We purchased two Wilderness system tarpon 100 kayaks a couple of years ago. Love them, they handle well and we can car top the shorter 100 on our crv. Problem is customer service at wilderness systems is terrible. We had problems with the hatchs from day one. they used bent aluminum pins … one hatch had a u shape pin, the other had an L shape pin and they all kept coming loose. I called and they sent me one hatch as replacement that had roll pins as an attachment and that hatch has held up. I have tried to keep the others going and we have been on the road ( we live in a motorhome and travel ) so have not had a chance to get ahold of customer service again till recently. The other three have continued to fall apart and they won’t replace them. This time they want me to purchase new hatches as the hatches are considered accessories and not covered under warranty. In my opinion it is an engineering defect and I shouldn’t have to spend 50 to 60 a hatch to replace.
What I have done now is get an 8/32 threaded stainless rod from lowes and use it as an axle. I hope it holds up. Has anyone found any other solutions to the hinge problem? I am sure I am not the only one that has had complaints.
Regarding c/s with Wilderness…not good at all. I had a Tarpon 160 (bought new) that had multiple problems with the plastic seat back parts that would not stay in place. After a few empty promises from and getting nowhere, I used plastic ties to keep the seat back locked in place. No more WS kayaks for me.
I had an issue with a hatch and resolved it quickly through the dealer where I bought it.
I have had excellent CS from Wilderness/Confluence, but as with @string, I had to go through my local dealer.
Same with Current Designs who told me to go through my dealer.