The Truth behind Naish Warranties

[andyextreme]

I've thought long and hard about composing something for social media to discuss my experience with Naish. And I have come to the conclusion that I should share my findings and expose the truth behind the so called warranty you believe you have, and the one you actually have.

Background.
I have kitesurfed for 15 years. Flown just about every brand there is, with enthusiasm for this much loved sport. I believe I'm an ambassador to the sport and promote it in every way possible. An ex instructor, I now kitesurf only for pleasure and my passion for the sport is as high as its always been. I look after my gear relentlessly.

The product
I purchased a brand new 2016 12m Naish Pivot with bar n lines a few months back from my local shop a few months back after testing it. I've flown it several times, never crashed or even touched salt water.

Incident
Last Sunday I was out with a few mates pumping up on soft sand when my leading edge exploded. I was hand pumping and I had reached about 90 percent of normal pressure when it banged. I saw the bladder and the leading edge had completely failed.

Warranty beliefs.
Naturally, like anyone else including all my kitesurfing mates who saw the explosion, I thought " a trip back to my local shop for a replacement under warranty" After all, it was well inside its 12 month warranty period and it hadn't exploded on impact, ever been impacted nor had it ever been dragged on a shelly beach.

Warranty BS
The shop tried to make a warranty claim through the Naish distributor in Sydney, who knocked it back. Their excuse was "user error" and "it's probably got caught on a sharp object ". I was told I'd have to pay for a new bladder and a repair myself. So I called the Distributers directly to explain my case in an attempt for him to see sense. I explained how the kite had been looked after meticulously and it had never been in a fight. Also how I promote his brand when ever I'm asked for kite advise. I explained about my love for the sport and how long I'd been passionate towards it. Unfortunately all I got back from him was "not interested mate, what do you expect a new kite, it's four months old now !"

Conclusion
To all you beginners out there who assume a warranty is a warranty, when it comes to Naish, buyer beware because their warranty ain't worth the paper it's written on. I contacted Naish directly and after a week now, still not heard a thing.
I'll never buy another Naish product and ill endeavour to tell as many people as possible of my experience with them. The distributor in Sydney who I spoke on the phone with will be reading this, he knows who he is.

Your views are welcomed.

[Robsw6]

Oh dear... kiting 15 years... joining date today, 1st post = troll

Nothing to see hear.... move on

[andyextreme]

I initially posted this thread on Seabreeze http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kite ... arranties/ . Sorry youre a doubting Thomas. The thread was locked by adming after a few hours and I was advised in a private message from a fellow user of this forum.

Andy.

[ciscokitesurfer]

hello

I own many Naish kites and I am very happy. Also I believe what this guy wrote about his problem. His problem is he reach out the wrong people who doesn't care He only has two choices, write about it and move on. Keep riding mate is a great sport. Sometime we loose but there is always another company who cares.

cheers

[Kamikuza]

Are the distributors in Australia just dickheads or what? All of the "warranty claim rejected" threads seem to come from Oz...
No surprise the SB admin locked it--they don't like people bashing the bill payers

[Bille]

Oh dear... kiting 15 years... joining date today, 1st post = troll

Nothing to see hear.... move on

I wouldn't be to quick to call the guy a troll ; lots of people would rather
live there life, than talk about it. I get laughed at Every day, because
i refuse to go on FaceBitch !!

Bille

[Cristiano_Leandro]

hi Andy,

I had some issues as well with naish bladders (octopus system). I asked for warranty directly with hawaii (thats where i bought it) and after a loooooooong wait (about 3 months of constantly sending emails) they respected the warranty and sent me a new whole set of bladder. the thing is somehow they lost it in my countrie's local post shop.... one of the worsts experiences of my life.

What i have to say about it, they did responde in the end. But it took a lot of emails and constant nagging, it shouldnt be that way.

[madworld]

Hello, it is my opinion that this original poster should be believed and Naish should repair or replace the kite.

Many years ago myself and 15 others kiters at my local sailing spot all had our leading edges explode in the exact same spot over a few month time.
They where Naish Torchs, the USA distributor blew us off, we were told we kited to much or it was something in the water, until we flamed them on kiteforum, almost a year later after we all switched brands and bought new kites, They warrantied them but told us they did not have any Torches in inventory and gave us Crappy Naish Alliances that they made for just one season and they sucked. We all sold them. Naish lost an entire beach that summer. We all have been riding Ocean Rodeo ever since.

[Faxie]

Hello, it is my opinion that this original poster should be believed and Naish should repair or replace the kite.

Many years ago myself and 15 others kiters at my local sailing spot all had our leading edges explode in the exact same spot over a few month time.
They where Naish Torchs, the USA distributor blew us off, we were told we kited to much or it was something in the water, until we flamed them on kiteforum, almost a year later after we all switched brands and bought new kites, They warrantied them but told us they did not have any Torches in inventory and gave us Crappy Naish Alliances that they made for just one season and they sucked. We all sold them. Naish lost an entire beach that summer. We all have been riding Ocean Rodeo ever since.

If you search the internet, you'll see that there were plenty of LE problems in the past, mostly Torches. So Naish should be very aware of the problem you would say....

[we]

Let's see a photo of it.