Best bankrupt? Not bankrupt!

[kiterocky]

next kite i ll buy EPIC.. At least he and the family will live the Dream....

[Jbrook]

Hate to say it agree with alot of stuff of post above good points edt.

[sq225917]

It's been a while since I was on the forums but some of you will probably remember me.

When BEST started out they went direct to consumer, so this isn't that different.

What is different is that virtually none of the people who ran the company back then are left, and those who are left... So here's a tale, it's going to cost me £1600 but what the hell, it might save some of you some trouble and some money so i figure it's money well spent.

Back in the day the people who ran and represented BEST really gave a shit, Alex cared, Shannon cared, Peter cared, Stacey, Troy, the Jeffs and everyone else gave a damn. The business had grown from nothing and we were all part of it. Customer service was the most important thing and after that product and price were king. We were the punk kids of the kite industry, shops hated us, brands feared us and customers and riders loved the shit out of us. We'd turn up at a beach demo the gear, make friends, drink beer and have a great time on the water. It was kiting rock n roll.

Well that's not how it is now. Remember Miguel, the team rider who did the great travel videos, well he got stiffed for expenses and unpaid bills. Gisela, Ruben and Youri? Hell yeh, they all got screwed over too and either didn't get all their money or got fobbed off with payment in kites. I've still been doing their 3D work for them ever since I left over three years ago. Payment was always flakey, but I've still not been fully paid for work I submitted back in June 2015. In fact, do you see the 3D kite images that they are using to advertise their 0% sale, I created those and I haven't been fully paid for them yet. They still owe me £1600 for that work and I guess I've just kissed that goodbye.

It's not just the riders and the contractors though. Peter Stiewe the kite designer has just left them. Peter said he hasn't been paid this year...

So if you think that they have stocks of kite in the warehouse to sell to you at a huge discount, I would suggest that you consider it a deal that is too good to be true. Sure, some of you 'might' get your kites, but i think the most likely outcome is that you'll end up like me, Peter, Youri, Gisela, Ruben, Miguel and like many of the kite magazines that they have unpaid bills with.

F_cked over.

If you want to buy a BEST kite get it from your local dealer, at least they have stock and you know they're going to want to sell them now. Please think wisely before you send anyone money for kites. If a deal looks too good to be true it usually is.

It really hurts me to write this, not just because it's going to lose me £1600, ( I couldn't give a rats ass about that actually) but because we built something great, something meaningful, BEST changed the industry and made kiting affordable and more fun for a lot of people.


It might have the same name over the door, but it certainly ain't BEST any more.


Have fun, keep your money in your wallet and kite safe.

Simon

[Toby]

Thx for the info Simon, interesting read.

What do you think went wrong?

[gmb13]

For those who read spanish this might cleat things up, at least about the guy who bought Best:

http://www.elconfidencial.com/empresas/ ... f_1361725/

Google translate works reasonably.

Here is one of the more interesting excerpts :

--------
According to sources close to the investigation, Perez Dolset would have diverted money from ZED Worldwide, the Madrid-based subsidiary, to Pure Action Sports Europe , a Barcelona-based mercantile company. Through this company, the Dolset have sponsored numerous world-wide kitesurfing events, one of the sports that the president of the technology company -Javier Pérez Dolset- is a well-known practitioner.
In fact, in 2014 took over the reins of the Professional Kiteboarding Association (PKRA), a sort of international federation in charge of organizing the World Championship of this sport. Proof of this is that Javier Pérez Dolset presented in Tarifa (Cadiz) one of the regattas of this world championship, which also had a stop on Fuerteventura and Costa Brava. ZED, British Virgin and BEST Pro Center were the sponsors of this stage. A year later, Richard Branson, the well-known entrepreneur and owner of Virgin, replaced to him in the presidency.


