I saw some Sunova surfboards yesterday and was blown away by the design/construction and the light weight. I picked up a 9’ 6" that was like a feather. It seems like the design would totally change the feel of the board especially on bottom turns.
Does anyone have any experience with these boards?
They were absolutely beautiful by the way. I’ve always felt boards are meant to be ridden, not stared at, but these were pretty enough to put on the wall.
Hey Buddy -
This is by far THE WORST company I have ever dealt with. First of all, it took them 4 months to shape/deliver my board. All the while, they strung me along w/ BS about how it was coming along. When it wasn't ready they blamed it on some "conflict" w/ the factory in Thailand (I wasn't even aware they were made in Thailand)
As a result of this, the board was not ready for my trip to SW Australia.....so, I've never actually surfed the thing.
When I complained about the service, I got some long rambling email about how American bankers ruined the economy and Australian kids are all drugged-out and don't want to work etc. etc. It even had some nonsense about Louis XII and Henry VIII (no I am not kidding).
I'm still waiting for them to provide me a receipt which I asked for about 10 days ago.....
Oh...they were VERY efficient about asking for my money/payment. They sucked at everything else
I can't comment on how well the board surfs (I will let you know as soon as I get to Bali)....but, this company totally sucks for customer service.
Check out Gary Young's Bamboo Boards....great guy, great service, great board.
good luck.
The Dude
You're not the same bloke selling your sunova's on another forum are you?
No personal experience with customer service… although they seem to need to get their act together in other business-related areas.
As for the boards… damn! Boards are great. I had my hands on a 6’6 Nitro for a few months, and surfed it for a couple of solid swells. The biggest thing I noticed about these boards is their flex. Took me a while to figure it out… had to change the rythm of my pump… but once I did, I could see how people in the flex camp would love them. Very fast board that held speed through turns. Rail shape and volume seemed to work well in steep, barreling waves.
No....not me. not selling my board.
I haven't even ridden it yet thanks to their crap-arse service.
I'll post again w/ an update of how it rides when I get back from Bali
as stated: Google "Gary Young Bamboo Boards"....the guy is awesome and so are his boards.
figure out what shape you want (more or less)......send him the specs and start a conversation. He's a super dude and his boards totally rock out. I wish I had gone w/ him a 2nd time, but wanted to try something new.....
even if you are only a "couple of turns" kind of a guy, his boards are great.....he makes all kinds of shapes and sizes for all kinds of surfers....
Again....I can't tesitfy as to how the Sunova board rides (yet), but having a board shaped and delivered should be a FUN experience from start to finish....these clowns really put a damper on that.
good luck!
The Dude
Hey MishtahMan200 aka THE DUDE!!!
You’ve just given Sunova a solid serving for what appears to be a very good product, just wondering if you could post a picture of yourself with your board, black out your face, I don’t care.
Maybe some kind of proof that you are not affiliated with another company (like Gary Young) and giving Sunova a bashing for some sinister maybe egotistical reason. When Bert was on this forum he helped a lot of board builders out, gave a lot of good advice and had a good friendly ATTITUDE.
So do you have any proof behind your bashings of Sunova?
Must have been expensive to get a Gary Young board shipped to Western Australia from Hawaii hey? You could have got 2 stock Firewires for the same price? Or an Australian built composite board?
I had the same problem with sunova as well.If you are looking for a custom board that has some of the claimed flex properties that sunova has you need to try a coil.I have had great customer service from Mike and the boards go great!
I cant comment on how they ride but …I was talking to them very seriously about a two board order…I did my research and found this kind of complaint coming up a lot ( 4-6 months to get a board and then not getting exactly what you ordered - wtf??) …my solution was Josh Dowling…he makes better boards in my opinion and the customer service exceeds your expectations…all is not what it seems at Sunova
I just ordered a sunova 6 weeks ago. It should be here soon (I hope I don’t have to wait another 10 weeks). I may give a review but I am not the most experienced surfer so I might not be able to give any meaningful feedback.
I ordered a sunova because of the reputation of the surfboards and the experience of the people behind them. There are plenty of competing companies riding on Berts coat tails that can make you a compsand. I don’t know if they have the tech right yet to get boards still feeling alive after 10 years of constant use but I know Bert does.
If I have to wait 16 weeks for the board that is ok because in ten years it will be worth it.
It is very hard to find reviews of sunova boards outside of their website though. Anyone know why that is?
Hello All -
First and foremost, I do NOT work for Gary Young nor do I have any affiliation with him whatsoever. I have no affiliation with any surf company in any way, shape or form. If you don't want to take my word for it, that is OK w/ me.
I have no "sinister" or "egotistical" motive. I am simply dissatisfied with the customer service of Sunova and wanted to share my experience. Think of it as "Trip Advisor" type review.
