Companies that Back their products!

Share your advice and personal experiences, post a gear review or ask any questions you may have pertaining to outdoor gear and equipment.
User avatar
Oubliet
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 69
Joined: Fri Nov 04, 2005 2:10 am
Experience: N/A

Komperdell

Post by Oubliet »

I purchased some brightly colored ski poles from SierratradingPost last winter. The poles and baskets were fluorescent colored and very striking.

The first downhill run I did on the backside of Heavenly Valley ended up with me discovering that I hadn't locked the baskets onto the pole tips properly, and one of my baskets was now missing.

I contacted the Komperdell customer service person in the Northwest by phone. I explained what had happened. The rep told me that the line had been discontinued, but she had an extra lying around that she would send to me.

I was surprised, and happy to find out how helpful the rep was. This makes me feel great about continuing to purchase Komperdell products, knowing that the customer service is good.
User avatar
cgundersen
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1338
Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2006 1:07 pm
Experience: N/A

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by cgundersen »

A16
I have a 41 year old external frame pack that I still use. It's more beaten up than I am, but A16 has done repairs on it and it keeps going. They do not conduct repairs on the owners, sadly.

La Sportiva
I agree that their boots are great and fortunately there's a shop near me that re-soles them, so I can stretch their lifespan out several years beyond what I'd consider to be average. I typically re-sole annually.

Good to hear about REI: I've got a halfdome tent that is on its last legs and I may check whether they want to be nice about rescuing it.
Cameron
User avatar
freestone
Topix Expert
Posts: 961
Joined: Fri Nov 11, 2005 9:42 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: Santa Barbara
Contact:

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by freestone »

Some companies that I recently had good customer service from:

SPOT- Sent me a new unit after reporting that mine failed to boot after changing the batteries.
Exped- Replaced my Down Air Mat 9 with a new mat after one of the inner chambers ruptured. It was at least 8 years old.
Gossamer Gear- Responded immediately to my email after breaking the tip off my trekking pole. They paid the shipping for a replacement tip.
Western Mountaineering-Always responds to questions on their Facebook site. Check it out, there is an awesome picture of some of their bags in the High Sierra.
Short cuts make long delays. JRR Tolkien
User avatar
gary c.
Topix Fanatic
Posts: 1479
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 4:56 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Lancaster, CA

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by gary c. »

Over Memorial weekend in the GTW I caught my Eureka Spitfire tent on a tree and tore the bag pretty good. I sent an email to the company and asked them if they had a replacement bag for my 10yr old tent. I got a reply back that they didn't have the original bag anymore but a universal one was on the way for no charge. Great customer service for a 10yr old tent.
"On this proud and beautiful mountain we have lived hours of fraternal, warm and exalting nobility. Here for a few days we have ceased to be slaves and have really been men. It is hard to return to servitude."
-- Lionel Terray
User avatar
sambieni
Topix Regular
Posts: 303
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2016 11:24 pm
Experience: Level 2 Backpacker

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by sambieni »

REI.
After just a day or two of use, my brand new Sawyer Squeeze kept leaking. The washer kept falling out and I nearly lost it a number of times on trail. I just live chatted REI to ask how to resolve this; I simply assumed they would suggest a new washer. They took a bit, but investigated with their product team and just said, we will ship you tomorrow a brand new one no charge - and keep the old! So now I new on the way and old as a backup. Very unexpected. Very cool.
User avatar
oldranger
Topix Addict
Posts: 2861
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:18 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Bend, Oregon

What is wrong with this Picture?

Post by oldranger »

1exped.jpg
Last night I sent the following message to Exped:
On sept. 12 I embarked on a 2 week hike in the Northeastern portion of Yosemite. One thing I look forward to is the comfort of sleeping on my Hyperlight synmat MW. It had performed flawlessly for 21 nights in 2016. However no sooner did I lay down on it on night 1 did I hear a pop and discovered that one of the baffles between the tubes had blown. This made sleep a little challenging. Two nights later two more baffles blew. The next night more blew so trying to sleep on it was like trying to sleep on a giant inflated pool toy sausage. Deflating almost worked except the insulation became useless and it was too cold. This is a bit much for a 70 year old man to tolerate. So i was forced to hijack my friends skinny closed cell pad, dig holes for my hips, and consume much more thc and cbd than normal. Consequently much of the last 8 days or so of the trip is kind of hazy but I do remember being stuck in my tent for nearly 36 hours due to snow, wind and cold while lying on less than 3/4 inch of old closed cell foam.

