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#1
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
I've just had an absolutely terrible customer service experience with a ski
shop called Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, California that I thought would be worth sharing. Back on April 7th, 2003, while on a ski trip in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, I purchased a pair of Volkl g3 Motion skis. I was quite happy with the skis until March of this year, when I noticed that a 1-cm deep crack had developed across the fiberglass upper surface of one ski. Clearly, this should be a warranty issue, since a ski should not fail like this with less than one year of use. In an effort to have this problem resolved, I took the skis to Helm of Sun, a shop with an apparently-good reputation, at least on my company's internal ski list. The person at the shop took a look at the skis, said "yes, looks like a clear warranty issue", and agreed to send them in to Volkl...for a $37.89 ($35 plus tax) service charge to cover "shipping and handling" (apparently, Volkl requires the customer to pay shipping for warranty returns; not the most customer-friendly policy) plus re-mounting of the bindings. While I wasn't thrilled by a charge to repair/replace a defective product, I figured that Helm deserved some compensation for working with me since I didn't buy the skis there. This was on March 18th, well within the one-year warranty timeframe. On April 8th, one day after the expiration of the warranty period on the skis (and after 3 weeks of waiting), "Stu" at Helm of Sun Valley called to tell me that Volkl (USA) had rejected the warranty claim because I did not purchase the skis in the United States and had returned the skis to them. Note that I clearly indicated to Helm of Sun Valley that I had originally purchased the skis up in Whistler (and included a copy of the sales receipt), they should have known where to send them for warranty service. As far as they were concerned, I was SOL. Furthermore, when I asked if the $37.89 "service" charge would be refunded to my credit card, I was told no, since that was to cover their "shipping and handling expenses" which they incurred even though they provided no remedy for my problem. After an email exchange with Volkl (USA), I was informed that, in fact, the skis should be covered by warranty but that they would have to be returned to the Canadian distributor. When I picked up the skis from Helm of Sun Valley, I asked to speak to the manager. Unfortunately, that turned out to be "Stu", who again refused to refund their service charge or to take other corrective action. He also refused to acknowledge any mistake by Helm of Sun Valley even after I told him what Volkl (USA) had sent me in email. Since this experience, I have been in touch with the shop in Whistler that originally sold me the skis. They have been very helpful, telling me to ship the skis up to them and they'll take care of the problem. I'm not sure yet how Volkl will remedy the situation, since I haven't yet shipped the skis out. Based on my experience, I would recommend that skiers in the Bay Area avoid dealing with Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose; their store manager clearly does not understand the concept of "customer service". Furthermore, if anyone has contact information for the owner of the Helm of Sun Valley chain (or of this store in particular if it is a franchise), I'd very much like to write him/her a letter describing my experience; perhaps he/she can do something to improve the customer service at this store before its reputation slides further. Also based on my experience, I'd wholeheartedly recommend Whistler Village Sports in Whistler, BC, Canada. The people there, and, in particular, Dave Milley, have been very helpful and accomodating. I will continue to patronize them on future visits to Whistler. Vince Fuller, Palo Alto, CA |
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#3
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
Vince Fuller wrote:
I've just had an absolutely terrible customer service experience with a ski shop called Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, California that I thought would be worth sharing. Back on April 7th, 2003, while on a ski trip in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, I purchased a pair of Volkl g3 Motion skis. I was quite happy with the skis until March of this year, when I noticed that a 1-cm deep crack had developed across the fiberglass upper surface of one ski. Clearly, this should be a warranty issue, since a ski should not fail like this with less than one year of use. In an effort to have this problem resolved, I took the skis to Helm of Sun, a shop with an apparently-good reputation, at least on my company's internal ski list. Next time call the Volkl (or whichever company) distributer directly, and get shipping instructions from them. They might even have picked up shipping themselves - often happens (or sometimes they have a local (in San Jose - not likely, but Tahoe maybe, and certainly you're still skiing, aren't you?) and you could just hand them over and pick up a new pair on the spot, while the local rep takes care of business. Helm only deals with the US distributer, not Euro or Canuck distributers. BTW, it wasn't clear to me what was wrong with the skis. A "one cm deep" crack would have gone right through the skis and they would be broken, so I discount that phrase; so what actually was wrong with the skis? Cosmetics? Or structural? If structural why didn't they break, as would be expected? If cosmetic, why are you bothering? |