My only association w/ Gary Young is that I bought a board from him around 3 years ago (incidentally, I had it shipped to the mainland USA, not Oz). I don't remember the exact total cost, but w/ the board and shipping it was somewhere around 900 USD (he shipped it freight on an airplane which cut down the cost).....whether you consider that "expensive" or "cheap" is your perspective.
If you are wondering, I bought both the Bamboo Board and the Sunova out of a desire to try different shapes and "slightly less environmentally-damaging" materials. Whether they are more expensive than "2 stock Firewires" was not my thinking on either board (nor do I know as I have never purchased a "stock Firewire"). Same reason I buy organic milk etc. It's not always about the cost.
As per the rest, PLEASE read my post carefully....I did not bash the quality of Sunova Boards in any way, shape or form. As stated, I have not ridden the board yet and cannot comment upon the quality. I will note that it is a very nice looking board.
I only bashed on the fact that it took 4 months for them to shape/deliver the board and they still have yet to deliver me a receipt (now 11 days and 3 email requests after payment was wired into their bank).
My post was entirely "service-related". If you choose to believe me, that's fine. If not, that's fine too. Just telling you my experience.
As per my other experiences, I would also recommend Grain Surfboards out of Maine as another option I have gone with in the past. Though, I will note that "wood" boards are not for everybody as they have a different "feel" in the water which takes some getting used to. And these boards are expensive. Very expensive.
For a good "standard" type board at a good price, I would recommend 7S.....good "bang for the buck" in my opinion. Ridden a couple of those and was satisfied.
Good luck out there!
The Dude.
PS....I won't pretend to understand how you function, but I think if you paid $990 AUD for a board and it didn't show up for your 1st Ever Trip to SW Oz, you'd want to give that company a "solid serving" as well.....
I hope you (or anybody else) never order a board 4 months before a "surf trip of a lifetime" only to have that board not show up in time. Pretty disappointing.
On that note, SW Oz is amazing....great waves, great scenery, great vibe in and out of the water. A+ for that place. And, no....I don't work for SW Oz Tourism either.
In Sunova's defense, they did give me some free fins to "compensate" me. And, as stated, it looks like a very nice board.
I will post again after I ride it in Bali.
Good luck out there!
The DOOOOOOOOD!!!!!
Had my 6’6 clone for almost a month now, and love it.
I’m in the process of re-building my quiver, and i’m looking for specific boards, ie riding the right
board for the right conditions.
In the past i’ve tried heaps of epoxies
surftech’s - rubbish
Southpoint - rubbish
JS carbon rail - absolute crap - worse than pu. Basically disintegrated from first session.
Firewire’s - great - but lacking quality, shapes are roughly the same as pu. (apart from their wacky hybrids)
Sunova is on a completely different level to all shapers and brands. Bert know’s his stuff and is definitely leading the way with not only design but construction too.
I’ve also ordered a second sunova, but am still waiting delivery, i’ve been told their going through a bit of a transitional phase, and also having issues with freight. But my first board was delivered on time.
Why the hell would you WASTE 600-800 hard earned dollars on a standard PU that MIGHT last 12 months if your lucky ! When you can spend a bit more and have a board that not only performs BETTER but last’s YEARS !
I have had a Sunova Moontail fish for a couple months now. I like the way it rides( as a Quad), but I have to say that I am very disappointed with it. I have taken it out three times and had to repair the tail twice. The very end of the board is not covered by
a wood skin; just a high density foam. The tail has only one layer of 4 oz glass over that foam. The tail comes to an extremely thin and sharp edge because of it’s convex shape. These conditions add up to a very weak tail. The use of a leash causes the damage, which means I can’t use the board anywhere crowded, and everywhere is crowded.
I tried to contact Sunova USA about what I consider a design flaw, but I got know response. I wasn’t necessarily expecting them to fix my board, but I thought they should do something for future boards they build. I went back to the boardshop who was selling Sunova. They were dumping boards and had no intention of getting anymore. They said Sunova USA was “done”. And the boards were being sold for 399 brand new. They said at that price they were having a hard time getting rid of them.
Resinhead gave me some advice on how to fix the board, and think it will be fine know that it has two more layers of glass on the tail. My experience is these boards are not really what they claim to be.
NE1
pm sent.
I dont own a sunova but I sure wish I did! sorry to hear that some of you have had such horrible experiences… bert provided some great information to this forum.
I did a web search about Sunova and found this site. I am a lifelong surfer with some prior board repair experience.
I bought a Sunova Clone and am in the midst of resolving some fundamental issues directly with Bert Berger at his factory in Thailand (1-2 hours from my home in Bangkok) I have been to the factory 3 times.
I will see how thigs pan out and get back to this thread.
Steve
Sunova Board owner experience with factory.
Since Bert had actually asked me to let him repair 2 very superficial dings I forwent a ding repair opportunity on a surf trip in Sri Lanka.
