So much for the 'Klim Gear Protection Guarantee'

[Rick del Monte]

I was on a BMW group ride in Western North Carolina. On a tight downhill I misjudged the corner, looked at the edge of the road and dropped a wheel. I estimate I was going about 30 since there was a handrail a foot away from the edge of the road and I never touched it. In trying to get it back on the road I highsided and ended upon the other side of the road.

Apart from personal injuries I damaged my Klim jacket. But of course Klim have a 'Gear protection guarantee'. I sent them the police report and alll kinds of information, and I get a note back that they have denied my claim because on the back of the police report it said I was doing 40 in a 35 zone. This estimate from a trooper who arrived 20 minutes after the accident, when I am in the ambulance and the bike has been moved. No appeal, nothing. I have been a Klim fanboy, but I have bought my last piece of Klim gear.

 

[fmdualexhaust]

Can't say as I blame you.
What if you were getting training on a race track? Claim denied because you were going too fast?
Hope your injuries weren't too severe.

 

[Omega Man]

Seems there are stipulations to the Klim Gear Protection Guarantee-

KLIM will not approve gear replacement requests from riders that have been shown to have caused/contributed to the accident through illegal activity or that were caused by riders under the influence of any mind-altering or illegal substance.

As the official police report indicated speed over the speed limit, any discrepancies would be with the police report.

https://www.klim.com/gear-protection-guarantee?cur=USD

This discrepancy would have been better cleared up before submitting the information to Klim.

As for racing coverage, I would probably check on that before it was needed.

OM

 

[Rick del Monte]

I re-read the warranty and nowhere does it say: 'for an accident that occurred below the speed limit' or 'purely based on our judgement we will decide whether to honor this warranty'..

 

[tsconver]

I re-read the warranty and nowhere does it say: 'for an accident that occurred below the speed limit' or 'purely based on our judgement we will decide whether to honor this warranty'..

What did you not understand about illegal activity. 40 in a 35 is illegal. That is clear in their warranty. Bitch at the trooper that wrote it up not klim.

 

[brownie0486]

What did you not understand about illegal activity. 40 in a 35 is illegal. That is clear in their warranty. Bitch at the trooper that wrote it up not klim.

Bingo, they denied the claim due to the speeding listed on the police report.

Follow their guidelines and I suspect they'd warranty the product.

 

[mikegalbicka]

I don't think there are many drivers in the US who would feel they are doing anything illegal when going 5 mph over the speed limit in this day and age. While it might be the letter of the law it is no longer enforced and thus it has become SOP. The OP is making a choice he is entitled to and Klim knows they will lose some customers doing as they have done. Such is life. First world problem no matter how you look at it though.

 

[tsconver]

I don't think there are many drivers in the US who would feel they are doing anything illegal when going 5 mph over the speed limit in this day and age. While it might be the letter of the law it is no longer enforced and thus it has become SOP. The OP is making a choice he is entitled to and Klim knows they will lose some customers doing as they have done. Such is life. First world problem no matter how you look at it though.

Feelings have nothing to do with it being illegal to go 40 in a 35mph zone. And even if they do not enforce it, it does not make it any less illegal. Klim states they will not honor warranty on illegal activities so as a user you need to be willing to accept that or move on.

 

[Moto316]

[

Apart from personal injuries I damaged my Klim jacket. But of course Klim have a 'Gear protection guarantee'. I sent them the police report and alll kinds of information

Why did you send in the police report? Seems like that was a problem that could have been avoided.

 

[brownie0486]

[

Apart from personal injuries I damaged my Klim jacket. But of course Klim have a 'Gear protection guarantee'. I sent them the police report and alll kinds of information

Why did you send in the police report? Seems like that was a problem that could have been avoided.

Did you read their warranty claim requirements? One is it requires a police report accompany the warranty claim. You didn't read their procedure in filing a claim, did you?

 

[98lee]

Feelings have nothing to do with it being illegal to go 40 in a 35mph zone. And even if they do not enforce it, it does not make it any less illegal. Klim states they will not honor warranty on illegal activities so as a user you need to be willing to accept that or move on.

The police officer had NO IDEA how fast (within that range of speed) the OP was going!

He wasn’t there. There we no skid marks to measure. There is no way to tell from the damage as there was no straight on impact. It was damage caused by a high side which tosses the rider off and then the bike tumbles. A riderless bike is going to get damaged when it stops no matter how slow it is going.

The info that Klim used to determine that the OP was involved in illegal activity is based on a guess at best from someone who wasn’t there. His guess was well within the margin of error even for someone who actually witnessed the accident, meaning if you took a hundred officers who actually observed the accident, their estimates of speed would probably vary by least 5mph. Heck, the BMW Factory BUILT IN ERROR in the speedometer is close to that much.

