it was a two year old model i didnt bother trying to warranty them. they still ski ok.

a 200 pound aggressive skier on 183's?

I figured they'd ski a bit longer as the tails are flat, and I mostly ski at Bridger Bowl which = lots of TIGHT lines, I felt 193 would be a little too much to swing around.

lief, I'm on it. I'm not promising new skis just yet but I'm going to be sure this get the attention of our finest in the warehouse/returns dept.

PM me with your order number and contact info. Thanks. (if you don't know what a PM is, click the little circle next to my name and you'll have the option to send a Private Message - click that and you're on your way)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fez

i dont know what to say to backcountry.com. there are a few of their employees on the board, maybe one of them will see this and give you some ideas.

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We'll be taking care of liefar today. Case closed. :cool:

Nice job powstash!

My head has warranty issues.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by bad_roo

My head has warranty issues.

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Sorry roo but once the hood gets cut off that becomes a user-modified (outside original design spec) void. There are apparently some procedures you can go through to regrow it but that's gonna be more user-mod's and difficult/painful at best.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leifar

I had broken my G4's and was in the market for another pair of skis....

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On that note, how did your g4s break? You never know, I've seen Volkl warranty some retarded cases before. Not sure of their official warranty period, but if you can talk to a rep, or send them with a nice explanatory note you never know. Assuming it's a legit case. Their warranty and quality has kept me coming back....

Oh, and most of the time in my experience ski shops do a hopeless job regarding warranties. I know of many cases where a shop refuses to do it but sending it yourself works well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by powstash

We'll be taking care of liefar today. Case closed. :cool:

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Off topic
You get some of my Money!!

Thank you for shopping at Backcountry!

Backcountry
2607 South 3200 West Suite A
West Valley City, UT 84119
(800) 409-4502

Order Details:

Qty. Item No. Title Each Total
---- ----------- ------------------------------- -------------- ----------------


1 MAM0015 Mammut Barryvox Beacon $264.95 $264.95



Subtotal $264.95
Salestax $0.00
Shipping $10.28

Order Total $275.23





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Name: Michael Thompson

Quote:

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Originally Posted by addict

Oh, and most of the time in my experience ski shops do a hopeless job regarding warranties. I know of many cases where a shop refuses to do it but sending it yourself works well.

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Agreed. Send it yourself if you can help it.

A good shop can definitely be an asset, but a bad one can screw you. Almost happened to me this year, and I'm not someone that warranties stuff unless it's absolutely necessary.

Good to see backcountry step up to the plate and help.

Crossing fingers that my 103's don't have issues. At 180 on the 193's I really don't think there should be any problems.

customer service just sent me an e-mail telling me his skis have been shipped. Have a great rest of the season leifar

[QUOTE=addict]On that note, how did your g4s break? You never know, I've seen Volkl warranty some retarded cases before. Not sure of their official warranty period, but if you can talk to a rep, or send them with a nice explanatory note you never know. Assuming it's a legit case. Their warranty and quality has kept me coming back....
QUOTE]

The G4's have long expired on their warranty period. Interesting story actually, I broke one of them on a rock last year at Bridger and over the summer I emailed volkl and they sent me a skied/drilled G4 they had lying around. This year I skied on the "new" pair for a while but after being drilled 2x landing jumps was just too much for them and I broke one behind the binding right on the previous holes. No complaints, they were great skis with at least 80 hard days on them. Props to powstash and the BC.com crew for a prompt fix of a lousy situation.