While I expect an occasional puncture in ultra lite pads I did not expect failure due to a just plain faulty construction. 21 nights at nearly $190 is, in my opinion, a ripoff. I await your response before posting my scathing review on the internet.
Today I received the following response:
Hi Michael,

Thank you for the email. I am really sorry to see what happened to your mat. We would be happy to get this switched out with a brand new one for you. The new one will also have a newer baffle material so this should not be an issue for you again. All we need you to do is send back your mat to us using the shipping label attached and once we get it here we will ship a new one out right away. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have a great day!


Best Regards,

Alex Kim / Customer Service Specialist
Alex@exped.com

Well I did have a great day but I sure hope the baffle material solves the problem.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
User avatar
oldranger
Topix Addict
Posts: 2861
Joined: Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:18 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Bend, Oregon

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by oldranger »

Received the replacement pad some time while away from Bend for 3 and a half weeks. The pad has some significant improvements over the original (now has non slip design on the upper surface. I have hopes that will stop my bag from twisting as I toss and turn during the night.) and is about 1.5 oz heavier.) The big surprise was the air pillow they tossed in with the mattress. hopefully the baffles are actually stronger than the old model.
Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!
User avatar
ndpanda
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 10:07 pm
Experience: N/A
Location: Lundy Canyon

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by ndpanda »

Same thing happened to me with the exact same model pad in Oct 2016. Same area, too. (And like you I had used it the previous year for a couple of longish trips without any problems.) Hiked in from Virginia Lakes on Day 1 and the first baffle blew out that night camped on Return Creek. Second day we only got a ways up Spiller Canyon due to a snowstorm and two more baffles blew that night. Hunkered down there another night waiting for weather to clear and warm and no more baffles blew but there was a hump in the middle of the pad that made sleep almost impossible unless it was so deflated that I felt cold from the ground through the insulation. We resumed hiking the next day but ended up cutting the trip a couple days short in large part because I was miserable at night.

When I got home I discovered that several people on the Backpacking Light forum had reported similar experiences with the Exped Hyperlights. There was no problem getting a new pad from Exped upon their receipt of the blown one, though they did not acknowledge any widespread issues or—at that time, anyway—mention any changes in the pad design or materials. The experience left me leery of chancing the replacement on a long trip, so I switched to a heavier Sea to Summit pad that has two separate layers of air chambers (top and bottom). It's much more comfortable, and I figure if one layer gets screwed up the other layer can provide some insulation and cushioning. Sea to Summit also claims to use a superior laminating method with the interior baffles that makes blow-outs less likely. Downside is the substantial weight penalty.

I've still got the replacement Exped in its original packaging. I've yet to decide whether to put it up for sale or give it a try on a short trip. Trouble is, it's the long trips where the light weight makes it such an appealing choice.
User avatar
limpingcrab
Topix Regular
Posts: 368
Joined: Sun Nov 04, 2012 8:38 pm
Experience: Level 4 Explorer
Location: Minkler, CA
Contact:

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by limpingcrab »

Astral shoes. My brother and I both had a pair for fishing that we loved. By the time mine wore out and the stitching came undone (5 years?) they did not make that model anymore. They still let me choose whichever shoe I wanted from their website and they were at my house two days later. I've heard similar stories from other customers.

If you need shoes to wear in and around water, get Astral!
User avatar
jdille
Topix Acquainted
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:07 pm
Experience: Level 3 Backpacker
Location: South Lake Tahoe, California

Re: Companies that Back their products!

Post by jdille »

Big Agnes. My four year old Slater UL2 split along a reinforced stake tab when I went to attach the pole to one of the DAC clips on the last night of a Mono Meadow loop the week of July 4th. We are pretty careful with our gear-- especially because the material of the tent is so lightweight. We have another few weeks of trips planned this summer and I was worried that they wouldn't be able to fix it or that it would be expensive to repair.They don't make the tent anymore and with a husband that is 6'2'', it was tough find a lightweight tent that was long enough to be comfortable (the Slater UL2 is 96 inches long).

Big Agnes received the tent on July 18th. They repaired it and shipped it back on July 31st. Didn't charge for the repair or the shipping. I am super happy about my experience with them.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 47 guests