HYPERLIGHT DOESNT TAKE CARE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!!

I bought the parks board last year at the end of the summer and have gotten to ride it for maybe a total of 2 months and its busted on me. Cracked in half right down the middle. So I sent it in and it got sent back because I had I rode maybe one slider on it ever along time ago. If they wont take care of their customers then I wont be buying from then anymore and will advise everyone I ride with to do the same. Sorry just had to get this off my chest and just curious to see if anyone else has had any problems with hyperlight.

doesn't sound like they have a problem, sounds like you voided the warranty and want a free board. sure, the slider may not have caused the damage, however they do put CLEAR messages with their boards that they do not honor damage if you hit sliders.

I have to agree with Tim. If they made an exception for you they would have to make an exception for everyone. It does still suck though!

What Tim & Chase said. I have been riding Hyperlite for many moons and out of the relatively few problems that I have had (considering how much time I spend punishing their products), Hyperlite has never failed to make good on warranty claims for me.

I did spend about 2 hrs on the sliders @ OWC last summer, and it pretty much destroyed the board, but there is no way I would have tried to send it in under warranty.

hyperlites warrantee dept. is top notch. even sliding a board one time can have a dramatic effect on a board. i have a couple boards that were only used once for sliders and are now barely useable. hypelite has always helped me out on legit board warrantee issues. i would and will buy from them again.

Just out of curiosity's sake...if sliders are so bad on boards...wouldn't you think that board companies would have been working hard to fix that. I mean, it's not like sliders are rare to find in competition. I figure board companies would be working hard to find a way to make boards more able to stand up to sliders. Sorry, I know this is kind of OT, but I'm just curious.

FlipsidE

hyperlite does have there new ji base to battle this and the pure base last year

Buy a new car and run ir up against a guard rail. Then bring it back to the dealer to see if they'll fix it.

I completely agree with your analogy, Blabelmooch. I couldn’t have said it any better.

Here’s what I think the problem is with board companies and sliders. In videos and magazines, riders are shown hitting sliders all the time. In fact, in some cases, hitting sliders is glorified and is encouraged. At some point, board companies have to step up and say, “Hey, we pushed people to hit sliders. We need to take care of them, whether they hit sliders or not.” I know that’s not realistic, but if maybe 1 company stepped up, the others will follow. I doubt it would happen though. There’s not that much money made in this sport. Every board company is struggling.

Step up to that situation and they will go out of business or board prices will triple. If you hit sliders your board is pretty much guarenteed to be trashed. It only takes so long before it is going to break.

Last year my brother broke two belmonts and Hyperlite replaced both - no questions asked. He didn't hit sliders with them.

The problem isn't the mags and videos. It's the people that expect products to last forever no matter what they are doing to them. Showing people hitting sliders in mags is not glorification, it is the state the sport is in. The media is showing the top of the food chain.

I would laugh at people when they would ask me to warranty their boards when there was blatant impact damage on them. It would be like trying to take your sk8 into the shop and asking them to warranty it because it broke hitting rails and curbs. "but I only did it once, maybe"

I don't think Hyperlite is going to miss Blake's business, in fact they probably hope he goes and bothers some other company instead.

As far as the jib base, It does't even work. I tore up a belmont 136 DNA hiting sliders with a jib on it. The edges of the board were split about a 1/4 of an inch and you could see the wood real well.

Next year hyperlite isn't even doing the jib base, well that's the word on the street.

(Message edited by wakeboarder4lif on June 27, 2003)

Don't get me wrong, I do think that hitting sliders is a risk the rider takes. As for Hyperlite's customer service? I think they're as good as any other board company.

Well this post went a differnt direction than I thought it was going to...

I too have had great customer service from Hyperlite. As far as hitting sliders, I kinda am torn, I truly agree that Hyperlite shouldn't replace the board due to slider marks, read the warranty and get over it. But with that being said I think that any board company that wants to be susccessful will develop a product specifically for use with sliders. It may suck on the water but that will be the trade off.

