Powerlet product and service fail

Powerlet product and service fail - Resolved

Hi folks,

Well, one of the many notable things to happen during my recent Saddlesore 1600 (5800 km round trip) adventure was the failure of my Powerlet brand heated clothing.

I bought heated sock and glove liners in the fall of 2013, 2½ years ago. At the time I was riding year round to work and back (150 kms round trip daily) and had never used heated gear. Anyway, then I retired so the new gear got used maybe 3 times – until now. It did work great and was extremely comfortable set on 3 out of 5 – perfect, not too warm, but warm enough – natural.

So, the first or second time I turned on the glove liners on this trip there was a short circuit in the right thumb. I could feel the arcing and feel the current flowing through my thumb like one of those TENS physiotherapy machines, although not enough to make my thumb jump around. I only used them sparingly when my fingers would get really cold and start to stiffen in the mountain passes, but even at that I did get some small spot burns on my thumb from the arcing.

When I got home I sent an email along with pictures of the burns and the glove liners to Powerlet and a brief synopsis of my trip. I expected some sort of customer service from them even though they were 6 months out of warranty. I would have been happy with a reduced price on replacements even. The Product Manager wrote back saying that my model had finished production in 2012. If I sent him my size he would see if they had any left around. I did and have written again, but no further communication from Powerlet. I am really surprised as they are one of just a few very big names in motorcycle touring support equipment suppliers. Try to find a BMW without something on it from Powerlet.

My conclusion is for my future purchases, and I recommend for anyone else who values good customer service, I will not consider Powerlet products. At the time I was choosing between Powerlet and Gerbing. I see now there are other options, too, but now Powerlet is out. I will forward this letter to the Powerlet Product Manager as well as let him know which of my forums I have posted it on (all of them).

Cheers,
Glenn

 

For a moment there, I thought I was reading my old post about Tourmaster Transition jackets from a few years ago. Just about the time you came on line.

From 2006 to 2012, I rode year round from the land of stinky cow shit (Chilliwack) to Surrey every day to work, until I retired. (sub note here. If I were still commuting to Surrey these days, there is a high risk of severe lead poisoning there.) Back on topic. I don't have the glove liners, but do have the jacket liner, pant liner and insoles from Gerbings. Their aftersale service is remarkable. I had an issue with the power chord for the insoles. Well over the warranty period. Within a week or two, they sent me brand new ones totally free. Did not e en have to send them the old ones. Love Gerbings.

Do you have a well stocked beer fridge?

 

Hi Randy,

:semi-twins: I got some funny looks sometimes after arriving at work in foul weather and unwrapping the shirt and tie under my riding gear! We lived in Surrey for a good many years, but moved to the valley when the lead poisoning started encroaching on Newton from Whalley.

We have beer in the fridge and glasses in the freezer. There is considerable upheaval now - house sold, looking for a new one, maybe out your way? If I know I'm heading your way on the bike I'll PM you. If you're going to Costco sometime let me know.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

Ya. I had a bit of a reputation at work fro riding in shit weather. Used to work at the Surrey Transit Centre so was a longish commute every day. Got caught in heavy snow once and light snow and freezing rain a few times. I was riding in the rain west bound at 200 and by time I got to 196, there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground on the side of the freeway. Managed to nurse the bike into the Chevron on 86 (now gone) where the bike slipped from under me. Phoned one of my guys to come pick me up and take me the rest of the way in.

A few times when I rode home at 03:00, the air temp was near or at -10 C. Now, that was cold on the forehead. Not much you can do to keep that warm cause fleece won't fit under a properly snug helmet.

I take it you are in the Abby area. Will give you a shout sometime.

 

Yeah, I rode from Abby to YVR. The ride home was generally at 0200. I wore a nomex balaclava I have leftover from racing. That really worked to keep my forehead, face and neck warm. One morning the road was frosted where there was no tire tracks and black ice where there were. I blipped the throttle to downshift for the Clearbrook exit and the throttle cable snapped (Trophy - single cable). Too precarious to fiddle around looking for the idle speed knob so pulled on some choke to fast idle in 2nd gear around the slight uphill of the exit and then over the overpass and home. Just another story to tell!

Keep in touch.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

I had a recent customer service fail, will spare you all the story. Customer service, in theory , should have gone up during the crash in the economy but just the opposite happened. It is dead and never coming back I fear.

