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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