Sup44 said..Ali Cat said..
I think JB is right, a forum isnt the best place to discuss your concerns, and thereby degrade a brand, unless all other avenues for resolving the problem have failed. In your second post, you say that Naish is replacing the board under warranty - doesn't that tell you something about their service and integrity?
I know you've said you were a fan of your old naish boards so you don't have it in for a brand, but your first post could be very discouraging for anyone considering purchasing an LE board - many people won't read on to see you later say the brand did the right thing and offered you a warranty, they will just take your first post and reconsider their purchase.
I was clear that I have been pleased with Naish in the past and spoke to the integrity both as a company and their GT models. Whether or not that was included in the first post is irrelevant. As far as deterring people from purchasing a potentially defective 2014 LE? I can say that I wish I had been better informed. So no, I won't censor my posts, both positive and less positive, regarding my SUP experiences with SUP companies on a SUP forum. I will say that I will most likely will buy from Naish again and reiterate the fact that Naish has held up to their reputation in keeping good with the warranty. I do hope they learn from their mistakes and produce the great boards we know their capable of producing.
I'm sorry if my comments offended you, that was not my intention, maybe it's my aspergian traits but I get the impression that maybe my comments, as yours, we're open to more interpretation than I thought.
I know you made it clear you're a fan of naish and you would still buy their boards in the future. The discussion you've opened up about the pro construction boards sacrificing a little durability compared to the GT in order to get a lighter weight board is definitely a valid forum discussion and could help many people in their decisions with future purchases depending on whether their priority is for weight or durability. I'm not asking you to censor your post in this respect.
However as JB said, your first post is open to interpretation - the defects that you describe in your board were clearly beyond the standard deck impressions you would expect with the lighter weight pro construction and my interpretation from that first post alone was that Naish had informed you it was normal - end of story. So if I was a potential buyer I would be discouraged by the possibility of paying top dollar for a Pro board if I could expect to be able to push my thumb straight through it.
Knowing from your follow up post that your board was abnormally soft and was warrantied would change my interpretation of your earlier comments significantly, making me aware of the issue you raised but confident that if I did purachase a pro construction board and was unlucky enough to get a really soft one that didn't hold up at all - I would have a valid claim for a warranty (even though the process can be a hassle) and not be told it was simply normal.
For someone just flicking through the forum and only reading your first post it could appear that although you're a fan of Naish boards, their follow up service was poor, when in fact, once a significant durability issue was identified their service was very good in providing you with a warranty - to me this service would be a major difference in considering a board purchase.
If the simple comment regarding the warranty was included in your first post, the possibility of misinterpretation would be reduced and the rest of this discussion, as well as JB's details on the change in construction to combat this issue, could be very helpful for many others considering a purchase.
