G'day Hotballs

The offer still stands and the new board will still come with 12 months warranty, you would still be getting a 2009 board super cheap?

I've seen broken boards from all brands that I sell and don't sell. I've heard the story it just broke in deep water landing a jump dozens of times, and hundreds of times about kite that just broke in flight.

In almost every case, it was the impact that happened during a previous crash that cracked the core or weakened the structure of the board in some way(or broke the frame of a sport kite). So when a board/kite is presented for warranty, that has a lot of visible carnage on it, then often warranty is rejected and we offer to compensate our customers in other ways, if they are reasonable.

Just because a board or kite breaks, does not discount the massive impact it had a few unplanned landings ago, or when it was landed on the beach or in too shallow water.

Hotballs, the new boards ride a lot nicer than your old one, grab a bargain while its on offer, I'll even include 2 sets and styles of pads and straps.

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

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hotballs said...

i snapped my underground board landing a biggish jump in deep water and underground didnt want to know about it as they stated that the board was in its second season of use and that there were deep scratches or gouges on the heelside rail from riding in shallow water causing structural weakness. being a timber core board i dont believe this to be true but there you have it. KitePower offered me a new board at a cheaper rate to compensate but this is the shop making up for the manufacterers lack of help.while i liked the board i wont buy another underground board again for myself as they obviously cant withstand the abuse a 100kg rider gives for more than 1 season and after paying nearly a grand for a board i personally dont have the cash to do this every year.
the leason learned is dont buy something over the net but go to a local shop where you can speak with the staff and if something breaks speak to them face to face. havingsaid that KP do some pretty good deals.

Hi Guys,

This is turning into an interesting thread and is now taking a new tack. I'd like to add a few thoughts if I may....

It seems that many people have unrealistic expectations of what warranty on equipment actually is.

Warranty of most products covers defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 12 months from the date of purchase. (Most products do not come with 12 months, however Australian law dictates that retailers offer 12 months warranty regardless of manufacturers warranty in many cases).

The warranty covers things like a defective foam blank with an unusual weakness from a problem in the manufacturing process, or if the layers of fibreglass didn't bond properly due to not enough resin (dry layup), delamination of layers or top sheets, or some other such thing. All these are problems made at time of manufacture. If a board lasts more than a year in normal riding conditions, then it would indicate that there was no original defect in materials or workmanship, otherwise the problem would have shown itself long before the 12 month warranty expired. Most serious defects will show themselves in the first few hours of riding.

If you talk to any surfboard shaper, any kiteboard manufacturer etc, they will tell you that the constant flexing of the board slowly fatigues the materials over time and that eventually, the board will likely, eventually, succumb to failure of the materials, same goes for kites, in fact all things.

Even in passenger Aircraft, Boeing and other manufacturers have a wing of each aircraft on a hydraulic test bed which continually flexes the wing to normal flight tolerances, the wing is loaded both ways and is usually thousands of hours ahead of the first production wing so they can inspect for fatigue cracks (which DO appear) well before the first aircraft will start to fatigue so they can send around ASB (Aviation Safety Bulletins) to inspect in certain areas for cracks.

The public want boards that have nice flex and are light weight, but they also want them to be strong, it's a trade off. If you want a super strong board, then it will be heavier and will flex less and be less fun to ride.

One of the most beautiful boards I ever rode was an Airush Pre-production prototype shaped by hand by the late Colin McCulloch. The board was feather light and was absolutely heaven to ride, a real work of art. A rather rough rider took it for a ride to learn kiteloops and broke it almost immediately. The buying public are a rather finicky bunch and will often overlook a heavy board for a lighter one, but will then loudly and often publicly complain if the board breaks.

In Hotballs case, I think KP's offer is a good one, and more than reasonable. It sounds like the board broke through normal wear and tear and the failure was compounded by scratches which weaken the skin. The skins of boards both top and bottom deck are an integral part of the structural integrity of the board, if it should become scratched or scored, then it will weaken the entire board and setup a weak point where a point bend may form abnormally loading the core, leading to ultimate failure.

Wood core boards also break, they are a lot stronger than foam core boards, but are not indestructible, especially if you are 90 kilo's plus and jump.

What can you do to care for your board?

Firstly, don't ride in water so shallow you may hit bottom, especially reef or sharp shells in sand. Sand also wears the board so don't ride up the beach, it may look cool but it IS damaging your board. What do you think they make sandpaper from?

Of course UV will effect the strength of the resins in the board over time so keep them out of direct sunlight as much as possible when not in use, this is why retailers recommend board bags!

If you jump big and come down hard, butt check the landings to take the burden off your knees and the board itself, or kick off the board before impact. Land lightly in a controlled manner if possible. If you drop like a stone from 20 feet and land on your board, imagine the loads on the board, you'd probably freak if you saw how much it flexed.

And last but not least, just wash the board off in fresh water if you can, it helps prevent the pads and straps from aging, helps to prevent metal parts from rusting (yes even stainless rusts, especially chinese stainless) and keeps sand from scratching the board surfaces.

Anyways, sorry for the long post, hope it helped.

Cheers,

KH

Warranty is one thing and legal rights is another.

Under most State's fair trade laws a product must:

- Be fit for purpose. If it's a freestyle kiteboard you have to be able to jump it. If it's a water kite it has to fly, it has to be relaunchable off the water, it has to stand up to the odd crash into the water.

- Be of merchantable quality. It's got to arrive in good working order and hold together as you try to use it. Quick releases have to quick release. Pulleys have to roll. Lines have to support your weight. Bladders and valves have to hold air. Pumps have to pump.

- Perform as described by the sales and marketing. If the sales material says it will go in 10 knots then it has to do that.

If it fails any of the criteria then the seller is obliged to give a refund. No excuses and no deals. "No refunds" signs are not permitted except when the goods are on clearance sales and sold as is at reduced price.

The only fly in the ointment is the test of "reasonableness" which is kind of meaningless. That basically interprets everything in terms of what any "reasonable" person would expect.

Most adventure/outdoor shops try to bulldoze people into accepting less than they are entitled to. Ski shops and outdoor gear shops are the worst. (I guess they get sick of whinging beardies moaning about scratches on their skis and mud stains on their boots.)

In my experience kiteboarding and surf shops have been exemplary in their dealings with the public.

So the question you have to ask yourself is ...
- is it reasonable for a board to break after a year of use after a 100kg boofa has landed a jump on it? Possibly.
- is it reasonable for handles and straps to fall apart after a week or so of use? Probably not.

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- Perform as described by the sales and marketing. If the sales material says it will go in 10 knots then it has to do that.

Geez, I think I'm due a refund on every kite I've ever bought then!

i was going to say the same.. lucky people are either a gullible or b light hearted when it comes to advertising because id easily say all kites have some degree of false advertising attached

Hey Guys,

You mean to tell me that new kites don't really have more top end, more bottom end, more stability, more depower, faster turning, smoother, lighter, auto-relaunch, faster thru the air, better upwind, and better build quality?

NO!

Thats why I write my own reviews on gear on my web because I only need read one manufacturers blurb to know what every new kite on the market will say .... the same thing!

Kite mag reviews are almost as bad, no infact they are as bad on second thought. I mean, your not going to slam a kite for being crap if you are selling them advertising space are you

Cheers, take all reviews, even mine with a grain of salt and demo for yourself.

Cheers,

KH