C-Forum

I had the great privelage of winning a brand spanking new Waterstick Zen C-1 paddle at last years nationals in Wasau. After getting back to CO I opened the package and discovered the blade was splitting apart. The sheets had seperated. I called Waterstick in Canada and they made me ship the paddle to their office. After waiting three months for my new stick, I called them. They said they would not warranty the paddle, because they didn't know where it came from.??? This was after I explained how I came to be the owner. They have refused to stand behind their work. Does anybody know what shop or who donated the paddle in Wausau? When I asked for the paddle back they said they had thrown it away.

At this year's nationals in MT, Alabama Phil won an identical paddle. He used it for one day, Eli used it another and the same problem happened to his.

Thanks, Bob Fries

Hi! Bob,

Waterstick was the first company that sent a product to my home to give away as a prize at last years race. They didn't play 20 questions. They asked for an address where to send it and within 2 days it was in my living room. I thought this was generous of them. The paddle was given away at the raffle and that was the last I knew of it. I also asked each paddler before the raffle that they send an email, make a phone call or even write a letter or thank you note and put it in the mail. I hope all folks do/did something of this nature when you win a prize at an event.

If Waterstick doesn't acknowledge a problem or a defect in a product that sucks! I hope that they would stand behind their product no matter where it came from, and I hope this problem is resovled and you get a new paddle or repair to start this relationship over with. If they need more info of it's origins and how you came by it please feel free to have them contact me as I can give personal testimonial to it's origins.

Craig Smerda
juskanuit@webtv.net

(This post was edited by me on 8-15)

admin: thread.delete.php?Thread=this_one

This is the first post in a year I've seen that bashes products/distributors to this extent. (ie. two posts), even though there have been threads that could have easily turned ugly. And This *is* different than constructive criticisim, which is good IMO.....

There was a similar thread on boatwerks.net a while back bashing MKC (Madawaska Kanu Centre). After some strong words of support for MKC from the moderator, the thread was deleted.

The cboating community is pretty small, it would be a shame to have (for example) Waterstick stop manufacturing a couple hundred C-blades a year because they don't want to deal w/ the hassle, esp. if people are satisfied w/ their products. (Kayaking's a little different as it's such a cash cow, they might have a little more patience) (note: I have no opinion/experience w/ waterstick one way or the other, this is merely a silly example......)

Oops, wasted enough time at work! gotta run!

Mike.

I will be moderating this post shorting, but I'm going to leave most of it. RemoteProductions made a valid attempt to work with WaterStick, and Craig's response (and offer of assistance) was also valid. That said, let's give WaterStick another chance here to show someone was just having a bad day and it slipped through the cracks. It's easy to forget on the Consumer side that a lot of the folks we talk to are just like the folks we work with...some are very good, some you wonder why they're still around.

That said, if enough folks want it gone, it will go completely. Feel free to e-mail or PM me if you do not want to post.

Also-negative opinions / comments are fine...as long as we can put a name to them. Please use a name, or better yet, register and use whatever handle you want

Running a small business, I see both sides of this type of occurrence more often than I would like to admit. I often find that re-approaching a party that I have had a disagreement with in writing is a good way to go. It gives everyone involved a chance to spell out their experience. It also allows the communication to go beyond a single individual within the business that is involved. I would recommend a letter be sent to Waterstik, signed by Bob Fries, and sent to “Customer Service,” AND that a copy be sent to whoever owns or manages Waterstik.

The letter could read something like Bob’s posting at the start of this thread, edited to accommodate the fact that it is being sent to Waterstik. I would close the letter by stating that at a minimum it is reasonable to expect that a defective paddle sent to Waterstik for warranty work is still the personal property of the sender, and should therefore be returned if no warranty work is available. With this as a minimum request, Waterstik would be in a poor position to indicate that any requests being made in the letter are unreasonable.

It would surprise me greatly if Waterstik did not treat the situation with renewed interest if such a letter is sent.

I also think this forum has a history of being concerned with both sides of a story, and nothing in this thread (as posted so far) takes away from that history.

I have delt with waterstick on plenty of warranties and have found them to be slow, but the came through for me.
I saw Phill's paddle and after paddleing for a couple of weeks out here in the west it was still fine , maybe I didn't notice it though . I have a ZEn and I love it I beat the junk out of it and it holds up . a buddy of mine has a ZEn and after being smashed on the floor(SOME WIERD DEMO OF STRENGTH) it is just now starting to splinter after three years

If you are having trouble with them talk to Kathy at waterstick she was a great help to me. I did have to provide a sales reciep[t for the paddle thougth.


Sorry this has pissed you off, But I still think that its the best blade I have paddled.

Thank you all for your comments. I did in fact send Waterstick a letter with the paddle thanking them for the product. The two people that I had talked to said that Waterstick never donated a paddle. Mark Hall went as far as to accuse me of stealing the paddle. I would not be so upset about this situation except for the fact that they never got back to me after receiving the paddle and the way that I was treated via phone. I used to be in SCUBA retail and sales which allowed me to become very familiar with the politics of returns and the proper way to handle them. They did not even attempt to make a phone call prior to throwing out my broken paddle. Free paddle or not, I still stand by my comment that they are not standing behind their defective product.
Phil's blade was not damaged to the extent of mine, but is on it's way w/ about a 1" seperation occuring on the side.

I have also put on many ski and snowboard events. I know that at times it can be difficult to obtain prizes. I have received defective skis in the past. The manufacturer (K2) apologized profusily for the problem and sent out an even better pair of skis to the competitor.

That your paddle was "thrown out" is enough to boil me about that company.

Who the hades do they think they are? That was your personal property, not theirs! And they call you a thief?

If the paddle return was at the company's request for purposes of inspection, a bailment for mutual benefit was established. They are required to use reasonable care when handling your property under such circumstances. Disposal without compensation is far less than reasonable care.

Sue them for treble damages, plus costs.

I agree that this was not handled properly, however, I think we need to sit back and take a deep breath before any of this gets out of control. I think that whoever in this dialoge said it said it best. " there are few c-blade manufatures, let's try to build positive relationships.


sit back realx... remember one blade one love