GROUP ZED JAVIER PÉREZ DOLSET KITESURFING PRIVACY POLICY ANTICORRUPTION OFFICE JUAN ABELLÓ
READING TIME 4 min
06.04.2017 - 05:00 H.
The Spanish Anti-Corruption Prosecutor continues to investigate the alleged payment of bribes to relatives of politicians from Russia and Uzbekistan from a subsidiary of the Spanish group ZED + , participated by the Perez Dolset family , Planeta, Juan Abelló, Banco Santander and one of the richest men in Moscow , Mikhail Fridman. While the national authorities, who are working in coordination with the US FBI and the CIA and with the Dutch Justice in a case of international fraud, consider the allegations made by the Dolset to be more than proven, interrogations of the ZED + Revealed that Spanish businessmen have also been able to commit serious irregularities.
According to sources close to the investigation, Perez Dolset would have diverted money from ZED Worldwide, the Madrid-based subsidiary, to Pure Action Sports Europe , a Barcelona-based mercantile company. Through this company, the Dolset have sponsored numerous world-wide kitesurfing events, one of the sports that the president of the technology company -Javier Pérez Dolset- is a well-known practitioner.
In fact, in 2014 took over the reins of the Professional Kiteboarding Association (PKRA), a sort of international federation in charge of organizing the World Championship of this sport. Proof of this is that Javier Pérez Dolset presented in Tarifa (Cadiz) one of the regattas of this world championship, which also had a stop on Fuerteventura and Costa Brava. ZED, British Virgin and BEST Pro Center were the sponsors of this stage. A year later, Richard Branson, the well-known entrepreneur and owner of Virgin, replaced to him in the presidency.

Dolset and Lara get serious accusations at Zed Worldwide board

The shareholder meeting of the technology company, at serious risk of suspension of payments, has revealed the open war between both families
Following the accusations of Grupo Planeta, in open war against Pérez Dolset for the management of ZED Worlwide for the alleged diversion of up to six million euros from the Spanish company to Pure Action Sports, the prosecution has carried out a series of investigations and Interrogations to about fifteen executives of the company. The conclusion is that the family has been able to commit a depletion of ZED Worlwide, a company that is currently in creditors' competition. According to the same sources, the prosecutor Grinda is preparing a brief to charge Javier Pérez Dolset for these alleged irregularities.
The Madrilenian businessman, who is also a shareholder of Best Kiteboarding, denies any kind of accusation and assures that the sponsorship of the world championship by ZED was done in a completely legal way. She considers that the suspicions expressed by the Lara family, owner of Grupo Planeta and who owned 25% of ZED Woldwide, are unfounded and respond to the legal battle against the current managers. To date, all the demands submitted by the Catalan entrepreneurs who own Onda Cero and Antena 3 have settled in favor of the Dolset and the other shareholders.

--
Gunnar

[Legless]

Yep. I'd be very very wary of buying anything from them, we were one of the only magazines that got our bills paid, at one point they owed us £6,000, that was three years ago and we stopped supporting the brand, testing the kites and featuring the riders as a result. I've met various people involved recently and it seems everyone is leaving or has left. We got our bill paid in the end, I know a lot of people who are still owed and I doubt will get paid.

The whole Zed story and investigation is ongoing I believe. It would really suck if this new offer of theirs wasn't legit, I hope it is for the sake of anyone that gave them money, but they have been screwing over people in the kite business for some time. I'm just waiting to hear the news that they are finished, which is surely in the post. A shame, as like SQ says, back in the day there were some cool people involved and working hard to make solid products. Anyone remember the Waroo, you could credit that kite with the growth of kiteboarding at the time. Kudos for the good days.

[Toby]

Maybe Shannon is getting back his name now...
Maybe the old team teams up again

[Jbrook]

Had fun with Shannon and Alex in Brazil thats for sure and loved my Nemesis kites.

[Windigo1]

I wrote to someone who works for Best yesterday and that person did confirm that there is no plans to close the business but they acknowledged that the company is going through rough times.

[Toby]

Did he get paid ?