What would Scarpa (and Marmot) do?

This is more of a complaint. And I guess the question is really what would / should I do...

Got Scarpa Spirit 4 ( + skis and bindings) in the beginning of May 2010 and have been taking them out pretty much two days every weekend 'ever since'  :

Last weekend felt some weirdness, so after some investigation discovered that the right boot doesn't lock for ski mode in the most forward lean position. Left boot works OK.

Brought the boots to MMW Bellevue on Monday, hoping for an exchange (no more pairs, not much of a surprise) or quick fix / replacement by Scarpa. So far we haven't heard from Scarpa, Marmot is offering free rental for the weekend, which is nice from them but I am still not happy.

My gripe is that I am forced to use a stinky rental or bootpack with my board or buy snowshoes... Come on, Scarpa!

If Scarpa fixes my boot - there is no guarantee it won't happen again. Same even with a new pair. Should I risk it or just get a refund and buy a Virus or some Dynafits? I really like products that have dependable quality, and I am not sure what this is in the AT Boot world. Guess they are like most Italian stuff - from cars to fountain pens. Great ideas and design while performance and quality on individual items are hit or miss.

And being spoiled by life in US - am I entitled to something extra from Scarpa for my troubles?

Argh

sounds frustrating.  I've had to wait on a mfg to get me parts and it can take a while (that was Dalbello).  I was frustrated too but the MMW guys kept working it for me and got me the parts for free (there was no defect, I just needed shorter buckle cables).

Sounds like MMW has put in some calls to the contacts.  Seems good of them to offer a rental. I think they have garmonts mostly so that gives you a chance to try a different boot mfg.  My friend rented some there a couple weeks back and the boots seemed in good shape and he had no fit issues.

I'd give the rentals a try and let the MMW guys keep working Scarpa into middle of next week.  if still no response from Scarpa I'd say get more aggressive (but not sure what that could be).  Maybe there are some other phone #'s you can call?

I wouldn't try to get anything 'extra' for your troubles.  In my view getting free rental while your defective product is getting fixed is the 'make good'

BTW, I'd stick w/ the Scarpa's if they fit and ski well.  that's a tough thing to get dialed for a lot of folks.  I believe, dynafit, garmont, scarpa have solid reputation for quality (others will chime in here most likely).  virus is too new to put into that category for AT gear (although I have a pair and haven't had anything break yet..knock on wood)

Hi Chris,

Hope the Viruses hold up well!

Yes, Scarpa fits great. Much better than the Garmonts I tried, no comparison for my feet, really.

I didn't mean to get something 'extra' from Marmot but from Scarpa. I would have been perfectly happy with the boots if they only worked as supposed / expected.

We as consumers pay hard-earned money for this gear and have the right to expect solid performance - at least for a couple of seasons.

Best
Ivo

No ski product ever will be 100% reliable. Relax. It's sucks, but it's one weekend, and one of "extreme" avalanche danger.

my two cents... be happy they offered the free rental.... thats awfully nice of Marmot to help you out while your boots are away getting fixed.

being calm and polite with gear companies can (sometimes) go a long way....

back when Black Diamond was still doing warranty work for Scarpa gear, I mailed them my old all-black T1's with a broken middle buckle.... I asked if they wouldn't mind replacing the middle buckle of both boots cause I figured the other one might break soon too... they felt so bad I missed two weeks of skiing that instead of just replacing my two buckles, they rebuilt my T1's from spare parts in their shop. They changed out the lower half of the boot shell (that was beat to hell after four years of use) and all six buckles, the only original part that came back on my boot were the upper cuffs. Got another four years outta those boots thanks to the nice folks in the warranty dept.

if you don't need the boots right away go ahead and send them to Scarpa for repair. I just did this with a broken middle strap on my T1s last fall and I had them back in just over a week. Great customer service. Can't remember what they charged. Not that much though. If you need them now, just ski in tour mode. I never lock into forward lean mode. It's no big deal.