 

You Canucs are surely a hearty and brave lot! First off, riding in those frigid temps (brrrr), and secondly, riding up north where the gravitational pull is exceptionally high, add that slippery white stuff and your bound to drop your bike! Seriously, living in SoCal, I'm such a wuss I avoid even riding in a light sprinkle!
Good to know about Gerbings though. Since I've retired I keep thinking that I'm going to do a road trip at some point and would want to be prepared for the less than desirable weather. I was wondering about the heated gear from Cyclegear? I know, typically cheap stuff, but they seam to stand behind their warranty, and you can find a store almost anywhere down here.

 

Toecutter, we allowed the corporate greed bunch to run amok years ago and now can't seem to stop them. I'm sure every last one of them could be jailed for tax evasion if the justice folks had the balls to do it, but their money is in the same offshore banks. Now (and for years past) they are not satisfied with healthy profits of the same size every year - now every year must be more profit than last years. It's INSANE! So, here we are, corporations with good reps for quality and customer service throwing it all away for more profits have laid everybody off and sent production to China who can't or won't make anything but a shit product.

Outboard John, thanks from the Great White North! Up here we learn early that there is no such thing as inappropriate weather for enjoying yourself, just inappropriate clothing for it. I am learning that checking among all your online friends (like here) about their quality, customer service and warranty service experiences is the first thing to do. Maybe Gerbing has more quality control of stuff they get made in China (assuming both) than some other brands. I would try to stick with name brands. I do consider Tourmaster to be a name brand as well as Bikemaster now. Lots of both out there.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

I was fortunate that way. We had change rooms, showers and lockers. I also had a my own office so I kept a week supply of pants shirts and ties at the office. There was a cleaner close by. Imagine that. A nearby cleaner shop in Surreyevo! About all I have to pack was layers clothing for the ride, socks and clean gauchies each day. You remember what your mom used to say about always wearing clean underwear.

I changed my undies every day, sometimes twice a day. I changed with Fred. Jim changed with Gary. Tim changed with Robert.

 

There are a few here that speak highly of Gerbings. In fact, I don't recall seeing anyone complain about them or their product. I did not find their stuff to be expensive at all. AS far as the quality of the Chinese stuff, you are right. China puts out some real crap. But that is because their clients over here, who contract with Chinese factories, only want to pay so much for the product. The lower the manufacture expense paid to China, the lower the quality. If you buy a faucet from a plumbing supply shop made by Moen, it has a lifetime warranty and is made with brass inner parts. You buy a faucet that looks identical from Home Depot, that specific faucet is usually specific to Home Depot and is cheaper, but has mostly plastic strip-able parts inside. Both are made in China. They will build what you want to your specifications. China gets a bad rap on many things.

As far as Tourmaster goes, this is what I think of them. Not so good.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/36952-Tourmaster-Transition-Series-2-Jacket?highlight=

Then there is the other side of the coin. Joe Rocket's attention to my questions about replacement armour was nothing short of exquisite.

http://vfrworld.com/forums/showthread.php/48905-Shoulder-Armor-Replacement-Pads?highlight=

 

Hahahahaha, that's funny!

Depending on road conditions...

Ha! Funny guy! Golden oldie. :biggrin-new:

 

The Tourmaster was a long read. The Joe Rocket was a short read. Good job, JR. Because of that a short read said it all.

Tourmaster - thanks for the enlightenment. No Tourmaster for me!

Cheers,
Glenn

 

Hi folks,

I have some news to report on the Powerlet Customer Service front. A couple of folks on the various forums had commented that my customer service experience was different from theirs. One fellow from across the pond PM’d me to suggest I contact a specific fellow at Powerlet who had been extremely helpful to him. Turns out that is who I was communicating with.

Well, today that fellow from Powerlet wrote to apologize for not replying in a timely fashion. Apparently, he was dealing with a multi-million dollar order deadline for a large mid-west motorcycle manufacturer. He told me he has a pair of liners (production sample) left over that he will send right out to me.

Kudos to Powerlet. I take back my advice to others to avoid their products. When my new liners arrive, I will give them a road test and report back.

Cheers,
Glenn

 

Well, folks, Powerlet stood by their product. I received a new pair of glove liners in the mail yesterday. Thank you Powerlet. I can now recommend your products again.

Cheers,
Glenn