Volkl warranty rant (no real point, ignore this)

[vent] So I went into my local volkl store last night with my bent explosive, asking if it could be sent back on warranty. The shop monkey said that the damage should be covered, and it wouldn't be a problem, until he found out that the skis were purchased from Canada (yes, part of the botched cuplos group buy, so I don't want to send them back to him). Now it's a clusterfuck of distributors not wanting to play nice with each other, and I have to send them back to Niagra Falls if have a chance of getting them replaced. Bottom line, I get to do all the leg work in sending the skis to a stranger across the continent, for the chance to get them replaced, or I suck it up and deal with a bent ski. It just seems like a real stupid policy that you have to return the skis to their point of origin for warranty service, since skiing is a localizied activity. What if I was from Mexico (or some other snow deprived location) and bought some sticks at Kirkwood when on vacation, and they went sour while skiing somewhere else? I'd have to ship them back? This just seems like a childish problem within the company that the local distributors can't deal with each other and provide better customer service. [/rant]

Oh well, time to talk to a minion on the other end of volkl's 800 #. If anyone has success stories of replacing out of country sticks, or if any canadian shop maggot can lend a hand, I'd love to hear it.

I've got a buddy in a shop that claims to have a good relationship with Volkl, I'll see if he's as tight as he says.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

[vent] and I have to send them back to Niagra Falls if have a chance of getting them replaced.

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[ignore this, too] I wonder if people misspelled Niagara as much before Viagra came on the market to confuse them? :D [/ignore]

This has to do with distribution channels.

The guy (or company) who sells skis to shops in the US is not the guy who sells them to shops in Canada. In other words, you bought the skis from person A, and then asked for a replacement from person B. As I understand it there really is no bizness relationship between A & B (aside from the fact that they distribute skis made by the same company), thus they are reluctant to handle each other's warrantly issues.
This is also (part of the reason) why the same ski is priced differently in different countries.

I will agree though, that this is a pain in the ass.

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Originally Posted by The AD

[ignore this, too] I wonder if people misspelled Niagara as much before Viagra came on the market to confuse them? :D [/ignore]

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heh, that's pretty funny.

What went wrong with the Cupolo's group buy? I remember there was a really long thread about it but I never followed what was going on. Just curious because I got a pair on an earlier buy and it worked out fine.

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Originally Posted by iceman

heh, that's pretty funny.

What went wrong with the Cupolo's group buy? I remember there was a really long thread about it but I never followed what was going on. Just curious because I got a pair on an earlier buy and it worked out fine.

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Many people never got the skis or bindings they ordered. The store kept promising "next week"....After 4 months of waiting, I bought my Freerides elsewhere...

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Originally Posted by iceman

heh, that's pretty funny.

What went wrong with the Cupolo's group buy? I remember there was a really long thread about it but I never followed what was going on. Just curious because I got a pair on an earlier buy and it worked out fine.

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Cupolo sells a lot of their shit on Ebay.

Probably wanted to maximize the profit margin by selling there as opposed to a bunch of cheapskates trying to get in on a group buy.

My roommate had a bent or blown up explosive.

He called volkl direct and they had some old warranty skis around -- sent him one with out any questions. The ski was used, but not nearly as much as the one he needed replaced. I think his were 2 or 3 years old and the damage with this guy is easily attributed to "pilot error".

he had good luck hope you do as well

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Originally Posted by 13

Cupolo sells a lot of their shit on Ebay.

Probably wanted to maximize the profit margin by selling there as opposed to a bunch of cheapskates trying to get in on a group buy.

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So you think it's okay they skrewed us cheapskates over by not giving us what we ordered? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Mountainman

So you think it's okay they skrewed us cheapskates over by not giving us what we ordered? :rolleyes:

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They decided not to honor a group order that they took, but they never took anyone's money. It's one thing to take money and not deliver, it's another to back out of something a 2nd or 3rd party tried to put together.

It's stupid business practice, but no harm, no foul, eh? :p

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Originally Posted by 13

They decided not to honor a group order that they took, but they never took anyone's money. It's one thing to take money and not deliver, it's another to back out of something a 2nd or 3rd party tried to put together.

