Artic Armor Poor Service

[slamminsam]

I think I got was I was looking for from you the "Ice Community"...support!!  Thanks...you are the real people of reason!!  Thanks for your support and "hearing" of the real issue.  Tight lines.

[slipperybob]

All I know is that I never got any spare snaps with my suit...

[ice dawg]

All I know is that I never got any spare snaps with my suit...

I did and thought I was gonna have trouble with snaps, but none so far. Maybe I need to get on the ice more often.

[revpilot]

Id be pissed to.  $300 bucks and a month old, it should have been replaced no questions asked!!!  

Ill be sure to pass the poor service info along to others!!!

[W4lleye]

Now that's what I call good service.  In the long run it makes the company a lot more money than it loses on this sale.

Clam 2000, used 60+ days then returned to Dick's.  Had flaws under 90 days, no questions asked. 

As far as AA's customer service goes, that sucks to hear.  Thanks for the heads up. 

I will, of course, mark it up as an isolated incident until i see a trend longer than just a few complaints.  People are slow to compliment, but lightening fast to "gripe".   That said, i don't see a whole lot about AA in general, and what i do is generally good.  If i had 300 bucks id be rocking the Pack suite......... but only if i was XXL.   

[CrappieGuy]

Strange I had great service from them, had one of the clasps on the bib straps that connects to the buttons on the front of the bibs break on me well after a year of buying it.  They sent me a replacement and another set no questions asked and no charge.

Glad you got it resolved, but it should of been handle right away the first time.

[GCD]

Strange I had great service from them, had one of the clasps on the bib straps that connects to the buttons on the front of the bibs break on me well after a year of buying it.  They sent me a replacement and another set no questions asked and no charge.

Glad you got it resolved, but it should of been handle right away the first time.

Did you purchase you suit directly from I.D.I or from somewhere else?

[HARDTOP]

Did you purchase you suit directly from I.D.I or from somewhere else?

What difference does it make if it is their stuff they should take care of it..

[ice dawg]

Strange I had great service from them, had one of the clasps on the bib straps that connects to the buttons on the front of the bibs break on me well after a year of buying it.  They sent me a replacement and another set no questions asked and no charge.

Glad you got it resolved, but it should of been handle right away the first time.

I would say that being taken care of more than a year after buying the suit is being treated well no matter where you purchased them.

[Merv]

I had a problem with my Lx-5 flasher and called marcum and they said send it back to us will fix it for free and i said don't you need proof of purchase to honor the warranty and he said no he doesn't care if its 10 yrs old they will fix it as long as it doesn't look like it was dragged behind a vehicle, so that's is pretty Darn good customer service in my books.

I was thinking about buying myself a AA but after reading this I'm having second thought i hate sh*tty customer service and don't honor there warranty that's why I'm looking for a new suit cause I bought a Artic Cat sno pro suit $700 and the buttons break the zipper goes in afew days and the pockets have holes in them when i get it. call artic cat up they don't fix or take suits back after you receive it now what kind of warranty is that once it leaves the warehouse its your problem needless to say i wont be buying from them ever again considering all the money I spent there over the years 3 new snowmachines and count less gear and suits.

Sorry about the ranting I hate crappy customer ticks me off 


Tight Lines

Merv

[Rebelss]

Jon and Chris at Marcum are great, aren't they? 

[Arctic_Armor]

