This guy might be able to shape a wing but should definitely leave selling the gear too someone who can offer some customer service and be able too at least communicate with you !!

I ordered and paid for a wing over 2 months ago and still haven't received it

I ordered a pair of Takoons earlier than that.Not here yet.
COVID made them ship by train then the floodings in Germany/Belgium screwed that a bit.
It is happening to many if not all manufacturers, supplies and/or shipping gone to h...

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Wingman WA said..
This guy might be able to shape a wing but should definitely leave selling the gear too someone who can offer some customer service and be able too at least communicate with you !!

I ordered and paid for a wing over 2 months ago and still haven't received it

I second that.
Multiple emails to him & not a single reply.
If you're going to offer a product - you need to communicate where necessary.

Nothing personal, but the kid has much to learn in that area.

Mine took 5 weeks from ordering to arriving in WA. Communication from Kane was somewhat lacking after ordering and no tracking. Hopefully it gets here in time for summer ;)

It took me nearly 6 months to get a fin to Norfolk island via Auspost..freight is a nightmare at the moment so dont be too harsh.

Yeh but email still Works independent of obvious shipping restraints. Don't confuse the two to try and eliminate concerns over poor customer service.

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eppo said..
Yeh but email still Works independent of obvious shipping restraints. Don't confuse the two to try and eliminate concerns over poor customer service.

I agree, not bothering to respond to emails shows arrogance and laziness. I was about to order a couple of tails from him, but same got no response from a simple question I needed answered re fitment before I ordered. So now I know even if you order and pay in advance you still get ignored as well I will skip it.

Does anyone know of anyone else who is making tails that deserve to be supported?

Hang in there guys, I feel your pain. It took 3 months for a wing from France to arrive.
I just received my KDM.

Might be an issue with him receiving emails.

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mcrt said..
I ordered a pair of Takoons earlier than that.Not here yet.
COVID made them ship by train then the floodings in Germany/Belgium screwed that a bit.
It is happening to many if not all manufacturers, supplies and/or shipping gone to h...

All i ask for is a bit of communication, i totally understand the situation with shipping etc as i am in the industry.

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longboard said..

Wingman WA said..
This guy might be able to shape a wing but should definitely leave selling the gear too someone who can offer some customer service and be able too at least communicate with you !!

I ordered and paid for a wing over 2 months ago and still haven't received it

I second that.
Multiple emails to him & not a single reply.
If you're going to offer a product - you need to communicate where necessary.

Nothing personal, but the kid has much to learn in that area.

my thoughts exactly !!

It is a pity as they are really good tails. I was lucky I got mine a while ago when he was quite responsive to messages. I have tried since to get a custom tail and the lack of response turned me off the idea. I get the feeling it is a side project that got out of hand and he just cannot be bothered any more. Not enough return for the energy needed to keep up with demand.

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mr love said..
It took me nearly 6 months to get a fin to Norfolk island via Auspost..freight is a nightmare at the moment so dont be too harsh

eppo said..
Yeh but email still Works independent of obvious shipping restraints. Don't confuse the two to try and eliminate concerns over poor customer service.

Thats all i ask Eppo, some customer service !! They still manage too post on insta 5 times a day but cant respond too an email.

I ordered a wing, didn't email him and received a wing. Presto.

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MidAtlanticFoil said..
I ordered a wing, didn't email him and received a wing. Presto.

I know people are getting wings and that is not my issue, communication is the problem.

After putting in a claim with Pay Pal i got a response then a tracking number that was delivered too another person on the other side of the country, the last email was that he will get back to me about this tomorrow, that was about 3 weeks ago !!!

No there is a job opportunity, KDMaui Public Relations officer. Only if I can live in Maui and test all the gear of course

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hilly said..
No there is a job opportunity, KDMaui Public Relations officer. Only if I can live in Maui and test all the gear of course

I see a problem with that mate as I feel once you get there you will also be hard to get a hold of!!

I have no relation with KD at all,not even a customer.
(I do admit i have a softspot for KD,his method of finding a balanced position for the foil is brilliantly simple and lets me ride an 85l board like it was way smaller).

