Well - Sorry to be a whiner, but this is my first shot at making a rucus… Here is the story.
A couple of weeks ago I sent a pair of QuickSilver booties back, and a pair of RipCurl gloves back. Both were made of the “new” “stretchy” neo. The gloves, I was told at a shop, were made of the “old” “heavy duty” neo, and thus should hold up…Well they were great gloves for a couple months then the palms flattened and blew. The boots blew out in the sole, under the heel in a few surf at a reef - I met the rep from QuickSilver at a different local shop, and he said that style had only ink on the sole, and the sales person, at a third shop, (Sorry to say, but I’m not that “loyal” to any one shop.) should have told me. He said to send them back and ask for this particular boot that was much more heavu duty in 7mm, so I did - including the $10.00 QuickSilver required because I had no recipt… Here is the intesting part.
A week later I get a pair of boots from QuickSilver - good for them I think. Then I open the box and they’re 5mm, and there is a bill for $33.00. Now I’m thinking, "What the “F!” I spent @ $40.00 on the crappy boots, spent another $10.00 to get some “satisfaction,” and now this… What a pain. So, I call, and leave a message… no reply for over a week. Well - and this is the good news, piss me off more news part. That next week a pair of gloves comes from RipCurl with a note saying, “Thanks for letting us be of service.”
So my question is: You all got any thoughts? I’ve called a couple more times to Quick Silver, to no avail. I got some boots I don’t want, I’ve allready paid for the first boots plus the ten dollars, a bill pending from them for $33.00… and, well, as you can tell, it frustrates my confused little mind. My next thought is to threaten QuickSilver with an “e” campaign about my experience, esp. vis-a-vis the cool folk at RipCurl.
I can’t offer help with your current situation, but I can tell you that scenarios just like that have led me to only purchase from the smaller WETSUITONLY companies that have a quick turn-around time on repairs, customer service, etc. I’ve had great luck the XCEL lately with both durability and repair, and I hear Hotline is good with CS/durability as well.
A couple months ago my 3 year old Ripcurl fullsuit started coming apart at the seems. That is the glued outside part of the glued and blindstiched seams started to open in many places. I decided to take RipCurl on their lifetime seam guarantee. I noticed one of the Elastomax back panel was getting holes in it so I asked if they could replace it. Since the warranty covers the seams, not the panels, they said they have a look at it and call me back with an estimate. I also had a shallow slice on the chest that didn’t go through which I asked them to throw some seam tape on the back of to reinforce it because I didn’t want to pay the extra for the chest panel. They agreed.
A couple days later I got the suit back with new back panels for a small charge, they replaced the chest panel at no charge, and they fixed all the seams. Actually it’s an upgrade because now all the seams in the torso are taped instead of just the stress points. It’s a renovated suit for $16. Everybody I spoke to was nice and knew what they were talking about. My buddy who was having similar issues with his Ripcurl of similar age was stoked and sent his in for repairs. He got the same treatment.
My experience and my buddies were really good with Ripcurl. At first I was a annoyed that the seams were failing but the excellent service calmed me down. My next fullsuit will be a Ripcurl. I know this doesn’t help with your Quiksilver booties situation. I just wanted to give some prop’s to Ripcurl because they did me right.
If I were you I’d try to get a manager at Quiksilver and explain that they’ve got it wrong and you want them to get it right. Don’t explain it to the first person who anwers. Let them know you have a repeat problem and you want a manager. If you can’t get satisfaction you could mail the boots and the bill back and tell them you’ll be buying something else from now on and ask them where you 10 bucks are.
I was buying a new Rip Curl suit a year or so ago. Bought it, and decided to go out to the truck & get the old one…brought it in & showed the shop guy that the zipper pull had broken off and a neck seam was split. I’d drilled through the zipper slides & put in a key ring on a string to get it up & down. I explained that I knew the suit was way past warranty, but I had bought it at that shop, and I’d be curious to see what the could do to get me a backup suit out of it. I said I’d be happy to pay $30 or $40 for the repairs.
