That is exactly what I was thinking! and it pretty much the only reason I posted on the thread to begin with....

You still didn't introduce yourself, mate.
Take your mask off and let's see how independent your opinion is.
Silverfox.

Alex, just for your information. I have my online shop (yoga mats). We're doing good sales both retail and wholesale.

We don't receive any warranty from producers, just "as is". And many products have not very good quality.

We change products for warranty claims, no matter if it was production failure or simply product fell out of customer expectation. We do it not out of good will, of course, but because we try to keep all customers happy. Even those, who don't want to pay us. Reason for this are:

1. Good business is long-term venture
2. One unhappy customer can block 100s of potential customers
3. It is cheap for company to help unhappy customers, since its only a small fraction, that have serious problems

I think all fair kite shops / producers are doing close to this. And its the way for KBA. But I seriously doubt they'll understand this lesson, since the only thing they think about is quick money.

I wish that company of your friends will move there someday

Funny, reading through this I get another impression.

"Someone" cuts the SN off to block to understand from whom they are actually getting the kites. I see it rather as a North problem as they are not able to control their kites or even sell their kites , or at least one of their distributors (who seems to be in desperate need to get rid of his kites).

Did North clearly state here that they "only" cut the SN off if the kite fails on quality inspection? No, they didnt, or did I miss it along the way. What happens with the kite afterwards? ? ?

I rather see it that a distributor wants to get rid of his load the easy way and not getting burned.

There is more then one person to be blamed. Not to get me wrong, KBA deserves SOME blame for sure for selling product without SN and not letting the customer know upfront.

G

What sort of solution "getting attention" provides? Attention only to people who are on this forum. Amongst them, very few go to Thailand, and I doubt amongst those who are familiar with the local environment any will change their views because of Vlad's attention grabbing.
KBA's customers are mostly newcomers to kitesurfing, and I bet not 1% of first time customers have heard of your forum, in spite of the fact it's the biggest dedicated to kitesurfing. It's only once they get immersed in the sport that they might (but not necessarily) seek to remain in contact with the sport on the net. KBA's customers have surely made-up their opinion from the service they got, and if they are satisfied and returning customers, this thread won't change their mind. Nor will it obviously change the mind of KBA haters (which for the most are guys in or close to the kite business). So the whole thread is useless as far as "protecting" customers. Vlad admitted himself that this thread turned out to be a good revenge. This is why I think it belongs to the flamer's paradise.

Who spreads rumours, and who do they profit to? I totally agree with you that the general public could be rather annoyed (if only aware of it) by this perpetual fight for (or rather against) dominance between rival clans and it's bad for the sport.
I live there, you say. But you came here too for the first ever PKRA in Asia which was organised by KBA, so you know them too, and you've witnessed what was their part to put Thailand and Hua Hin in particular on the world map of kitesurfing. I haven't met Vlad, but guys involved in the business in this area do know how in the past, when I only new of KBA awful rumours, I tried to get the clans to refrain from talking dirty.

PEACE, yes!

Good analysis knyfe

Hey Vlad, Laughingman and Chasethewind, remember one important thing:
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

For sure KBA did a great job with the worldcup!
But why do things like that, it won't really help anyone.

So if they stop grey imports and undercutting, life for everyone there would be easier, no?
Or is money that important?

You seem to put the blame on KBA, Toby.
Your arguments can be reversed.
Where there is demand there is offer.
If people stop buying grey import, life for everyone would be easier, no?
You are right on the impact of money: if money was not that important to Vlad, he would have bought his North to the official importer. But in no way that would not have excluded the possibility of the kite turning on one side syndrome
It might even have turned out with a slightly different heading to the thread, but the same content
"Northkiteboardingclub (NKBC) sells defect kites, don't ever buy"
In retrospect, NKBC might have been quite lucky that a customer Such as Vlad didn't buy with them.

Most of newcomers have friends, that are more experienced in kiteboarding. And I want these experienced kiteboarders to keep long distance from KBA. And tell newcomers to avoid it at all costs.

1. KBA lies about kites have original warranty, truth is they don't since SN are cutted
2. Warranty from KBA (claimed 12 months, actually 3 months) don't cover cases, that are covered by North (my case is an example), which means no warranty at all.

This makes difference. If they make it clear from the beginning, it will be no problem. I would simply not buy, but feel ok about their business. Because they don't deliver what they promised, because they are lying to customers, I call KBA scammers and do my best to spread a word about it.

I bought from Dzevad from NKBC too. Since he sells kites with SN, I would not have any problems with replacement of my broken one.