Since a few years I am owner of a Hobie kayak and I love it.
During my holidays in France the right pedal arm broke.
I was really happy and lucky that a Hobie dealer in Dives sur Mer helped me immediately.
The team there was very kind, and we changed the broken pedal arm.
As it was obvious, that the left arm seemed to have the same issues like the right one, we changed it too.
I paid 70€ per arm! But otherwise I could not continue my holidays in the desired way.
Coming back home I send an email to Hobie‘s European customer service, as I was aware that the pedal arm problem is best-known.
And it is best-known, that Hobie had been accomodating in all cases.
I did not ask for a guarantee replacement, I just asked, if there is a possibility for goodwill.
As you can see on the photos, the problem of the broken pedal arm is based on irregularities of the material.
This problem is very well known at Hobie.
I know, that Hobie had shown their goodwill in these cases several times before.
Only the answer on my request was extremely rude:
"Dear Thomas,
This falls outside of the two year warranty period on the product. "
I am not used to be treated like this and send a response more than one week ago and up to now, I did not receive an answer!
My question: is this Hobie‘s culture of customer relationship?
Please share with me your experiences.
Thomas