UKH

I bought a couple of Beal unicore ropes recently and one of them has sheath slippage after either 4 or 5 outings. They are primarily for lakes multi pitch and winter use, but I've taken them to the wall to see how they handle lowering and falls and to gain confidence in their skinny diameter. The last time I used one of the ropes I had difficulty lowering the leader as the sheath became bunched up and didn't want to go through my belay.

I have contacted the company I bought the rope from and they have been very helpful and asked me to send them some photos. This morning I got a reply with a link to book a return courier, but with the information it said that Beal can take 30 days to assess the rope! Add in a week for it to get from me to the company I got it from and onto Beal and then a week for Beal to issue a new one and that to then make it to me and I could be without it for 6 weeks or so!

Does this seem like a normal timescale or excessively slow? I was hoping to use them in the next month if conditions and partners aligned. 

I had some faulty shoes from Scarpa, they kindly agreed to replace them for new ones at no extra cost, which was highly appreciated.  The whole process from the 1st email (to the right distributor), postage, a bit of back and forth dialog, to getting the new shoes, took about 2 months.  

Surely its going direct to Beal?

From todays email it looks like it is going to the supplier and then forwarded on from there. 

You have your contract with the shop, not beal. If the object sold is defective and you are within a certain time period, normally 6 months, you are entitled to a replacement.

Check out: https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/what-do-i-do-if-i-have-a-fau...

What the shop chooses to do with the rope afterwards is up to them.

Cheers

Chris

And the retailer may send the item back to the manufacturer for assesment first, it's standard practice.

The company appears to be based in Germany, although they have a co.uk Web address. 

Have you been using as a single rope at the wall?

Yes, they're rated as a single, half and twin. 

Interesting, I have been thinking of one of those.

The other one is fine and a dream to use. 

Maybe avoid buying a green golden dry one in 60m manufactured in July last year! 

Respectfully, I would insist on a replacement or refund prior to sending off to the manufacturer - the consumer rights act 2015 is very clear here and quoting the act to tuet shop normally pursaudes them to supply the replacement or cash.
 

Assuming Baron Weasel hasn't abused the rope and is after a quick buck the burden of responsibility does not  fall on his shoulders to get to the bottom of what went wrong.

30 days after sale you have to give the retailer one chance to repair or replace the item. Sending it back to the manufacturer for appraisal is absolutely normal.

What if it turns out the OP has abused the rope? Beal and the shop are out of pocket 1 replacement rope. Is the consumer going to pick up the bill?

When did you purchase?

I got them in October, both made in July. Purchased from different companies based on getting the best deal. 

Out of interest... How can you tell when the rope was manufactured? I both two opera golden dry ropes that came in different packaging and was wondering how old the older role was.

Just a thought to throw out there, I have always bought my gear for whatever sport I'm currently in to from a single place, normally a physical shop and built up a relationship with the the staff. Any time I have had problems it's never been a problem.

4k mountain bike snapped on first race, replaced in 24 hours. 

1k kayak split after 9 month, replaced in 48 hours and the shop gave me the new model whilst putting the returned old model back on their shelf.

£600 shot gun, this took a about 5 weeks for the repaid but they lent me a gun for the period. 

There's a manufacture date on the heat shrink at the end of the rope. 

Indeed, but it is the shop who should organise this and Baron Weasel should not have to wait for the manufacturer to investigate the cause before a replacement is issued.

I agree completely, at the moment the simple economics of keeping a roof above the family and food on the table is a serious priority. I have second job on top of a full time job which I'm using to replace my 20+ year old climbing gear. Buying the ropes online saved me about £80. 

They have and he must.

They are just following consumer law protection.........to my knowledge...so it is reasonable.

Agreed.......and in any case, most decent retailers now go beyond their statutory duties. (Note I said decent....) I always buy items such as ropes from one of the 2 good retailers in Ambleside or Keswick - I’m confident that they’d look after their customers better than in the case of the OP.

At the risk of taking thread in a different direction... I thought unicore ropes didn't have a sheath so how can there be slippage?

The sheath and core are glued together.

... or not, in this case (apparently)

Hot-systems need a certain amount of quality and process control, not something the French are famous for..........

Any chance you could share the photos? I'm sure someone boring will be interested in seeing what you're describing....

Also I'd just try calling the manufacturer and explaining it to them directly. 

Eh?  Were they hoping the next punter wouldn't notice?

I only verbally abused it, does that invalid my warranty?!?! 

Rope packaged ready for Mrs Weasel to take to the post office tomorrow (first opportunity we've had). 

Fingers crossed it won't take too long - I'm going to message Beal's UK rep asking if they can expedite the turn around (I had a message from a fellow ukc'er who had a similar problem who gave me the details). 

Just looks like a new rope, I'd have to use it to get the sheath to bunch up again.