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-   -   Liquid Force and Mike Z (http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=780177)

tampawake 06-02-2010 12:26 PM

Liquid Force and Mike Z
 
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Have to give props to Mike and LF I had a small issue with my 09 Watson LTD's sent them to LF they were replaced with 2010 Watsons. Mike was great answered emails and did everything I could ask. I can't wait to get home and slam these on my Wats Hybrid.

jburbo 06-02-2010 12:46 PM

I have dealt with Mike Z on more than one occasion. He is ALWAYS very helpful,takes the time to answer any questions, and really helped me out when i was in a bind. I have been in Customer Service for a long time, and people like Mike are a rare find. Props to LF for staffing the best Customer Service team on the planet!

Gryphon 06-08-2010 10:43 AM

I am having non stop issues with Mike at LF. Very unprofessional and I am just about to change all my setups away from LF due to this guy.

wakeborder5 06-08-2010 11:00 AM

Nice first post Gryphon

kyle_L 06-08-2010 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeborder5 (Post 1594598)
Nice first post Gryphon

hahaha first and last :D

Gryphon 06-08-2010 11:07 AM

When I questioned him about his customer service skills, he provided this link, very unprofessional if you ask me. Tried having a conversation with him and he was just as dense as they come.

Here is my post on the other fourms, people need to know whats going on as these are known to be defective bindings and were never recalled.

Here is my situation, hoping someone can offer some advise or help me out.

I bought a pair of 2008 Watson CT bindings May 26/09 and received them in June of 2009. They were only used twice last year and three times this year and now they are peeling, just minimal at this point but we all know where this is going to go.

I contacted Mike at LF Customer service and asked if the fact that it has been just over a year will be an issue. He has stated to read the policy. He wont answer the question, just to send them in. I dont want to have no bindings to use only to find out they arent covered.

Also since the peeling is minimal, is that enough to issue a warrenty claim, I sent pics of the peeling starting to occur. Once again he wouldnt answer the question.

I am at my wits end with him and ready to swear off LF due to his actions. When I complained to him about his level of service, he resonded by sending links of how others liked his service, lol, had a good laugh at how unprofessional he was. I bought LF based on their customer service level and now thats the reason I am regreting this purchase.


And Kyle, it wasnt my last post ;)

Gryphon 06-08-2010 11:29 AM

Update, someone stepped up to take care of my issue, just needed to speak t the right person.

kyle_L 06-08-2010 11:50 AM

Ahhhh I thought that when the person's name disappears and their handle is the only thing left, the account was deactivated or they were banned. Guess I was wrong lol.
Now I am not going to defend him because I have never dealt with him so I will not base his "customer service skills" on one positive and one negative post BUT if a customer in 2010 was trying to return a pair of 2008 product no matter what the level of use was or what was wrong with them, I wouldn't do it. Their refund policy replaces your equipment with the new year product 90% of the time and to replace a pair of '08 bindings with '10 bindings will never happen. I buy all of my gear at performance so I never have to deal with companies customer service department, and they are the best shop i have ever seen when it comes to replacing broken product BUT they will only replace something within 1 year of the purchase. My best example with them was when I rode the 2008 hyperlite Atlas bindings. I bought the pair right when they came out in 08, broke the first pair in 2 months in which they gave me a brand new pair off the shelf. I broke the next pair 1 month after that and they did the same thing ultimately ending in 5 returns on the bindings in one year. When the year ended and I broke my bindings yet again, I brought them to performance and they could not give me the warranty on the bindings even though they were only 3 months old because the one year rule applies to the pair that you BOUGHT. I had absolutely no expectations from them as they had already done SOOOO much for me replacing all of those boots and then they one upped me. They offered to send the bindings back to Hyperlite because they were only 3 months old and within 2 weeks, I got a call saying they were at the shop. I pretty much was over the Atlas's and asked them if I could trade them in for a new set of bindings and pay the difference and they did it without hesitation. Being that they were 08 and it was 09 already, I got the value they were selling 08 closeouts at towards the price of my 09 sovens. Now that is customer service right there.

