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Title: Burn Water Post by: Briankim79 on June 11, 2009, 11:13:52 PM Does anyone know if the new burn water paddles are out? (The Reactor II and Stroker II)
I am hearing rumors of bad things happening to burn water. Is this true? Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on June 15, 2009, 01:27:22 PM Unfortunately I have given up all faith in Burnwater and their products. I tried to give Arin and Burnwater the benefit of the doubt but after months of non-communication and poor service I have decided to no longer use Burnwater.
I originally purchased a Reactor (first generation) which bubbled in the blade portion of the paddle. I e-mailed him about this issue on 9/13/08 and he mentioned that he will be at the San Francisco DBF race to replace my paddle. I went to see his booth and Arin graciously replaced the paddle for me with the exact same model. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, My name is Mike and I paddle with LARD down in Los Angeles. Today I noticed that my carbon paddle is bubbled at the blade. Several other paddlers on my team who got their paddles in my batch had the same issue. Is there anyway we can resolve this? Let me know, thank you. Quote from: Arin Mike, Will you be at the tI race in SF? I will have a loaner that you can use for the race. I will need to take a look at it and I do not have any inventory to deal with the situation at the moment. I will have some inventory arriving just before the race. So stop by and come and see me. Arin Everything is fine until I head down to Los Angeles only to notice the same issue. I only used this paddle for 4 race heats that weekend to have the paddle bubble AGAIN. I thought this was ridiculous but I would have been fine if he offered to replace the paddle like he did the first time. I e-mailed Arin of Burnwater on 10/19/08 (the weekend after San Francisco DBF) to notify him that my paddle was once again defective. He responded to me on 10/20/08 that he would take action but would not have stock to replace my paddle until Jan or Feb of 2009. This was fine since it was off season and I would not need a carbon paddle. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, I appreciate your service in replacing my paddle. Unfortunately the new paddle has also bubbled. Is this a reoccuring problem among this style of paddles? I only used the paddle during the race weekend for 4 races. Any input would be appreciated, thank you! Quote from: Arin Mike, Sorry to hear that. With that model you had that issue was a predominate one. I am working on the new one piece, new construction method now. Once I have everything squared away I will contact you. If you do not hear from me, drop me another e-mail in jan/feb or when you start practicing again. Arin I e-mail him 1/7/09 to see the status of a replacement. No response. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, You wanted me to drop you an e-mail regarding the defective paddle during Jan. Any word on a possible solution or replacement? I e-mail him again on 1/26/09 and he responds 1/27/09 telling me he is still working on it. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, Did you get my previous e-mail regarding the Burnwater Reactor paddle? Quote from: Arin Mike, Still working on this. Sorry it is taking me so long. Arin I e-mail him 3/13/09 and no response. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, Any word on a fix for bubbled paddles? Thanks, Mike I confront him at the Arizona Dragonboat Festival on 3/28/09 since he has a tent there and he tells me that he is getting my e-mails and he is still working on a resolution. He tells me to try back in April. I give him some time and e-mailed him 5/12/09 and no response. Quote from: Mike Hi Arin, Is there any sort of resolution on this? When I spoke with you at Tempe, Arizona you said you would have something in April and now it is mid May. Thanks, Mike I e-mailed him 6/8/09 and still no response. Quote from: Mike Arin, Do you have any feedback for me? It has been almost 9 months since this issue occurred. Do you have any sort of resolution? -Mike I have been fed up with this and I am no longer going to use a Burnwater product and will definitely not recommend his products to anyone else. After beating around the bush for about 9 months and still no resolution or a hint of communication I have given up hope. This has been ridiculous service and I will not support his products any longer. He cannot even stand behind his product and he expects people to buy it? Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: NFW on June 16, 2009, 12:01:58 AM Wow, that's a horrible service. I don't know if that would even be called service.
If I were in your shoes I would have went apesh!t by March at Arizona when he gave you the third run around (that's not counting the numerous times he avoids replying your emails like its leper) With that said, what paddle are you using now that you swore off BW? p.s: even though it sucks this happened to you, it opened new doors to plenty of good CF paddle possibilities out there, ones that wont cost as much as the new Reactor Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Briankim79 on June 16, 2009, 12:12:20 PM thanks so much for your conversations that you had with Burn Water. This has confirmed that I will be going with the Apex Accelerator.
