Babolat shoe warranty, you decide.

[KRAK]

If this thread comes up twice, I am sorry. Something happened while I was writing it the first time.

A while back I wrote that I would keep you posted on my Babolat shoe warranty experience. I have read about some negative experiences from other members. Here is mine so far, you can decide what kind of experience it has been.

On 7/30 I bought a brand new pair of the original Propulse shoes from a dealer in Kalamazoo, MI. After approximately 36 hours of play the seam on the upper started ripping apart.

I spoke with Babolat USA Customer Service and the lady said that my issue should be covered under warranty. She sent me a warranty card via email and I sent the shoes to them on 11/19 via UPS. The shoes arrived to them on 11/25.

I waited until after Thanksgiving and called on 12/2 to check on my claim. The voicemail in the warranty dept. states that they will get back to you within 24 hours. I did not hear back from them. On 12/7 I called and left a message again. I did not hear back.

On 12/8 I emailed Customer Service and told them of my issue and asked for their help. I received a reply stating that she had spoken with the warranty department and that it normally takes 3-6 weeks for a response. However, they would try to get back with me by the end of the week. The warranty card states that one should allow 2-3 weeks for delivery of a new pair. You guessed it, I did not receive a reponse by the end of last week.

Thoughts?

[mtommer]

You should have stopped in to talk to Scott (I'm assuming you got them from Tennis Connection). Or did you get them coming in for Nats at the Zoo?

[KRAK]

Yes, Tennis Connection is where I got them. It is a nice little shop and I am sure they would have been helpful. I did not do that because I felt pretty good dealing with Babolat after my initial conversation and I live about 1.5 hours from Kalamazoo. I just happened to stop in there while I was in town. Now I know better.

[KRAK]

Almost another week has passed and I still have no response from Babolat USA on my warranty claim. I have not tried contacting them since they told me I would have a response last week. I am sure glad that I have another pair of shoes.

I guess I can officially be added to the list of people that have had horrible experiences with the Babolat warranty process.

[Kostas]

Is there a typo in your dates? If not, why did you wait almost 4 months to send the shoes back?

Edit: Nevermind..."36 hours of play" can be any amount of time. Does Babolat issue their warranties based on play hours?

[KRAK]

No typo. Was only able to play 36 hours in the four months that I had the shoes. I spoke with Customer Service on, or around, 11/17 and sent the shoes back on 11/19. Yes, Babolat asks the approximate number of hours that the shoes were used on their warranty card.

At this point I am hoping that maybe they are out of stock and are waiting on the new colorway to arrive. Although, I am pretty sure that is not the case.

[mike53]

I don't have any inside information, so I can only guess what's going on. When I see something like this, it usually means that they got bad shipment from their offshore contractor. Everybody who bought these shoes is sending them back and Babolat has warehouse full of them, but they're all bad so they don't want to send any more out because that will only compound the problem. And they don't want to send everyone's money back for obvious reasons so they don't know what to do and they're hoping you'll go away while they try to figure it out.

[KRAK]

Finally, an answer. The shoes will be covered by the Babolat warranty. Since the current Propulse II's are no longer available, they will be sending me a pair of the new Titanium (black and gold) colorway when they are available at the beginning of February.

I am very happy with this decision. Waiting for the new colorway kind of sucks but I would rather have them instead of a pair of the All Courts. Now I just hope that they do actually send them.

[[d]ragon]

Beginning of February? That's a long time to wait for new shoes.

[KRAK]

Ya, I am not too happy about that. I have a new pair of CB 1.3's that I can wear so it is not a big deal. But, if they gave me a voucher I would wait for the new colorway.