Two things that bother me, one, Hyperlite does show people using their products on sliders in their marketing material. That gives most consumers the impression that the product can be used for those type of activities. Reality is most people don't read warranties and they know that. Bait and switch... not really, but a little misleading. I mean you don't see car companies putting pictures of people driving their cars into gard rails in their brochures!

and the second thing that bothers me is how Mr. Blake spelled Hyperlite!

"But with that being said I think that any board company that wants to be susccessful will develop a product specifically for use with sliders. It may suck on the water but that will be the trade off."
- Isn't that kinda what wakeskates are designed for? I could be wrong though.

"d the second thing that bothers me is how Mr. Blake spelled Hyperlite!"
- LOL!!! I didn't even realize that. That's good stuff.

FlipsidE

Yeah screw some bindings down to your wooden wakeskate and you will have the best slider board money can buy!

Aren't wakeskates pretty much meant for sliders?

FlipsidE

(Message edited by flipside on June 27, 2003)

Hyperlite customer service is great. I read my warranty carefully and did pick up on the no slider policy. It makes complete sense.

Car companies don't show you cars slamming into guard rails, but they do show cars spinning and skidding through various enviroments. Do you think they advise you to do that to the car? Nope, they too give a disclaimer.

I have had great experiences with hyperlite. I sent a pair of highbacks back twice for minor repairs. I ripped out one of the finger holes and the rubber near the velcroe strap started tearing on both boots. This was over 2 years after I purchased them and they fixed it all for free. Can't complain.

"Car companies don't show you cars slamming into guard rails, but they do show cars spinning and skidding through various enviroments. Do you think they advise you to do that to the car? Nope, they too give a disclaimer."
- Well said!!

FlipsidE

I agree with you tony, i think there is nothing wrong with not covering sliders in the warranty but look at their 2003 product line brochure. The picture on the front is a dude hittin this big slider 7 or 8 feet out of the water!

Didn't hyperlite come out with the Byerly finless a few years ago, and market it specifically as a slider board.
Anyway I agree with hyperlite because of they do have a disclaimer.
Anyone who isn't busy sniffing their own azz knows that hyperlite has the best customer service and warranty of any board company, period.

andrew that was one of my points, they do show riders hitting sliders... gee you might think it is alright to do it then!

yes but then again they kinda expect u to know they are pros tat have a stack of 25 more boards in there garage in there lakefront house and r sent more everytime they need them

Yea Tony but Ford, Chevrolet, and Dodge blow each others doors off every weekend and none of us expect to do the same and have our own cars warranted if we do that.

Your crossing the difference between the professional and retail levels of the sport. In any product market the company is going to show it's pro's off or market the extreme. To think you can blame the manufacturer for rider abuse is a little naive. If you want to thrash your gear in light of progression than suck it up and don't whine to the industry.

Charley, I don't think they "ecpect" us to think they have stacks of boards... I expect them to have a back up board. In case it gets stolen or breaks. Not 25. And that still doesn't mean you or they shouldn't use it on a slider.

Corey, I'm not crossing the professional vs. retail levels. Go pick up a brochure for a ford mustang, they don't show you 8 second drag cars in there brochure... but Hyperlite does show you riders hitting sliders...

I in no way think the manufacture should be to blame for rider abuse. Reread my previous posts, however I think the manufacture has a certain level of responsibility with regard to truth in advertising. Do they anywhere in there literature state professional riders do not try and duplicate? They do on most videos, but what about on hyperlite's website? You see a cool rider hitting a slider with a cool hyperlite board it helps sell the product, which is what they are trying to do. I feel they should BOLDLY tell us not to hit sliders and that the only reason the pros do it is to help push the design envelope farther forward and they are constantly working on developing new materials that can stand up to sliders. If a pro breaks it great, they get direct feedback with a trusted source, if every joe and bob hit sliders and break boards they will go out of business. All I am saying it the manufactues need to be more up front with their advertising and not show us stuff we can't try and duplicate.

i think a good parallel would be BMX. i buy a great product, lets say a set of wheels, i get on my bike and miss the transition on a double, i fold the wheels, I have to buy new wheels. if i break an axle pulling a smith decade, again, i buy the axle. abuse of the product in regards to extreme sports is inherent within the purchase of the product.

