Q
I'm in a bad spot with my dealer, and I need some advice on what I can/should do. For now, I'll keep the brand of sled and name of dealer out of this until I hear something for sure on my warranty claim. Here's what happened...
I bought my wife a brand new sled, an '09. We took it out to a buddy's cabin in Trapper Creek last weekend for our first ride of the season. Backed it off the trailer, warmed it up, and down the trail we go. No issues whatsoever, wife is loving the sled. We got off in the pow for a few minutes, then continued down the trail.
My and my buddy stop in the trail a little ways ahead after we decend a pretty steep hill. My wife, who was following us, comes FLYING by and finally stops about 20-30 feet past us. She then looks at me and motions to the brake handle...the brakes had totally failed on her coming down the hill.
Long story little bit shorter, I took the sled back to said dealer that day, and was promised they would look at it on Monday. Got a call today, and they are denying my warranty claim...stating that the reason for the brake failure was because my wife forgot to disengage the e-brake. They alledge she rode the entire 10 miles with the e-brake fully engaged.
My wife and I have been riding for three years now. We are not pros, but we're not newbies either. Every single one of us has tried to ride/move a sled that still had the e-brake engaged. It's a pretty distinct and recognizable feeling. There's no way in hell she managed to ride the sled for 30 minutes down a trail at 25mph and then into the powder without noticing that the e-brake was still engaged. It's hard to even move a sled with the e-brake still on...not to mention it smokes like crazy. The sled was absolutely fine all the way up to the point the brakes failed coming down the hill. I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure that e-brake was not on while she was riding it.
Is there anything else I can do? Feels kind of like the dealer just has me by the balls, and that I'm SOL. I mean, it's my word against theirs. My wife went by today, and they were just sarcastic and condescending with her, which infuriates me even more.
Any advice/suggestions/comments welcome. If I can't get them to warranty the sled, we're going to have to park it until we can pay for repairs.
Thanks guys.
I bought my wife a brand new sled, an '09. We took it out to a buddy's cabin in Trapper Creek last weekend for our first ride of the season. Backed it off the trailer, warmed it up, and down the trail we go. No issues whatsoever, wife is loving the sled. We got off in the pow for a few minutes, then continued down the trail.
My and my buddy stop in the trail a little ways ahead after we decend a pretty steep hill. My wife, who was following us, comes FLYING by and finally stops about 20-30 feet past us. She then looks at me and motions to the brake handle...the brakes had totally failed on her coming down the hill.
Long story little bit shorter, I took the sled back to said dealer that day, and was promised they would look at it on Monday. Got a call today, and they are denying my warranty claim...stating that the reason for the brake failure was because my wife forgot to disengage the e-brake. They alledge she rode the entire 10 miles with the e-brake fully engaged.
My wife and I have been riding for three years now. We are not pros, but we're not newbies either. Every single one of us has tried to ride/move a sled that still had the e-brake engaged. It's a pretty distinct and recognizable feeling. There's no way in hell she managed to ride the sled for 30 minutes down a trail at 25mph and then into the powder without noticing that the e-brake was still engaged. It's hard to even move a sled with the e-brake still on...not to mention it smokes like crazy. The sled was absolutely fine all the way up to the point the brakes failed coming down the hill. I am absolutely, positively, 100% sure that e-brake was not on while she was riding it.
Is there anything else I can do? Feels kind of like the dealer just has me by the balls, and that I'm SOL. I mean, it's my word against theirs. My wife went by today, and they were just sarcastic and condescending with her, which infuriates me even more.
Any advice/suggestions/comments welcome. If I can't get them to warranty the sled, we're going to have to park it until we can pay for repairs.
Thanks guys.