Malibu Ugliness

Got little experience of my own re: Malibu Kayaks (I do have a Mini-Xtreme), but this exchange on KFS does not put Malibu in a good light (esp. its CEO) ...

http://kfs.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/948607442/m/8721024983

Entertaining reading, if nothing else.

Does Malibu have a rep for bad customer support?  Common to have defects in their scupper holes?

The comments about how to secure a yak make me wonder if I am cranking too hard on the straps.  I don't have a ratcheting mechanism, but do pull hard.  Anyone have experience blowing out a scupper hole by tightening their straps too hard?

-- Dave

Never paddled a Malibu but very interesting read. 

Haven't read the whole thread, but I have seen this movie before.  Unfortunately these online situations always seem to go bad from worse to holy cow. 

Over time I have seen my share of boats with significant imperfections from pretty much every Mfg. out there including MK, the difference is in how the situation gets resolved.  Regardless of Mfg., these poor dudes who end up with a bad boat from a distant dealer and Mfg. always seems to turn into a BIG mess of he said she said.  As a result, we almost never ship any kind of boat directly to a customer.  Yak supplies are ez to deal with, but shipping yaks frequently results in grief for somebody.  I recently experienced the same drama when I imported my Kaskazis.

No matter what kind of boat you get, do yourself a favor and get it from a reputable dealer within driving range so if have an issue you can have the dealer deal with hassle, while you go fishing.  This type of affair shouldn't be a customers issue to resolve.   

That scupper looks way to messed up to be a manufacturing defect to me. Sounds like the guy cranked it down on his rack and deformed it.

I kinda see his point though about a manual. We have a lot of new people joining the sport and it is kinda assumed everyone knows how to rack a boat on the car, weld plastic etc..

I read through this thread last night and it is not a good situation from many angles.  There is fault on both sides of the equation on this situation.

The customer is VERY demanding in that he really put Malibu in a tough spot with the way he went about ordering and taking delivery of the boat.  Malibu tried to do good by accomodating his out of the ordinary purchasing and delivery methods but wound up not being able to deliver as expected.  That caused a disgruntled customer from day one.  Danged if you do, danged if you don't.  

The defect in his boat is definitely owner induced and I really think a repair is more than appropriate in this case.  

On Malibu's side, I think they should have dealt with this more quickly and decisively and done whatever it takes to quiet this situation down.  But again, it seems no matter what solution is offered, this particular customer feels shafted because of the logistics of getting a boat in and out of Canada, etc.  Again, danged if you do, danged if you don't.  

Bummer all the way around.  

Bottom line... Business would be really easy if it weren't for the people (think about that one).  

Whoa...took a look at the pics in that thread and there is no way to get an XF footwell scupper to look like that other than major carnage.  Its a miracle the drack is so small.

I think the guys kids took it out int he backyard and trashed it at some point.

Sean if I drag my Marauder down 101 for a while can I get a free replacement boat? 

I kinda see his point though about a manual. We have a lot of new people joining the sport and it is kinda assumed everyone knows how to rack a boat on the car, weld plastic etc..

Amen to that  Back when I was part-time-employed with REI, I used to help customers tie down their yaks on their racks (sounds simple) and half the time the customers had no clue how to secure 'em. And every now and then, we've had customers coming back and returning "defective" kayaks. Kayaks that basically flew away from their roof racks cause they were not properly secured to begin with 

One question about one of the replies to the guy from Canada...is it true that plopping your butt into the seat can blow out a scupper hole? I can possibly understand it if the kayak were not in the water. When you're launching in the surf, I would think the idea would be to get into the kayak quickly and start paddling before the next wave, not a leisurely process.

Scuppers are like post that run through your kayak. If you where to plop on top of a scupper it can basically drive it through the hull, out the bottom. I think people thought the scupper damage was on the bottom (fairly common across all yaks for this to happen due to the stress there) but latter pictures showed it on top which is when I started thinking this guys did something really weird. I also can't understand how you get that much water in your yak (especially the X-factor or Extreme) with a crack there.

I also heard that cracks on scupper holes can also happen if you use these type of "wheels" - I wouldn't know first hand cause I never used these type of wheels.......but I can see the stress that the pole can do in the long run.

http://www.outdoorplay.com/store/product.asp?DID=134&PDID=12&SKU=EOU_PBSCP

Joel's right about the "thru the scupper" carts. My brother in law has one that he's used for years on his SPTW, but the boat has nothing added to it & is light for its length. A heavier boat + rough trail would likely = busted scupper.  Years ago when I worked at the UCSF program Outdoors Unlimited we had several rental yaks severly deformed (popped out the bulkheads) by overzealous rachet straps tightened up in the Nevada sun. I'll bet overtightening the straps could easily do the damage shown in the photo, especially if it was positioned right over the scupper.

I also heard that cracks on scupper holes can also happen if you use these type of "wheels" - I wouldn't know first hand cause I never used these type of wheels.......but I can see the stress that the pole can do in the long run.

http://www.outdoorplay.com/store/product.asp?DID=134&PDID=12&SKU=EOU_PBSCP

I hope Chuck is not using that type of wheels for his Hobie.

Joel's right about the "thru the scupper" carts. My brother in law has one that he's used for years on his SPTW, but the boat has nothing added to it & is light for its length. A heavier boat + rough trail would likely = busted scupper.  Years ago when I worked at the UCSF program Outdoors Unlimited we had several rental yaks severly deformed (popped out the bulkheads) by overzealous rachet straps tightened up in the Nevada sun. I'll bet overtightening the straps could easily do the damage shown in the photo, especially if it was positioned right over the scupper.

Now you've done it. When I finally get my first yak later this summer, I'm going to be paranoid about how much to ratchet down the straps.

I also heard that cracks on scupper holes can also happen if you use these type of "wheels" - I wouldn't know first hand cause I never used these type of wheels.......but I can see the stress that the pole can do in the long run.

http://www.outdoorplay.com/store/product.asp?DID=134&PDID=12&SKU=EOU_PBSCP

I hope Chuck is not using that type of wheels for his Hobie.

Nope.... Scwafish calls those "scupper wrecker carts" for good reason.  Those carts should be banned!