Hi Peeps. Last week I crashed a railey and one of my boots ripped the inserts out of the board. It didnt bother me because I knew the board still had a current two year warranty. When I contacted the supplier I found out that the warranty was void by using boots, eventhough that brand doesnt make boots. They promote the board as their aggressive freestyle board and most of the promo photos are of riders using boots. I see where they are coming from but cant help but feel misled and disappointed.. 
So glad you didn't mention make or model. Leaves topic open for my comment without being flamed as a shop slagging off any particular brand.
In my short time as a shop owner and brand rep. I'm disgusted by the reaction of kite related company's to claimed warranty issues. Not necessarily those I deal with but a large % of all company's I get customer feedback from.
Some of the refuted claims are absolutely ludicrous in both legal and customer PR terms.
There is nothing more likely for a brand to lose customer loyalty than to knock back a warranty claim. AND there is nothing better they can do but settle warranty claims to the customers satisfaction.
What's more is that I have proven time & time again that satisfying pretty much any claim is easily achieved at little or no cost to anyone as long as some lateral thinking is applied along with a genuine desire to resolve rather than walk away.
I don't want to start a brand slashing war here. Yes some truly excellent - some of my own and many others - but others treat this issue far too off-hand.
The poor performers on this score not only lose their own credibility but unfortunately also cost their retail operators valuable clients as well -unless the shop front business is prepared to do whatever it takes to keep "their" customer happy.
On the face of it I would suggest your claim is squarely in the "should be honoured" basket. Obvious. Cant understand how you can say "I understand where they are coming from"???
Had you been KSS customer I could guarantee satisfaction on this one. Put the screws on the retailer. They are the only one with any chance of influencing the brands decision.
I would say if their advertising shows riders using boots, unless they have a disclaimer on the ad saying boots void your warranty, then in legal terms they can't enforce it. Not sure what law it would be over here, but back in the UK it comes under the Unfair Contract and Terms Act. Bsically you say you saw the ad with a rider in boots before you bought the board, the ad actually becomes a term of the contract I.e you purchasing and the seller agreeing to sell you the board. It is the same as if when you were purchasing the board, you asked the company representative if it was ok with boots and they said yes, that is a term of your contract, as there is a chance you wouldn't have bought the board if you had known boots void the warranty. Hope that makes some kinda sense.
I bought a kite with a faulty bladder, had to iron and fix it myself (time consuming and not as good as new). Is that ok? I got told case closed...
Clearly Cauncy, mis-use is not warranted. However, if you had bought a red bull winged suit and jumped out of a plane and it failed, they couldn't say 'you're not supposed to use it to jump from planes'. Point being, if a product is advertised for a certain use, it must be fit for said use. You can't advertise a kite board using booted riders and then say when you have a warranty claim 'but you're not supposed to use boots with it' as an advertisement it an indication of intended use!
I had a board break after a few months and the importer told me it was due to unusual, excessive stress so it was my fault. All I did was ride it......
I've never claimed warranty on a kite board, but reckon you should get the same service as you would with a snowboard... As long as you haven't snapped or cracked it against the flex its replaced.
That's the way to create repeat customers!
Kite boards and boots don't mix , I know you see all the pictures and videos of the dudes doing the twisty twirly stuff with the boots on their boards , from what I have seen over the past 7 years or so is that 95% of board breakages are from those who put boots on them . I've seen boards that are so called designed for boots ie Nobile 50/50 ' and north Gonzales snapped or inserts or tracks pulled out , but only on boards with boots.those who leave the straps on them don't seem to have as many or no issues.
I think the boots put way too much stress on the board,
Flame away boot riding bbbeeeaaatches.[}:)]
i had a 2010 cabrinha custom and my boots tore an insert out also. did some investigation and found out it was pretty common on that year's model. the shop i bought it from swapped it straight out on warranty for the 2011 model which had a redesigned plate. (one massive insert plate rather than individual inserts.) the 2011 model is holding up well after a couple of years now.
edit: there should be a clear warning not to use boots if its not covered by the warranty.
Don't go putting boots on ****ty freestyle boards. Buy a real wakestyle board like a Tona pop or cab custom and you'll get a warranty on using boots unless you've been hitting sliders and kickers. Pretty sure Alex pastors airush board isn't covered for using boots but the company will still promote him riding boots on it.
Tough lesson
What is the board and who is the dealer? I'd be sorting that dealer right out. If they've flat out refused you claim then name and shame.
There a lot of legal reasons that they can't refuse your claim if you we're not made aware of the warranty restriction before buying the board. Don't take no for an answer. If the dealer won't help, go to the distributor. If they won't help contact the brand directly. Unhappy customers with the will to follow through are more expensive in the long run than a board.
If its sold as a "freestyle" board then IMO warranty would have to include use with full bindings. Just look at the no. of freestylers using boots these days. It's pretty much universal.
This would be even more definite if it is one of the boards that has followed the trend towards widening the stance - purely to make it more boot friendly.
At KSS we sell Nobile. Even their X ride freestyle/freeride model - the NHP - was replaced with new immediately when an insert was displaced when boots were used. Pretty much a no- brainier IMO. Products must do what they promoted to do. Freestyle these days = boots. Again IMO if its a freestyle board then it MUST include full bindings in the warranty.
Recent consumer laws now require the item/service must be fit for the purpose including expected life of that item/service
eg I had balustrade fitted by a company that visited my home and quoted.
Within 12 months it showed significant corrosion. They then showed me their conditions indicating if near salt water then no warranty.
Fair Trading ruled against their conditions and they had to replace the balustrading and they did.
Warranties need to meet local laws, so no need any more to pay for extended warranties.
I am far from a legal expert.
"Why dont they teach morals to law students before law?"
Consumer law has changed in Australia. A said item can be used for normal use and claim warranty before and AFTER the said warranty claim ie 3 years is Void. There are certain kite products that are not abiding by these new regulations. Smart kiteshop owners are on to this. The gear betweeen brands isnt that different. If you promote a board as a wakestyle/freestyle board, that would include bindings/boots as normal use. If not dont bother... buy another brand.
Youre in WA, go oldschool and ring 720am radio, I think its thursday around 10:30am, its the spokesman of consumer affairs, He will like the story.
Hi Live to Fly, Good you are not slagging the brand, is the board from a kite manufacturer that also does boards as a secondary product, or is it from a board manufacturer?
You will be able to rip the inserts out of most kite boards if going realy hard on it. Most will be made for use with straps only.
Pick up a board made for bindings and you will notice the diff in weight. Its a tough one, since fully sponsored team riders wont care about destroying board after board, so the manufacturer should make it clear to the buyer that the board will not suit bindings,
Its sort of like buying a new Commodore and fitting two turbos cause you saw super cars on TV, how long is that family sedan going to last...
. (and it's not always that easy to just go in the shop an grab a new one).
Hey guys thanks for all the feedback. I've contacted the European manufacturer and unfortunately they have not come to the party. They have in fact been quite arrogant.
I'm not interested in name and shame because it won't be good for all the small businesses in oz who work really hard behind the scene to help us out. I think most of us don't really appreciate how much time and effort they put in to look after us and keep us on the water.
So anyway my dealer has really been great and has organised a new 2013 liquid force dlx for me at a great price. This board comes with a warranty that definitely allows using boots which is awesome.
Hopefully some of you benefit from this thread and are no longer fooled by advertising. Check the terms of all products warranties before making that apart of a reason to make a purchase.
learn how to ride!!!
Ive had 2 wake boards and 2 kiteboards with boots and never had issues.
