Gone in 60 seconds (LF Watson Handle)

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

This is my second gear warning in a month but I'm all about sharing stories and educating my fellow riders so here is my story about the 2006 LF Watson handle.

This thing literally snapped in half on my first pull with it. Is this some sort of joke like the exploding golf ball trick? Graphics by Liquid Force, parts by Fischer Price?? I actually don't consider this a joke. I consider it a huge safety risk and a pitiful, embarrasing product design by Liquid Force. Do their team riders actually use these things? I had an Accurate Carbon handle and beat it into the ground for 2 years with zero issues.. until it disappeared off my boat. I go buy this thing and it doesn't even last a set!

Now I get to see if I can get a return this heap for store credit instead of a 'warranty replacement'.

Great product LF Design Team! Thanks!

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

BTW I weigh 175, not 375, so no fat kid jokes!

Sinkoumn · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 1:28 pm Post subject:

I've heard nothing but bad reviews about all those handles. Hopefully they resolve these issues, cause Karma is a biotch, and this type of product failure will catch up to LF in the long run.

Natman · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 873 City: Eddy TOWN

that actually is very dangerous, lucky you never got hurt, i use the byerly handle, its perfect, accurate its by far my favorite company for lines and handles

Natman · Addict Joined: 13 Jan 2006 Posts: 873 City: Eddy TOWN

k well think if you were pulling a raley when it snapped.

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

Sinkoumn, You are absolutely right. My solution-- Spend less time and effort on graphics and 'looks' and put more into product testing and durability.

See the left connector rope that's disconnected from the handle? That was fed through the handle and held by a rubber eyelet that you can squeeze with 2 fingers. So that tiny piece of rubber is expected to stay in place and handle the load of a wakeboader. The rope got yanked through the handle (go figure), which caused the handle to completely torque over, which broke it in half.

Natman, if I got hurt, I would make it my life's mission to get this product off the market. Instead, I will just spread awareness to 500+ wakeboarders and hopefully discourage them from making the same mistake.

Im not a fan of the Byerly handles or any handles that don't have support bars connected to the handle. It feels like Im holding a rolling pin in my hands and I don't trust it all. I really like the carbon handle concept because the handle won't roll around in your hands, they stay solid at all times. To each his own though-- whatever feels comfortable!

Darin · Guest

I already said in another post, I will never buy LF. Aside from thier obviosly devective gear, I understand they hate thier customers enough that they will not comunicate with them, at all. That alone is enough for me. I am in the installation and service area. If we ran our biz like that. We'd be out of biz in 5 minutes, as well we should be. And so should LF. If you don't have time for you customers, you don't belong in biz, period.

Now some of you will defend them. Which is why poor companies stay in biz, product loyalty. The wrong reason to buy anything is because you had simply had it before.

david-d · Guest

Darin, is there anything that you don't bash?

Craig-R · Guest

Darin, have you ever even called liquid force? no because don't have any of their products but i recently had to call about replacing a pair of bindings and they did it no problem, for free. have you ever ridden an LF board? probably not, but those of us that have realize that they have some of the highest quality boards with the most pop, softest landings, etc. maybe those of us who are standing up for LF actually know what we're talking about from experience, not reading up about them on forums.

LFADAM · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 2:12 pm Post subject:

Craig-R, amen brotha!

PimpinD2 · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 2:14 pm Post subject:

dude this is a sport where sh*t like that will happen. Now i know maybe its happens more often than not with certain brands. Im willing to bet it was a manuf. error coming off the press or something. Ive had my fair share of breaks with LF boots and HL boots. I wont ride my 138 temet any more since i snapped my femur on it, but i ride a 139 fusion with belmont bindings. In a sport like this expect things to break.

pilot_ryder · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 2:38 pm Post subject:

i totally agree, i have a straight line carbon handle that is pretty beat up and no issues at all, i love it because its got a soft grip and its super soft.

