alexsidles
Paddler
So I recently went on a gear-fixing bender, taking care of all the various items that have gotten beat up over the last few years of kayaking and camping. I thought I would mention my experience with the customer service departments of three different companies that kayakers should know well: Exped, REI, and Icom. In each case, the item I needed repaired cost about 200 bucks and in each case I did get it fixed - but the experience was very different depending on the company.
The items were:
1) An Exped Downmat 7 sleeping mat. I burst one of the baffles on this mat while submerging it in warm water to test a patched leak. The mat is obviously quite buoyant; I pressed down very hard to get it all the way underwater, and pop! a baffle broke, and a huge lumped formed in the middle of the mat, rendering it unserviceable.
2) An REI Half Dome 2 tent. I put the rainfly through the dryer. I thought two minutes on low heat wouldn't hurt it, but I was wrong. For a year afterward, I tolerated its mild leakiness, but on a recent camping trip in the Boulder River Wilderness (WA State), I got so much water inside the tent that I decided to get it replaced.
3) An Icom M-88 handheld radio. Saltwater corroded the spring-loaded battery terminals. They got stuck inside the radio, making it impossible for the battery to connect with the rest of the unit.
Three items, all in the same price range, but three very different experiences:
Exped had by far the best customer service. I emailed them explaining what I'd done to the mat, and they replied requesting pictures and the lot number. Then they mailed me a brand new mat at no charge, which arrived within five days of our initial contact. I was blown away by the speed and generosity of their response, and will be an Exped customer for life as a result of this experience.
REI's customer service was also top-notch. Their main store is right here in Seattle, so I drove down with the rainfly to trade it in. They insisted I trade in the whole tent (luckily I had the whole thing in the car) because apparently rainflies aren't sold separately, and they gave me store credit for the cost of a new tent. I bought the same model again, but did have to pay sales tax which pushed the price above the amount of credit. The bottom line was that I got a brand new tent and rainfly for $20, which is pretty good considering that the damage to the rainfly was my own fault.
Icom's customer service was unfortunately horrible. It turns out Icom USA's headquarters is in Bellevue, right across the lake from Seattle, so I drove the radio over there to get it repaired or replaced. I gave it directly to the actual technicians who would be working on it. A few days later I got a call saying that the cost of repairing the radio and replacing its battery would be $170! They actually quoted me a higher price initially - 170 was AFTER I'd talked them down. With tax and shipping to mail it back to me, it came to just over $200. It also took two weeks to arrive. Bear in mind that the cost of a brand new M-88 with battery and charger is $240. I seriously considered telling them just to keep their stupid radio, and next time it breaks, I will switch to Standard Horizon.
I hope this is helpful for anyone considering buying from any of these companies. All three make excellent equipment, but there is a big difference in how they respond when that equipment breaks down.
Alex
The items were:
1) An Exped Downmat 7 sleeping mat. I burst one of the baffles on this mat while submerging it in warm water to test a patched leak. The mat is obviously quite buoyant; I pressed down very hard to get it all the way underwater, and pop! a baffle broke, and a huge lumped formed in the middle of the mat, rendering it unserviceable.
2) An REI Half Dome 2 tent. I put the rainfly through the dryer. I thought two minutes on low heat wouldn't hurt it, but I was wrong. For a year afterward, I tolerated its mild leakiness, but on a recent camping trip in the Boulder River Wilderness (WA State), I got so much water inside the tent that I decided to get it replaced.
3) An Icom M-88 handheld radio. Saltwater corroded the spring-loaded battery terminals. They got stuck inside the radio, making it impossible for the battery to connect with the rest of the unit.
Three items, all in the same price range, but three very different experiences:
Exped had by far the best customer service. I emailed them explaining what I'd done to the mat, and they replied requesting pictures and the lot number. Then they mailed me a brand new mat at no charge, which arrived within five days of our initial contact. I was blown away by the speed and generosity of their response, and will be an Exped customer for life as a result of this experience.
REI's customer service was also top-notch. Their main store is right here in Seattle, so I drove down with the rainfly to trade it in. They insisted I trade in the whole tent (luckily I had the whole thing in the car) because apparently rainflies aren't sold separately, and they gave me store credit for the cost of a new tent. I bought the same model again, but did have to pay sales tax which pushed the price above the amount of credit. The bottom line was that I got a brand new tent and rainfly for $20, which is pretty good considering that the damage to the rainfly was my own fault.
Icom's customer service was unfortunately horrible. It turns out Icom USA's headquarters is in Bellevue, right across the lake from Seattle, so I drove the radio over there to get it repaired or replaced. I gave it directly to the actual technicians who would be working on it. A few days later I got a call saying that the cost of repairing the radio and replacing its battery would be $170! They actually quoted me a higher price initially - 170 was AFTER I'd talked them down. With tax and shipping to mail it back to me, it came to just over $200. It also took two weeks to arrive. Bear in mind that the cost of a brand new M-88 with battery and charger is $240. I seriously considered telling them just to keep their stupid radio, and next time it breaks, I will switch to Standard Horizon.
I hope this is helpful for anyone considering buying from any of these companies. All three make excellent equipment, but there is a big difference in how they respond when that equipment breaks down.
Alex
