Kiteforum.com

JMF wrote:Mystic rep MIA ? It's funny a mate of mine is actually the regional distributor for Mystic up here and I know for a fact that he wouldn't let an incident like this get so out of control. Even though this is a region related issue it sheds a bad light on the brand as a whole and has ripple effects everywhere. Slightly off subject but I'd like to think brands have customer service agents that float around popular websites like Kiteforum and monitor any issues relating to their products. Not just some rep that "heard it through the grape vine" and comes guns blazing unprepared. Am I being that naive to think that the internet age has yet to have any effect on how companies address customer service issues nowadays and still rely souly on the retail chain?

Not saying it's all shops out there. But there does seem to be this attitude at retail level that due to the nature of the sport the customer is seen to be pulling a fast one which is not always the case. Some unscrupulous retailers will take advantage of this fact I suppose. In South Africa the new CPA (Consumer Protection Act) bill came into effect in April of this year making South African consumers some of the best protected in the World. This sort of incident would not fly if put to the test I can assure you.

Keep us posted Caesar.

wannakitesurf wrote:If you go to a clothes store or a food store or any other store for that matter and buy something and then bring it back
because the item is defective, the whole situation is dealt with in the store, right?? The store does not say
"hang on, let me see what the manufacturer says about this"?? right.

A few years ago I bought a wetsuit from a kitesurfing store. The material started coming off itself like wool. I had only
worn it about 4 or 5 times. The first response from the kitesurfing store was to take pictures of it and send to the manufacturer
to see if they would cover it. In the meantime I was to keep using it and wait for response from manufacturer??

I don't understand this service at all. I did not buy the wetsuit from the manufacturer. I don't care what the manufacturer says.
I bought the product from the kitesurfing store. They are the ones I should have been dealing with period, and they are the ones
who should be giving me a new wetsuit immediately REGARDLESS of whether they get their money back from the manufacturer or not.

Thats what I think about my situation anyway. Am I right?