In the past I’ve mentioned a variety of customer service experiences on this blog because I think these things should be factored into purchasing decisions. I often find similar products from competing brands at roughly similar price points, so it’s good to know how a company will react to a warranty issue, or simply a technical support query. Since I have a voice on this blog, I’m happy to occasionally share these experiences so that you can keep them in mind when spending your hard-earned money.
I recently purchased a set of Black Diamond gaiters for hiking, and unfortunately one of the plastic buckles for tightening them broke on only their second trip. It wasn’t impacted, but the day was a cold one and I believe the cold temperature revealed a flaw in the plastic moulding.
I followed the simple support section on the Black Diamond website to submit an email and a photo of the problem. They quickly requested a copy of my receipt, and once they had that, they shipped a replacement set of gaiters to me with FedEx immediately.
They score huge points for this for a few reasons:
- The support section on their website was simple, concise and worked correctly with no bugs. (Often not the case, I’m looking at you, Drobo)
- They responded very quickly, and the response used understandable English. (Also often not the case these days)
- They used FedEx, instead of ground shipping, so I had a replacement via air in two days!!
- They didn’t mess around trying to fix the issue, they (amazingly) just shipped me an entirely new set of gaiters.
Black Diamond gear is a little more expensive than some other brands, but if they are going to stand behind their products like that, they’ve won a customer for life, and I’ll have no qualms recommending their products to people.