Old Town Terrible Customer service

[Harry Hill]

Let me start off by saying I love my predator PDL, it's a great kayak. I bought it from OEX and have always gotten great service and support from OEX. Unfortunately my wife decided to buy a Predator PDL and wanted one in the black cherry color so ordered it directly from Old Town. They offer free delivery but there is a $100 surcharge for an oversize shipment. After about a month wait it was delivered last Friday. Upon unwrapping she discovered the side pocket had been installed incorrectly so there was a gap that will allow small items to fall out. When the pedal drive was packed it wasn't padded so it tore up the deck pad and damaged the hull under the pad. Whoever installed the pad put it on wrong so it intrudes into the hole where the pedal drive fits. She immediately emailed Old Town and was ignored. On Monday she called Old Town and was told the issue would be turned over to customer service who also never contacted her. She called twice more during the week and was transferred to an answering machine with no return calls. Finally one week later she received an email telling her to loosen the screw on the side pocket so the gap would close. Since the screw is in the wrong location that doesn't change anything, they will send her a new deck pad but don't address the damage to the hull. None of these issues would make a huge difference if she had bought a kayak that was discounted because of shipping damage but it isn't acceptable when purchasing a new kayak from the manufacturer. This is a ridiculous way to treat someone who bought directly from the manufacturer. If you are going to buy an old town product make sure you deal with someone like OEX who will take care of issues that arise because Old Town has no customer service.