Klim should know better. They should honor their warranty. It’s not worth souring a customer base over a 5mph GUESS.

It’s not like they are working on tight margins financially. While their gear IS nice, their markup is not small. They should not dishonor their promise to their high paying customers based on a GUESS.
Klim is owned by Polaris. Much of the gear is made in China and the far east (gee, could that possibly be because wages are so low there and they could make even MORE profit off their overpriced jackets? Naw, who would do such a thing?)They say it’s because they can’t build a hiqh enough quality manufacturing facility here. Do you buy that?

From Klim’s website:
Do you manufacture your products in the U.S.?
KLIM manufactures parts of and whole products all over the world. As a technical apparel company with an intense appetite for the absolute best, KLIM sources raw materials and other ingredients from multiple countries (including here in the U.S.). Many of our materials require highly specialized manufacturing that is only done in a few places in the world. For instance, some of our GORE-TEX® laminates originate in different parts of Europe before being shipped to Asia for final finishing. Also, the thread that holds much of our gear together is sourced out of Texas.

In the pursuit of the absolute highest quality in our gear, KLIM products are only made in the best factories in the world. That is the single most important takeaway in any manufacturing discussion.

It’s important to note that just because a product is produced in China, Korea, Vietnam, Sweden, or anywhere else KLIM products are made, doesn’t mean it is cheaper in cost or lower in quality. While brands can and do travel to Asia to find factories that will build for the lowest cost possible, the gains in margins aren’t generally worth the reduction in quality. There is still a lot of truth in, “You get what you pay for.”

There is no easy way to show our customers the effort we take into selecting a factory. But we are very confident our products are produced in the highest quality factories in the world. KLIM’s decision to rely on overseas manufacturing is not based on pricing. It is based on quality first and sustainability thereafter. With all that said KLIM truly wishes we could produce our products here in the United States; however, in the short term, that’s simply not possible.“

They sure go to a lot of effort to NOT admit directly that they are NOT made in the US and they ARE made in the far east (and China) by implying that they can’t build a quality factory here.

I GUESS I won’t choose to spend my hard earned money on a overpriced item made by a company that chooses to not honor their commitments based on questionable information or searches out every loophole to get out of their warranty. If THEY don’t believe that much in their product, why should I?

What if the speed limit in that section of road HAD been 40mph. Would they have expected their product to perform any better? Or worse?

What if he was 2mph over the speed limit, would they reject the claim?

 

[mikegalbicka]

+1 Lee. I agree wholeheartedly. Good customer service is not about the details in your legalize but rather about the details concerning your customers. They failed my test for a company that deserves my business.

 

[Omega Man]

For the good or the bad of it, Klim has a specific set of rules regarding its warranty policy. Complaining about a police officers judgement without an interview of the police officer and related training is just hopeful thinking. Apparently 5mph over is still speeding where this happened. If there was a question of the speed, it should have been settled before a warranty claim was submitted.

Now to retailers warranty policy. The one I think of that was brutalized by many was the satisfaction policy of L.L. Bean. They put up with as much as they could and then got in line with a still generous policy because-

“People were going to garage sales and eBay, and buying very old and worn merchandise and returning it to stores for full credit,” Jay Baer, a marketing expert told CNBC’s “On The Money” in a recent interview.

Baer told people were then “taking those items and flipping them on eBay and garage sales and actually making a job out of this.”

From- https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/17/why....L. Bean,condition, even years after purchase.

It sounds like the OP was not hurt too badly and was pleased with the protection that the Klim gear provided.....Sounds like the OP made a good choice in protective gear.

The police are the de facto overseers for many things including accidents in which an insurance company uses to validate claims by the/an insured. Do they get it right or exact all the time- chances are not but they try for accuracy as they realize there is a lot that comes after an accident.

Having enough gear to be alive after a get off is enough in my book. YMMV

OM

The police officer had NO IDEA how fast (within that range of speed) the OP was going!

He wasn’t there. There we no skid marks to measure. There is no way to tell from the damage as there was no straight on impact. It was damage caused by a high side which tosses the rider off and then the bike tumbles. A riderless bike is going to get damaged when it stops no matter how slow it is going.

The info that Klim used to determine that the OP was involved in illegal activity is based on a guess at best from someone who wasn’t there. His guess was well within the margin of error even for someone who actually witnessed the accident, meaning if you took a hundred officers who actually observed the accident, their estimates of speed would probably vary by least 5mph. Heck, the BMW Factory BUILT IN ERROR in the speedometer is close to that much.

Klim should know better. They should honor their warranty. It’s not worth souring a customer base over a 5mph GUESS.