It's stupid business practice, but no harm, no foul, eh? :p

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Good point. I guess the only thing that aggravated me was when they kept telling me my stuff was shipped or being shipped when they really didn't know what was going on.

Whomever told you that you can't warranty Canadian bought skis in the US doesn't know what they're talking about.

I bought my Gotamas from dude le's shop, Daniel LeChance. Their Volkl rep said I would have no problem warrantying the skis in the US. When the sidewall cracked on my Gotamas, I just took them into my local shop. I don't have them yet, but I have confirmed that Volkl is sending me a pair. It's not a problem. Volkl will warranty skis if you bought them in one country and use them in another.

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Originally Posted by Arty50

Whomever told you that you can't warranty Canadian bought skis in the US doesn't know what they're talking about.

I bought my Gotamas from dude le's shop, Daniel LeChance. Their Volkl rep said I would have no problem warrantying the skis in the US. When the sidewall cracked on my Gotamas, I just took them into my local shop. I don't have them yet, but I have confirmed that Volkl is sending me a pair. It's not a problem. Volkl will warranty skis if you bought them in one country and use them in another.

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Hmm, I wonder if the local shop told Volkl where they were originally bought from? I had a similar experience to DJsapp in which my g4's were bought in Canada prior to me working in a shop and Volkl was kinda hesitant in warrentying them until they found out what shop I work for. From the guy I talked with, it's not a standard policy to warrenty skis from different countries.

Spoke with the Volkl 800 number rep, said they'd look at them and they'll most likely take care of me, but it's not SOP to warranty out of country skis because of the previously discussed distribution issues.

Now it's time to drop the hammer on that shop monkey...

like Mountainman said what pissed me off about Cupalo's was it took close to 15 minutes of waiting on hold or getting transfered around the store to find someone who had a clue what was going on and then getting told that "they're on there way" only to call back a week later to find out that they hadn't even gotten to the store yet. Look I was understanding that sometimes there are issues with backorders and distribution but don't lie to my face saying I'm gonna have my shit within the next 3 days if you don't even have it in your hands yet and it takes a week to get stuff from your store to my house.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

[vent] So I went into my local volkl store last night with my bent explosive, asking if it could be sent back on warranty. The shop monkey said that the damage should be covered, and it wouldn't be a problem, until he found out that the skis were purchased from Canada (yes, part of the botched cuplos group buy, so I don't want to send them back to him). Now it's a clusterfuck of distributors not wanting to play nice with each other, and I have to send them back to Niagra Falls if have a chance of getting them replaced. Bottom line, I get to do all the leg work in sending the skis to a stranger across the continent, for the chance to get them replaced, or I suck it up and deal with a bent ski. It just seems like a real stupid policy that you have to return the skis to their point of origin for warranty service, since skiing is a localizied activity. What if I was from Mexico (or some other snow deprived location) and bought some sticks at Kirkwood when on vacation, and they went sour while skiing somewhere else? I'd have to ship them back? This just seems like a childish problem within the company that the local distributors can't deal with each other and provide better customer service. [/rant]

Oh well, time to talk to a minion on the other end of volkl's 800 #. If anyone has success stories of replacing out of country sticks, or if any canadian shop maggot can lend a hand, I'd love to hear it.

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Where you doing this last night at Sports Ltd on Ventura? If it was you, I was standing right behind you dropping off my 4FRNTs to get mounted. Usually the guys there are really good about stuff but the one working last night didn't know much. Wanted to charge me $60 for mounting and wax! I called this morning and spoke with someone else who said they'll do the wax for free, and mount for $30. I guess you just talked to the wrong person....

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Originally Posted by skier0178

Where you doing this last night at Sports Ltd on Ventura? If it was you, I was standing right behind you dropping off my 4FRNTs to get mounted. Usually the guys there are really good about stuff but the one working last night didn't know much. Wanted to charge me $60 for mounting and wax! I called this morning and spoke with someone else who said they'll do the wax for free, and mount for $30. I guess you just talked to the wrong person....

