Brought 2 kites from Royal and on the first fly of each (an hour in the sky max) the bridle attachment points started tearing out from the leading edge of both.S2A agreed when they saw them that the stitching hadn't been done correctly and put a repair patch on the damaged points.
I like looking after my kites and I like keeping them like new ,i'm now left whith 2 repaired kites with a damaged resale value .
The best offer I got was two buy another kite of them cheap!!!

Below is there responce ,would I have got this from some of the major brands?

There is nothing wrong whit your attachment point.

"It is the small cover, that just have a to small hole in it, so the line makes tha hole 1cm bigger.. The cover is just for looks, and makes the kite havier and have no meaning, other than looks.."

That sucks. I got some royals last year, they fly great, but I had a issue with the bar safety, (big time). From what youve said, there statement is probably true, even so its not good enough, moan at them, or try n get ya money back, its sounds like the people you bought them from admitted responsibility try and claim through them maybe, orf maybe theyll contact them for you? worth a try

Hi Doc, was the response you got from Royal or S2a?

I had purchased a Dakine harness from a supplier that went out of business so I rang James at S2a for advice seing as I had recently purchaced some snowboarding gear off them. They asked me to send them some Photos, within a week they got back to me and agreed to pass the harness onto their Dakine rep so long as I covered the postage. Some time later, James contacted me and said that my harness had been replaced with a brand new equivelent in the latest model.

I can only say that S2a went out of their way to help me out when I had not even purchased the item from them so can only commend the service that I received.

I can also say that I have had great service from all of the suppliers that I have dealt with, however, if I had had the experience that you described with no joy through negociation, I would start by following some consumer rights advice such as this;

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_your_rights.htm#how_to_deal_with_a_problem_with_goods

or this;

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_world/consumer_affairs/buying_goods_your_rights.htm#your_rights_when_things_go_wrong />
Or this;

http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk

I hope that you get some joy... if not, try trading standards.

All good advice Jon. Unfortunately, despite our rights as a consumer and goods having to be fit for purpose etc. when it actually comes down to it and you inform trading standards, and go through the relevant channels you never actually get anywhere.

Citizens advice and Trading Standards will happily tell you your rights and provide you with sample letters that you can write but they don't actually do anything other than give advice.

If you're dealing with a company that ignore the letters etc. then your only other option is the courts.. That then gets expensive and even then nothing happens. At least, not in my experience. Even if they are issued with court orders etc. they can just ignore them. It never got me anywhere, just lots of hassle and cost lots of money!... Grrrrrr..

Rant over, and just for the record the cases I've pursued in this fashion had nothing to do with kites.

Al.

first of all , i love royalkiteboarding kites .
i have used the era and the solo.
the era is more for jumps and free rides.
the solo on the other hand is for beginners and also is good for wave riding and unhook.
i will continue to use their kites because they're stronger and durable. in the past i've used kites from diffrent companies and i would say that i'm happy with my royals. they're just simple and that's what i'm looking for .
like any starting company out there , people will try to spread rummurs and stuff that's not true. but i'm pretty sure that those guys will make against other big companies out there.
doc iam sorry to hear that you have problems with royals but i can issure you that with any company you'll have or i would say one of us will have a problem . i remember having the same problem with cabrinha when i got my 2007. move on man and find somebody else if your not happy. not keep winning over samething over and over. let's enjoy our sport .
again i will use royal regardless of what anybody say. why? because i have used , still using them and i happy with them.
i can gurantee any body out there that the performance from the kites is great. if you're more of jumper. try the era. it 's a great kite and user friendly user. don't let people mouth discourage you from trying something new.
all of us remember that it was that curusity that got us this sport. otherwise we would have still windsurfing or surfing.
don't be afraid to give new companies out there a chcance.

Hi, thats totally correct, its great to try new kites, and miost companies from large to small, old and new have problems at times. The mark of a good company is the way they treat the problems! I really liked the 10 and 12 era, had them both, and power wise, no kite will match them, the 12 is a beast, Id say theres no need to have a bigger kite in your quiver, (unless your colin).

The safety on the bar however was so dangerous it nearly killed me, (seriously), total failure, which sent me into a 200 yard death drag, if I hadnt had so much experience, and risked loosing a couple of fingers I could have been killed, through no fault of my own. The other kiters on the beach will back me up! Basically the cleat the 5th line runs through completely jammed! Scary!

i took the 5 line because it's much confusing. i took mine off and i love the bar and the set up because it's a simple four line kite. what i would suggest for beginners is to attach the leash to the outside line that way if they need to kill the kite then they will just be attached to one line. for advanced kiters then they can hook up to the center and then use experience to get out of situations. and that seems that it worked for me all the time.

or just take the 5tgh line out of the cleat and have it hanging free, works easily. However, a company should test this stuff properly, people have died kitesurfing and more could!

thanx for advice folks,sadly because i complained they're doing nought!
good winds

Hi Doc,

Sorry to hear about your troubles you had in with your Royal Kites back in 2008/09.

We're just relaunching the brand in the UK (we weren't involved in 2008/09) and can assure you that we'd be much more supportive and would have taken you're issues much more seriously.

We'll be arranging some demo days in April/May and would be stoked if you'd come along and try out the new 2012 kit.

Check out our new gear coming soon www.royalkites.co.uk

Thanks

Urs
UK Brand Manager
info@royalkites.co.uk