It's nearly impossible to idiot proof an advertisment. If you can't show a rider on a slider then what can you show? Ads commonly show riders 15 feet up doing a sick move of the double. That is false advertisment beacause I can't get that high. They failed to mention that the rider is being towed behind a heavily weighted $50,000 wakeboard boat. Where do you draw the line? An ad is only an ad, not operating instructions.

Maybe the manufactures should just send out their own patrol all over the world yelling threw megaphones to stay away from objects. That way people like Tony will BOLDLY feel like someone is making sure he rides responsibly.

Hyperlite is only protecting it's butt. If it warranties every board that's been slid, they'll go out of business. They also say that your chances of death increase dramatically when using obsticals. It's all legal and business issues.

If the guys at Hyperlite see someone bust a huge spin over a gap slider, they're going to think it was pretty freak'n cool too. What's in their pamphlet that comes with the board isn't exactly what they think about the sport either--it's what their lawyers are telling them. You're the one who gets to decide whether you maintain your warranty, or bust it out on a slider.

(Message edited by Columbiatch on June 27, 2003)

Could you emagine if the sk8 industry put warning labels on the decks. There wouldn't be any room for graphics.

One time this kid got all bent on me for not warranting his L.F. Super Squirt. He had just got back from Powell and was bragging to me how he was trying to slide down the slide of the house boat. Then he started ripping L.F. a new one because the rail split after it hit the side. I told him that I would not do it for him and it was a whinny ordeal.

I think because this sport as a whole is so expensive that kids tend to be a little on the spoiled front, more often to complain that their equipment is the problem and not their ridding. I bet most people that work or have worked in a shop agree. You don't see kids that surf or sk8 crying when they bust their boards. They do it with pride.

if you hit sliders on a regular basis you should have a board just for that...in cali, most of us don't have the opportunity to hit sliders like the florida heads...we don't have 20 sliders per lake to choose from.

bottom line is, if you damage your board from hitting a slider or from jibbing docks and bouys, you should make that board your "slider" board...don't ask the manufacturer to replace what the didn't damage. if you hurt yourself riding do you send your doctor bill to the board company???

subject: "HYPERLIGHT DOESNT TAKE CARE OF THEIR CUSTOMERS!!!!"

I am sorry to say this, but I really hate it when people bash companies on public sites with sweeping all capitalized statements for no good reason.

rootc - it is difficult to idiot proof anything, they are always making better idiots! And yeah they should and do show riders getting 15 feet in the air off of doubleups. No one is complaining about that, not even the manufactures. The products are designed to withstand that. Hyperlite will replace under warrany a board that was broke from going 15' in the air; no questions asked! They show that and people try and duplicate it on a product that can withstand it. Just because you can't go 15 feet in the air dosen't mean anything. Anyone that can get up on a wakeboard has the potential to run it into something solid and void the warranty.

They show riders going big, no problem. They show riders hitting sliders, oh, wait... you can't do that with our products... But that is how you are advertising your products! At that level it doesn't make sense to me. I do understand the "progression of the sport", the "it's your decision to void your warranty", etc, etc... and I agree with all of that, however they are not being up front with us. When and how did you guys hear about the slider non warranty? Did it come out of the mouths of the salesperson when you bought your board? Did you read about it on Hyperlites brochure when you were researching your board purchase? Or did you write to Hyperlite before purchasing to request a copy of their owners manual as part of the decision making process and notice it then?

Yeah that's what I thought! You probably heard about it from this or varios other discussion boards, a buddy who was denyed warranty, or worse yet your dealer when you tried to get your board replaced.

Corey - your comment makes no real sense, I guess you just don't get it, sorry.

danedawg - I agree, but I was glad to see everyone come to Hyperlite's defense. As they truly do have great customer service.

