Someone who was disappointed in Lotus wrote: +AD4- disappointed with the company. +AD4-I seem to remember reading in r.b.p that Lotus was bought out by a bigger +AD4-company and there were fears that the product would suffer. FYI Lotus was purchased by Patagonia. +AD0-O Scary thought. Steve Scherrer Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe 250 NE Tomahawk Isle Dr Portland, OR 97217 Phone: 503.285.0464 Fax: 503.285.0106 Web site: http://www.aldercreek.com Email: acks+AEA-teleport.com +AF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8AXwBfAF8- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/11/99 10:07:31 PM Eastern Standard Time, acks_at_teleport.com writes: > FYI Lotus was purchased by Patagonia. +AD0-O Scary thought. why scary? *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
At 06:53 PM 12/11/99 -0800, Steve wrote: >Someone who was disappointed in Lotus wrote: >+AD4- disappointed with the company. > >+AD4-I seem to remember reading in r.b.p that Lotus was bought out by a bigger >+AD4-company and there were fears that the product would suffer. > >FYI Lotus was purchased by Patagonia. +AD0-O Scary thought. That someone was me. I'm not disappointed in Lotus as a corporate entity - bought out or not. I'm disappointed with some of the regional disparity with respect to dealer support which obviously affects me as a consumer. I was also disappointed with their R&D man who did not seem interested in my "paddler input". The R&D guy was also dishonest with me. I was wearing my heavily modified Lotus Straight Jacket PFD with customized back pocket arrangements and double tow-line with bungee (an integral setup). He asked me why I had modified the PFD, what other improvements I would like to see, and then more importantly, what other manufacture's PFDs did I like or prefer, and why. I told him that the Palm Equipment and the Kokatat brand stuff was far more superior in terms of sea kayaking and towing/storage needs, and that these other companies seemed more interested in real-world liason with the touring paddler (my impression from Palm's advertising). After my lengthy discussion, he *then* informed me with a big grin that he worked for Lotus (Patagonia, I guess). My specific beef with the guy was that some of the issues I raised were *safety* related, and I feel important ones. These include the poor methodology the company employs for securing the 'biner to the front pocket (it simply clips onto a pocket web strap, so that when you open the pocket, the 'biner just falls to the deck. The 'biner can also clip to something you don't want it to because unlike the Palm PFD for example, it doesn't have a nice little pocket to secure the 'biner). I could go on, but I get back-channel e-mails about my gabbiness, so I'll sign off, but not before mentioning I'm sending an e-mail to the Lotus company about all this. I should also mention the Lotus R&D man could have just been on holidays, so he had a right to be so disinterested in my concerns. While he did listen and ask questions, he was really put-off with me near the end and walked away in mid-conversation. Fine, I'm nobody - just a paddler looking for lovely gear in all the wrong places. BC'in Ya Doug Lloyd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Doug Lloyd wrote: > > Fine, I'm nobody - just a paddler looking for lovely gear in all the wrong > places. You're not alone. I find it amazing the degree to which I spend inordinate amounts of time searching for good gear to no avail. I know the products exist, the technology exists, the materials exist, but the manufacturers and/or retailers can't deliver. And I'm shopping in the largest market in Canada - Toronto and surrounding areas. I'm not just talking about kayaking - this is true of all sports and activities I enjoy. I was talking to a Salomon ski rep a few weeks ago about the Pilot boot- binding system. I told him if they added a adjustment bolt here and attached the other end to this it would make a binding that would adjust for different weight skis and snow conditions. He told me his sister and father, both engineers and non-skiers, told him the same thing when they saw it. I then told him I said the same thing to the rep _last_ year. Do you think that the info gets back to R&D or headquarters? The problem may be that there is no incentive for the reps in the field (who contact the consumers) to feed info back to R&D. And there may just be the Not Invented Here syndrome at work. After all, the R&D guys schmooze with the elite atheletes so why should they respect the opinions of the stiffs who actually _pay_ for the stuff! Grumble, grumble... Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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