Easton Warranty issue

[Gongshow11 1]

I don't want to knock Easton Warranty as they are by far the best I've dealt with in the business. however, ever since they moved the US warranty to kentucky, i've found the people to be less personal.

For example, my roomate broke an SL in 22 days. So naturally he sent it back. He then got his replacement, used it in 2 practices, and 1 game. The blade has since cracked on the bottom so bad that u can't even use it. Keep in mind these 3 ice times happened in 11 days since the return. He calls up Easton, says is this normal for an SL to break in 3 ice times. The broad on the other end says well hockey is a physical game, and for you to have a big crack on the bottom might mean you don't hold the stick properly. He goes um excuse me, i've used the forsberg/modano pattern for about 8 years, I've never changed it up. She says we deal with hockey players everyday, he goes do you personally deal with them? She says sorry we can't do anything and hangs up. He then calls back and a guy answers and talks to his supervisor. Supervisor says if you broke the stick in 7 days we'd replace the warranty, but not with 11 days. This is to a customer of easton since he was a baby and could shoot the puck.

I just don't understand how easton can accuse him of breaking the stick when he used it 3 times. Obviously its a defect if it is beat up terribly.

What do you guys think in this? and don;t give me the BS of he should be happy that he got a stick back and its a warranty. 4 days? come on

[Gongshow11 1]

well he broke his first stick on a one timer, and if easton sent out a warranty replacement, im sure they deemed it to be a manufacturing defect. An SL used 3 times and severely cracked has to be one too. the problem i think is how easton gavce him 2 lame excuses, one blaming his ability, two a four day difference.

[CTHockey 2]

The only problem with the warranties is them deeming if the stick broke due to a true "manufactorers defect". In my honest opinion if ive used a stick 4-5 times a week and on the 22 day it broke as i was firing my 200th slap shot then id have a hard time believing it was because of a manufactorers defect!!! Funny how no one use to complain when they were spending $20 on a wood stick, better yet i hardly ever had customers come back when they spent $35 on a blade for their graphite shaft and that then broke!! Customers need to understand that their paying for the Technology of the stick and then a chunk of that price is for the warranty itself. Manufactorers spend millions of dollars every year on "warranty replacements" because customers think if the stick broke no matter what then they can get a new one. These sticks break just like any other stick, no one told you when you bought it that because you spent $150 on a stick its going to last forever. A true "manufactorers defect" in my opinion is if the fuse point comes lose, a crack in the blade or shaft after the first day or two, and things of that nature. I laugh when i see customers come in and they put all their weight into the OPS so see the flex and they wonder why they break in no time. I hope one day soon they get rid of the warranty all together and just lower the price of the sticks. Easton has the new 200 which is no where near a high end stick but it has no warrarnty and we sell it for $59.99. Ive never had a customer walk through the door complaining when those break!! When a business has atleast 10 customers on a average day walk through the door holding a broken OPS wanting to know about the warranty etc, then to me thats truely a problem..

[hockeyherb 1]

I've often wondered about the fact that you can get a pro-stock stick for roughly 2/3 the retail price but of course you don't get the warranty. So is it a fair assumption that the majority of the price difference is due to the manufacturer having to provide a warranty?

Personally I'm not very hard on sticks so I'd love to be able to buy a retail stick with no implied warranty and pay less. I know it's not really feasible for the manufacturer since warranty coverage would be spread across less sticks hence making them even more expensive (not to mention monitoring which have warranty, which don't), but I wonder if some company could try that approach.

[KYHockey3 0]

what do you mean about the us warranty being moved to kentucky?

what do you mean about the us warranty being moved to kentucky?

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Easton's warranty department moved from Salt Lake City to Kentucky.

[KYHockey3 0]

Easton's warranty department moved from Salt Lake City to Kentucky.

wow...i never knew this, what part?

[Gongshow11 1]

CTHockey, hes complainign about the stick they sent him, if it is cracked terrible after 3 uses, wouldnt that be a manufacturing defect?

[chippa13 1844]

I don't want to knock Easton Warranty as they are by far the best I've dealt with in the business. however, ever since they moved the US warranty to kentucky, i've found the people to be less personal.

