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Unquestionably Yonex are one of the most respected badminton equipment manufacturers
of today. with their roots firmly set in the East you'd expect a degree of
honor - wouldn't you?
Yonex have always been my preferred racket choice for many years now
but I think times are a changing. I played with a Yonex "Power
600" until a couple of years or so ago whilst in mid shot the frame split. I was
slightly concerned by this but proceeded to further purchase another Yonex
racket, this time opting for the "Tour 800" This was a superbly
balanced racket but again several months down the line it too suffered the
same fate. My third and last Yonex purchase was of a "Swing
500" which suffered the exact same fault as the previous two. This
time the racket was only a few months old, so I returned it to my local
dealer here in Cornwall for replacement along with the others to show it was a common fault
with Yonex rackets. A couple of weeks passed by before I called to find
the progress of my rackets but the reply was not one I had expected. the
letter from Yonex read "Our engineers have examined the rackets
sent to us and conclude that the damage is not due to a defect within
the manufacture " I have had a categorical
refusal
to replace the latest racket even though it is under 12 months old and within
standard warranty period. My local dealer was sympathetic but said that
"badminton rackets don't carry a warranty".
I had always believed that " a product must be of of merchantable
quality, durable and fit for the purpose sold for".
However I can see where Yonex are coming from, After all
it is difficult to warranty a product for 12 months that may sustain the odd
knock here and there which may have added to the final collapse of the
racket. But wouldn't you have thought that to keep a customer that
purchases a new top of the range racket each year would be worth
looking after.
I can now report that my local dealer has today called me
to offer me a large discount from him if i wish to purchase a replacement
racket. Perhaps this independent Newquay sports retailer has a better
understanding of customer relations and a better business sense too.
So a big thank you !
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