#4
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
Next time call the Volkl (or whichever company) distributer directly,
and get shipping instructions from them. They might even have picked up shipping themselves - often happens (or sometimes they have a local (in San Jose - not likely, but Tahoe maybe, and certainly you're still skiing, aren't you?) and you could just hand them over and pick up a new pair on the spot, while the local rep takes care of business. I'm actually going through the shop that originally sold me the skis, since they have been helpful. Unfortunately, shipping the skis back to them via UPS was $109, including packaging ($25 for box/peanuts and $84 for the actual shipping charge). Ouch. I have not had an opportunity to get back up to Lake Tahoe recently and may not make it back up there this season; too many spring/summer activities already underway. Friends who have been up there the past two weekends also have reported that the conditions were rather poor, despite the fact that there is still quite a bit of snow left. Our recent weather pattern seems to be mild during the week and very warm on weekends... not the best for extending a ski season. Helm only deals with the US distributer, not Euro or Canuck distributers. So I discovered. As an authorized Volkl dealer, Helm should have known about the distributor/warrantee policy and not tried to send them back to the US distributor at my expense. I informed them when I brought the skis there that they were originally purchased in Canada. BTW, it wasn't clear to me what was wrong with the skis. A "one cm deep" crack would have gone right through the skis and they would be broken, so I discount that phrase; so what actually was wrong with the skis? Cosmetics? Or structural? If structural why didn't they break, as would be expected? If cosmetic, why are you bothering? The fiberglass upper surface of the ski is somewhere around 1 to 1.5 cm in depth. Thus, the crack, which extends the full width of the ski, is from the surface almost, but not quite, all the way to the base. This is most certainly structural as the tech at Helm stated that they did not re-mount the bindings after Volkl US sent the skis back because it would be unsafe to try to use the skis in their current condition. --Vince |
#5
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
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#6
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
Vince Fuller wrote:
I have not had an opportunity to get back up to Lake Tahoe recently and may not make it back up there this season; too many spring/summer activities already underway. Friends who have been up there the past two weekends also have reported that the conditions were rather poor, despite the fact that there is still quite a bit of snow left. Our recent weather pattern seems to be mild during the week and very warm on weekends... not the best for extending a ski season. Hey. Your friends are full of **it. And warm weather is good skiing - corn is ego snow. The conditions at Alpine Meadows (at least) are "very good" (not "excellent" - excellent requires deep powder.) Spent today doing the ridge hikes for beautiful corn runs in the untracked steep. Gonna be doing the same for several more weeks. BTW, it's snowing lightly out there, right now (in Truckee.) I don't expect much accumulation, but what the hell - a prayer is in order! Excuse me while I address the Gods. Ullr! I beg of you! BLESS US WITH A DUMP! Then tomorrow come around the locker at the end of the day and I'll give you some of my beer stash. Bring Skadi and we'll make it a party. CLIP The fiberglass upper surface of the ski is somewhere around 1 to 1.5 cm in depth. Thus, the crack, which extends the full width of the ski, is from the surface almost, but not quite, all the way to the base. This is most certainly structural as the tech at Helm stated that they did not re-mount the bindings after Volkl US sent the skis back because it would be unsafe to try to use the skis in their current condition. Weird - Volkl's generally are built robust. I like mine several pairs, and can't seem to damage them no matter what I try... |
#7
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
Hey. Your friends are full of **it. And warm weather is good skiing -