I am VP of Sales & Marketing for Innovative Designs Inc, the maker of the Arctic Armor suit. I wanted to post to defend our customer service. Because of the growth of certain big sporting goods retailers, the entire retail industry is in turmoil. When you sell product to these big accounts, they DEMAND an additional discount which is called a return allowance. What this does is give them the ability to take back anything and everything that a customer returns. It doesn't cost them anything and actually if a manufacturer's returns exceed the amount of the discount, you are billed for the difference. If they receive no returns, the money is not refunded. This puts our valued retailers at a disadvantage. They do not have the same "take back anything" policies. Innovative Designs has a very friendly warranty policy. It is our goal, when a retailer identifies a problem as a manufacturer's defect, to remedy the situation as soon as possible with the customer in mind first. It is inevitable that a button, snap or zipper could be defective. Our retailers offer their customers the quickest and easiest solution possible. Sometimes it is taking the suit to a local tailor/seamstress to have the item repaired, with the bill sent directly to us for payment. If the customer isn't able to have the problem fixed locally, we offer the option to send it to us for quick repair by our local tailor. The definition of "good" customer service to some people these days is only hearing yes-yes-yes. But it's sad to say that many people attempt to take advantage of the system. We receive calls every week from people who say our suits have mysteriously torn apart in their closet, shrunk 3 sizes even though they were washed properly and somehow have a burn hole even though they were nowhere near their heater. Or the gentleman that demanded we accept his bibs to check the manufacturer's defect, which turned out to be evenly spaced auger cuts. Or the customer who is accomplished at 'renting' products and returning them after they are finished using them. These calls are getting more and more frequent, and are causing us and all other manufacturer's to be more cognizant of the situation. Just to let you know, we also get many calls from customers who 'admit' they have damaged their suit. Do we tell them "Sorry we can't help you?" We have sent out so many free patch kits free of charge that we stopped counting them. We have repaired many suits at NO charge that were accidentally damaged. We have had many customers order the wrong size suit and ask if they can exchange it with us. We exchange the suit and ship it back to them at no charge. I am extremely proud of our customer service and the products that we offer. You've heard the addage "You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time" Yes, my name was mentioned in one of the posts on this thread. I was not part of the original conversations that occurred regarding this snap. But I did intervene after the 3rd or 4th call. I explained our company policy, and the quickest way to handle the problem. I have to disagree with some of the posts here saying that we, or any company, should simply give the customer a new suit if a .02 snap comes off. I wonder what would happen if these same people purchased a new vehicle and the windshield-wiper fell off? Replace the car?? Well after I tried to explain our policy I was told "You just don't get it" "I want to speak to your boss!", so I passed the call along to our CEO. I am no longer involved in this situation, nor do I want to be. I know how we value our customers and give them excellent customer service. We will continue to do this as long as we offer our products. For those of you that will never buy our products going forward because of this, so be it. For those of you who know who we are, and how we value you as a customer, we'll be here for you...

[W4lleye]

 

[hnd]

a 300 dollar coat isn't even in the same realm of a 30k vehicle.  bad analogy.  i deal with bad customers all the time, but i don't complain about them to other customers or potential customers.   sounds like a company i'd like to do business with.

[eyesonice]

I have been employed with a company that believes that customer service is the most important thing about our business second to none and no exceptions for over 25 years. If any representative of ours would post something like that I feel very confident that they would be quickly relieved of their responsibilities. I believe that there are numerous people that try to get stuff fixed or replaced because of their own foolishness and that sadly is part of doing business. Customers can be a real pain in the arse but hey wthout them you wouldn't have the job that you do. The company doesn't pay you, the customers do. Just my 2 cents worth, which after gassing the vehicle up today is all I have left.

[Otto]

I think a lot of companies are still trying to figure out how "social media" fits in with their sales and marketing goals.  I can see there are still lessons to be learned. 
I got an Artic Armour suit for Christmas and have worn it several times; I love it!  Thankfully I have not had to deal with any customer service departments.  I (or my wife) bought my suit from an authorized dealer, I didn't know AA sold direct.....as a matter of fact, I am pretty sure they don't.  If I have a problem with my suit, I am calling the company I bought it from (the one I gave my money to) to deal with it, not the manufacturer.
Just my .02 too.

[Buckeye Fan]

I have an Artic Armour suit and have a heck of the time with the zipper on the jacket.  Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me.  Sometimes it takes 5 or 10 tries to get it to zip up correctly.  There are times when i just ride home on the 4 wheeler jack wide open cause I just give up on it.  I have not called guy I ordered from yet but I will if anyone else has this problem.

[SkeeterJeff]

Yeah, I have had to fight hat zipper a time or two.  Thought it was just me, but my wife recently bought the AA suit and she struggles too.  You have to look at the zipper and make sure it seats in both zippers at the bottom, then make sure the teeth above are as straight as possible until the zipper starts.  From that point, no problems.

-Jeff

[slipperybob]

I don't have any problems with my zippers.  It could just be me.

[rgfixit]

That's a sad commentary from a "VP of Sales/Marketing". You didn't even have the courtesy to sign your name or provide personal contact information to resolve problems.

Have you ever heard of Bob Farrell?

He's the very successful restaurateur who began a side business teaching customer service. It evolved from an incident in his diner when a customer asked for extra pickles with their sandwich. The waitress informed the customer that they would have to pay for extra pickles. The customer (a regular) was so disappointed with that answer they stopped coming to his diner. Bob eventually ran into that customer and mentioned that he hadn't seen them in a while. He asked if anything was wrong.