Moral of the story is that 1 year is the standard policy for equipment. To expect anything more than that is just being greedy, regardless of using the bindings once or one hundred times. The whole "peeling" issue which i don't quite understand and am having trouble mentally picturing (picture would help) does not sound like it would effect the ride of the bindings. Even though you have used them only 5 times, which i don't know if i necessarily believe because you know he is reading this, does not mean you are dealing with a defective product. It means you are dealing with an OLD product. Unless you keep your board inside, 2 years sitting in the heat (garage/patio/whatever) is going to damage the bindings. I'm sorry that this is happening to you but there isn't a shot in hell that they are going to replace them unless they miraculously have a pair of 08 watson's (which my buddy had and they broke very quickly) sitting around the warehouse. Unfortunately, you made the wrong move of outing the guy that was the only person that could have helped you on a public wakeboard forum. I am sure now he is going to try and help you to the best of his abilities *sarcasm* but absolutely no one on this message board is going to pity you not being refunded on 08 bindings.

tampawake 06-08-2010 12:39 PM

He asked me to send my binding in. It did take a couple weeks but I think his job is just to find out if its legitimate problem then have you send them in. I would agree ordering from a local dealer does make things a bit easier. I had some issues with gear and worked with boardstop guys and they were awesome almost like dealing with a local.

stephan 06-08-2010 2:03 PM

Kyle, you got hosed. While LF has a one-year warranty. Hyperlite (& CWB) has a two year warranty. If the shop stopped warrantying them early then you got the shaft.

Gryphon 06-08-2010 3:35 PM

Like I said, someone has stepped up, and all I will say. :D

andrew_moreton 06-08-2010 4:58 PM

Mike is always great to deal with and goes above and beyond what he needs to. Does anyone ever stop to think how much these wakeboard companies, which are relatively small compared to companies in other sports in snowboarding, lose in revenue each year because they replace products that are several years old for purely cosmetic flaws? I've got some pairs of 2008 bindings that have started to peel, but I've never considered trying to warranty them for a purely cosmetic flaw.

I know that people work hard to pay for their equipment and they want it to look nice, but you've also need to look at it from the other side. If a company sells a pair of boots knowing that more likely than not it's going to get warrantied over the course of the boot's life (regardless of the written warranty policy that states only 1 year, but rather because they do it for good customer service so that they don't get flamed on here or other message boards), then they have to actually sell the boot at a much higher MSRP in order to cover the second pair of boots that they decide to ship later on down the road in order to treat their customers right.

And in full disclosure, I'm locally sponsored by LF here in Texas. They are a great company to work with, and I just want to show a different perspective that people not inside the industry might not consider each time they decide to warranty something.

Gryphon--glad LF stepped up and took care of you. That's why I've chosen to work with LF and will continue to do so!

cwb4me 06-08-2010 7:03 PM

how do you get in touch with mike z i went to liquid forces web site and didn't see a contact option?

Gryphon 06-08-2010 7:37 PM

Its on the website under support.

The bindings were right at 1 year old a week either side was my question I was trying to get answered. Not sure where the idea came that these bindings were used for years.

jburbo 06-11-2010 9:04 AM

I know that my experience with Mike/LF doesnt necessarily mean that is how it always goes, but I have been dealing with him for about 4 years now and I can't imagine he would ever treat someone poorly. I love their product, but Mike Z is the driving force behind my loyalty to LF and their product. Again, Im not saying this is always the case, but based on the interaction I have had with him I will continue to support them.


Gryphon, I am happy that they were able to take care of your situation man!

wakeboardern1 06-11-2010 11:25 AM

I have to ask, what was the issue with your 09 Watson Limiteds? My first pair had the infamous blow out, and now this second pair has stitching that is beginning to tear out from inside the binding somewhere (it's coming out from between an air pocket and the white vinyl stuff that surrounds them, like, from the inside of the binding). My original purchase date is coming up in a month, and I don't want this to turn into a catastrophic failure after my warranty ends, but at the same time, I really like the style of my 09s over the 2010s, so I'm torn as to what to do. Maybe it's just superficial, but I just wanted to see if anyone else has seen something like that.

blaine4oh5 06-13-2010 8:50 AM

my roommate bought the 08 wastons in april and first time out they started pealing.

pc_sledge 06-15-2010 2:28 PM

Had an issue with my LTD Vantages that were just a couple weeks shy of one year old and Mike is taking care of everything. Big Thanks Mike!

Gryphon 06-15-2010 7:57 PM

The 08 Watsons are known to be defective and peel, should have been recalled IMHO so I would be looking to get them warrantied Blaine ASAP.

cheesydog 06-15-2010 8:34 PM

how are the air cells this year? I know last year it was a big problem with them taking on water


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