I wouldn't warranty a broken board at all. Now if it delaminated or something like that, it would be a different story. But like the surfboard and the Sk8 Board, if they break while doing a huge maneuver or trick, they won't give you your money back. I have broken 3 surfboards, yes you are bummed, but like an earlier post said, you do it with pride, and know you are taking your riding to the limit. Makes for a great story around a camp fire too. Pulled into a standup barrel, totally slotted, almost made it out, damm I ate it soooooo hard held under for 30 seconds, came up and my board was broken in 3 pieces!! SICK

I would say it is a nice bonus they do warranty boards for normal breaks. Good for Hyperlite!

Yeah, ads may be somewhat misleading, but you gotta use a little common sense.

Think about it for a second. Put your wakeboard over a couple stacked up 2x4's then jump on the edges of the board for a while. Oh darn, my board broke it must be a faulty board. Like Tony said, "There always making better idiots."

Bravo Mr. French,
The hyperlite warranty policy is already very generous. It would take a greedy moron to think they could warranty a board that they tore up on solid objects. Skate videos show their people hitting rails, should they not be allowed to do this? The skate shops I've been in proudly display all of their broken boards around the walls of their shop. As people have said, take pride in riding your board to the limit...or back off if you can't afford it.

I know that skateboard decks break a lot, and I don't have a problem with that. My question now is, how much is it to replace a top of the line skateboard deck? I honestly don't have a clue, but my gut feel tells me it's not $500. That's the biggest difference between skateboards and wakeboards (if I'm right). And, that is also why, when I start hitting sliders, I'm buying a POS board to do it.

$500 is a lot to spend...and even moreso, it's a lot to waste on hitting a single slider.

FlipsidE

Then don't hit sliders....

This isn't a poor mans sport...sad but true. You need a boat, gas, gear, etc. If you can't afford to buy a new board then don't use it on sliders.

IS MY BOARD/BINDING UNDER WARRANTY?
We have always prided ourselves in crafting the most innovative and quality products in the marketplace. All Hyperlite products are offered with a limited lifetime warranty. Limited means normal use. Going over handmade kickers/railslides etc. is not normal use. The board accidentally falling out of the board rack is not normal use. Dropping the board on cement is not normal use. Normal use consists of interaction between a board and only water. This is the same for bindings as well. If a product is defective from normal use please call our warranty department at (800) 938-4040.


This is on their web site Tony. It's also on the brochure.

Your probably right about me not getting it. With eleven years of ridding, seven years in the industry, and four years ridding with Hyperlite I probably have nothing to back myself up with.

Stop whining about this topic. Your falling into the Gay Riders Club. If pro's were not pushing the product there would be no product development. Hyperlite covers their a$$ with warranty. If your so worried about them showing their riders hitting sliders than stop riding right now so the rest of us that do get it don't have to hear you any more. Especially the people that work in this industry.

My point was proven. I had not looked on the website or borchure, I had hoped someone would and post it. I think what I was trying to get you guys to see is something that Hyperlite has already addressed. Sorry for not taking the initative to prove it myself.

The only one on here whining was blake. I was just tying to get people to see what I thought was an interesting point. But you have to get all bent out of shape on it. I was trying to have a meaninful conversation and all you can do is add meaningless comments like above... This board has always been used to "discuss" wakeboarding related topics. A discussion is between many people. If you don't like my comments then either try and post meaningful responses or don't post. You actually went so far as to start name calling... (ref Gay Riders Club) like that is really appropriate and necessary. You have 30 posts on this board and have been here for a month. Why don't you sit back and watch how everyone else on this board communicates before going off on people like above.

You think anyone cares about your experience in the "indsutry". Do you think you are speaking for the industry as a whole when you comment? Just curious? As your views and attitude about this are not what I understand and deal with on a daily basis in the wakeboarding industry that I am a part of.

Look what we have here... A little rucus of words... Corey, you do realize that your not disagreeing with anything that Tony posted; therefor, your tort is not warrented. Tony is merely saying that the ADVERTISING is misleading and should be changed. Don't advertise the board for use on a slider if is isn't supposed to be used on a slider. If you disagree with that then let the mud fly.