But i have had emails ignored by Gong and Takuma,i know it has happened to Armstrong customers too.
Same with delays, record goes to Gong at +3months (this was pre-covid an eventually i gave up and cancelled the order).

These 3 are reasonably big manufacturerers with some sort of infrastructure.

AFAIK Kane is a very young dude trying to run (his first) one man biz venture in not so easy Covid times.

He certainly does not post 5 times a day on Insta,his last one was what,7 days ago?.Does he have another account i do not know of?.

I understand the frustration of having emails ignored, it drives me nuts...but this thread is a bit harsh IMHO.

BTW Takoon has the best comms ever, almost instantaneous response at 23:00 (!!) Local Time ,helpful and proactive.

So yes,it can be done a lot better.But the standard is very,very low.

Nah. It is what it is. You provide a product which people pay for with their own cash, you gotta do better or be called out on it, otherwise mediocrity reigns. Must admit its not as bad as some of thr surfboard shapers ive dealt with in the past. Those dudes are on a different planet altogether.

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eppo said..
Nah. It is what it is. You provide a product which people pay for with their own cash, you gotta do better or be called out on it, otherwise mediocrity reigns. Must admit its not as bad as some of thr surfboard shapers ive dealt with in the past. Those dudes are on a different planet altogether.

Young, one man band, covid ... its kind of irrelevant.

Under promise - over deliver - communicate early and often if there is an issue = happy customers = business longevity and success.

Its really not that hard.

Customer service, even simply replying by email takes A LOT of time. It can overwhelm a small operation, especially when transport companies do not see these small shops valuable enough to provide them with detailed info on the shipping. Answering an email is not done in seconds, and it adds up quickly. And insecure customers cans quickly send a hundred of emails in a weekend, becoming enraged because they do not get answers on a Sunday. A well known French SUP brand founder had his wife and kid leave him because he was too busy when he was still operating his company alone.

For instance, Gong had to double its staff in less than 2 years (they are 100+ full time staff now) to cope with the huge increased demand, partly due to covid (people have to find other activities than movies, restaurants, travel, the demand for surf/SUP/foil/kite/Wing gear has exploded). This entails lots of behind the scene work to train people, and find new process and software tools to cope with the added complexity.

And lastly, if you choose to buy from a single person company, it is your choice, thus understand and accept the inherent risks.

All reasonable points of view.

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colas said..
Customer service, even simply replying by email takes A LOT of time. It can overwhelm a small operation, especially when transport companies do not see these small shops valuable enough to provide them with detailed info on the shipping. Answering an email is not done in seconds, and it adds up quickly. And insecure customers cans quickly send a hundred of emails in a weekend, becoming enraged because they do not get answers on a Sunday. A well known French SUP brand founder had his wife and kid leave him because he was too busy when he was still operating his company alone.

For instance, Gong had to double its staff in less than 2 years (they are 100+ full time staff now) to cope with the huge increased demand, partly due to covid (people have to find other activities than movies, restaurants, travel, the demand for surf/SUP/foil/kite/Wing gear has exploded). This entails lots of behind the scene work to train people, and find new process and software tools to cope with the added complexity.

And lastly, if you choose to buy from a single person company, it is your choice, thus understand and accept the inherent risks.

I'm calling BS and if they have 100 staff and they can't dedicate enough people to look after the number one priority in the customer then they don't deserve the peoples business.

We run a global brand and deal with pretty much every country in some way as well as run our Aussie HQ 7 days a week plus spend a **** load of time on the water all with a staff of two and that is myself and Angie. I will always reply to any email ASAP 100%of the time and on top of this I will always do my best to follow emails up if I do not get a reply back just to make sure the person got the info they needed.
Now I am not a computer guy but I do like common decency and if someone takes the time to email or message me about a product then I feel it's super rude not to reply.

Not saying we are perfect but **** it's not hard to reply to an email or a Facebook message or Instagram message as they are all important.

In my small business if I don't keep up with emails for a day, I have over 100 emails to catch up on the next day, many of which are asking for ETAs and tracking (COVID delays). If I had a side business that required half that, it would be impossible. But I would put a disclaimer on my site or email signature to drive the point home.

