I've tried getting a hold of flysurfer a number of times and only get the occasional email response with no follow up... Why should I buy gear that expensive and not get support?

All I need are some LCL for my speed three 21 ... Easy fix right?... Wrong... I can't even leave a phone message because the mailbox is always full... I don't get return emails... WTH does a guy have to do to get some service from these guys at flysurfer ?

Are you referring to John at PowerZone or is there someone else? If John, I find that surprising as he has always been rather responsive to my inquiries. If you aren't referring to him, you might want to give him a shout as I'm sure he can get you sorted.

I think he's dealing with FS-USA .... I think that voicemail box has been full since 2009, when I tried to get ahold of them.


Dylan- Have you tried john @PZ? He was an absolute joy to work with on my FS tuneup.

I second calling John at PZ. He does have a full time job too but I have always had good luck working with him.

Ted Bautista is the guy at FS-USA I think... odd that you can't get hold of him, he's usually pretty good. Pops up on the FSer Facebook page and kiteforum.com occasionally too...

I have been a customer of Flysurfer-USA since 2004. I have been very happy with their customer service.

If I was to complain about anything, it would be that it is a one man show. When he goes on vacation, so does customer support. But that is a small complaint because it doesn't happen often.

Ted is a great guy to work with. I find it good to remember that Flysurfer is a small company and their importers are even smaller (pretty sure the importers have to do more than sell Flysurfers to pay the bills, so they are not getting rich off this sport). With that in mind, it helps me have patients with this small business.

When it comes to parts, I buy from Flysurfer. They always have what I need in stock, they don't charge much for shipping, and it only takes a week to recieve the shipment.

info [at] flysurfer.com

As others have mentioned, John is another good source.

powerzonekitesports.com

Also, if you are in the midwest and in a hurry, I can mail you some.

guys, i would hope we all could be more discrete in dealing issues like this. these drive-by forum blasts are lame....

if you are frustrated finding what you need , you can try other avenues like ask your forum buddies... we all have bags of those LCL since they come with every kite

i would recommend to everyone.... pick a dealer/rep and do your very best to stick with them. Ted is in charge of the whole USA.... and coordinating with other countries and FS headquarters plus the time differences etc...that is alot of communication challenges and alot of customers as well as dealers and reps to support , all competing for his immediate attention.

so if you have a dealer near you or one you are fond of and/or a have history with, then PLEASE use them first and try to let the hierarchy work properly. we as dealers and reps do communicate with each other to try to insure everyone is reached and helped.

Quote:

Originally posted by powerzone guys, i would hope we all could be more discrete in dealing issues like this. these drive-by forum blasts are lame.... if you are frustrated finding what you need , you can try other avenues like ask your forum buddies... we all have bags of those LCL since they come with every kite i would recommend to everyone.... pick a dealer/rep and do your very best to stick with them. Ted is in charge of the whole USA.... and coordinating with other countries and FS headquarters plus the time differences etc...that is alot of communication challenges and alot of customers as well as dealers and reps to support , all competing for his immediate attention. so if you have a dealer near you or one you are fond of and/or a have history with, then PLEASE use them first and try to let the hierarchy work properly. we as dealers and reps do communicate with each other to try to insure everyone is reached and helped.

Like

so i still havent heard back from flysurfer... as far as a forum blast goes, this is a customer service complaint, and a well founded one at that...

as far as dealing with powerzone goes, well... ive been burned by powerzone before, and i simply wont be contacting john for anything... i havent mentioned it here on the forum before, but since you were so kind to come by and say something, maybe i will now...

john, you remember that 17m flysurfer psycho 3 that i sent you? the one that had the tear and the line that needed to be replaced?

thanks for repairing the tear, but you totally forgot to replace the line... oh, and i guess when i called you to ask you about it, you just forgot... for three years (or whatever length of time)... all that $ on shipping to washington pretty much wasted, as i had to get somebody else to fix what you didnt, and refused to fess up to... you ignoring my phone call about getting screwed pretty well shows me what youre made of... thanks, buddy...

so while you come by here and let me know that i need to be loyal to my local dealer, maybe i can remind you that were were not so loyal to your customer, and thats why he left you...


... still needing LCL... still unhappy with flysurfers support... will not be contacting powerzone for any reason whatsoever...

unfortunately, i still cant remember the repair or the line in question here.... just too many kites , repairs, and projects.....for all the kites we see during a year, its impossible to remember each specific project attribute, that is why our repair form was initiated early on.... if the repair form is not filled out, then yes i can forget what may have been requested back in an email or phone conversation.... please, folks you gotta document the "order"

since this is now a public issue, i'll own up to it and attempt to take the high road and seize this opportunity to publicly apologize to Dylan: dude sorry man . all these yrs I had no idea, wish i could have made it up to you back then . i'll be paying even closer attention now projects hopefully to minimize possible errors . hopefully we can move on , you have made your anger and frustration abundantly clear.

does anyone out there have any spare LCL pieces for his kite ? they will fit in an envelope and it'll only cost a stamp. Flysurfers unite: send him some LCLs

What is an LCL?? Was it with the flysurfer I bought used from you John? If so I can look and get the stuff to Dylan.....I am not far from him. I have some extra of the lines that go thru the pulleys I think.....but they are for the speed 3 19m....Someone let me know or send a picture.

