So last year I went out and got a new set of skis for my daughter and myself. I took her out 6 or so times and it was the bunny hill most of the time as I was teaching her how to ski. This year, lessons start for my daughter, and I’m in a parent & tot program with my son (who also got a new set of skis this year). On our first lesson of the year (again on the bunny hill) my ski breaks when taking them off. The instructor looks at the ski and say’s “now that’s a manufactures defect if I’ve ever seen one”. The sidewall broke, the base popped a hole in it like there was a hollow spot and the edge was now coming out. So I took them back to the store I got them from with my bill in hand and asked if there was anything they could do. I was told “no, they only have a limited warranty and that I have to talk to Salomon”. So the person at the store was nice and got the ball rolling for me and even shipped the skis back for me. Someone at Salomon looked at the skis and say “we are not going to warranty 4-year old skis”. Right on the Salomon web site the warranty states “2-years for skis with bindings from date of purchase”. Funny, I got these skis, boots and bindings brand new last year… So I called the warranty department at Salomon and left 2 voice mails for the person in charge and have yet to get a call back. This is going on 3 weeks now… Needless to say the store I got them from called me to say my skis were back and to come pick them up. I have a chat with the person at the store on the phone and tell him what happened to the ski and how it broke and so on and he said “I will see if there is anything we can do at the store level”. I get to the store last night to pick up my broken skis or see what the store and do and the person I was talking to on the phone was still there. So he said they can do a refund on my skis but I have to buy new at $199.00 (I paid less because I got skis that were on clearance because as soon as the kids can ski I’m back on my snowboard). I told him that I didn’t want to pay extra and that I’ll just ski on the broken ones. He has a look for the manager…doesn’t see him or her and writes up the replacement (new) skis for almost the exact same price I got the broken ones for, he was off by 10 cents and I didn’t notice as I was happy he was doing this for me… I got up to do the refund/swap at the front cash and when all was said and done I owed $0.13. I reach around, not a single penny in my pocket! D’OH! So I tell the girl to give me a minute and I’ll run to me car and get some change. A girl working at the cash right beside her looks and says “how much? I have that change on me so there is no need for you to go all that way to your car”. I look at both of them and say a big “great, thanks so much!”. I make my way back to the ski area and my new replacement skis were set and ready to go too. So in the end, that’s the last Adidas-Salomon product I’ll buy (unless there is no other brand for what I need) because of the POOR customer service. On the bright side, I will be more then happy to spend my money at the Sportchek in Oshawa any day. Thanks Mike for the great customer service too!
End of rant…
Geoff