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paul.j said..

colas said..
Customer service, even simply replying by email takes A LOT of time. It can overwhelm a small operation, especially when transport companies do not see these small shops valuable enough to provide them with detailed info on the shipping. Answering an email is not done in seconds, and it adds up quickly. And insecure customers cans quickly send a hundred of emails in a weekend, becoming enraged because they do not get answers on a Sunday. A well known French SUP brand founder had his wife and kid leave him because he was too busy when he was still operating his company alone.

For instance, Gong had to double its staff in less than 2 years (they are 100+ full time staff now) to cope with the huge increased demand, partly due to covid (people have to find other activities than movies, restaurants, travel, the demand for surf/SUP/foil/kite/Wing gear has exploded). This entails lots of behind the scene work to train people, and find new process and software tools to cope with the added complexity.

And lastly, if you choose to buy from a single person company, it is your choice, thus understand and accept the inherent risks.

I'm calling BS and if they have 100 staff and they can't dedicate enough people to look after the number one priority in the customer then they don't deserve the peoples business.

We run a global brand and deal with pretty much every country in some way as well as run our Aussie HQ 7 days a week plus spend a **** load of time on the water all with a staff of two and that is myself and Angie. I will always reply to any email ASAP 100%of the time and on top of this I will always do my best to follow emails up if I do not get a reply back just to make sure the person got the info they needed.
Now I am not a computer guy but I do like common decency and if someone takes the time to email or message me about a product then I feel it's super rude not to reply.

Not saying we are perfect but **** it's not hard to reply to an email or a Facebook message or Instagram message as they are all important.

I've bought two boards from Jacko. Both transactions involved emails and phone calls that were prompt and straight forward. The whole process from inquiring, ordering, payment, tracking through to delivery was pretty good. And I am very happy with the boards too.

Don't care how many people work in the whole operation. What matters is the product and the service. In KD Maui's case I hear a lot of praises for the product but his service doesn't sound good.

In forums like this, I think it is appropriate to share our experiences as customers of the products and services in good faith.

Yeh i can vouch for jacko as well. He sent me numerous replies and i was only a prospective customer.

I ordered a wing from Kane, it was delivered the next day. Which means that within a couple hours of my order it was put in the mail. He's also responded to all my instagram msgs in a timely manner.

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bigmtn said..
I ordered a wing from Kane, it was delivered the next day. Which means that within a couple hours of my order it was put in the mail. He's also responded to all my instagram msgs in a timely manner.

Deliveries inside the U S of A must be better than outside it. I got slugged $60 for "Express Mail" making the tail almost A$400 and my order had not been sent a week later. A few messages back and forth it was finally posted. The tail then went around the world - Hawaii, LA, Japan, Singapore, Melbourne and finally to little old WA over 2 months after the order. Thankfully, it is a good tail

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paul.j said..
Not saying we are perfect but **** it's not hard to reply to an email or a Facebook message or Instagram message as they are all important.

First, I did not say that Gong wasn't answering emails or social media posts. On the opposite, they hired a lot of full-time jobs (with French social protections) to be able to keep up to the huge demand.

Second, it is easy - but still takes time - to answer an email for YOU, the boss (I guess). But imagine being a junior employee having to deal with a customer, it is not as easy, you cannot on a whim decide to offer a refund, rebate, solution, you are not at liberty to do what you want, you are not the boss. You must coordinate and/or follow processes with others, if only just to ensure that each customer is treated consistently and fairly. So it takes time. And since Gong has a full functional website, questions are not the simple ones that can be easily solved, as the customer would have found it by him/herself.

I can't help but laugh when I see KD maui' s regular posts on Instagram!

Almost every day there's another story and footage of his foiling adventures but can't manage to reply to where in the world your bloody stabiliser is!!

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Youngbreezy said..
I can't help but laugh when I see KD maui' s regular posts on Instagram!

Almost every day there's another story and footage of his foiling adventures but can't manage to reply to where in the world your bloody stabiliser is!!

Yeah that's not going to win him any favour with individuals trying to correspond with him...lots of other places to spend money on decent equipment.

I ordered in late Feb & used the shop app to track it that was linked to to email I recieved once it was shipped.

Have never emailed Kane but he usually replys to Insta messages.