It’s not like they are working on tight margins financially. While their gear IS nice, their markup is not small. They should not dishonor their promise to their high paying customers based on a GUESS.
Klim is owned by Polaris. Much of the gear is made in China and the far east (gee, could that possibly be because wages are so low there and they could make even MORE profit off their overpriced jackets? Naw, who would do such a thing?)They say it’s because they can’t build a hiqh enough quality manufacturing facility here. Do you buy that?

From Klim’s website:
Do you manufacture your products in the U.S.?
KLIM manufactures parts of and whole products all over the world. As a technical apparel company with an intense appetite for the absolute best, KLIM sources raw materials and other ingredients from multiple countries (including here in the U.S.). Many of our materials require highly specialized manufacturing that is only done in a few places in the world. For instance, some of our GORE-TEX® laminates originate in different parts of Europe before being shipped to Asia for final finishing. Also, the thread that holds much of our gear together is sourced out of Texas.

In the pursuit of the absolute highest quality in our gear, KLIM products are only made in the best factories in the world. That is the single most important takeaway in any manufacturing discussion.

It’s important to note that just because a product is produced in China, Korea, Vietnam, Sweden, or anywhere else KLIM products are made, doesn’t mean it is cheaper in cost or lower in quality. While brands can and do travel to Asia to find factories that will build for the lowest cost possible, the gains in margins aren’t generally worth the reduction in quality. There is still a lot of truth in, “You get what you pay for.”

There is no easy way to show our customers the effort we take into selecting a factory. But we are very confident our products are produced in the highest quality factories in the world. KLIM’s decision to rely on overseas manufacturing is not based on pricing. It is based on quality first and sustainability thereafter. With all that said KLIM truly wishes we could produce our products here in the United States; however, in the short term, that’s simply not possible.“

They sure go to a lot of effort to NOT admit directly that they are NOT made in the US and they ARE made in the far east (and China) by implying that they can’t build a quality factory here.

I GUESS I won’t choose to spend my hard earned money on a overpriced item made by a company that chooses to not honor their commitments based on questionable information or searches out every loophole to get out of their warranty. If THEY don’t believe that much in their product, why should I?

What if the speed limit in that section of road HAD been 40mph. Would they have expected their product to perform any better? Or worse?

What if he was 2mph over the speed limit, would they reject the claim?

+1 Lee. I agree wholeheartedly. Good customer service is not about the details in your legalize but rather about the details concerning your customers. They failed my test for a company that deserves my business.

 

[brownie0486]

Having enough gear to be alive after a get off is enough in my book. YMMV

My sentiment exactly. I wear Klim dakar pants on my multi week trips. If they do their job and save my hide, they were worth every penny. It would be incentive to buy them again, but that's just me.

On the other hand, I think their excuse of 5 over is lame as well.

 

[98lee]

There is an endless supply of gear that would protect you in a 40mph getoff. Admittedly, they don’t promise to replace your gear, BUT they don’t charge triple for the gear with that promise and then not honor the promise. Why the premium price?
Could it be the golden thread made in Texas, or to pad Polaris’s bottom line?


When it comes to warranties; Don’t make promises you're not prepared to keep. Drop the crash damage replacement and lower the price $25-50, or don’t be so Chicken S..t about good faith claims.

 

[BC1100S]

Not sure about the OP but I have insurance on my bike. Were I to have an accident where my gear is damaged, my insurance company replaces it. Dead simple.

Did the OP make a claim with his insurance company?

 

[pglaves]

Aerostich!

 

[Omega Man]

Aerostich!

I don’t see anything on the Aerostitch site other than repair services after a crash-

CRASH REPAIRS?
Repair availability depends on the amount and type of damage. A suit is considered 'totaled' and cannot be repaired if the cost of the repairs exceeds half of the price of the suit at the time it was manufactured (for example, if a suit's selling price was $800 when first sold, it will become 'totaled' today at $400).

https://www.aerostich.com/repairs


OM

 

[brownie0486]

Not sure about the OP but I have insurance on my bike. Were I to have an accident where my gear is damaged, my insurance company replaces it. Dead simple.

Did the OP make a claim with his insurance company?

My two motors are insured and cover up to 3K in accessories and gear should I have a get off for any reason.

 

[elementist]

The likelihood of getting the police report changed is low to impossible. Not sure why that's suggested as something OP missed doing before providing the report. At that point it can be added to but unlikely to be edited.

The 'play by the letter of the law not the spirit' mentality of the company in it's treatment of customers tells you all you need to know.

I have klim gear, partially based on this promise as a selling point but won't be getting any more based on this. The margin of error for speed limit calculations in accident reports is too wide to trust they will not legalese their way out of their promises.