wesley P.
Bait and switch
I ordered a snowboard from Utahskis /Ski n See advertised as new for $368.77 and received a clearly blemished board. The board showed up with pebbles, sand, and a wood chip inside the torn plastic packaging, multiple small chips on the topsheet, scuffs on the base/edges, and an edge dent. I then read their reviews and many customers have shared a similar experience of receiving damaged/blemished/demo items when they purchased an item advertised as new. When I reached out, their manager Hannah placed the blame on warehouse/storefront employees and offered me a $15 refund or to send the board back. I told her I was uncomfortable with sending it back, as other reviews portray their return process as unnecessarily frustrating, and overall pretty sketchy. She then requested additional photos. After reviewing them she offered me $32 (less than 10%) when industry standard is 20-60% off blemished boards. She said the offer was so low because the item was already "heavily discounted". When in reality the item was marked down due to the end of the season. This is an unethical industry sales tactic where companies advertise items as on "sale" when in reality the item has depreciated in value due to next seasons models coming out and will never go back to its original sales price. I called her out on that, and stated that the offer was not even enough to get the board tuned professionally (aprox $75). Instead of addressing any of my concerns about their dishonest business practices or repair costs, Hannah unprompted sent a partial refund of $34.64 (still less than 10%), and a return label (ignoring my concerns of returning the item due to their reputation) stating they weren't willing to negotiate further. This is a predatory business practice where shady companies dump off blemished items on end of season sales and offer inadequate partial refunds to maximize profit. If you send it back they either receive return to vendor credits from the manufacturer, or write it off on their insurance. Classic bait and switch. If you read their reviews on other sites you'll see many such cases regarding Utahskis and Ski n See. Multiple reports of people receiving damaged, blemished, and demo gear advertised as new. There was even someone who received skis advertised as new that arrived with one ski severely discolored. At first I thought it was an honest mistake but after interacting with their customer service manager, and reading reviews on different sites I genuinely feel like I've been ripped off and I'd advise anyone to avoid this company at all cost.