bluebyteVraagstellerlid sinds 2010 · 9 berichten20 jan 2010 10:24
Hello,
i am sorry i have to write this in english since i´m from germany. i just registered here to give a warning to other kiters not to do business with www.1st-kite.com in Brussels, the owner is Arnaud de Laat. i posted this already over at foilzone and was given a few links from other forums where people might be interested in the way this guy is doing business.
in September 2009 i responded to an ad in the classifieds on foilzone from the user VinzBE. he was offering a Psycho4 15m. as it turned out the kite was sold by 1st-kite. it was described to me as "10 times out of the bag, kite is like new". so i bought it for 800,- €.when it arrived in Germany i saw that the Psycho4 had severe abrasions from sand all over the kite. many parts where it was dragged over the sand and the cloth is damaged, but also tiny spots from sand damage all over. and the depower rope was down to the inner core in several areas (there was a new depower rope, but this shows that the kite was used a lot more than i was told....though i know that the rope on the Infinity bar wears pretty fast, but not after 10 x of usage ?!?)
so i tried to reach the kiteshop, but it was impossible to contact them by e-mail or phone. finally i sent the kite back. after not hearing anything from them and countless efforts to mail or phone, i found out that the whole shop was in Brasil until November. Then i could talk to a guy who was in the shop only on Saturdays during that time. He told me that the kite had not arrived. But i got the written confirmation from my shipping company that it was delivered and accepted at a Flower Shop nearby. So the week after that i called again, the guy from the shop went to the Flowershop and told me that the kite was not there....the Saturday after that i called again and thank god the kite was at the shop now.
so the guy told me to wait until Arnaud was back from Brasil.
of course Arnaud did not contact me. again i spent days trying to call and writing emails (which are generally ignored).
finally i talked to Arnaud. he told me that it´s no problem, i will get my money back. i should just mail him all the details again and then it will be fine.
since then i wrote countless emails and talked a few more times to him on the phone (pure luck to reach him...). he always tells me he will check and call me back, but it never happens.
the foilzone user VinzBE went to the shop before Christmas and promised to talk to Arnaud. After that he told me that Arnaud does not deal with payments and paperstuff anymore and someone else is doing this, but sometime i might get my money....
since i know Armin from Flysurfer i told him about this case, because this shop is a Flysurfer dealer. He was very helpful and asked someone to talk to Arnaud, but he also cannot reach this guy.
i wrote to a couple lawyers in Brussels, but it seems 800,- € is not worth bothering for them.
the kite is back at this shop since October 20th 2009 and i am still waiting for my money. Always trying to call this guy, i have 3 phone numbers, but it´s not possible to talk to him.
so this guy thinks he can just keep my money and the kite. by the way, he offers this kite on his website again, described as "bon etat, -15 uses".
maybe i would get my money when the Psycho4 is sold to someone else and with posting this i am destroying my last chance.
but i don´t know what to do anymore, this is so outrageous i think the kite community should know about Arnaud´s shop and school.
those 800,- € were the savings of almost one year and it means an unbelievable loss for me.
i am sorry i have to write this in english since i´m from germany. i just registered here to give a warning to other kiters not to do business with www.1st-kite.com in Brussels, the owner is Arnaud de Laat. i posted this already over at foilzone and was given a few links from other forums where people might be interested in the way this guy is doing business.
in September 2009 i responded to an ad in the classifieds on foilzone from the user VinzBE. he was offering a Psycho4 15m. as it turned out the kite was sold by 1st-kite. it was described to me as "10 times out of the bag, kite is like new". so i bought it for 800,- €.when it arrived in Germany i saw that the Psycho4 had severe abrasions from sand all over the kite. many parts where it was dragged over the sand and the cloth is damaged, but also tiny spots from sand damage all over. and the depower rope was down to the inner core in several areas (there was a new depower rope, but this shows that the kite was used a lot more than i was told....though i know that the rope on the Infinity bar wears pretty fast, but not after 10 x of usage ?!?)
so i tried to reach the kiteshop, but it was impossible to contact them by e-mail or phone. finally i sent the kite back. after not hearing anything from them and countless efforts to mail or phone, i found out that the whole shop was in Brasil until November. Then i could talk to a guy who was in the shop only on Saturdays during that time. He told me that the kite had not arrived. But i got the written confirmation from my shipping company that it was delivered and accepted at a Flower Shop nearby. So the week after that i called again, the guy from the shop went to the Flowershop and told me that the kite was not there....the Saturday after that i called again and thank god the kite was at the shop now.
so the guy told me to wait until Arnaud was back from Brasil.
of course Arnaud did not contact me. again i spent days trying to call and writing emails (which are generally ignored).
finally i talked to Arnaud. he told me that it´s no problem, i will get my money back. i should just mail him all the details again and then it will be fine.
since then i wrote countless emails and talked a few more times to him on the phone (pure luck to reach him...). he always tells me he will check and call me back, but it never happens.
the foilzone user VinzBE went to the shop before Christmas and promised to talk to Arnaud. After that he told me that Arnaud does not deal with payments and paperstuff anymore and someone else is doing this, but sometime i might get my money....
since i know Armin from Flysurfer i told him about this case, because this shop is a Flysurfer dealer. He was very helpful and asked someone to talk to Arnaud, but he also cannot reach this guy.
i wrote to a couple lawyers in Brussels, but it seems 800,- € is not worth bothering for them.
the kite is back at this shop since October 20th 2009 and i am still waiting for my money. Always trying to call this guy, i have 3 phone numbers, but it´s not possible to talk to him.
so this guy thinks he can just keep my money and the kite. by the way, he offers this kite on his website again, described as "bon etat, -15 uses".
maybe i would get my money when the Psycho4 is sold to someone else and with posting this i am destroying my last chance.
but i don´t know what to do anymore, this is so outrageous i think the kite community should know about Arnaud´s shop and school.
those 800,- € were the savings of almost one year and it means an unbelievable loss for me.