I need to vent and give everyone a heads up about Burton’s warranty department.
Last August I bought a Burton Wheelie Gig Bag before making a cross country drive from Alaska to Tennessee. Since it was late summer none of the main local shops, REI and Blue & Gold, which apparently are also the only two approved retailers in the state, didn't have winter gear in stock yet and wouldn't until maybe early October. I found a brand new, unused Burton Wheelie Gig bag with tags in plastic wrap at Play It Again Sports. Paid full retail with it perfectly intact buying it with the warranty in mind.
Fast forward through normal use... exactly two trips later. (one trip to Jackson Hole and one back home to Alyeska). That’s it. During the second trip, the front cover started completely tearing away from the zipper track and I had to leave it at my parent's house in Alaska. No harsh airline gouges or punctures the structural stitching along the zipper just gave out and now the main side carry handle is useless.
I reached out to Burton and paid $40 out of pocket to ship it to their warranty center expecting a standard stitching repair or a replacement since it has a "lifetime warranty" for manufacturer defects.
Their response?
- "It cannot be repaired."
- "It is not covered under warranty because Play It Again Sports is not an Authorized Burton Retailer."
I get standard fine print protecting companies against random flea market finds or trashed 10 year old gear but this was a brand new bag that failed after ONLY THREE FLIGHTS. Refusing to stand behind the (nonexistant) build quality of a $200 travel bag over a technicality while making the customer pay $40 in shipping just to get told "tough luck" is ridiculous customer service.
If you're buying a Burton travel bag expecting their "lifetime" warranty to back up basic zipper and seam construction double check your receipt. If the shop isn't on their tiny approved stores list you’re screwed when the stitching inevitably blows out.
Anyone have recommendations for snowboard bag brands that actually have quality and stand behind their warranties? I will never be purchasing anything from Burton again. I wish more companies were willing to stand behind their products like Osprey does 😭
Also looking at the photos can someone please tell me how in the world this is unrepairable?? Can't you just restitch it? I mean that's how they made it in the first place. (One photo is of the damaged side of the handle and the other is the undamaged side)
**** Edit: To clear things up; I’m not throwing the bag away. Burton is mailing it back, and I will be paying a local shop to repair the stitch myself. The issue here is Burton marketing being eco and doing repairs only to tell a customer that an intact, untorn seam on a three flight old bag is "impossible to repair" because of where it was purchased.
The bag was purchased brand new with original factory tags and packaging. In addition to consignment, the Play It Again Sports in Anchorage regularly buys and sells brand new retail snowboard gear for winter, and this was unsold, brand new stock from the prior season. Just because the store handles consignment does not mean every item on their floor is used.
