I’m wondering if anyone else has had difficulty contacting Wilderness customer service. I sat on hold for 1.5 hours, and was disconnected, then another 20 minutes before being put through to a voicemail which was not receiving messages. This is in regards to a continued problem of hatch leakage (brand new kayak). If anyone has any advice, I’m open!!
With a brand new Wilderness kayak,
I’d contact the dealer who sold it to me first.
Maybe it’s not a proper comparison, but if I bought a new car and it had some problems, I’d contact the dealer who sold it to me, not the car manufacturer.
WS likes to work through their dealers.
I had a hatch that the latch broke on. I called the dealer and they had a new one in a couple of days.
Ironically, I live 5 minutes from the factory, but Confluence didn’t want to deal with me.
BTW, Confluence has been sold to another outdoor sports conglomerate.
Wilderness
Thanks, Rookie. I did go through the dealer at first. The hatch was replaced, but did not solve the problem. It still leaks, and now it cracked. I’m fed up with Wilderness, having sent 3 emails now with ZERO response!
Wilderness
Thanks, however, I did initially go through the dealer and had the hatch replaced. Unfortunately, it still leaks, and now it cracked. I’m looking for a different phone number for them. They do not respond to emails.
Same here
When I owned a WS kayak I had the same problem. I called the number they post on their website (“For Quickest Service”) at least a dozen times, and emailed them several times. When someone eventually did answer their phone they told me “oh there’s nobody here who could help you with that”. Fortunately my dealer was extremely proactive (he obviously has a different number for them than I did!) and my issues were then taken care of promptly.
Ah…
I see that Confluence Watersports is now Confluence Outdoor and is owned by the venture capitalists J.H. Whitney.
It’s probably not a good thing!
maybe not what you want to hear, but…
I agree with the others that the dealer network is where this is supposed to be handled. They worked with you once and it wasn’t fixed there. I’d go back to them again and get them to fix it. They are the ones who took your money to sell you the boat.
Wilderness
Thanks, I probably need to get with the dealer again. I am really disenchanted with Wilderness, and this will be my last purchase of one of their products.
The dealer.
Resolution through the dealer is obviously the way to go but then why do they have contact info - a messaging system and phone numbers - on their website if they don’t respond to either?
I will say though that my dealer resolved the issues I had with them and that included a store credit for the full value of the two 2-year old kayaks I had bought from them, something which both surprised and pleased me.
Marketing
WS learned a long time ago marketing is number one priority. They know their market. The “Contact us” link on the website should filter out and direct customer service issues to dealers as it gives the impression that is what that link is for.