When the customer related the pickle incident to him he was astonished that something so insignificant as a pickle could dissuade a customer from coming to his restaurant.

He embarked on a new philosophy and it spawned a positively based customer service policy that I learned and has stayed with me for years in business.

GIVE THEM THE PICKLE SIR!

Your defensive posture (by your own description) is appalling.

"For those of you that will never buy our products going forward because of this, so be it."

Be happy I'm not your CEO. For a statement like that , made to the largest single group of ice fishers on the internet, your butt wouldn't  bounce once when I tossed you out the door.

RG

[onebadc20]

I am VP of Sales & Marketing for Innovative Designs Inc, the maker of the Arctic Armor suit. I wanted to post to defend our customer service. Because of the growth of certain big sporting goods retailers, the entire retail industry is in turmoil. When you sell product to these big accounts, they DEMAND an additional discount which is called a return allowance. What this does is give them the ability to take back anything and everything that a customer returns. It doesn't cost them anything and actually if a manufacturer's returns exceed the amount of the discount, you are billed for the difference. If they receive no returns, the money is not refunded. This puts our valued retailers at a disadvantage. They do not have the same "take back anything" policies. Innovative Designs has a very friendly warranty policy. It is our goal, when a retailer identifies a problem as a manufacturer's defect, to remedy the situation as soon as possible with the customer in mind first. It is inevitable that a button, snap or zipper could be defective. Our retailers offer their customers the quickest and easiest solution possible. Sometimes it is taking the suit to a local tailor/seamstress to have the item repaired, with the bill sent directly to us for payment. If the customer isn't able to have the problem fixed locally, we offer the option to send it to us for quick repair by our local tailor. The definition of "good" customer service to some people these days is only hearing yes-yes-yes. But it's sad to say that many people attempt to take advantage of the system. We receive calls every week from people who say our suits have mysteriously torn apart in their closet, shrunk 3 sizes even though they were washed properly and somehow have a burn hole even though they were nowhere near their heater. Or the gentleman that demanded we accept his bibs to check the manufacturer's defect, which turned out to be evenly spaced auger cuts. Or the customer who is accomplished at 'renting' products and returning them after they are finished using them. These calls are getting more and more frequent, and are causing us and all other manufacturer's to be more cognizant of the situation. Just to let you know, we also get many calls from customers who 'admit' they have damaged their suit. Do we tell them "Sorry we can't help you?" We have sent out so many free patch kits free of charge that we stopped counting them. We have repaired many suits at NO charge that were accidentally damaged. We have had many customers order the wrong size suit and ask if they can exchange it with us. We exchange the suit and ship it back to them at no charge. I am extremely proud of our customer service and the products that we offer. You've heard the addage "You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time" Yes, my name was mentioned in one of the posts on this thread. I was not part of the original conversations that occurred regarding this snap. But I did intervene after the 3rd or 4th call. I explained our company policy, and the quickest way to handle the problem. I have to disagree with some of the posts here saying that we, or any company, should simply give the customer a new suit if a .02 snap comes off. I wonder what would happen if these same people purchased a new vehicle and the windshield-wiper fell off? Replace the car?? Well after I tried to explain our policy I was told "You just don't get it" "I want to speak to your boss!", so I passed the call along to our CEO. I am no longer involved in this situation, nor do I want to be. I know how we value our customers and give them excellent customer service. We will continue to do this as long as we offer our products. For those of you that will never buy our products going forward because of this, so be it. For those of you who know who we are, and how we value you as a customer, we'll be here for you...

You must have some thick knee pads to get the VP of customer service job with that type of attitude.   I'd be willing to bet that your rant just cost Innovative Designs Inc. thousands of dollars in future revenue.  Shame on you. 

GIVE THEM THE PICKLE SIR!

I think of this story everytime I read about companies with bad customer service.

