UKH

Has anyone else had any bad experiences with Mountain Equipment's aftersales?

The velcro on the cuffs of my Lhotse jacket delaminated to the extent that I could not close the cuffs at all. After speaking with ME I sent the jacket to them asking for a repair under warranty. That was 6 weeks ago...and I've heard nothing. I emailed a fortnight ago and someone said they would chase it for me but they never did. The repairs factory (basically not interested) said they were outsourcing repairs and gave me the mobile number of some guy who does the repairs but never answers his phone. I've just spoken to someone at their head office again who has promised to make some progress today for me...

What a joke. If they can't be bothered they shouldn't be selling products in the first place.

In reply to JB:

While we are talking about bad service, I'd just like to big-up Lowe Alpine for their class service. A while ago I sent them my jacket to repair a cord and they sent it back within the week with free Grangers cleaning samples. My next jacket will probably be a Lowe as I have confidence that they are there for their customers.

With the damning effect that web forums have, Mtn Equipment are putting both barells through both feet with their serivce.

Dave

In reply to JB:

They lost my jacket whilst repairing the zip (under warranty).

It took a couple of letters to the MD to get a replacement but 4 Months later, a new one arrived. I was pretty hacked off at the time.

They have been pretty crap for 10 yers or so - since they went bust/ were taken over by the new company.

Some good bargains at the factory shop though.

Nick

Thanks Nick, although your post does not fill me with great hope!

In reply to JB: Well worried now. ALL my gear is ME. Just hope nothing goes wrong with it!

In reply to gourd:
I've never had any problems with them
Had my sleeping bag, and jacket sorted by them, without any fuss. I did take them into the factory outlet in Glossop though.

In reply to JB:

Yeah I had a ME jacket, it leaked badly after a month, so sent it back through the outlet I got it from. Nothing for 3 weeks, then after a call they told me it was at the Gore factory in Germany being tested?! Another 2 weeks and the outlet got hacked off and gave me a refund. I got a Mountain Hardwear jacket instead.

In reply to dave aldred:

Yes, I've also been impressed by Lowe's service.

Best thing I heard about them was that they were repairing FAKE rucksacks free of charge, and returning them with an explanation that this was actually not one of their products.

It should be remembered that nowadays both ME and Rab are not the companies that they used to be. Only the names remain.

To all intents and purposes, "real" ME gear is now made by PHD :

http://www.phdesigns.co.uk/

Not cheap, of course, but the best never is.

In reply to JB: My Lhotse had a leaky pocket. They asked me to send it in, and sent a new one almost straight away.

In reply to Cosmic John: Thanks for the link, I needed a new jacket and pants (salopettes)

That Alpamayo looks good

In reply to JB:

I emailed the enquiries address on their website and heard nothing. So I tried again two months later. Nothing. So, ten days later, I emailed the MD, and he arranged for them to do a repair FOC, which in the end turned into a replacement jacket (although of a different type, which I wasn't unhappy with). All I was after was a small piece of fabric to do a repair myself. I have to say that the third party repairers responded to an email within 24 hours.

So, although the end result for me was very good, their process does seem to be rather poor, a point I made quite strongly to the MD when thanking him for his eventual response. They also don't seem to support their third-party repairer by providing them with a source of matching fabrics.

In reply to Cosmic John:
After Rab was sold I took my old bag to their factory in Sheffield and they happily repaired a small tear for free. Seems pretty good service to me.

Bob

In reply to Robert Dickson: Sheffield not for much longer I believe

In reply to JB:
I bought a ME two layer XCR technical jacket a year ago in the sales at half price, it started wetting out after two days proper use, so I sent it bak with an explanation, and got a very quick reply -they had run out of teh jacket, and gave me an upgrade to a better jacket! This subsequently also wetted out (in snow!) very quickly, and they did take a long time to sort it out, eventually I got a replacement (plus free mountain gloves) the morning I was leaving on a trip. So yes they can be crap at getting back to you, but I did get a £280 jacket for £115, plus free gloves, so cant all be bad, but then I like complaining!

In reply to JB: Just wanted to praise Mountain Hard Wear. Had jacket that leaked down, was replaced within a week. Also had faulty NEC phone with 3. Sent it back, returned in 5 days minus battery. After 7 weeks of pestering their Indian call centre I was told to buy 1 from their website and fax the receipt to them to be reinbursed. Got battery next day but still waiting for refund! You win some, you lose some!