Shop review: Urban Alpine Ski Shop FAIL
As we all tend to do, we all have our shops that we love and recommend to everyone, this is the exact opposite.
I would NOT recommend purchasing anything from Urban Alpine in Squamish, BC or their eBay store, mskiwalker.
I purchased a pair of K2 Mindbender 116C from their eBay store in late November for $500 BNIP. The skis showed up quickly with no issues, great.
I got the skis up, skied them 5 days, and they delaminated (Jan 6). My shop in Jackson suggested contacting K2 to warranty them, as did a K2 athlete in town. I opened a warranty with K2 the next morning, told them what happened, where I purchased them, and they asked me to send them some info, pictures, receipt, ect. K2 asked me to go through the warranty process via the eBay store I purchased them from. The eBay app makes it super easy to send messages to retailers, so I asked them about warranting a pair of skis (Jan 8). I got no response. I passed this on to K2. K2 was not happy at how cheap I got the skis for, way less then US retail, and told me they couldn't verify the eBay store as a certified K2 retailer, and said they couldn't help me, and to try the retailer again (Jan 14.
Im now more then slightly grumpy because my brand new $500 skis broke after 5 days and K2 couldn't warranty them. But I under stand their point of view. K2 also suggested I call them back over the summer when they have more inventory because they didn't have much stock.
Six says had passed and I hadn't heard anything from the eBay store. I tried again (Jan 14), but didn't hear anything, so I left a very negative eBay review.
Im still unhappy, so I dug through my PayPal and found that the charge for the ski went to UrbanAlpine. So I found the website, and called them (Jan 14). To start the conversation they were great, they asked for pictures of the damage, and what happened. I sent them everything right away. The next day (Jan 15) I got an email they were talking to their K2 rep and would get back to me. I had heard nothing since Jan 15, so I called the shop (Tues Jan 21), and talked to Drew, who I had been working with. Drew said he was told K2 might not warrant the skis (which I get), but may, and if they dont, they will sell me a pair at cost. I was not too happy, but I get it and a new pair at $330 USD was better then nothing. Drew said he would talk to K2 and get back to me. On Friday (Jan 24) I hadn't heard anything, so I called the shop and left a message for Drew, and the guy who answered the phone said Drew would call me back. Today, Sat Jan 26, I called the shop again, and talked to Drew for 15 seconds, just enough time for him to tell me we were done and he wasn't helping me because I left a negative eBay review. Then he hung up on me.
This is the worst customer service I have ever had from a ski shop. I will not be shopping them. Im just warning you guys. You may of had different experiences, but this was terrible. K2 gave me legitimate reasons why they couldn't help. UrbanAlpine was just lazy. Skis arent supposed to break after 5 days, and when they do, you should do what you can to make the customer happy. I would of been ecstatic to buy a pair at crash replacement cost, but to be out the skis and the money, well that sucks.
Ive broken a bunch of gear over the years, and every single shop Ive gone to in person has been super helpful and warranting them, no matter where I purchased them from. We dont have a K2 dealer in town, so I tried to do this over the phone, and had terrible customer service at all angles. The skis are awesome, I love them, even bought another pair cause they were that good, but UrbanAlpine sucks. Id go somewhere else, they suck.
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Shop review: Urban Alpine Ski Shop FAIL
I need to add in I talked to K2 USA via email and the phone. I heard through Urban Alpine that K2 Canada had stock of 193 Mindbender 116Cs.
Purchased via PayPal, and I haven’t gotten to opening a claim via PayPal yet. The eBay claim period is past.
I purchased K2 skis because they are great skis to ski on. Durability was a question mark (as is with every ski, but I’ll agree more so with K2) but I heard a bunch of good things from friends and athletes about how K2 is changing things. And the skis really are great, as I said, I bought another pair because I liked them so much. I’ve tried a few American ski companies and haven’t gotten along with what they produce. I tend to like German and Austrian skis.
I meshed really fast with the Mindbender 116Cs, to the point where my skiing got a bunch better as I was very comfortable on them. A few mags who I regularly ski with even noticed and commented that I looked like I really liked the 116s.
Skis shouldn’t have the top sheet peal off the core after 5. I’ll add pictures below. That’s $100 a day of use, who can afford that? Not me, and if you are offering a warranty for manufactures defects, delam after 5 days is a defect. I built fiberglass boats for a few years. If the fiberglass peals off the core after 5 days, you did a terrible job during prep, and fix the issue.
Haven’t gone back to K2 USA with the PayPal receipt showing Urban Alpine as the retailer since K2 USA was out of 193 cm Mindbender 116Cs last time we talked. I will go back to them again when the winter is over and after some more research.
Get Drew a log in. I’d love to hear the argument on why multiple messages and calls were not returned. If you offer shit customer service, you get a shit review. If I’m on a ship and the officer or charterer emailed me asking for info about an arrival to Japan, and I wait a week to get back to them, I’m looking for a new job. Drew asked me to keep the communication through eBay because it helped him with something due to the business on his end, then did not respond to any messages. That gets you a crappy review.
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