[fellinonce]

 Cant agree more. I do have a new suit in black and like it very much. However, after that explanation of customer service, I dont think i'd do buisness with a company like that again. You get what you pay for! As for Arctic cat, they are just as bad. Maybe they should stick to sleds, cause the four wheeler is junk, Three carbs in four years, and a nice trail of gas everywhere i go

[GCD]

I am VP of Sales & Marketing for Innovative Designs Inc, the maker of the Arctic Armor suit. I wanted to post to defend our customer service. Because of the growth of certain big sporting goods retailers, the entire retail industry is in turmoil. When you sell product to these big accounts, they DEMAND an additional discount which is called a return allowance. What this does is give them the ability to take back anything and everything that a customer returns. It doesn't cost them anything and actually if a manufacturer's returns exceed the amount of the discount, you are billed for the difference. If they receive no returns, the money is not refunded. This puts our valued retailers at a disadvantage. They do not have the same "take back anything" policies. Innovative Designs has a very friendly warranty policy. It is our goal, when a retailer identifies a problem as a manufacturer's defect, to remedy the situation as soon as possible with the customer in mind first. It is inevitable that a button, snap or zipper could be defective. Our retailers offer their customers the quickest and easiest solution possible. Sometimes it is taking the suit to a local tailor/seamstress to have the item repaired, with the bill sent directly to us for payment. If the customer isn't able to have the problem fixed locally, we offer the option to send it to us for quick repair by our local tailor. The definition of "good" customer service to some people these days is only hearing yes-yes-yes. But it's sad to say that many people attempt to take advantage of the system. We receive calls every week from people who say our suits have mysteriously torn apart in their closet, shrunk 3 sizes even though they were washed properly and somehow have a burn hole even though they were nowhere near their heater. Or the gentleman that demanded we accept his bibs to check the manufacturer's defect, which turned out to be evenly spaced auger cuts. Or the customer who is accomplished at 'renting' products and returning them after they are finished using them. These calls are getting more and more frequent, and are causing us and all other manufacturer's to be more cognizant of the situation. Just to let you know, we also get many calls from customers who 'admit' they have damaged their suit. Do we tell them "Sorry we can't help you?" We have sent out so many free patch kits free of charge that we stopped counting them. We have repaired many suits at NO charge that were accidentally damaged. We have had many customers order the wrong size suit and ask if they can exchange it with us. We exchange the suit and ship it back to them at no charge. I am extremely proud of our customer service and the products that we offer. You've heard the addage "You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time" Yes, my name was mentioned in one of the posts on this thread. I was not part of the original conversations that occurred regarding this snap. But I did intervene after the 3rd or 4th call. I explained our company policy, and the quickest way to handle the problem. I have to disagree with some of the posts here saying that we, or any company, should simply give the customer a new suit if a .02 snap comes off. I wonder what would happen if these same people purchased a new vehicle and the windshield-wiper fell off? Replace the car?? Well after I tried to explain our policy I was told "You just don't get it" "I want to speak to your boss!", so I passed the call along to our CEO. I am no longer involved in this situation, nor do I want to be. I know how we value our customers and give them excellent customer service. We will continue to do this as long as we offer our products. For those of you that will never buy our products going forward because of this, so be it. For those of you who know who we are, and how we value you as a customer, we'll be here for you...

I agree with you 100% sir!

Some people don't live in the real world and can't take reality, even in small doses.

I'd really like to hear how much the repair cost the Original Poster for his snap to be fixed and compare that to the shipping of the garmet both ways he expected IDI to absorb to fix 1 snap.

[Philover]

Got the same problem with my jacket zipper, hasn't been a big issue, just an annoyance.

[BURNSEY]

Nothing but trouble with the zipper.

[rgfixit]

I agree with you 100% sir!

Some people don't live in the real world and can't take reality, even in small doses.

I'd really like to hear how much the repair cost the Original Poster for his snap to be fixed and compare that to the shipping of the garmet both ways he expected IDI to absorb to fix 1 snap.

$30 in shipping costs and a $.02 snap, just cost this company a bunch of business.

I do live in the "real world" every working day. I'm the service manager for a medium sized company with individual, institutional, commercial and corporate customers. There is no question as to our responsibility to customers at our company. Our customers are important to us. We do whatever is necessary to satisfy them. We exceed their expectations every day. The "Pickle" is what we provide. The extra, the unnecessary in some cases is what it takes.

What seems to be missing here is a clear understanding by IDI of what customer expectations are. Moreover, IDI's representative seems offended and inconvenienced by a customer's request for service to a defective product.

  I'm going to take the liberty of sending this thread to the attention of the CEO of IDI. I'd be very interested in that person's opinion.

RG

[mr.bartender]

maybe next year will be a better time to buy one as aa should have all the quirks worked out after this thread! that is if they are paying attention!!