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Yup, that was me. On the inside I was wondering who would be on those 4FRNTS, should have known. Kinda suprised you didn't seem the canada summit sticker on my skis and ask for change, would've been cool in that random sort of way. And yeah, their shop rates suck, $40 for a mount, $20 for wax and light tune, but when I soon walk in there with 4 pairs of skis to mount and a case of beer, I'm sure their price will get better. You eyeing those spatulas in the corner as well?

edit: gramAAAAARRRRRRRRRR

A shop I tried to bring my gotamas back to in incline village wouldn't send them back to volkl, as apparently the split sidewall was not worthy of them doing so. So I went to the same shop as arty, as he had told me they took his back no questions asked, and they did. I bought them from a shop i used to work for on the east coast btw..

Djsapp
I found myself in a volkl dealer today with a warranty issue on my volkls and they gave me a hard time aswell.
Can you forward the 800 # to me so that I can get some help. I did not purchase the skis from this shop either so hense the hard time.
Thanks

Speaking of warranty rants, I have an Orage jacket with a broken zipper. I called Orage to see if I could send it in, but they said the only way they would accept the jacket is if I bring it to an Orage dealer. I explain to her that the shop I bought it from no longer carries Orage, that the jacket is not under warranty, and that I have no problem with paying for having it fixed. She said that didn't matter, I still have to go through a shop. I then tell her that I checked and that the closest shop is now probably 1500 miles from where I'm currently living. She understood my problem and ended up sending me a zipper that I could get replaced myself at a semstress. When the zipper came it was the wrong size. Don't get me wrong, the lady on the phone was very nice and truly wanted to help me out, the problem was with the warranty system. I think they should accept the jacket from me, charge me $20 or whatever they want to fix it and send it back to me. I shouldn't have to go through a dealer to get it fixed because the dealer is only acting as a third party in the situation. Nice lady, shitty system, but what can you do. :(

I'll just have to find a place in town to replace the zipper, probably shouldn't be too hard except I haven't got around to it yet. :D

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Originally Posted by Arty50

Whomever told you that you can't warranty Canadian bought skis in the US doesn't know what they're talking about.

I bought my Gotamas from dude le's shop, Daniel LeChance. Their Volkl rep said I would have no problem warrantying the skis in the US. When the sidewall cracked on my Gotamas, I just took them into my local shop. I don't have them yet, but I have confirmed that Volkl is sending me a pair. It's not a problem. Volkl will warranty skis if you bought them in one country and use them in another.

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whew, glad to hear someone is in my boat as well

Fuck those renigging fuckers at Volkl USA in their fucking asses. The guy said he'd take care of me. I get a call from the local shop this morning, Volkl isn't going with it. I call the guy, and he said that he talked to his manager and he's going to have to go back on his promise. Now I'm dealing with Volkl Canada, and need to send them to a Canadian shop. I really want to avoid sending them back to Cupulos as my gut is telling me I'll never see them again if I do that. [/Teton Diary Research]

Anyone have any advice? Shoot the hostage? Pee in the fluid tank?

We're the said skis bought from Mtlion in the group buy last fall?

If so, I would try and track down the shop that shipped the skis. i know you know this, but I think this is the best way to do it. Send it express and follow up as much as possible. I think Volkl are pretty cool to warranty a bent ski, they could easily tell you to pissoff, pilot error. It sucks getting the runaround, but be patient and keep telling them how much you love their sticks.

good luck,

P.S. I am in the same situation with a pair of Gotama's that were bought from Mtlion in the fall and came from a shop in Banff, Canada. I took them to a local shop and they sent them back. They have not heard anything about ANY of the warrantied skis and it is DUMPING out right now. :eek:

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Originally Posted by Arty50

Whomever told you that you can't warranty Canadian bought skis in the US doesn't know what they're talking about.

I bought my Gotamas from dude le's shop, Daniel LeChance. Their Volkl rep said I would have no problem warrantying the skis in the US. When the sidewall cracked on my Gotamas, I just took them into my local shop. I don't have them yet, but I have confirmed that Volkl is sending me a pair. It's not a problem. Volkl will warranty skis if you bought them in one country and use them in another.

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FYI: You’re skis had a manufactures defect. Mr. Sap’s are bent because he fucked up and skied into a rock. Sorry bro, but you best bend them back ‘cause the Volkl is going to say FUCK OFF!

this is how you bend a ski