The guy sent it in, told RC that I’d already bought a new one, and it came back in about 3 weeks - no charge. Zipper & neck panels replaced.
Simple money spent for them, and they’ve got a customer for life. I tell everyone that story - they earned it.
Sorry, but it’s hard to resist a “made in china” barb.
Seriously, the rep that services the beach house for O’Neil is great. Send back anything, it gets fixed or replaced. The new stuff is really falling apart quickly these days.
Find the rep’s cell phone number and work up from there.
If I were you I’d try to get a manager at Quiksilver and explain that they’ve got it wrong and you want them to get it right. Don’t explain it to the first person who anwers. Let them know you have a repeat problem and you want a manager.
I’d give Quik another chance at it…I might try to say you want to talk to a supervisoror manager…big companys sometimes just work that way and the the terminology might be more familar, as in big corps sometimes manager involvement can be the kiss of death for the situation or employee. You may not be dealing with surfers or beach people - who really knows these days. And assume when you call back you won’t be getting the same person at the first level…you may get a totally different result. If you come on firm, friendly, polite, and comiserating you have a much better chance at success than if you come on whining and/or angry.
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If you can’t get satisfaction you could mail the boots and the bill back and tell them you’ll be buying something else from now on and ask them where you 10 bucks are.
If it descends to that, then address it to the customer service/repair manager. Good ideas.
I’ve had great success with wetsuits made in the USA. I’ve bought a few at the factory when they have their factory sales. One is nearly seven years old and is still a good one, never a problem, rubber is still pretty strechy too. But I’m only about 45 minutes south of the factory. Bought my son a spring suit last summer for only $10!
I had a similiar experience to Ben in regards to Rip Curl. I had bought one of their tide watches and it didn’t keep track of the tide the way I felt it should. They told me they had a new one in the works, and long story short one year later I had a brand new watch before they even it they shelves. Good companies think long term and if the complaint is legit take the short term hit for long term gains.
Here’s another for Rip Curl. I buy a new one every year. I like the snap on hood setup and they fit me good. The last one started falling apart. Not at the seams. The lining delamed and the rubber under the pits was failing. Sent it back and recieved a new suit. The old was about 9 months old. I’ll keep buying them. I have a tub full of Rip Curls that are in pretty good shape. I cut them into shorties and have a couple of backups. Good company. Mike
I have to put in good word for Rip Curl too as they have treated me well throughout the years. I have had many of their suits over the years and have had several instances of good customer service. I’ve had Xcel suits that have fit me better and Billabong suits that have lasted me longer, but Rip Curls customer service is top notch.
HI All - Just got off the phone with the QuickSilver Customer guy for wet suits. Turns out they distroyed my $10.00 check. The “bill” was no bill, just a statement, I guess of their charge off to/ they sold it to themselves… The don’t do “upgrades” so they couldn’t send me the 7mm, but the 5mm they sent me, with rubber on the sole, so they should last a littl longer. And that is that, no charge, new boots. Boo hoo to me for not getting the 7mm, but other than that I’m stoked. Thanks to all for your thoughts and advice. Taylor.
I have to say my experience with Aleeda wetsuits has been the exact opposite of GlennShotwell’s. I’ve had three of their suits and none of them have lasted for more than a season without needing a fair bit of seam work/ material replacement. That’s twice a week useage and taking good care of them. I will say however, that they do repairs free of charge and usually do it in about a week. So if you don’t live too far or mind paying for shipping and have a backup suit, Aleeda isn’t a bad choice. Many of their styles look good too- not too much in the way of fancy shiny crap and logos. To each their own.
I had 2 quicksilver wetsuits back to back. the first one was their very cheap one (I believe it’s called Synchro), it’s like $90. Great suit, comfortable, solid, warm. after 1 year of consistent use basically no sign of wear. unfortunatelly it got stolen. Thebn I “upgraded” to an Ignite (around $ 200). Great wetsuit for a couple of months, then it started stretching too much and letting lots of water in. then the neoprene delaminated (no hole, but water flow in). then the seams started failing. all this in less than a year.