I have others from my team that the bubbling has occured to their paddles. Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: skygal on June 16, 2009, 01:26:01 PM hi,
most of my team members have zre paddles. we love our paddles and was impressed by the the service as well. i would recommend them. Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on June 16, 2009, 04:45:45 PM I have not purchased a new "race" carbon yet but I'm fairly certain that I will be going with ZRE and seeing how that works...
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: doc on June 16, 2009, 05:54:13 PM I hope no one minds if I jump in here and say we're still looking for people to make up ten for our trivium group purchase.
http://www.dragonboatwest.net/index.php?topic=5572.0 Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: nate_dizz on June 24, 2009, 01:27:15 PM Sadly, I've had the same issues in terms of customer service and a defective product. My blade bubbled so badly that it began to fail and crack around the edges. I haven't been able to get anything out of the distributor in Calgary, or out of the manufacturer. I would stay away from buying any paddles from them, at least until they've resolved their issues.
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Illuminate on June 24, 2009, 01:38:37 PM Did you guys get to talk to Arin this past weekend?
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on July 25, 2009, 01:33:36 PM Just to revive a dead thread...
Snapped my Burnwater paddle today during practice. Time to move on to a new brand. Terrible product and service. (http://img228.yfrog.com/img228/3193/fjp.jpg) Oh it was caught on video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLsFCec68pQ And I also have e-mail Arin a couple of times since posting this thread on 6/15/09...ignored e-mails as usual. Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Illuminate on July 25, 2009, 09:23:44 PM What do you plan to get next?
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on July 25, 2009, 10:34:45 PM Looking at the new ZRE Dragon XL. Not completely sure yet.
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: rtsdhvy on July 26, 2009, 07:32:16 AM Now there's something you don't see every day! Sorry to hear about all of your problems
with the Burnwater. I sold mine earlier this year and I have not heard of the new owner having any hassles with it. It was trouble free for me when I owned it. If there is a "bright side" to this event it is that the paddle didn't break during a medal race. I hope that whatever paddle you choose as a replacement will serve you better that the Burnwater did. Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on July 26, 2009, 08:23:11 AM The funny thing is, it isn't just me having problems with the product. Several of my teammates are experiencing a "bubbled" paddle as well and not receiving any sort of communication from Arin. I think I just got the worst of it and I am the most vocal about it.
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on July 26, 2009, 05:58:16 PM In all fairness, I have spoken with Arin at the Long Beach Dragon Boat Festival this weekend and we have worked out a resolution. Yes he has been terrible with online communication and customer service but he was genuinely apologetic and I think moving forward things will be much better with Burnwater.
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: NFW on August 05, 2009, 06:38:01 PM I'm glad that he owned up to the lack of customer service and that your paddle issue can get a resolution.
At least you get to keep the broken paddle as a memorable keepsake lol Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: EWL on August 06, 2009, 11:34:41 PM I sure hope the resolution will be swift! Hahaha... But our team has been having the same problems most people have already written in about... we've got multiple paddles where the blades have bubbled out... we're pretty much waiting for replacements... if there's going to be any at all... but in the mean time, we've put in an order with the Apex Carbon Fiber paddles... hopefully better luck with those ones!
Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: Mike on September 22, 2009, 12:59:52 PM Just to update, it appears that Arin finally has new production up and running and I finally got my hands on a new paddle. This is a one piece construction from the blade and shaft unlike other carbon paddles. I have paddled a few hours with it last weekend and I have enjoyed it. I will be racing with this paddle at the SF race this coming weekend.
I am finally glad that this has been resolved and like I mentioned, moving forward, things should be better for Arin and Burnwater. Title: Re: Burn Water Post by: eggtart123 on September 28, 2009, 09:53:33 PM We have also finally gotten replacement paddles for the ones that bubbled out after a year of nagging. We were scared that no resolution would have resulted, but we are happy that things are also being taken care of now.
The new paddle looks a lot like our Apex Accelerators that our team bought just a month ago. However, our season is now finished and we'll probably be able to compare them at the start of next season in 8 months! Hahaha... Thanks again Arin! |