Nobody has posted on this thread that they think that Blake was screwed by HL. Nobody said that HL doesn't have a good warrenty except for Blake. The discussion has changed to the ADVERTISING methods, and the qualifications you mentioned don't prove anything as far as advertising goes; however, they do show that you a lot of experience dealing with the wakeboard industry.

Note: a new skate deck only cost $50 +/- $10. If you break a skate deck - who cares - just go out and get a new one, the old deck was probably getting soft anyway.}

Look what we have here... A little ruckus of words... Corey, you do realize that your not disagreeing with anything that Tony posted; therefor, your tort is not warrented. Tony is merely saying that the ADVERTISING is misleading and should be changed. Don't advertise the board for use on a slider if is isn't supposed to be used on a slider. If you disagree with that then let the mud fly.

Nobody has posted on this thread that they think that Blake was screwed by HL. Nobody said that HL doesn't have a good warrenty except for Blake. The discussion has changed to the ADVERTISING methods used. The qualifications you mentioned don't prove anything as far as advertising goes; however, they do show that you a lot of experience dealing with the wakeboard industry.

Note: a new skate deck only cost $50 +/- $10. If you break a skate deck - who cares - just go out and get a new one, the old deck was probably getting soft anyway.



(Message edited by rootc on June 30, 2003)

A warranty is a way for a company to make good on products that have defects or quality issues that cause premature failure of the product. The fact that HL has a limited lifetime warranty is amazing.

The bottom line is warranties are not meant to cover wear during normal use. Is hitting sliders normal for a lot of people in this sport? Absolutely! Does it cause wear on the board? Of course! It probably even causes accelerated wear.... Is the manufacturer misleading anyone with representing the use of their boards on sliders? NOPE! So why would anyone expect their board to get warrantied after hitting sliders with it?

Look guys advertising or no advertising, brochure or no brochure, common sense says that if you use anything in an extreme manner it's probably not going to last like it would if you jusy used it in a quote "non-extreme manner". I'm not in the industry and I figured that one out. You want a car that won't break when you jump it off a 30 foot sand dune you don't buy regular car you build it custom. If you want a wakeboard that won't break when you jump on something other than water, have someone build you reinforced steel wakeboard, whether it will float or whether you will be able to get into the air is up to you to figure out.
As far as Hyperlite and other board companies go, don't think their not working on it. They feel your pain, but there is no one that will pay for the type of engineering it would take to make boards put up with what we put them through. If you haven't been into wakeboarding,skating,sufing,biking,motocross or any of the other extreme sports your probably not used finding out that although companies build a good product and advertise it in a way that makes you want to go out and ride the way their sponsored riders do. They still cover their rears by providing you with liability release disclosures. The main reason is they don't want to get sued, if they said it was o.k. to ride a slider with your board and then you broke your neck. Some lawyer here in America would find a way to make it the board manufacturers fault. If you don't believe me go research how many board companies have curent pending lawsuits.
Just my two cents not trying to knock anyone including Blake, just trying to relay some reality into this situation. I feel your pain Blake, but that's the jist of it.

the other problem all of us have is that not all riders are going to tell the truth. say hyperlite starts to warranty their boards for sliders and Mr. Dick Rider drops his board in the parking lot, next ting I know, he is in my shop telling me how his P.O.S. $500 board split while he was "jibbing this hella sick rail." what i am saying is that i see a ton of non-legitimate warranty claims every year and someone is now going to have to decide if Mr. •••••• board slid down interstate 72 or he actually did hit a "hella sick rail."

Grow Up!

Pete C
whats up with that....you come into a post where a "discussion" has been going on for quite some time and you offer as your input ..."Grow Up!"
Can you clarify who exactly who needs to grow up. Is it
A. Blake (the original poster)
B. Those in support of board companies advertising riders using sliders
C. Those opposed to to this advertising practice
or
D. was it directed at everyone on the post
last question c'mon what drugs are you using and can you please share.... y'know puff puff pass dude

Just to let everyone know, Sunday my son pulled the string out of his new Belmont Bindings. The bottom where it attaches into the plastic holder. I emailed Hyperlite and they emailed me back with this response.

