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Menchu
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Postby Menchu » Sun Jun 10, 2007 7:33 am
well for quite some time i ve been reading about the T valves issues some north users are having in this forum
i have been using my kites for almost 7 months now and i have never had any issue whatsoever with stiching, valves nor explodind kites and beleive me they have paid their dues on the water....asked my mates in france and same thing....asked other friends ..same awnser..no issue
a lot of north users in spain of vegas and rhino..not one complain and beleiiiiiiiiiiive me....spanish kiters are so eager to pump and dump brands that an issue like that would have made the dream of their gossiping...sometimes the spanish kiting scene seems like a gossip show more than anything else
so I decided to ask around about this issue..why are we not having this issue in spain and if someone is having this problem why are there so few...I ve been told that it s because North does its kites in 2 factories in 2 diferent countries china and sri lanka....kites from one of of these countries have shipped with a batch of bad valves and you guys received them...North is adressing the issue but if your replacement valves are from the same batch then it s not much help...you have to insist and make sure the valves you receive is not from the defective production
anyway just to explain and wish you good luck and to clarify that it s not every north kite out there that is having problems..a whole lot of happy users also, we just don t hear from them..only angry clients make noise and they are right to do so...the brand should make some more noise to make sure that people understand the problem, and that the company is adressing the situation...although north has a strict policy about comunication..all of it is organized through a process based on importers-deales-local riders...but in these times maybe they should have a internet comunication representative also
good luck
Last edited by
Menchu on Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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mig27
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Postby mig27 » Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:18 pm
That explains why the US and Australia only have these problems (and people who ordered them online abbroad)
Indeed North is very quiet on the web. Can only remember one podcast with Ken Winner, and a pdf interview about the R7.
Mark Shinn is most of the times participating in threads on this forum about Nobile products.
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Ferosimo
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Postby Ferosimo » Sun Jun 10, 2007 12:57 pm
so u think its a batch from sri lanka
what makes u think that and why do u claim that unless u 100% sure.
No offence but this really pisses me off cause mine are from sri lanka, holiday ahead and your post didnt expained much. i havent had any issues so far after 4 months of use.
i read many times valves were bad straight out of bag. Does anybody experienced broken valves after sometime. if so how long did it take for it to occur.
and what about those replacement bladders is this a joke
replacements are bad as well, it just apprears to me that this issue is far from being solved
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Toby
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Postby Toby » Sun Jun 10, 2007 3:52 pm
if guys from the US and Australia are having problems, I think it would be the batches from China...it is closer, no?
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kiterfreak
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Postby kiterfreak » Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:05 pm
My R7 14m is from Shrilanka. So far I have only stiched the rear pigtails. The T valves are OK! (God hear me). Is been used about 3 months every weekend, never crashed. I love the kite.
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vietkiter
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Postby vietkiter » Sun Jun 10, 2007 4:53 pm
Toby wrote:if guys from the US and Australia are having problems, I think it would be the batches from China...it is closer, no?
Toby, for a guy that travels so much and is web-wise... this is quite a silly question... Sri Lanka is south of India and about the same relative distant to anywhere else in the world... any how, pure geography rarely determines much about global goods... it's price, quality and time/cost to deliver
The more important point... time to stop letting brands ignore complaints about problems and assume the customer (if there are more than a random few) as being right... let's put the onous on the brands to be forthcoming and responsive instead of making customers prove that the problem exists beyond his kites/rogue batches
So until North explains what is and what is not true... we should assume ALL North kites have a potential bladder defect... let's not reward North's silent with another rogue batch from China instead of Sri Lanka theory... it's still a North kite and North should take care of it's customer where ever the kite comes from or which dealer sold it...
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Menchu
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Postby Menchu » Sun Jun 10, 2007 5:16 pm
Ferosimo wrote:so u think its a batch from sri lanka
what makes u think that and why do u claim that unless u 100% sure.
