[Paddlewise] Defective Lendal Paddles

I have posted the letter to and from Lendal separately. I must say that I
had very good service from GRO when I had problems with my Nordkapp but the
service they offer is only as good as what they, in turn, get from the
manufacturer. I, clearly, will never buy another Lendal product again and
based on my experience with the company, advise others against purchasing
product from a company that sells badly manufactured items then doesn't
accept the responsibility when they fail.

Matt: I would like to reprint a portion of your e-mail for a final post in
some of the news groups if I don't get a satisfactory answer from Lendal.

cu

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net] On Behalf Of Matt Broze
		Sent:	Wednesday, April 21, 1999 4:22 AM
		To:	paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
		Subject:	Re: [Paddlewise] (paddlewise) Carbon paddles

		Bob Denton wrote:
		>I had a Lendal Carbon paddle with the crank shaft. I used
it very gingerly
		>for 3 months and the blade snapped in half. I sent it back
to GRO and their
		>response was basically...not our problem. Same with Lendal
in the UK. I was
		>able to reuse the shaft but the blades are not replaceable.


		An employee of mine had both blades of his Lendal modified
crank paddle
		delaminate for several inches at the tips and felt he had
done nothing to
		cause this. When he called GRO he was asked if there were
any nicks or
		scratches near the blade tip. When he said there were a few
small ones he
		was told he had abused the paddle and the damage was
therefore his fault.
		Needless to say I never sold another Lendal Paddle in our
store and now
		won't sell any paddles that the manufacturer or distributor
won't agree to
		stand solidly behind. I think Lendal is making a big mistake
with Bob and my
		employee and should reconsider their policy for there own
benefit. Instead
		of a loyal customer they create a dissatisfied customer with
a story to tell
		and by blaming the customer they miss the opportunity to
learn from them. In
		the short run this may save a few refunds but in the long
run it will cost
		them in reputation, less sales and future quality problems.
		With Lightning Paddles if a paddle breaks under warrantee
(and very
		occasionally a graphite one does) we tell the customer we
will give them a
		full refund, a new paddle or if possible repair the
damage--even if the
		damage was entirely their fault (such as accidentally
backing over it with a
		car). All we ask for is an honest answer as to how the
damage occurred and
		their understanding that a replacement paddle of the same
model would not be
		guaranteed, so they should choose a stronger fiberglass
paddle (and a
		partial refund) or be more careful with the replacement
paddle this time.
		Lightning Ultralight customers almost always decide to get
another
		Ultralight and be more careful. It is not as strong as the
fiberglass ones
		but they love its lightweight and promise to carry a good
quality spare.
		Lightning backs us up and repairs or replaces the paddle. By
eliminating any
		incentive to lie we and Lightning will know if the paddle
needs to be beefed
		up to prevent similar damage to paddles made in the future
or it was just
		subject to unusual abuse that could be expected to break a
paddle. These
		customers also have a story to tell but they become an even
bigger fan and
		promoter of the product as a result. You can't buy this kind
of advertising.
		Greg Barton also took very good care of a customer of ours
who broke a
		graphite shaft Epic paddle in the surf (the most likely
paddling location
		where a paddle might break--especially unfeathered ones).
Greg replaced the
		shaft with a slightly huskier one and told the customer he
was now a tester
		and to go ahead and use it in the surf again (something we
warn lightweight
		graphite paddle users against) and if he broke that one he
would replace it
		yet again.
		Our experience has been that surfing (invariably it happens
while capsized
		and disoriented--and to an unfeathered paddle) or forcing
(or slamming) the
		shaft against a hard edge are what can break a lightweight
graphite paddle.
		Disclaimer: while we sold all the paddles mentioned we have
no interest in
		any of the companies (beyond how they treat our customers).
		Matt Broze
		www.marinerkayaks.com


	
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