My experience so far with my new Hobie Lynx

Perhaps you could provide the serial number and Matt could post pictures of the same area of this kayak to show if the crease/defect was actually there before shipping. The last picture on the original post is a little hard to discern. Perhaps another picture from further away would help.

I would not be happy if that was part of the the acceptable manufacturing process, but it's hard to see in the picture how bad it actually is.

Also, was the kayak unwrapped and inspected at the dealer? Do you really think Hobie doesn't stack other kayaks on top of the Lynx kayaks when they ship to dealers? In my opinion it could have been crushed in route between Hobie and the dealer. Perhaps a photo of a loaded truck showing kayaks arranged would dispel this theory.

The last picture is really hard to get a good photos of, its hard to see when its far away, and hard to make up detail close in, but its basically a long uneven gouge out of the plastic, it looks 100% like the kayak was scraped across a sharp metal edge like a shelf, I can easily put my fingernail in it, probably the edge of a penny, but the packaging wasn't damaged so how could that happen during shipping.

I would be more than happy to share the hull number (CCMM1960B121) and have Hobie show the photos at their end sans damage.

I'd also love to resolve it with Hobie directly rather than in public like this but their support team responded that they would only work with my dealer, not with me, and when I sent them a followup with most of the details I posted here, they just ignored it, which is why I came here to talk about the experience.



yes the dealer repackaged the kayak quite thoroughly, but I'm not sure if the bubblewrap around the kayak was original from Hobie or not, I don't doubt some of the damage could have occurred between Hobie and the dealer, or at the dealer if the kayak was naked there. Given that some of the damage must have happened when it was without packaging, I can't see how you can gouge a kayak through packaging without it being obvious on the packaging.

In fact, the bubble wrap on my packaging was exactly the same bubble wrap as shown on Sprows post (https://ibb.co/Wnm5SFs), same recycling symbol, same carboard and foam, so I would suggest the Dealer never even unwrapped it, and just added the extra packaging (heavy duty hardboard, and another layer of plastic) which is even more suggestive this likely happened before it ever left Hobie.

Not possible that that type of damage to happen here at the factory. It could happen in transit to the dealer, which is why we require them to inspect upon arrival.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Matt, why not post the pictures of this kayak that you took at the factory to show the unhappy customer? I usually avoid statements saying something is not possible, because unless you were at the factory watching that particular kayak get wrapped, anything is possible. Careless employee with a box cutter, etc.

Regardless, it is clear the dealer did not unpackage and inspect the kayak. They should be held accountable.

There are some good lessons learned here for anyone thinking about having a kayak shipped to them by their dealer.

1. If it all possible, pick up the kayak at the dealer and inspect closely for damage or missing items. I had one kayak reshipped to me but will probably never do it again, will instead drive however far I have to and pick it up.

2. If your dealer is shipping the kayak to you, they should unpack, inspect, and confirm kayak is complete and undamaged before reshipping. Added to this, I would not want my dealer to ship me a kayak missing key components like Mirage drives or seats that are to be shipped to them by Hobie separately at an unknown date in the future.

3. Have dealer acknowledge that any apparent shipping damage or missing components at delivery is their responsibility to quickly resolve with their shipper or Hobie as appropriate. You should not have to contact the shipper or Hobie and fight for resolution, that is the dealer’s responsibility.

If a dealer won’t commit to #2 and #3, I would not buy from them. I would get the above in writing, email response fine.

Peter

So you are selling full price 2nd quality......
We are here because hobie is top in industrie and we expect nothing less.....
Lacking Quality Control i got my lynx full of hull defects like small dents , the same cutting line someone mentioned, deformed bow , creasess, bubble 2x1" , dirt in plastics......
Very poor quality sth expected on cheap chinese stuff.....
You are selling premium kayaks start acting like .....
I think you will get a lot of unhappy customers with lynx in the future.....

As noted... it is the process. The stretching plastic can and does wrinkle. As noted in your Lynx. I did not say your boat was a second, just that at times cosmetics can be considered enough to sell as a second.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)