No offence but this really pisses me off cause mine are from sri lanka, holiday ahead and your post didnt expained much. i havent had any issues so far after 4 months of use.
i read many times valves were bad straight out of bag. Does anybody experienced broken valves after sometime. if so how long did it take for it to occur.
and what about those replacement bladders is this a joke
replacements are bad as well, it just apprears to me that this issue is far from being solved
I said I thought it was sri lanka but i am not sure...i talked to the importer months ago and we were quite
..i will ask him again when he comes back from the naish meeting on the 12th just to be sure and keep you informed....the only thing i am sure of is that nobody over here has had any issues with the T valves and there must be at least 20 owners of 2007 models in my spot alone and the kites have been on the market since octobre 2006.....
the vegas sold extremely well here because its a great kite and had no issues ......that is why I was so surprised to read about all this complaining and why i asked the national importer about it
some of those complaining have even said they had defective valves from day one but what toby is saying is true..it would be more logical for the defective kites to come form china since they are closer to the states and austalia
anyway i am no north dealer so don t take it out on me and dont take my word for truth...over here all guarantee issues have always been atended and adressed ( as far as my spot is concerned..no idea about ithers)....I have to say the importer is pretty good in that department and for them no to have this issue in any kite in spain is quite significant and confirms the explanation they gave me:...2 factories....one had a defective batch that made it to the market in the states and australia...thats the batch some got..of course i have not taken their word for it..I asked other north users and quite frankly if in our local forums nobody has complained about it it is because there are no problems of that kind...if you knew how they love to bash brands (especially north) over here you would understand why that is for me the most important indicator
as for the replacement its quite obvious that if you are from the states or australia and have issues with the kites you might probably have issues with the replacement if those are from the same production batch...that why i said that you should make sure they are from the good factory or the subsequent production when the problem had been resolved at the production line.
i hope someone from north reads this and adresses the issue to clear up any error i might have done by saying the wrong thing...after all I am no north insider so my word is only as good as what i ve been told
good luck
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aahi
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Postby aahi » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:38 pm
my thoughts exactly.... the bad kites are coming out of china! I don't think it's a design problem but a quality problem from the factory. I have a rebel from sri lanka (bought in france) and one from china (bought in USA), and the valve materials are different (sri lanka is better) and some of the construction is different on the rest of the kite too (different leading edge material). I actually had a leading edge stitching problem with one of my sri lanka rebels so I insisted on a china rhino (australia), but i think i got screwed in the valve department, (I already have very slow leaks). other bladder/valve issues I've seen with kites built in china are: valves that stretch and start leaking because the hole is too big for the plug, and fast delamination of the valves in heat.
i remember hearing other issues with kite bladders and valves (all brands concerned) and one industry response was that they were at the mercy of the factories, because they know how to outsource the parts. Well i say screw it!! let the sail makers take care of the stitching and find a bladder/valve maker that focuses on making quality bladders and valves and let him supply the factories... should solve many issues, especially the one about valves melting off in the sun... there is a technology that actually reinforces that bond in heat but someone decides not to use it....
anyway, i think puetz is right on about the valve color too, my kite has murky yellow t-valves but then the dump and inflation valves are a clear blue... definitely something wrong there....
hopefully north can produce fully functioning sets of new bladders and get them out to the people that need them replaced.
and to the companies out there... please stick it to your china factory that has been producing inferior bladders for years now... this has to stop!!
aahi
Last edited by
aahi on Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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aahi
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Postby aahi » Sun Jun 10, 2007 8:40 pm
Ferosimo wrote:so u think its a batch from sri lanka
what makes u think that and why do u claim that unless u 100% sure.
No offence but this really pisses me off cause mine are from sri lanka, holiday ahead and your post didnt expained much. i havent had any issues so far after 4 months of use.
don't worry, the bad ones are out of china. if you want to be sure we could take a poll....
my rhino is made in china and I have leaks...
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Rockstar
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Postby Rockstar » Sun Jun 10, 2007 11:25 pm
What happened to the guy that had the "Hall of Shame" post ???
I've never seen anything like it !
Its just not good enough that the poor old consumer pays BIG money for kitesurfing equipment,then when they have a problem,its not fixed STRAIGHT away!
Its like there is all the hype and marketing,then once they have your money,they don't want to know about your problems.
Kite manufacturers need to realise that they spend big money on advertising,but one disgruntled customer with a valid complaint can seriously undermine all that.
If they have bad bladders,source them from somewhere else,and replace them !
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