Epic · Addict Joined: 21 Aug 2005 Posts: 765

Darin · Guest

Ok, who has called LF, or emailed them about a product problem and gotten through to a rep? Do you guys even understand how business is run? It's not by ignoring you customer base. Ever. If I'm bashing LF, it's because of what others have posted about them. I have no reason to assume they are lying about thier experience with LF. If you've had a positive relationship with a LF rep, spread the word man. If you want to buy LF, buy all means, don't let me sway you. Buy away man. I'm just another guy that may be getting new gear sometime and I have ruled out LF because of what others have reported.

holdsworth · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 3:23 pm Post subject:

hyperlite does the same thing with their equipment...so i think that it's all the same. it's just the designs of the boards, shapes, graphics, and cores that are different.

Craig-R · Guest

Darin, I HAVE, and im not the first to call and get through to a rep. It's really not difficult. I have their number in my phone and i know i want to talk to Mike Z because he's a pimp and his extension is 303 in case you wanna call haha. Half of my post above was saying how YOU have no room to talk about calling LF and getting through to a rep because you have never tried. Like Epic said, people aren't going to post about "getting through to a rep" because thats usually what happens, the people who post are only going to post about not getting through, boards/bindings breaking, etc. and you're not going to sway anyone from not buying LF if they realize that you don't know what you're saying from your own experience.

holdsworth · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 5:58 pm Post subject:

Jim M · Wakeboarder.com Freak Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 2933

I care less about them answering my phone call. I care more about them manufacturing and distributing faulty equipment. Especially for a high impact and injury prone sport like wakeboarding. Do I care about the response time or warranty process if I have a 7" gash in my forearm because of their faulty equipment??

There is no reason a 2006 handle should break in 60 seconds. This isn't an instance where I tightened bindings for 200 sets then ripped out an eyelet.

wake eater · Soul Rider Joined: 04 Feb 2005 Posts: 272 City: knoxville

oh, great! i just bought the same handle last week & have yet to ride with it. this just makes me really happy about my purchase Embarassed

!

nickdakoolkat · Posted: Jul 31, 2006 7:21 pm Post subject:

Coming from somebody who blew up a pair of Watsons I do have some distain towards the quality of LF products. But with that said I LOVE my watson board and it seems to be made quite well. I hope that LF can fix some of these problems for the future

LFADAM · Posted: Aug 01, 2006 11:14 am Post subject:

Darin, you should definetly have experience with the subject if your gonna bash it. I ripped my aged, ridden to crap Alphas and called up LF to see if I could get a new overlay. The rep I got was out of the office today but instructed anyone to email him so I did. Within FIVE minutes (seriously) I got a personalized email back. I dont know if theyll replace bindings past warranty yet, but if thats not satisfactory response time for you, your expectations are wayyy too high.

J-Ro · Posted: Aug 01, 2006 11:21 am Post subject:

Dear God I agree with Darin. When I managed my shop, LF was the worst company as far as returns and defects. I was/am good friends with the LF rep and if it wasn't for him, things never would have gotten done through the factory. Their gear breaks a lot, so do other companies but I would say, in 5-10 years of running the shops I did, LF and SL/Neptune were the worst as far as breakage and returns. Just a first hand opinion, take it for what it's worth.

Brandon241 · Newbie Joined: 14 Jul 2006 Posts: 3

We just bought the Shane handle last week... Second time on the lake did the same thing... Its the carbon handles.. Lot of money for something to break within the first 3 times using it..

Stewie · Posted: Aug 01, 2006 12:29 pm Post subject:

The day I bought my Watson handle, I saw somebody break a shane that day before I got to ride it, and that got me a little scared. But I rode with it for a week and nothing bad happened. I LOVED the grip on the Watson, one of the best grips ever, but then, i let somebody else use it who was 100 lbs heavier than me, and the eyelet popped out on one side, and the carbon fiber cracked on the other side. Not as bad as yours, Jim M, but it pissed me off because I loved the grip. I returned it and got a team handle and have yet to use it. But I hope that they fix the design next year because it was a great grip, they're just a crappy design.