I needed to get with you anyway John...I broke an upper bridal line and need to send you my kite for a fix and tune!

You can't please everybody all of the time.

Even though I am in Canada John has always been there for me. Willing to work out boarder issues and drive that extra mile !

I can purchase Flysurfer at my local B+M but the owner knows almost nothing about bridled kites . He simply sends his repairs to North Sails.

John does care about his customers and Flysurfer kites. It's too bad that things didn't work out in this case. I know I will still prefer to deal with him than my local option.

John, I have a spare kit pack that can look through. I just don't know what I am looking for.

I just bought a fs 15m that I need a replacement line for that I will get from John.

Dylan, sorry you had a bad experience with John at powerzone. I would give him another chance. My experience with him has been EXCELLENT!

edit. Dylan U2U sent. I will try and send you some.

Quote:

Originally posted by powerzone does anyone out there have any spare LCL pieces for his kite ? they will fit in an envelope and it'll only cost a stamp. Flysurfers unite: send him some LCLs

Done. Well almost. I have several. Just waiting for the address.

Edit, Now its done

Quote:

Originally posted by dylanj423 so i still havent heard back from flysurfer... as far as a forum blast goes, this is a customer service complaint, and a well founded one at that... as far as dealing with powerzone goes, well... ive been burned by powerzone before, and i simply wont be contacting john for anything... i havent mentioned it here on the forum before, but since you were so kind to come by and say something, maybe i will now... john, you remember that 17m flysurfer psycho 3 that i sent you? the one that had the tear and the line that needed to be replaced? thanks for repairing the tear, but you totally forgot to replace the line... oh, and i guess when i called you to ask you about it, you just forgot... for three years (or whatever length of time)... all that $ on shipping to washington pretty much wasted, as i had to get somebody else to fix what you didnt, and refused to fess up to... you ignoring my phone call about getting screwed pretty well shows me what youre made of... thanks, buddy... so while you come by here and let me know that i need to be loyal to my local dealer, maybe i can remind you that were were not so loyal to your customer, and thats why he left you... ... still needing LCL... still unhappy with flysurfers support... will not be contacting powerzone for any reason whatsoever...

I can't believe your approach to this problem. If this is how you treat people, I can't imagine someone would want you back as a customer.

On the 4th, I posted that I could send you some LCL's. On the 8th you are still complaining and have not sent your contact info to send LCL's to.

Are you struggling with missery and just wanting to share it?

With all above being separate issue I have something that will pop up on forums too ....
In my opinion if theirs no response from support after countless approaches it is ok to let others know ..... If company find time to sell a kite to you and offers nationwide support that what client expects .... and its frustrating that you are ignored ... What you should do ?? Don't post because its lame and you hurt company reputation and hide you $1000 worth non working kite in closet to make issue go away ???
I am waiting on resolving warranty claim .... and I been informed that I will receive decision in beginning of 2013 for claim from July .... really ???? And then I have another issue with other distributor ... 3 month now .... and no ... I cant get that part from other source .... 3 emails ignored so far...
I own small business and know how hard it is some times .... but theirs is no excuse for lack of response for that long ... If I am crazy busy I hire help... If I have warranty claim I go there first before starting new project .... If I got massage or email from client I respond same day or few days later if I am away ....
There is always issue that may come up that cant be resolve .... but I let my client know why and try to explain situation instead of ignoring him ...

Quote:

Originally posted by sk8board On the 4th, I posted that I could send you some LCL's. On the 8th you are still complaining and have not sent your contact info to send LCL's to. Are you struggling with missery and just wanting to share it?

i appreciate your concern, but while you were waiting for me to get back to you i was busy working and going to school... the last thing i had time to think about was PKF... when i got back on, i immediately responded to someone who reached out and offered their help..

but thanks for suggesting how i might live my life...

since i am as equally qualified to judge you as you are to judge me, i will just keep my mouth shut...

so... the problem is resolved, i suppose... no thanks to flysurfer...

pretty awesome group of folks here on PKF... always has been, for the most part... thanks again, guys...

flysurfer could learn a thing or two from the guys on here... PS- still no word from the FS crew... how lame

finally got word from ted at flysurfer... along with a sincere apology... just letting everybody know

im not going to let their effort go unnoticed as far as making things right... i really do love flysurfer kites... they are sweet sweet machines and i would argue that they are the most advanced kites that are on the market...

thanks again to everybody that offered up help...

Quote:

Originally posted by dylanj423 when i got back on, i immediately responded to someone who reached out and offered their help..

I think you may have missed my point. All you had to do is U2U on the 8th and the problem was solved, but more complaints. I didn't see where the more complaints part was nessesary.

I don't think there is anything wrong with asking for help when support is not available and explaining your side. But at least be respectful of other people's livelyhood. It is not easy being a small business owner. For all we know there could be something like a family emergency at the root of the issuse.