Poor customer service

[robzr]

I took my Akona bag with me to Mexico, and the airlines broke one of the plastic rails on the bottom of the bag. The airline would not cover it because they said it was not a "hard sided bag" despite the fact that it has hard sides. I emailed Akona asking if I can get it fixed, even if I had to pay for it and they never wrote me back...

Is that a typical experience with Akona customer service?

Rob

 

[Sherwood SCUBA rep.]

Dear Rob,

I manage the incoming issues for AKONA and the Scubaboard inquiries as well. I don't recall seeing an email from you recently.

So let me respond to your inquiry here. All issues with AKONA products should be brought back to the local dealer you purchased the bag from. Without seeing the damage I cannot determine whether or not it can be fixed.

Please bring the bag into your dealer and we will work closely with them to try and solve your problem.

Thanks,
AKONA

 

[robzr]

It was April or May, submitted via the Akona "contact customer care" web interface. I bought it online, so I can't bring it into the local dealer...

Rob

 

[Sherwood SCUBA rep.]

Hi Rob,

I am sorry you didn't hear from us at that time. I was managing the incoming inquiries. Sorry I missed you.

If you purchased the bag from an online dealer you will need to contact them. The AKONA Dealer that sold you the bag is the one that should assist you with your damaged bag.

Thanks,

 

[brahma]

"I manage the incoming issues for AKONA."

"If you purchased the bag from an online dealer you will need to contact them. The AKONA Dealer that sold you the bag is the one that should assist you with your damaged bag."

Nice "management"....

 

[Sherwood SCUBA rep.]

I am sorry Brahma? I am not sure I understand your comments. I have to assume they are sarcastic in nature. Are you troubled by the way we manage the incoming inquiries and issues?

If there is a problem with the bag we are more than happy to resolve the issue, we just ask the consumer to go back to the dealer they purchased it from. Just like an automobile, if you have a problem with your car; you don't send the car back to Detroit, you take it to the dealer. I don't see where the problem is.

AKONA

 

[robzr]

I am sorry Brahma? I am not sure I understand your comments. I have to assume they are sarcastic in nature. Are you troubled by the way we manage the incoming inquiries and issues?

If there is a problem with the bag we are more than happy to resolve the issue, we just ask the consumer to go back to the dealer they purchased it from. Just like an automobile, if you have a problem with your car; you don't send the car back to Detroit, you take it to the dealer. I don't see where the problem is.

AKONA

I contacted my online merchant, they said since its now out of warranty (it wasn't when I originally had the issue and reported it), they won't do anything, they said all they could do (understandable) is send it into you guys to fix anyways. But since it's out of the 2 year warranty, I am now SOL. Understandably they would not fix a bag as they wouldn't stock parts for it, and frankly it would be an unusual expectation on my part that they do. It is a manufacturer warranty after all, not a retailer warranty.

I have other duffels/bags by both Patagonia and Bad Bags, both of them offer a lifetime warranty, unlike Akona or car dealers (which are pretty different businesses and products, don't you think? If you can show me where I can bring my bag into fix please do - but there are no Akona dealers around me who stock spare Akona parts to fix my bag, unlike my car. My Akona bag also doesn't cost $20k and weigh 2 tons which would make it cost prohibitive to ship, like a car.)

Patagonia and Bad Bags both will fix at their own expense forever if it's a product quality issue (and I know from experience Patagonia is very liberal with this). If it's completely my fault, they will still fix it, at a moderate cost to me. Again, I know from experience that Patagonia doesn't profit on this, they do it as a service to their customers - thats one of the many reasons I'm a Patagonia customer for life.

My Bad Bag ATB-1 is awesome as well; only 7 lbs, reasonably priced (cheaper than my comparable Akona bag was), VERY well constructed roller duffel and they have a reputation for killer customer service as well - if anything ever happens with mine, I'll find out, but after a few trips so far no issues, unlike the Akona. I just used the ATB-1 on a 3 week trip to Chuuk/Palau/Yap, had 12 flights total and it performed wonderfully and worked great with my SCUBA gear.

Needless to say, I will not be purchasing another Akona product. Yes, I do have a problem with the way you guys manage issues, so I'll take my business elsewhere, and the business of my friends, a few of whom have also now happy Bad Bags customers thanks to my advice. I'll just write off the purchase price of my Akona as a bad learning experience.

regards,

Rob

 

[hypersonic]

Mr Sherwood SCUBA rep.

You can manage your business any way you want but Akona may want to re-think the policy.

I was an early purchaser of two of your high dollar 2009 Akona Evolution Bags AKB159. The bags had a design defect which showed up after the first trip. I contacted you via a scubaboard PM. Got the standard answer, send the bags back back to LP. You were not even interested in pictures until I insisted you provide an e-mail address.

So the bags went half way accross the country (at my expense) to NYC where they probably sat for several weeks before they traveled to California. Meanwhile, I did not have bags for my next dive trip. Eventually, credit showed up on my master card account for the purchase price of both bags but nobody ever said s***.

Now you have a PO'd customer (me), who wrote a negative but honest product review for the LP site. My experience was echoed by another AKB159 customer who also posted a negative review on the LP site.

I then posted a negative review on this forum which too was followed up by another AKB159 buyer who experienced a similar failure.

All this could have been avoided. Akona developed a new bag...it had a design defect...I was willing to work with you to sort out the issues...your response was to ship it back (at my cost) to the seller...which left me in a vacuum for months.

If that is the way you want to deal with your customers then so be it. But you can bet I won't be spending my future purchasing dollars on any Akona product or for that matter even a Sherwood product. Nor will I hold back on re-telling my bad experience with Akona/Sherwood.

 

[ScubaInChicago]

Thank you very much to the above posters. I have 2 Akona bags that are functional (now) and will be up for sale shortly. I don't want to be caught with my pants down with a worthless bag that I can't get reasonable customer service for. I am usually very brand loyal and will take the proceeds to find a manufacturer who doesn't use the dealer like a middle man to avoid contact with me.

P.S. I will also be avoiding Sherwood products in the future because of these responses. Comparing the business model of a car dealership is absurd.

Thanks for showing your ignorance in a public forum for all to see Sherwood/Akona.....

 

[Rainer]

I don't see where the problem is.

Then I'd suggest you get out of customer service. You're terrible at it.