Took board to (the board factory)factory in Chonburi Thailand. About 2 hours for me, taxi, 2 trains and a bus, but nevermind getting there is my problem. I was told 35dollars for repair.
More than 3 months later and multiple emails without response I called them I didn’t know if the factory was even still in existence as it has closed and or relocated multiple times in the past. The man was apologetic about my board and also mentioned he had a plan/idea to use my board repair to make a Sunove website video on ding repair. I was told the repair would most likely be started sometime during next week. When I brought the board the repair needed to wait about 7 days for a business trip. I asked what they were going to charge me and the answer was 35usd. I informed them I’d pick up the board on Friday. My call was on Monday. At that point I didn’t care if the repair was done or not I just wanted the board. I didn’t say anything antagonistic about their negligence and my 1/4 year loss of use as I was concerned about my board not dissapearing.
Have postponed surf trips for more than 1/4 year. No one notified me about a delay either. The original price for repair was 35 usd. Kind of steep in Thailand or by Sri Lanka standards but I felt the board could not be in better hands.
Anyway I hired a car to pickup the board and late Friday afternoon was still not ready. Had to hang around. I was astonished. Basically "we neglected your board, neglected telling you about delay, caused you “loss of use” but come and pay for our ineptitude as your time and loss and inconvenience means nothing to the “shaper of the year” firewire genius. Not to mention the idea of using my board repair in a Sunova video to improve their business/customer service model.
Upon arriving home the board bag trap was not in the bag. Salt on the wound. More lost time. They ended up finding it and mailing it to me, thank you.
Sunova’s solution to my experience with their ineptitude and negative consideration of a customer was to somehow calculate the value of loss of use , my hassle and their ineptitude and offer me a 300 dollar discount if I buy a new board. Nice, making it up to me by requiring the purchase of a new board. Rather than Bert just refunding the token charge and apologizing the answer was to compel me to buy another board. I suggested in lieu of a 300 dollar discount, give me one of the many factory 2nd 3rd boards that are going NOWHERE fast. Perhaps this idea popped into my mind hearing about firewires giving away a lot of factory 2nd’s. I’ve really had enough experience with Sunova. I will see if the firewire factory can do future repairs if needed. By the way, no email or communication at all from the shaper of the year.
Pros; board seems to be well built, and light.Rides well.
Cons; Too bad they treat board owners like shiiite and cannot connect the dots. Amazing hassle and wait for a simple repair by the so called “firewire genius” Makes one wonder if getting locked out of your own factory might be based upon sound rationale.
I have zero commercial interest or surfing industry connections. I more than welcome comments/feedback from Sunova.
Thanks for the feedback.
Some might take your review hard, because they are Burt’s friends and everybody wants to stick up for their friends. But if the service is failing, its good to know before the money is put down and the order is placed. Friend or not, nobody wants bad service.
Sunova could solve their own problem. When an order is placed, tell the customer it is going to take 4 months minimum to get your board. The hard part in running a business is keeping the squirrels in their cages. Some can do it, and some can’t.
Sounds like Burt might do better to stick to the production end of things, and partner with a business manager. I appreciate that you posted this, because it is a lesson that everybody should learn. Do what you are good at, and recognize what you aren’t.
One of the problems with doing Boards overseas is you just can’t control everything. It’s Ok if you are just ordering a bunch of off the shelf " Fun Boards or whatever Logs Just fill a shipping container and wait. When you are doing custom work and you are waiting for a glass shop to do your boards to your specs and then relying on a shipper to fill a container then waiting for that container to be shipped you have lost time and Money.
It looks good on paper to buy boards in asia for $100-$125 wholesale for $300 and retailers can get $600-800 But you still have to have those boards sell. Wearhouseing a few 100 Boards shipping and damage all take their toll and the cost add up fast. Lets say you order 150 quad fin boards and while you are waiting the newest fin set up is 5 fin now you have all these quads and a lot of surfers jsut don’t lik what they see. Now you have to dop the price and pray.
After I took my board to him for repair I told him in an email “lets coordinate the pickup” so I can take him to lunch. This as a gesture of good will and friendship. After more than 1/4 year when I called him I did ask again what he is going to charge me for the repair. (this after the apologies and notification of the “how to repair your own dings” (using my board) video for Sunova. “Same price as before” OK, he had almost 5 business days to organize his thoughts prior to pickup. Greed or lack of common sense I don’t know, but an excellent way to alienate someone believing in the product.
Software applications that organize business have been around for ages and they work. For anyone taking the initiative to visit their Thailand factory don’t be surprised (at all) if the price they quote you is the same as the 3rd country surf shop price that factors in international shipping.
If anyone reading this topic is connected with the firewire factory in Thailand please PM me regarding the possibility of getting future repairs done there. All of my ding repair experience is with PU boards.
My review is not “spun” to be hard, it is simply the “facts”
