Sometime ago there was a thread on SUP covers from Surf Aids. Most of the discussion was around the lack of communication by the new owner.
As an update on this, I recently had a every negative experience with the new owner. I had previously purchased a cover for a 14' SUP One Evo some years ago from the previous owner of Surf Aids. Great communication, cover fitted very well and quality was good.
I recently purchased a new Edge 3.0 14' SUP from One. I made contact with the new owner, a lady called Katie. I ordered a new cover from her for my Edge, based on the positive experience I had with the previous owner, and the fact that they were the only company I could find that was manufacturing 10mm covers. I was quoted $348.00 for the cover and additional for freight costs for sending the cover to One on the Gold Coast. I agreed and payed the full amount immediately.
Katie requested measurement details for the cover, and she sent a form with all the measurements required to One, to be filled in by them and returned to Katie at Surf Aids. This was done as per the instructions, and promptly returned to Surf Aids by One.
The cover was manufactured by Surf Aids, and freighted to One so it could accompany my board being freighted to me.
When the cover arrived at One, I was immediately contacted by them to be told the cover was far too large and looked terrible. I was informed that there was no way the cover had been manufactured to the measurements provided. I contacted Katie at Surf Aids, and she admitted to messing up and not following the measurements provided, blaming personal issues in her life for the mess up.
The cover was then sent back to Surf Aids for the modifications at Katie's request. I attempted to speak to Katie on the phone to ask if she could ensure the correct measurements would be used this time. She wouldn't let me talk to explain my concerns, repeatedly talked over the top of me, and then hung up on me saying that I'd raised my voice. It was probably the most unprofessional interaction that I have ever had with someone in the retail/manufacturing sector in my life.
The modified cover was then sent back to One. I was again contacted by One to be told the cover still looks like '****'. This whole incident delayed the arrival of my new Edge SUP by nearly a month.
When my board was finally delivered to me, it was clear that some minor modifications were done around the nose, but the middle and around the tail area particularly was massively too large. The fin slot was also placed too far back on the cover. Definitely anything but a custom cover. There is so much extra width in the cover, that securing it on the roof is impossible due to all the excessive material.
I contacted Katie at Surf Aids again to say how unsatisfactory her service and product was. I also let her know what One Sports thought of her work, and that they wouldn't deal with her again in the future. I requested a refund of my money, and not unexpectedly have received no reply.
I am now in communication with One to get a quote on a cover from a manufacturer they use on the Gold Coast.
My advice to anyone considering purchasing a product from Surf Aids is to avoid this lady at all cost. This post won't help myself, but I hope it may prevent another person in the surf/sup community having to deal with such an unprofessional, and clearly unhinged individual that I expect to be out of business within 12 months.
Happy to share photos of the cover that was supplied despite accurate measurements being provided at the request of Katie at Surf Aids.

That is extremely disappointing! I have purchased. Quite a few SUP covers from them in the past. Thanks for the update.

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Antho said..
That is extremely disappointing! I have purchased. Quite a few SUP covers from them in the past. Thanks for the update.

Agreed - although I was buying longboard covers as opposed to SUP covers.... but for 11-12' boards that might as well be SUPs!

Dave - if you/ONE have any luck with the said Gold Coast manufacturer, can you update us all? Particularly if they provide a solid product at a reasonable price...

Valuable post I think
cheers

This is the 'custom' cover supplied by Katie at Surf Aids. As previously stated, all measurements were supplied by One exactly as requested by Katie at Surf Aids. She admitted she didn't refer to the measurements provided and blamed the results on personal issues. When the cover was returned to her for modifications, she refused to listen to my concerns on the phone and hung up. An extremely unprofessional response.
These photos are the end product after her modifications. A completely unsatisfactory result and response. She has not replied to any of my communication via phone call, text messages or emails. The cover is ridiculously large. There is so much extra material that I can't secure it to the roof securely. Any thoughts of travelling on the freeway at 100 km per hour with this cover is impossibly hazardous. The cost of the cover was $348.00 plus $150 in freight, so I am now $500 out of pocket and have to get another cover made by a business on the Gold Coast that One uses. Maybe things like leg ropes etc could still be purchased through Surf Aids without concern, but I wouldn't go near this lady and her business for a custom cover with a barge pole. I sincerely hope this post prevents someone else the frustration, disappointment and angst of dealing with this individual.

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damned67 said..

Antho said..
That is extremely disappointing! I have purchased. Quite a few SUP covers from them in the past. Thanks for the update.

Agreed - although I was buying longboard covers as opposed to SUP covers.... but for 11-12' boards that might as well be SUPs!

Dave - if you/ONE have any luck with the said Gold Coast manufacturer, can you update us all? Particularly if they provide a solid product at a reasonable price...

I'll get back to you mate. Just waiting on the quote to be sent. The only reason I didn't use One's Gold Coast manufacturer originally is that they only did 5mm thick covers, and I was after a 10mm cover which Surf Aids do and that I had previously purchased through the previous owner of Surf Aids with satisfaction.

I've bought a few custom covers from Surf Aids, and been very happy with the product, prior to the business changing hands.
I was fortunate enough to pick up another 11' glider on the weekend, which desperately needs a cover. Very few options for 'off the shelf' bags (re: almost none). I did find one on Curve Surf, which is 7 mm with 20 mm on the nose and tail, according to the specs.
I ordered it today, was about $185 with 3-5 business day delivery. As I understand, despite the website being a com.au, it's NZ-based and ships from across the pond.
Not sure if it helps, depending on what the GC mob can come up with, but Curve do seem to do a 10 mm 14' Race SUP bag but at 29"($290 sans delivery). While 29" is a few inches too wide for your board, it's still about 12" narrower than your current bag!

