I purchased a 2007 Wilderness System Tempest 165 pro the first of December 2006, the kayak warrenty said the boat was buuilt 10/30/2006.
I have had some probelms with the kayak that I feel I shouldn’t have had. Nothing structual.
The dealer where I purchased the kayak would have exchanged it or given me a refund. The only other one they had in stock at the time I did not care for the color. Except for a beautiful orange kevlar which was behond my budget.
I chose to keep the kayak and do the repairs myself rather than be with out it for a while as I totally love the kayak.
I have also had some great help from the manufacters rep Flatpick ( Steve ) both on the forum and through privite e-mails. A BIG THANK YOU Steve.
I seriously believe the problems I had are being dealt with at the factory and you will see nothing but better quality kayaks coming from them.
The wife and I have been saving to purchase a secound one and we are geting close.
Dennis
con mucho gusto!
(with much pleasure) I wished you lived closer. I would have been even more help…Corvallis is a bit of a haul.
steve
Hours earlier
You’d posted you’d be looking elsewhere for the next kayak…then the thread disappears and you post this one praising Wilderness Systems…paid you off did they? 
no
I have know idea what happened to the other thread. Some one else has the power to remove threads, I didn’t realize this site is sensored.
The wife and I discuss all matters that involve more than $500 we have been married 42 years and value each others opinions.
And we have just come to the desision that the tempest 165 pro just happens to be the best kayak performance wise and for fit for both of us for our intended uses. I am sure there is probably a couple other kayaks that might fit the bill for what we want for performance but not for the fit and comfort.
Dennis
I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess
that one factor was that the first post was before Dennis got the good help from Steve, and the second post was after. In other words, before the customer support experience versus after.
Paul S.
Can’t stress the value enough …
... of good customer service!
Not sure if this board is a typical representation, but if it is, then kayaker's buy and sell boats with some regularity, and often have "fleets". AND talk amoungst themselves, share thoughts on boats, and make recommedations. Customer service is critical for that type of business.
BUT it's an area that many companies (all industries and services, not specifically kayak mfg's) don't recognize the long term value of, and often start with when cutting operating expenses.
I'm on my 4th WS boat, and I can say that all purchases were influenced to a some degree by what I read here on this board, and definitely boats 3 and 4 were influenced by feedback to questions that were answered by Flatpick as well as the one time I called WS Cust Serv a few boats back (remember those bungees on the hatch covers? One broke ... called CS, and the guy FedEx'd me two complete sets, no charge).
My current boat is a T165 glass, 2006 model, built in Feb '06. If I'm not mistaken, that makes it one of the early "new factory" boats. And yes it had some minor QC issues. Because of good CS I continue to recommend WS boats to others.
So I can see why you decided to get another T165 ... it's a great boat.
I wonder about folks who buy WS boat, have issues, but don't frequent this board think about WS CS?
Wouldn’t think
most first kayaks would be the Tempest line without the advice of this board. That said, most experienced paddlers I know, would not consider these problems of any consequence.
Actually …
… A Tempest was my second boat … a plastic 170. My first boat (kayak) was a Pamlico 145T. #2 was a 170 plastic, then a 170 glass … quickly realized that a 165 was a better fit. I’ve always demo’d boats between each iteration of the T … came within a signature of putting a Capella 169 on the roof rack when when I bought the glass 170.