[DR.SPECKLER]

kinda got me leaning towards the frabill snosuit even if it doesnt float.i buy stuff from companys that will back the product no matter what.

[revpilot]

 Your dam right if i pay 300+ bucks for a suit and a 2cent snap comes of or a 50 cent buckle breaks in the first month, i want a new one!!

It always the ones who havent had any problems with their stuff that come running to defend them, but if the shoe was on the other foot they would be crying..............

[Liter Of Cola]

I am VP of Sales & Marketing for Innovative Designs Inc, the maker of the Arctic Armor suit. I wanted to post to defend our customer service. Because of the growth of certain big sporting goods retailers, the entire retail industry is in turmoil. When you sell product to these big accounts, they DEMAND an additional discount which is called a return allowance. What this does is give them the ability to take back anything and everything that a customer returns. It doesn't cost them anything and actually if a manufacturer's returns exceed the amount of the discount, you are billed for the difference. If they receive no returns, the money is not refunded. This puts our valued retailers at a disadvantage. They do not have the same "take back anything" policies. Innovative Designs has a very friendly warranty policy. It is our goal, when a retailer identifies a problem as a manufacturer's defect, to remedy the situation as soon as possible with the customer in mind first. It is inevitable that a button, snap or zipper could be defective. Our retailers offer their customers the quickest and easiest solution possible. Sometimes it is taking the suit to a local tailor/seamstress to have the item repaired, with the bill sent directly to us for payment. If the customer isn't able to have the problem fixed locally, we offer the option to send it to us for quick repair by our local tailor. The definition of "good" customer service to some people these days is only hearing yes-yes-yes. But it's sad to say that many people attempt to take advantage of the system. We receive calls every week from people who say our suits have mysteriously torn apart in their closet, shrunk 3 sizes even though they were washed properly and somehow have a burn hole even though they were nowhere near their heater. Or the gentleman that demanded we accept his bibs to check the manufacturer's defect, which turned out to be evenly spaced auger cuts. Or the customer who is accomplished at 'renting' products and returning them after they are finished using them. These calls are getting more and more frequent, and are causing us and all other manufacturer's to be more cognizant of the situation. Just to let you know, we also get many calls from customers who 'admit' they have damaged their suit. Do we tell them "Sorry we can't help you?" We have sent out so many free patch kits free of charge that we stopped counting them. We have repaired many suits at NO charge that were accidentally damaged. We have had many customers order the wrong size suit and ask if they can exchange it with us. We exchange the suit and ship it back to them at no charge. I am extremely proud of our customer service and the products that we offer. You've heard the addage "You can please some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of the time" Yes, my name was mentioned in one of the posts on this thread. I was not part of the original conversations that occurred regarding this snap. But I did intervene after the 3rd or 4th call. I explained our company policy, and the quickest way to handle the problem. I have to disagree with some of the posts here saying that we, or any company, should simply give the customer a new suit if a .02 snap comes off. I wonder what would happen if these same people purchased a new vehicle and the windshield-wiper fell off? Replace the car?? Well after I tried to explain our policy I was told "You just don't get it" "I want to speak to your boss!", so I passed the call along to our CEO. I am no longer involved in this situation, nor do I want to be. I know how we value our customers and give them excellent customer service. We will continue to do this as long as we offer our products. For those of you that will never buy our products going forward because of this, so be it. For those of you who know who we are, and how we value you as a customer, we'll be here for you...

1)  I know we all know this, but anyone could have posted the above.

2)  If someone at the VP level of a company did, in fact, make the above rant (part of which is trashing their current customers) it's pretty easy to tell where IDI's customer service issues start (hint....... it's not at the bottom).  What executive in their right mind posts things like this in a public forum of his biggest customer base?

3)  Every company in every industry has customers who abuse the system.  Anyone who works in retail or customer service -- or sales and marketing -- in any capacity wouldn't be surprised to learn of this.  It's part of doing business and part of the cost of doing business.  I know.  I have worked in QA my entire career.

4)  Maybe one of the reasons the snap failed is because -- according to IDI management --  it only costs .02.

5)  I've been looking to upgrade my current suit with one that floats.  Was going to pull the trigger this year on at least the bibs unless I got a good deal on the whole suit.  After reading the above, and with the rumors of Frabill offering their own floating suit next year, I'm definitely gonna wait.  Maybe a little competition will help the situation.