US Gear

[BillyBob]

I see that a lot of people have gotten their US Gear deliveries. Is anyone else still waiting? Or is it just me?

 

Mine does not seem like it will ever arrive despite frequent inquiries and assurances that it will be mailed in a couple of days.

 

We are a month into the season here now and still no ski rope!

[addkerr]

@BillyBob when did you order?

[BillyBob]

I placed the order on New Years Day.

[The_MS]

Randy turned into a 1 armed rope maker after his injury. The 2 for 1 offer put him back a bit but he is making handles daily. I would gladly trade you open water for my handles. I have a foot of ice and 2 new handles, you have open water and no handles.

[mateja]

I'm still waiting for my rope and handle that I ordered in January. Another few weeks before I start skiing though so I still have some time to wait.

[ToddL]

Still waiting. Ordered Jan 1.

[Texas6]

Still waiting on two ropes, ordered both on New Years

[Chef23]

I am still waiting on three ropes and a handle but in Randy's defense I told him I wasn't in a hurry.

[jedgell]

I'm still waiting. Ordered 2 ropes on new years.

[skihart]

Still waiting.........Ordered on New Years.......no communication...starting to get worried.....

[gregy]

@skihart I'd suggest calling. I know he is still working on getting orders filled. But just incase its lost in the mail etc.

[skihart]

I did call three times. No response .......my latest attempt was today with two emails to Randy's email and the customer service email account.........not happy

[Chef23]

I sent Rand an email the other day and got a response in a little over 24 hours. Randy said he would get my stuff out to me. I am not desperate so not too worried.

[skihart]

Randy got in touch with me today. The guy is working 24/7 trying to get out all his orders. If you are still waiting don't give up hope, he is on it. Can't wait to try out my new rope and handle.

[Texas6]

I like Randy and his products are fantastic. I'm trying to be sympathetic to the situation but I've sent three vety polite e-mails asking for status and none have been returned. Holding out hope

[Horton]

I exchanged emails with Randy today. He has clearly had a bad few months but it sounds like he is getting his head back above water. He thinks he might be totally caught up in a week or so... (I think that is what he told me - not quote me)

[ToddL]

Everybody stop calling and emailing Randy! It is slowing him down in making my handle...

[ToddL]

Seriouly, Randy should just take 1 day and do nothing but write out a list of pending orders older than 4 weeks and estimated ship out dates if possible. That will ease the inquiry distractions by showing customers that your order hasn't gotten lost off the list to be fulfilled. Most attempt to contact him are just people confirming that they haven't been forgotten somehow.

[Texas6]

Randy responded to one of my notes yesterday, and has shipped my order. I'm looking forward to trying his product.

[The_MS]

Mrs.MS and I are both liking the Radius style handle and in my 2fer deal we got a traditional .960 12 inch and a .940 Radius. Tough decision on what to use for the summer.

[Jim Neely]

I'm loving my US Gear handle. I have't had a handle miss that stoped the pass in 28 days of using it.

[eurosport]

Friend just brought our hadles back from florida for us since they were not ready when we were leaving to come back. Was very excited until I noticed they were not the handles we ordered. We got 2 regular radius when we ordered 2 Gordon Rathbun pro comp with spectra line. Anyone else have this happen?

[eurosport]

Still have not received the proper handles even after randy sent us an email back in early may saying he would ship them asap. I e-mailed him last Monday and still no reply. Called today and mailbox is full. With how short our season is up here in Canada I wonder if we will even get to use our handles. I understand being busy and all but an order from January 1st should be taken care of by now...even with the mix up of handles. Anybody else waiting still?

[ral]

@eurosport, I am in the same situation you are, but without receiving anything... Last communication I got from Randy was "I strung them around 3am this morning so It will ship today." on July 1st, but the mentioned shipment did not happen, and no response even after 3 follow up emails...

[A_B]

Sorry to hear. My 2 GR Pro's are awesome. Best gear purchase in a while. I haven't skied much due to weather this year, but must have had at least 3 or 4 mis grips saved by the curved handle instead of rope.

[eurosport]

@ral I don't know what is worse not having anything or having to look at the controlled stretch mainlines and wrong handles wanting to try them out but not trying them since the handles must be either sold or sent back by me.

[skihart]

My handle arrived a while back after numerous emails and phone messages but it is amazing. Love the thing. I thought he would have been caught up by now.

[A_B]

Sort of reminds me of the commercial about a bunch of young people with their first website celebration, and then they get excited when orders start coming in, then they get overwhelmed with orders and how to fill them.

 

Getting hurt in an industrial accident didn't help, but I would bet @Brady a donut that Randy just flat got run over by more orders than he could handle....