If my 11' bag turns up, I'll update re quality etc.

And whats the story with $150 in freight for the bag?
Granted, I've only bought 11' and 12' bags, but I don't recall shipping being more than $20-30?

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damned67 said..
And whats the story with $150 in freight for the bag?
Granted, I've only bought 11' and 12' bags, but I don't recall shipping being more than $20-30?

My mistake. The $150 was the freight for the sup from Gold Coast to Sydney. The freight for the Surf Aids cover from Ballina to the Gold Coast was $63.78.

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damned67 said..


If my 11' bag turns up, I'll update re quality etc.

While it's a longboard bag, the Curve Surf bag arrived today - I'm very happy with it. It's like it was made for the 11' Munoz that now sits inside it.
Quality seems decent. Great long zipper, which is a win. And the extra padding on the nose and tail is just awesome.
Overall - I'm very pleased with the purchase.

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DaveL1963 said..
Sometime ago there was a thread on SUP covers from Surf Aids. Most of the discussion was around the lack of communication by the new owner.
As an update on this, I recently had a every negative experience with the new owner. I had previously purchased a cover for a 14' SUP One Evo some years ago from the previous owner of Surf Aids. Great communication, cover fitted very well and quality was good.
I recently purchased a new Edge 3.0 14' SUP from One. I made contact with the new owner, a lady called Katie. I ordered a new cover from her for my Edge, based on the positive experience I had with the previous owner, and the fact that they were the only company I could find that was manufacturing 10mm covers. I was quoted $348.00 for the cover and additional for freight costs for sending the cover to One on the Gold Coast. I agreed and payed the full amount immediately.
Katie requested measurement details for the cover, and she sent a form with all the measurements required to One, to be filled in by them and returned to Katie at Surf Aids. This was done as per the instructions, and promptly returned to Surf Aids by One.
The cover was manufactured by Surf Aids, and freighted to One so it could accompany my board being freighted to me.
When the cover arrived at One, I was immediately contacted by them to be told the cover was far too large and looked terrible. I was informed that there was no way the cover had been manufactured to the measurements provided. I contacted Katie at Surf Aids, and she admitted to messing up and not following the measurements provided, blaming personal issues in her life for the mess up.
The cover was then sent back to Surf Aids for the modifications at Katie's request. I attempted to speak to Katie on the phone to ask if she could ensure the correct measurements would be used this time. She wouldn't let me talk to explain my concerns, repeatedly talked over the top of me, and then hung up on me saying that I'd raised my voice. It was probably the most unprofessional interaction that I have ever had with someone in the retail/manufacturing sector in my life.
The modified cover was then sent back to One. I was again contacted by One to be told the cover still looks like '****'. This whole incident delayed the arrival of my new Edge SUP by nearly a month.
When my board was finally delivered to me, it was clear that some minor modifications were done around the nose, but the middle and around the tail area particularly was massively too large. The fin slot was also placed too far back on the cover. Definitely anything but a custom cover. There is so much extra width in the cover, that securing it on the roof is impossible due to all the excessive material.
I contacted Katie at Surf Aids again to say how unsatisfactory her service and product was. I also let her know what One Sports thought of her work, and that they wouldn't deal with her again in the future. I requested a refund of my money, and not unexpectedly have received no reply.
I am now in communication with One to get a quote on a cover from a manufacturer they use on the Gold Coast.
My advice to anyone considering purchasing a product from Surf Aids is to avoid this lady at all cost. This post won't help myself, but I hope it may prevent another person in the surf/sup community having to deal with such an unprofessional, and clearly unhinged individual that I expect to be out of business within 12 months.
Happy to share photos of the cover that was supplied despite accurate measurements being provided at the request of Katie at Surf Aids.

I'm really glad I spotted this post DaveL as I've been trying to obtain a quote for a custom windsurf board bag since early October for my recently acquired board which won't fit in modern bags as it's measurements (257cm x 64cm) are old school sizes. The communication I've had with Kate has been ok and she's mostly been polite on the phone (tho did appear a bit stressed on one occasion) and said she will email me a quote after we appeared to clear up a number of misunderstandings related to measurements a few weeks ago but the quote hasn't materialised and I've pretty much given up hope that I'll get one, which is probably the best thing in light of your experiences!

Any suggestions for where else to order a custom board bag from? (I'm in WA)

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DaveL1963 said..









This is the 'custom' cover supplied by Katie at Surf Aids. As previously stated, all measurements were supplied by One exactly as requested by Katie at Surf Aids. She admitted she didn't refer to the measurements provided and blamed the results on personal issues. When the cover was returned to her for modifications, she refused to listen to my concerns on the phone and hung up. An extremely unprofessional response.
These photos are the end product after her modifications. A completely unsatisfactory result and response. She has not replied to any of my communication via phone call, text messages or emails. The cover is ridiculously large. There is so much extra material that I can't secure it to the roof securely. Any thoughts of travelling on the freeway at 100 km per hour with this cover is impossibly hazardous. The cost of the cover was $348.00 plus $150 in freight, so I am now $500 out of pocket and have to get another cover made by a business on the Gold Coast that One uses. Maybe things like leg ropes etc could still be purchased through Surf Aids without concern, but I wouldn't go near this lady and her business for a custom cover with a barge pole. I sincerely hope this post prevents someone else the frustration, disappointment and angst of dealing with this individual.

Wow just awful, the only thing good about that cover is its colour