MARMOT WARRANTY
As an avid skier, I consider Marmot to be a premier brand of sports gear. Which is why I was glad to find, a couple years ago, a pair of their ski gloves on sale at a price I could afford. I bought them. Like them. Due to their strange color (white) I didn’t wear them regularly. In fact, I probably wore them about twice per season.
This past season, after very occasional use of the gloves, I saw that the at seams crooks of each finger were uniformly tearing. Each small tear was the same length, and in the same place. If I have been constantly spreading my fingers apart on the slopes, which is about what the opposite you do with your fingers while skiing, the stairs would be explainable. But the only conclusion I could come to for them was that these gloves were not so well and this was a manufacturing issue.
Considering that marmot products have a lifetime warranty, I called the company and they gave me the information on returning them for evaluation. Their policy is to check all products and, if they’re covered, they will repair or replace the product. If not, you would be charged for repair.
After a couple weeks, I checked the status of my repair on their website. No answer. So I had shot a message on the message posting feature of the status page. I got a reply within about 2 hours that my repair of valuation was complete and that my gloves were covered under full warranty. All I needed to do was call the 1 800 number and speak to her rep about next steps.
To my dismay I learned that yes they were covered under full warranty… but in Marmot’s case, that meant giving me a $40 online store credit to purchase a new pair. Okay.
On checking the marmot website, there was nothing for $40 that even resembled the gloves I had sent in. The ski gloves I sent in were fully insulated, had rubberized material for fingertip grips, and adjustable cuffs with tethers. The only globe in their current line that even resembled mine were over $100.
When I called the rap on this, they were firm in stating that the model of my blogs were almost 10 years old (even though I had bought them in the store about 3 to 4 years ago) and that they could not replace them with a matching model. My only option would be to buy a shell lining of a glove for $45, and then purchase the installation part (fleece lining) for another $45.
Unacceptable. I explained to the rep that if they are covering this under “full” warrantee, that I should be getting back the same type of glove I sent in. A warrantee is a warrantee—if there’s no time limit, it shouldn’t matter how old the model is, how long I’ve had it, or when I bought it.
The only solution the rep could give me was to wait until summer to see if maybe the price drop on that new identical love so that they could give it to me at a deep discount. Unlikely, but nonetheless it would take me waiting several weeks, if not months.
This one is still an active case. I wrote a lengthy letter on the messaging portion of the status page of their site telling them how I was the head of a local ski club, trusted marmot as a brand, and would like to continue trusting them if they honor their warranty.
Till now, no answer.