[Ed_Johnson]

I bet he never has that 2 for 1 sale again...He told me before doing that he needed to generate some business in the off season..."Be careful what you Pray for, you just might get it."

[eurosport]

I understand he was been swamped with orders since January but you would think by now he would have it organized enough to get the orders out. Hire some help if needed. My father in law was in Florida all winter hoping to ski with the new handles and it never happened and the way things are going now we might miss our season here as well which is kind of frustrating. It was May 12-13 when I spoke with Randy to let him know the handles he sent were wrong which he admitted to upon further inspection of the online order form. We are now almost 2 months later and still no sign of the right handles or any response to our request for an update.

[gregy]

Does any know if US Gear is a part time business? How long has he been in business? Maybe it a side business for him? I have a handle which love but I'm wondering if I'll every be able to replace it if needed.

 

I ran a small business for a number of years and know it can get overwhelming at times. I'd say Randy needs to make some adjustments if he wants to stay in business.

[skihart]

I believe he is basically a one man show. You get top quality because he is the one actually making your handle....

[Ed_Johnson]

@gregy....I have known Randy since 2003 and believe it is now full time for him....His main customers are Barefooters, plus he sells a lot of handles to Australia..He hand builds all of these himself...I use to use a 3 month lead time when ordering, but may have to extend that to 6.

 

I always keep a practice handle, a Tournament handle, and a spare....They are the Best out there and I can't imagine skiing without one..Nothing else comes close.

[skibug]

I love my US Gear handle(s)....I have 3 and I might order another just in case the lead time extends out to a year

[scuppers]

@skibug - Ditto!

[Than_Bogan]

Oh man, now there's gonna be a run on handles "for backup" and he's gonna be even more overwhelmed!

[eurosport]

Has anyone heard back from Randy? On his website it says the best way to reach him these days is email. We've emailed twice in the last 2 weeks with no response

[eurosport]

Sorry to bump this back up but I cannot reach Randy by any means. Calling is useless since voicemail is full and he has not responded to any of our e-mails. @Horton have you had any contact with Randy in a while?

[gregy]

@Eurosport has it been over 6 months. You typically have 6 months to file a claim with your credit card. Might get his attention if he gets a chargeback from credit card processor.

[eurosport]

@gregy the order was placed January 1 so yes its over 6 months. I really did not want to have to go down that road but trust me my father in law and I have discussed it. Not sure if they would allow us to do a chargeback after 6 months but seeing as I have emails from Randy admitting to having sent the wrong handles and assuring us the proper ones would be sent promptly they might accept it. Would just be a lot easier not to have to do that. I do not want to make trouble for randy at all I would just like a response with when we can expect our handles and hopefully its sooner rather than later.

[Horton]

I wish I knew what to tell you guys.

[Moggie]

These handle must be amazing for so many to endure this lack of customer service. If you're running a business why would you not just hire some admin support to keep customers happy and enable him to focus on making the handles? It'll only cost him customers in the future if he doesn't.

[gregy]

@moggie they are amazing handles. I ran an internet business for 12 years, I'd love to talk to him see if I could help.

[ThePantsManCan]

I've held my tongue about this because I tend to get sucked into the typical Human Drama. I LOVE my handles and they protect my ski from handle dings. I'm with @Moggie regarding adding an employee or two.

 

On the other hand, we Ballers are an extensive network of Hard Workers and Business Professionals. Is there not someone here on BOS that could step into the role of a part time "order update/responder"?

 

I would just hate for this to turn into a negative for Randy and cause him to want discontinue the project. I'm guessing he owns the patent on the design and therefore we would be hosed if he were to truly stop.

[ThePantsManCan]

Wow @gregy, I was writing my post and you posted what I was thinking before I was able to refresh the page. I hope he goes for it!

[Horton]

@gregy please!

[eurosport]

@gregy good luck trying to get in touch with him. I've emailed both Randy's and the customer service email addresses plus his vm is finally accepting messages again left a message Tuesday and still no answer back. I really want to support a sponsor of this great site but am at a loss for how to go about getting this fixed up.

[DaveD]

Randy needs to watch the Big Bang Theory episode on Penny Blossoms.

[MZito]

I'm in need of a new handle. I have been using US GEAR for the past 3 yrs. I feel Randy makes a very quality product and do not want to switch companies. I am hesitant to place an order in fear I will not see it until next year. I know there was a lot of Ballers very unhappy with the customer service, has that changed? Are orders being filled and sent in an appropriate time frame? If not I may just find a new handle company.

[Brewski]

I know that the World Barefoot Center finally got their big order so he is probably freed up a little. They order 100's of barefoot handles and that is a big task. He needs a partner.....