For example, my roomate broke an SL in 22 days. So naturally he sent it back. He then got his replacement, used it in 2 practices, and 1 game. The blade has since cracked on the bottom so bad that u can't even use it. Keep in mind these 3 ice times happened in 11 days since the return. He calls up Easton, says is this normal for an SL to break in 3 ice times. The broad on the other end says well hockey is a physical game, and for you to have a big crack on the bottom might mean you don't hold the stick properly. He goes um excuse me, i've used the forsberg/modano pattern for about 8 years, I've never changed it up. She says we deal with hockey players everyday, he goes do you personally deal with them? She says sorry we can't do anything and hangs up. He then calls back and a guy answers and talks to his supervisor. Supervisor says if you broke the stick in 7 days we'd replace the warranty, but not with 11 days. This is to a customer of easton since he was a baby and could shoot the puck.

I just don't understand how easton can accuse him of breaking the stick when he used it 3 times. Obviously its a defect if it is beat up terribly.

What do you guys think in this? and don;t give me the BS of he should be happy that he got a stick back and its a warranty. 4 days? come on

Is it just me or does it sound like the kid got a little snippity with the first warranty person? Catch more bees with honey folks.

[Gongshow11 1]

i think so too, but she started accusing him of not playing hockey properly,. he said she told him he was using the stick wrongly. i bet this would never happen in utah!

he just told me he left a message with the supervisor there last tuesday, and never got a call back

[CTHockey 2]

The thing most people dont realize and this has been confirmed by my rep is that most of the sticks you get from easton as a warranty replacement are seconds, or sticks that didnt pass the initial testing. Ive broken plenty of warranty replacements in no time compared to a brand new one off the shelf. Granted they may replace all broken sticks no matter if it was a true manufactors defect or not, but the fact that there giving out seconds as replacements is kind of evening it out in a way. There is no true way to determine whether or not a stick broke because of a "manufactor's defect" or a "players defect" aka hitting it across the post, putting all their weight into it, taking 500 one timers, or using the wrong lie and having the heel wear out. As long as these companies continue to hand out warrantied sticks no matter what the consumer sends them then there will always continue to be this discussion about these sticks!!

As far as Easton moving its warranty dept to Kentucky, they try and split it between Kentucky and Salt Lake City. SLC was getting overwhelmed with warranty issues so they opened up a new location to help solve the long wait for replacement due to back log! Now they just have to hire a few people that can look at a stick and truely tell how it broke. I know someone who sent them a turd and they got back a brand new Stealth CNT (hopefully you picked up on the sarcasm!!!!)

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Now, now, you don't want to get your rep in trouble by putting words in his mouth...

[sc37 0]

At least they didn't move that warranty center to India like every tech company seemingly has done with their customer service :P

[CTHockey 2]

Im not putting words in anyones mouth unless theres some rats that like to run and tell all the big shots they know. And whats wrong with what they told me??? Its pretty obv that the sticks you get back arent the cream of the crop, they may look ok but obv their performance isnt the best. And since they dont have any type of warranty with them its a no brainer for them to send you those types of sticks. Im in no way implying its the right thing to do, but for them as a company its worth it i suppose. Ill continue to preach they should do away with the warranites all together until it actually happens. There will come a day soon enough when consumers will refuse to pay 200 for a hockey stick and companies will be forced to lower their prices one way or another!

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Only reason i'll buy Prostock OPS is because of this. No reason to pay double for a warranty I won't use.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

What you must understand is that EVERYBODY in this industry reads this board. And this is a small industry.

[mew1838 0]

I will never buy a $200 stick that can only last for a month if you are lucky. I personally find it ironic that expensive sticks break easily (more $$ to replace) and cheap sticks can last longer (Less $$ to replace). At least for skates the higher end you go, the stiffer they are and the longer they will last under normal circumstances. Could it be because the manufacturers purposely let the durability be less than average because if sticks last forever, they will never sell new ones? Call me crazy but that's just my wild assumption.

[CTHockey 2]

I truely hope they do read this site and get some great information from not only the consumers but the retailers as well. But how long and how much money will they have to spend before one of them snaps their fingers and implements a no warranty policy and drops the prices. Im sure in the end they'd still make millions of dollars and wouldnt have the hardache of having to designate an entire department to replacing OPS. We sell pro stocks at our store for around 100 or so and ive had maybe two or three people come back in two years with questions when they break. I dream of the day when this will be so with any and every stick we carry!

