Manufacturing problems with Prowler Elite 4.5

[Somerset in Jersey]

know what you mean lol.

 

glad you held of prowler, but still wonder how many are out their, puts a bench mak when buying one later on as second hand how will you know?

[blobby]

There is a green Elite at the boat show. It looked OK to me but would be good if others could give it the once over

 

Cheers

 

BLOBBY

[Prowler]

glad you held of prowler, but still wonder how many are out their, puts a bench mak when buying one later on as second hand how will you know?

Well I would, I'd be really worried about the thickness of the plastic, i think it would be best to check it out with a torch first before buying, you will soon get a good idea how thick the plastic is.

[Somerset in Jersey]

Well I would, I'd be really worried about the thickness of the plastic, i think it would be best to check it out with a torch first before buying, you will soon get a good idea how thick the plastic is.

 

should they have a CE mark or kite mark to be sold in the UK.

[sandgrownen]

I have finally managed to get the shots of my Elite on the web. You can see the places that are thin from them

 

1)

This shows the transduscer scupper hole when I push lightly it has a bulge on the forward side. The weakest point is at the bottom where the washer for the transducer boot will apply pressure flexing at this point would cause it to crack after a period of time.

 

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/sand...en/IMG_0917.jpg

 

2)

This shows a bulge in the front of the left footwell end.

 

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/sand...en/IMG_0918.jpg

 

3)

This is a view looking towards the stern from inside the hatch so the the back side of the areas above.

 

http://i92.photobucket.com/albums/l26/sand...en/IMG_0923.jpg

 

I have read a lot of heated posts about the Elite and I want to put forward my opinion of what has happened.

 

I don't want to sound or be viewed as a mouth piece for OK I am trying to inform anyone who is concerned about buying or who has bought the Elite.

 

The first thing I would say is IF YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS RING OR E-MAIL ANDREW. This is the e-mail that I was sent after talking to him.

 

Hi Chris, thank you for bringing this to my attention.

 

I have forwarded this to the production facility in New Zealand along

with the links but they are 11 hours time different to us so I'll not

get an answer until tonight.

 

What I would reassure you is that the Ocean Kayak guarantee is as good

as its' word - If anything goes wrong that is a defect in manufacture or

material within the 5 year period then we will replace or repair as is

most convenient to the customer. Some parts of the plastic are thinner

than others by design & sometimes on a new design problems show up in

usage as I think may be the case in this instance.

 

I would (without having seen the boat) think that there is no danger of

sudden failure so please keep on using the boat until such time as we

can guarantee to solve the issue completely.

 

We've just spoken on the phone so you'll know all & more that is written

here! Rest assured we will replace your boat if it is defective - as I

said on the phone we'll make sure that the problem is sorted first.

 

Best regards

 

Andrew

 

The photos show above show the problem with my kayak but I agree that If I used the kayak in a way that does not threaten these areas I can use the kayak until OK understand the extent and reason for the defect after which I will except a replacement.

so the message for all is this if you have the same problem contact Andrew as they want to understand the extent so they can put it right. Keep using it until they can solve the problem then agree with them the solution you prefer.

 

The only thing I am disappointed with is the delay in the time when I can start to work on the new Yak.

 

I hope this helps all those of who are worried about the Yak they have bought or about to buy.

 

 

Regards

Chris

Edited September 21, 2006 by sandgrownen

[Prowler]

should they have a CE mark or kite mark to be sold in the UK.

Yes, perhaps they could brand it on, if the plastic was thick enough

 

Not really fair for me to comment as i havent seen the Elite in the flesh so to speak , but hey.........

I have every faith in OK's manufactured in NZ, it's probably/hoping it's just teething problems, with any luck and maybe some pain to some they might issue a recall if they warrent it seriously enough.

 

As i'm in the market for one I'm going to check them out for myself tommorow lunchtime and make my own judgments, they got a couple in stock in their warehouse both NZ builds.

[jerseytrev]

Yes, perhaps they could brand it on, if the plastic was thick enough

 

Not really fair for me to comment as i havent seen the Elite in the flesh so to speak , but hey.........

I have every faith in OK's manufactured in NZ, it's probably/hoping it's just teething problems, with any luck and maybe some pain to some they might issue a recall if they warrent it seriously enough.

 

As i'm in the market for one I'm going to check them out for myself tommorow lunchtime and make my own judgments, they got a couple in stock in their warehouse both NZ builds.

 

mate be careful remember teddies are watching

[Prowler]

mate be careful remember teddies are watching

Ok, ding dong bells are ringing

Edited September 21, 2006 by Prowler