Is it just me, or do companies in the Wakeboard industry have some of the best customer service? Maybe its more of a personal, face to face industry, where the companies and riders are for the most part well connected with their fans and customers. I mean…who hasn’t had great service from Geoff, Trent, or any of the other guys at Wakesports? You can call or walk in there any time of day and meet face to face with any of those guys to get some new gear, an opinion, riding tips, or just to bs with them.
That’s just on a local scale. I have had great support from manufacturers whose products I have purchased as well. The first decent board I bought was an 07 CWB faction, with their hinge-tech bindings. After a year of riding that board constantly in salt water, the metal wire on the hinge on the back rusted through and split, causing metal splinters all the time. I also lost one of the screws holding the bindings to the board. Since it was unusable at that point, I emailed up CWB and told them about the problem. I recieved an immediate response from one of their customer service reps, who got my address and promptly sent out a set of new screws and some new wires for the bindings, along with some stickers and promo material.
On another incident, my new Gator Gonzalez bindings that I was recently given (Thanks to Lazer Dave!) had a malfunction. I didn’t tighten down the thumb screws on the bindings again, and after a day of tough shredding, I lost another screw. I called up Gator, who happens to be up near Temecula (in Murrieta I think). They immediately sent out a set of 4 new screws, and a ton of stickers and promo stuff. I was back on the water in a couple days, ready to ride.
Its stuff like this that makes customers for life. In a day where companies treat most of their customers like crap, where you have to prove that their product is indeed broken, by no fault of your own, before they will replace it under any sort of ridiculous warranty. They make you feel like a criminal when you are just trying to get what you paid for! Just was thinking about this today and it dawned on me that most companies in the Wakeboard industry seem to be keeping it personal and maintaining great customer service, and I, for one, appreciate it.