Oh yeah, when I returned it to the shop, they told me that they've gotten 10 of those handles back since they started selling them(which was a week and a half ago).

LoudonTN · Posted: Aug 01, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject:

Stewie, I use the Team handle and it's great.

wtbamoomba · Addict Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 808 City: raleigh

Darin has no idea what he is saying, _______ (the midwest LF rep) is one of the most incredible people the wake industry has seen, he does ANYTHING to put the customers first, and has helped out on the spot with replacements

Darin · Guest

Ok, I have no idea what I'm saying, because I have never had to call a LF rep. But I have read more than once that other can get no help with customer service. So I guess they have no idea what they are talking about. Maybe you should forget about busting on me and get those guys in touch with the rep since you seem to have such a great relationship with him.

goinbig143 · Addict Joined: 20 Feb 2005 Posts: 659 City: Wonder lake

That is a pretty dangerous failure... it very well could have torn his hands to shreds.
This is on a different level than a torn binding or a stripped screw.
If he had his hands spread out to the edges of the handle when it broke, the jagged hook on the right side of the picture could have raked through his hand with several hundred pounds of force behind it.
Also, out of the 600 views this page has had so far, a second person has chimed in to say the same thing happened to him. It sounds like LF has a problem to address.

I would like to hear what happens to the broken handle. Will they take it back to the factory and find out why it broke, or will they just toss it away at the shop?

jpminter · Posted: Aug 02, 2006 4:40 am Post subject:

Darin, I've never had to call LF either but think about this: 2 people come on here and complain about the LF rep not calling them back. Does that mean that all people that call them cannot get in touch with them? People aren't going to complain about good service therefore you'd never hear about it.

wtbamoomba · Addict Joined: 10 Sep 2003 Posts: 808 City: raleigh

darin, i remember one of the instances you are talking about, and there, the person said they tried to email and got no response.... well i have had the same reaction from hyperlite, i tore the overlay and emailed them with no response.. 2 weeks later I called in and the person i talked to was very rude and told me there was nothing they could do because the bindings were too old and they didnt make the parts to fix them (they were 2004, and this was 2005) HOWEVER i took them to my shop and they got replaced no problem

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Craig-R · Guest

i just want to say that i buy LF boards and bindings, but when i buy something else like a rope/handle or jacket, i use the companies that are best at making them. for example i use david's jetpilot a-10 vest because they are known to be one of the best vests out there and we each have accurate handles and ropes because they are the best in the business IMO. also carbon handles are known to break so why spend 110+ dollars on something you can't trust when you can get something like the Premier handle for 73 bucks?

i don't expect LF or HL or any of the other companies to make superior ropes/handles/jackets, because they just make them so people will buy a rider's entire setup which is pretty lame. i'm sure there are exceptions but thats how i see it

BoarderX · Posted: Aug 02, 2006 8:46 am Post subject:

I don't have anything fabulous to contribute to this but I will say I am hella glad I don't work in the quality control departments for any wakeboard product manufactures.. not many sports are as rough on equipment as wakeboarding! Sh*t happens.. Warranty is important. There is risk taking a bleeding edge product in any market. Most people wont even buy a new model car first year because it will have so many recalls.. If you really want a reliable product you get the second or third revision of the product. Thats just common sense. As someone else mentioned, carbon handles, or carbon anything for that matter, break from time to time. Its a risk you assume when you buy the product. We ride a carbon handle as well, Accurate, but we always keep a spare in the boat. If it breaks, it wouldnt be the first one we broke, or the second.. You have to expect the unexpected. Would I have been pissed if it was my first set? Sure.. But, stuff still happens... Obviously you had a bad draw and got a defective product. And yes, probably more to do with the manufacturing process than the design. They need to stress test the handles harder before they are approved obviously.

KduB11 · Criminal Joined: 01 Aug 2006 Posts: 56

i would rather have perfomance instead of looks