"From the sounds of it you have a very small problem that can be fixed very easily. If you can get me your address I can send you some replacement strings and hardware free of charge and you can repair the laces your self. The repair should take no less than five minutes and you will be good to go again. If you have any more questions just let us know.
Thanks again,
HO/Hyperlite Warranty"

Sounds to me like they take care of their customers pretty good.

WakeNup...I'm sure it's something very simple, but I'm not exactly understanding what's going on. Did the lace break or did he lose it? I know that each set of Byerly's come with a spare lace and tools to put it on.

Thanks

FlipsidE

(Message edited by flipside on July 02, 2003)

I think that it would be great to warranty a board against sliders, Origin and joyride do it and I wish some of the others would too. I don't expect them too, but I do think it would be nice touch. I saw Meghan Major take back a board she used for one tournement that had a few marks from the sliders she hit and get a new one from the Hyperlite rep. I'm not saying something as dramatic as that, but it would be nice to take a board that I use at the cable, local sliders and make it my everyday board. I can see the frustration that Blake has, but it's not Hyperlites fault. They do show people hitting sliders all of the time in magazines, videos and on websites, but that is because that is what people want. I think if sliders continue to grow then the other industry board makers will eventually have to come on board with a slider warranty. I don't think it's a huge issue now though. If you are going to hit sliders with your everyday board expect it to get torn up and not be warrantied.

How many boards did Origin/Joyride actually sell?

there is a board that should hold for sliders.....the tubelight stealth. if u wanna hit sliders just buy that. it is bulletproof so i doubt itll break

hyperlite tried to say that i left my parks bindings outside and that is why they ripped but the board shop got them to replace it anyway. try talking to someone at your local shop.

Brandt, The bottom of the lace (over your toes) on the Belmonts has a plastic clip that holds both ends of the string. One end just pulled out, I tied it in a knot for the time being.

lol. you'd think blake would reply with somthing.

i love the way this ones gone.

By the way, d'u recon if i shot my car with a few airgun pellets ford would replace my whole car because it didn't stand up to a good ole thrashing??

I didn't read all the posts I probably read about half way down or so and it sounds like Blake is just in a crappy situation if he's being completely honest..

Blake buys board, Blake slides board, Blake breaks board, Blake sends board back, and Blake gets denied.

I think it is Hyperlite's place to decide if the board broke due to Blake's sliding, and if it appeared to not be the sliding then I think Hyperlite should replace that board.

Blabel I have to disagree with your statement.
Buy a new car and run ir up against a guard rail. Then bring it back to the dealer to see if they'll fix it. If someone goes and runs their car into a guard rail and then two weeks later their steering goes out, is the dealership gonna say "we're not fixing your steering, you ran your car into a guard rail." I will agree that it could have been the sliding that disintegrated the integrity of the board but that may not necessarily be the reason why it broke.

I must add that I used my board this past weekend on a slider, hit it probably 7 or 8 times and I got a few scuffs, nothing major. I highly doubt you can ruin a board hitting a slider once unless you caught the rail square on the end of the pipe.

Everytime you hit a slider your flex the board in a direstion unnatural to the memory of the internal structure. All materials have a memory wood,metal,foam and so on. If you ask the material to bend in away that contrast it's made form it's gonna eventually break. Oh well, if the board de-lammed that would be different, but if it cracked it wouldn't be hard to relate that to force caused by sliders or landing on hard objects like sliders.

man all you people who are complaining are idiots. its obvious that if youve touched a slider once then you board looses its warrenty. if i slide any rail on a snowboard and "all of a sudden the rails are coming off the board i wouldnt even try to claim warrenty." and why the hell would you complain about people being in adds on rails. you people bother me. i guess then never show another snowboarder grinding, wakeboarder, skateboarder, rollerblader, or whatever else. ive broke a board in a few slides amd just cuz i f***ed up. i could have done it the first time. come on people dont be stupid.

right on Ryan I here yeah. finally someone that shares my point of view. I used to manage a snowbaord shop and we sold 1000's of boards each year and never had someone bring back a board because they hit the jib park and it fell apart.