[DamnLocust 0]

I don't see prices coming down (for top models) at all. With materials costing more and more, as well as the depreciation of the USD, prices will continue to rise (see 9K O stick, mission Fuel, Warrior Kronik)

Any company who would abolish warranties (and retaining prices where they are) would be committing economic suicide.

Warranties are here to stay, and no stick will succeed on the market without one of at least 30 days.

Easton's new warranty policy is the only way manufacturers will cut back on costs incurred through warranties.

[Datsyukiandeek 0]

Someone on here had a pretty decent idea a couple months ago. Sell sticks in two packs at the current price. Make every stick, prostock no warranty and call it a day.

I doubt it'll happen but I think its a pretty good start.

[JR Boucicaut 3810]

Could it be because the manufacturers purposely let the durability be less than average because if sticks last forever, they will never sell new ones? Call me crazy but that's just my wild assumption.

PERFORMANCE.

[CTHockey 2]

Ouch, hey atleast you agreed with one thing i said. No need to rough everyone up on all the other stuff. And since i would never name drop i just wanna tell you that he is not my rep. But hey maybe ill find out who the rep is out in CA and start name dropping every time you make a comment. So from what your saying is that youve seen where all the warrantied sticks come from, i mean you were actually in Mexico and saw the company creating a batch of sticks that would be used for warranties and stamping all those sticks with "warranty replacement. You then followed those sticks to Salt Lake City or Kentucky where you then saw them inspect the broken sticks and send out a brand new shiney "warranty replacement". Im not trying to bash anyone or stir the pot but i highly doubt it. I know every company puts their sticks through a quality control test and what do you think they do with all the sticks that dont pass??? You think their just going to throw away airspace grade graphite thats hard to get at times or does it make sense to do what i was told?? Its not like there working with cookie dough where if something doesnt come out right they can just roll it back up and start over. The only thing i have to back up what i was told is through personal experience and from what i see from customers walking through the door. Ive been using OPS since the day they came out, during college i was given dozens of them and ive broken my fair share. It doesnt take a genious to figure out somethings up when ive probably broken about 10-12 warranty replacements in less then two weeks over the years. Youll never hear me complain about that though, i think they make a great stick and its our fault we continue to buy them even though we see them breaking all around us.

[nicksmission14 0]

Yep isn't that the truth, Even if they break we will and have continued to buy them. I don't buy the retail sticks anymore, Strictly pro-stock sticks. I've been able to get more life out of them.

[vapor96 0]

I don't know about anyone else. But for the guys that have been playing a long time, I would think we would not care if there was no warranty on the sticks. At some point the manufacturers are going to do away w/ the warranty programs pertaining to these sticks. These policies are in place because of the price of the sticks and the tooling for the manufacturing process is expensive. Let's face it. With hockey, sticks break. They always have. The aluminum shafts broke, nobody complained. The companies are their own worst enemy. They made the warranties available. But we should all stop whining about it. Technology and light weight cost money. For example in racing there is a saying: "Speed cost money. How fast do you want to go?" These sticks are the same They give most people a harder shot and that is all. You pay for this. We play hockey. Who cares about a warranty.

[DarkStar50 680]

Lots of great points here.

I don't think warranties will be abolished. Easton is headed in the right direction with the new double ID program on SE. That will become the norm for everyone soon enough. Not all customers can afford the I don't need a warranty mentality that the more educated MSHer has because he reads so much here. I deal with all kinds of consumers in the pro shop across a spectrum of those with dollars to burn and those without. The warranty levels the playing field for all consumers who want to buy the OPS and need to justify it to themselves when they purchase the OPS for the kid.

This idea of high end performance OPS dropping in price some day is funny. Just like "Speed costs money...." performance in OPS also costs money. If you want a VW OPS, buy the low-end price point. If you want a Porsche OPS, aka Stealth, etc., you will step up and spend the money because you understand what you are paying for and why. Its ok to say for some that they think $200+ is too much for a OPS. Just like everything else in the shop, the consumer has choice and can buy it or not. The companies have no obligation to make high performance product less expensive because some cannot justify the expenditure. Players can do with or players can do without. The companies will never lose money because a handful think $200+ is too much money. Check the majority of people who play hockey: they play because they can afford to play!!