corn is ego snow. The conditions at Alpine Meadows (at least) are "very good" (not "excellent" - excellent requires deep powder.) Spent today doing the ridge hikes for beautiful corn runs in the untracked steep. Gonna be doing the same for several more weeks. To each his own. I've had occaisional good spring skiing days but have also experienced plenty of lousy ones. I much prefer a 20-degree day with dry Colorado or Utah snow, but that's just me. Given the distance from the Bay Area as well as lots of springtime activities competing for time, it's just not worth a 4+ hour drive and the price of a lift ticket for conditions that may or may not be suitable. No doubt I'd feel differently if I lived closed to the mountains. BTW, it's snowing lightly out there, right now (in Truckee.) I don't expect much accumulation, but what the hell - a prayer is in order! Excuse me while I address the Gods. It does look like this weekend promises the best conditions in a month, since the forecast calls for much cooler weather than we've seen recently. It may indeed be worth a day trip on Sunday (other commitments on Saturday). Weird - Volkl's generally are built robust. I like mine several pairs, and can't seem to damage them no matter what I try... Hence my belief that my particular situation is the result of an isolated manufacturing defect. I've been very happy with my g3 Motion skis and look forward to having them replaced with a pair that don't suffer from this problem. --Vince |
#8
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
So I discovered. As an authorized Volkl dealer, Helm should have known about
the distributor/warrantee policy and not tried to send them back to the US distributor at my expense. I informed them when I brought the skis there that they were originally purchased in Canada. This is the only thing they did wrong, IMO. Not enough to warrant your diatribe. They had NO liability, since you did not buy the skis there, and that is what they should have said up front. Exactly enough to warrant my "diatribe" when they refused to acknowledge their mistake and insisted on charging me $38 for making that mistake. That makes them, IMHO, incompetent (they should have known Volkl's warranty policy if they are an authorized representative of Vollk) and customer-hostile. As a vendor, making a customer pay for your mistake is an absolute no-no. And arguing with that customer when he asks for a refund of charges that were a result of that mistake is even worse. Whatever happened to "the customer is always right"? I will never do business with Helm of Sun Valley again and recommend that others do likewise if they want to avoid an unpleasant customer service experience. The fiberglass upper surface of the ski is somewhere around 1 to 1.5 cm in depth. Rubbish. Maybe you mean mm, rather than cm. I don't think many skis are thicker than 1.5cm IN TOTAL. No, I meant 1 cm as in 10mm or approximately 0.4 inch. That was my eyeball estimate for how deep the crack is. Since you have already stated your opinion that Volkl skis are good for nothing more than firewood, I'm guessing that you don't own any and thus are probably not qualified to measure the thickness of one. I can't do so at this time as I've already shipped my defective skis off for replacement. --Vince |
#9
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
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#10
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** ski shop to avoid: Helm of Sun Valley in San Jose, CA **
On Fri, 16 Apr 2004 17:58:27 -0600 (MDT), "The Skier formally known as
Prince" wrote: Alex Heney wrote: I would suggest that you reread the post. Perhaps you should learn to read :-) It seems to me he was complaining about the fact that the shop misinformed him about what could be done and charged him the fees without checking into it. Yep. Where did I say otherwise? Nevermind about the customer inconvenience and waste of time - I guess that doesn't count for much. I certainly wouldn't trust any customer service pap that comes from that shop. By the way, the warranty is with the mfr and this guy always knew that. He wasn't holding the shop liable for the skis. Well he did seem unhappy to start with that the shop were charging him at all, even before finding out that the warranty would not be honoured and they wouldn't give a refund. And I'm not sure of the laws in the US (or Canada), but here in the UK, it is always the vendors who have legal liability for defective goods, so you *must* first contact them about any warranty claims. If I were you I'd check that stupid attitude at the door. The combination of being both arrogant and wrong really makes you look like a douchebag. It might have, if I had been either. I certainly wasn't wrong in anything I said. I'm not quite sure what sense you are using for arrogant here, but I certainly wasn't intending to be so. I think the OP had a bit of a cheek trying to take the skis "back" to a store he didn't buy from, but the store should at least have made it clear to him that the charge would not be refundable if for any reason Volkl did not honour the warranty. I would not expect a shop to know that the warranty would only be honoured if returned through a shop in the country of purchase, unless it has happened to them before, or the company has sent out information to that effect to all shops who deal in their products. |
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