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The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

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marekmk
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The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby marekmk » Tue Nov 26, 2013 2:50 pm

.I feel this need a new posting, its taken from a thread about a kite brand delivering a kite that was no fun to fly

Quote:


"Take them back to where you bought them a 'Tell them to sort it out.... Its a warranty job.


I love this sort of advice, for many of us its completely unrealistic. we buy, go travelling, holiday or work and its the first time the gear is used. we often find ourselves without the support of dealers or shops.
I have just spent 10 weeks in brazil in the biggest school, kite surf hang out in Prea and weekly new equipment was a major disappointment to kiters with kites pulling to one side, bridals not equal, kites that were badly set up to fly out of the bag and lines needed shorting or lengthening. the list is endless and I won,t go on about faulty, stupidly designed bars nearing 480 eur!!!!!!
this is a reflection of the appalling attitude some brands have to quality control issues. if they were really concerned and capable this would not be happening.
there are brands out there that people arrive with and there are never ever any issues and there are brands, some regarded as the ones at the top of the pile that keep on deliverying faulty kites and bars that should have never left the testing stage and put into production.
I,m not getting into brand bashing, you the brands know who you are, or maybe you don,t because I know some of you are in complete denial and this is why these issues are not going away.
if I think of the high productions standard with paragliders I, m completely bemused why the kite industry fails to learn from other sport industries.
I have never ever in 29 years had to or seen a paraglider that had quality production issues on delivery but sadly in the kite-surfing industry quality control is a hit and miss affair.
some brands are taking the piss big time and kite surfers are paying for it with there time, the most precious gift of life!

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Bille
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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby Bille » Tue Nov 26, 2013 5:26 pm

marekmk wrote:.
...
if I think of the high productions standard with paragliders I, m completely bemused why the kite industry fails to learn from other sport industries.
I have never ever in 29 years had to or seen a paraglider that had quality production issues on delivery but sadly in the kite-surfing industry quality control is a hit and miss affair.
some brands are taking the piss big time and kite surfers are paying for it with there time, the most precious gift of life!
I completely understand where your coming from here , because i've bin
flying PG's since 1989 ; but comparing
the profit-margin between a $1,500 water kite to $5,000 PG is kind of
unfair ; don't Ya think ? Pay $5K for something, and it better damn-well
go in a straight line when i let go of the controls !!!

Ozone is a top-quality builder of PG and water kites ; of the last 6 ozone
kites i've owned, at least 1/2 has had a small turn that needed tuning out
to make it perfect. How long does it take to make a knot that's a few mm
shorter on one of your front-lines ? I simply hand my new kite to Darin, to
sort-out ; a Beer is a small price to pay for the work.
marekmk wrote:.
...

I have never ever in 29 years had to or seen a paraglider that had quality production issues on delivery
...
Dude , ((29 years)) ?? !!! :o
You bin at that sport since they first started using ram-air tandem parachutes to jump off
mountains with ; and i congratulate you for surviving ; that's Bad-Ass !!! :D :thumb: :thumb:


Bille

Tiago1973
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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby Tiago1973 » Tue Nov 26, 2013 6:37 pm

well, i´ve not comming from PG but also totally understand marek

i got then pissed by reading all the associated marketing material / claims of top quality.

By personal experience with my kit, but also by surfing through the forum and reading about some of the failures there is a huge gap that grown on what brands/dealers call top quality and my own understanding of it

Then too many times I feel some of the marketing/claims goes further than just a sales pitch, a optimistic view of the reality, and goes into "lie territory". Feel I (and guess others) are as riders and potential customers being cheated.

the light side of the story is if all brands are top then where is the average?..

In the end for the most part i don´t buy a kite based on their perceived quality, can´t trust it anyway.

I got them because how it rides, within a cost and then hope not to get a lemon and just deal with the issues as they come

If I was planning to change gear every year or so then re-sale value would also be a factor

marekmk
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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby marekmk » Tue Nov 26, 2013 10:40 pm

I completely understand where your coming from here , because i've bin
flying PG's since 1989 ; but comparing
the profit-margin between a $1,500 water kite to $5,000 PG is kind of
unfair ; don't Ya think ? Pay $5K for something, and it better damn-well
go in a straight line when i let go of the controls !!!
small twist ect in bladder are very easy to deal with, I,m talking about kites that are not flown, or are unpleasant to fly because of manufacturing defects!!!

a solid recreational paraglider is a lot less than the 5.000 mentioned, 3500-4000.
the 5,000 you mentioned are for high end top of the range comp flying machines

yes more than 30 years of flying, not pushing the boundaries but often having incredible flight

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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby OzBungy » Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:22 am

Why would you take untried gear away on a holiday? The dollar value of the holiday is likely to be thousands and the safety and enjoyment factor is priceless. Why would you risk all that by using untried gear?

I have just come back from spending a month paragliding in the Indian Himalaya. All the important gear I tested and re-tested many times before going. I did test some less important gear when I arrived and had some problems with that, mostly due to unfamiliarity. I also took a repair kit and spares so I could fix almost any problem that could occur.

I agree new gear should work and I would be pissed off if it didn't work. It's getting up to 10 years since I have had a significant problem with some new gear.

marekmk
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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby marekmk » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:54 am

I also have had no issues with my new kite gear over the past five years. I work in a kite school/ kite surf facility for part of the year and I seen, usually at the start of the week, new arrival having new gear problems that we then get involved in trying to help, its part of our service.
As to your untried gear point of view, many kiters are a little older, young families, working regular jobs, with very little opportunity to fly 2-3 kites and check them out.

Its inexcusable for brand new gear out of the bag to have issues!!!

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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby Westozzy » Fri Nov 29, 2013 5:57 am

Damn you are making me feel guilty, I work full time, so does my wife (with a 5 and 6 yr old children) and my demo number currently this year sits at 15 different kites. Damn I'm gonna buy my wife some flowers on the way home... :-?

marekmk
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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby marekmk » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:41 pm

no guilt intended, hope she enjoys the flowers, live on!!!

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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby soul19 » Fri Nov 29, 2013 3:55 pm

Westozzy you should feel guilty about that and buy me flowers as well :lol:. I think that it is great that you have that many demos available to you and it would be such a waste not to put as much time as you can into trying them. I can only imagine the amount of money that I would saved in buying kites that turn out to be not what I was hoping for (not that they are bad products but just not what I liked). Good for you man!!

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Re: The deluded advice from dealers and kite brands

Postby Westozzy » Sat Nov 30, 2013 2:56 am

There is a catch fellas....as they say ignorance sometimes is bliss....and can be less expensive.


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