Black Diamond

[Clevis Hitch]

Anybody else notice a drop off in customer service and overall quality of almost every aspect of BD. My last two experiences with them have been zero's.

I bought a climbing back pack from them last year and it had a zipper that was stuck. I talked to the rep and he couldn't have given a shit less. Then I call BD to get the bag fixed/replaced. They gave me a R/A number and I sent it to them. A month later they sent me a gym bag. It wasn't even the right bag! I called them and they told me that they no longer sold the bag I originally bought, even though it was still listed on their website. I told them I would rather have my broken bag back than get stuck with a gym bag! The CSR said he'd email me a new R/A number and get me my old pack back. I think it was close to closing time and he didn't want to deal with me. So he told me what I wanted to hear to get me off his line(?) I don't know what happened but I never got a email or a new R/A. So I had the gym bag and I'd already spent $10 in shipping to get my bag to them and when they gave me a new R/A I'd have to drop another $10. My bag cost $130. The gym bag was worth $70. Rather than dump another $20 in shipping with no gaurantees of getting MY bag back and waiting and making multiple calls to BD and never getting a straight answer, out of neccessity I just started using the gym bag.

The second rub was when I bought a bunch of cams. My #6 came with a broken trigger! From the factory it came with a broken trigger! This is a piece of equipment that I'm going to be trusting my life to and it came factory, with a broken trigger! WTF! It hadn't even been placed. There's no scratches on the lobes. BRand friken new...broken. I took it back to the store and they called BD while I was standing there and BD said they'd send a new cam 2 day air. Two weeks later. After not getting the cam, I get the shop to call again...once again, "we're going to send it two day air..."

Should I hold my breath?


Anybody else have a similar experience, Has Black Diamond quality shifted?

[DHB]

Sounds like the new owners are making some changes.

Whatever makes the investors happy.

[pigsteak]

joe, you should get your gear from a less corporate environment. i know a guy who forges cams in his basement while hitting the meth. he answers his own phone.

on the pack, could you have asked for a refund first time aound? or was the gym bag sent without asking you?

[Clevis Hitch]

the gym bag was sent with out me asking for it. They just said that the $70 gym bag was a direct replacement for the $130 bag....WTF! Arcteryx makes a couple of bags I'm really interested in. I just gotta find a dealer who's local. Anybody who knows who carries Arcterxy?

[Toad]

J&H in Lex.

[toad857]

i don't expect gear companies to kiss ass, but they should damn well take responsibility.

it'd be pretty bold for the Black Diamond folks to assume that people won't talk about shit like this... they should know better. this thread has had ~150 views in 12 hours. all from climbers. hmmm.

[camhead]

Well, let's give the BD Customer Service Rep the benefit of the doubt. He might have been on his way to a leadership presentation, submitting TPS reports, or something like that. Be sympathetic; he might be outsourced by this time next year.

[KD]

"welcome to black diamond my name is Peggy..."

[ynot]

They get the benefit of the doubt the first time. By the third time it's obvious they are not worth dealing with.
BD was the best. Maytag was the best. Crafstman was damn good once. What the hell? Is it greed? Incompitent management? both?

[Clevis Hitch]

I've heard that BD shipped all their manufacturing over-seas. Thats why if you send them your bag. They can't have somebody on the manufacturing floor sew a new zipper in it and send it back to you. The sewing machine and the operator of said sewing machine are in bangladesh. So the best they can do is send you a new bag... That cost half the price because,"We gotta move these 237's!Move!Move!Move!"