Faction grade B skis

[K2K2K2K2K2]

Hello, I have a very bad looking tip edge on some new faction skis.

After i messaged them and asked if it's normal that the tip looks that way they said I received B grade skis that have visual defects. Has anyone ever heard of Faction B grade skis or did anyone have an issue with them?

So here is a photo of the weird looking tip edge and a photo of the normal looking other tip edge.

 

[OFF3P]

So did you pay full price? Why did they give you grade b skis ?

Hello, I have a very bad looking tip edge on some new faction skis.

After i messaged them and asked if it's normal that the tip looks that way they said I received B grade skis that have visual defects. Has anyone ever heard of Faction B grade skis or did anyone have an issue with them?

So here is a photo of the weird looking tip edge and a photo of the normal looking other tip edge.

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

So did you pay full price? Why did they give you grade b skis ?

I bought them off a online shop and the skis without the binding were only 400 bucks so it's a pretty good price but it was nowhere mentioned that I will receive grade B skis so I'm kind of pissed even though they were 50% off.

 

[profa_212]

Did you message faction or the store itself?

This sounds like an issue to take up with the store you bought them from. It sounds like they are selling blems without labeling them and that is kinda a big deal.

 

[e.will]

that looks an awful lot worse than b-grade; that looks c-grade at best.

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

I messaged the store and they said they are contacting faction. And then I also filled out a warranty formular from Faction myself so I did everything possible I think.

This is the site and product by the way:https://www.sport-bittl.com/de/faction-candide-5-0-21-22-freeski::195755.html

Did you message faction or the store itself?

This sounds like an issue to take up with the store you bought them from. It sounds like they are selling blems without labeling them and that is kinda a big deal.

**This post was edited on Jan 17th 2023 at 3:08:26pm

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

Guys, I must add another thing that seems weird.

So the model I have is the candide 5.0 and mine is in the colours black/brown/yellow which I've never seen on the official faction site. The ski on the faction site is black/dark green/orange.

I asked faction support about this and they replied me that they initially produced it in that colourway.

All photos of the stuff is below here:

 

[Non_State_Actor]

Guys, I must add another thing that seems weird.

So the model I have is the candide 5.0 and mine is in the colours black/brown/yellow which I've never seen on the official faction site. The ski on the faction site is black/dark green/orange.

I asked faction support about this and they replied me that they initially produced it in that colourway.

All photos of the stuff is below here:

View attachment 1061218

View attachment 1061219

View attachment 1061226

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View attachment 1061227

This isn't really weird. Sometimes things are produced in limited colours or changes are made to products for various reasons.

The 'B grade' or Blem(ish) designation is not just some internal description, you see Blem skis sold all the time. Usually it's just minor graphics issues, top sheet or sidewall dings, scratches or general sloppy looking corners. Those tips look pretty misshapen.

Where did you buy them?

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

This isn't really weird. Sometimes things are produced in limited colours or changes are made to products for various reasons.

The 'B grade' or Blem(ish) designation is not just some internal description, you see Blem skis sold all the time. Usually it's just minor graphics issues, top sheet or sidewall dings, scratches or general sloppy looking corners. Those tips look pretty misshapen.

Where did you buy them?

So it's kind of just luck in what condition your ski is that you buy because faction doesn't want to throw away any skis?

Site:https://www.sport-bittl.com/de/faction-candide-5-0-21-22-freeski::195755_1_1533.html

 

[Non_State_Actor]

So it's kind of just luck in what condition your ski is that you buy because faction doesn't want to throw away any skis?

Site:https://www.sport-bittl.com/de/faction-candide-5-0-21-22-freeski::195755_1_1533.html

No, usually they are labeled as such and discounted heavily. The smaller companies offer complete warranty and everything, just selling cosmetic blemishes with assurance of no major defects. I've bought several and often you can't even find the issue.

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

No, usually they are labeled as such and discounted heavily. The smaller companies offer complete warranty and everything, just selling cosmetic blemishes with assurance of no major defects. I've bought several and often you can't even find the issue.

Makes sense now I'm just hoping and waiting for getting them warrantied and it looks like I have a chance because the online shop that I bought it from apologised for it and said they are asking the company for a replacement.

 

[Ghini]

Both things happen all the time. The ski company does not want to throw away the skis and sells the batch to a store as B-grade and the store gets a discount for that.

Now the store you bought them from must tell you if the skis are B-grade or not. The discount does not matter. They sold you a new ski as new and put a price on them for what they thought it should costs, but it was sold as new and in 100% condition. So the shop should give you another big discount. They probably paid very little for those skis, I will not give you an insight on those prices but they are lower than most would expect. Mistake by the shop, all they had to do was add some extra text explaining it was a B-grade.

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

Both things happen all the time. The ski company does not want to throw away the skis and sells the batch to a store as B-grade and the store gets a discount for that.

Now the store you bought them from must tell you if the skis are B-grade or not. The discount does not matter. They sold you a new ski as new and put a price on them for what they thought it should costs, but it was sold as new and in 100% condition. So the shop should give you another big discount. They probably paid very little for those skis, I will not give you an insight on those prices but they are lower than most would expect. Mistake by the shop, all they had to do was add some extra text explaining it was a B-grade.

I also asked faction support once about why there was no information about the ski being b-grade on the website and they replied with this:



"Grade B's can unfortunately slip through the cracks and are sold as grade A skis"

I think that's a pretty stupid excuse from a brand being rather high priced.

 

[Dangler_Danger]

I also asked faction support once about why there was no information about the ski being b-grade on the website and they replied with this:

View attachment 1061318

"Grade B's can unfortunately slip through the cracks and are sold as grade A skis"

I think that's a pretty stupid excuse from a brand being rather high priced.

Totally. Sounds like a weird cop out to me.

Either faction informed the store where OP purchased the skis that they were lower quality skis, or they didn't. If they did, store's possibly* scamming patrons (I don't know the full details/context). If they didn't, faction is just selling flawed skis as "A-grade", in which case I would never buy skis from them again.

Obviously, we can't no for sure. However, if faction isn't giving a straight answer, that leads me to wonder...

Two other possibilities: both entities are not acting as they should, or faction has no quality control.

Unpaid, unsponsored plug for Moment Skis: I almost don't want to even taint them by association to this mess, but here we are:

- Great quality, made in USA skis, wouldn't have this issue. I think they do occasionally sell visual blems for a discount, and that's great.

- Best customer service that I've seen in the industry, and, honestly, in the outdoor recreation space.

- If you're in the market for high quality skis like faction says they are, maybe go to Moment instead. They are priced–I think reasonably–as a high end ski, but people seem to hold on to their Moments for years on end.

Call me a simp if you want, you're probably right.

**This post was edited on Jan 18th 2023 at 9:55:04am

 

[Ghini]

I also asked faction support once about why there was no information about the ski being b-grade on the website and they replied with this:

View attachment 1061318

"Grade B's can unfortunately slip through the cracks and are sold as grade A skis"

I think that's a pretty stupid excuse from a brand being rather high priced.

Trust me; the shop 100% knew they bought B-grade skis. Also simply because they had a different topsheet color scheme. I am also 100% sure they got a big discount on that batch of skis with different colors / B-grades. Faction has nothing to do with the information on the website from the shop you bought. I think the shop forgot to add text or they just gambled expecting nobody to notice.

 

[Dangler_Danger]

Trust me; the shop 100% knew they bought B-grade skis. Also simply because they had a different topsheet color scheme. I am also 100% sure they got a big discount on that batch of skis with different colors / B-grades. Faction has nothing to do with the information on the website from the shop you bought. I think the shop forgot to add text or they just gambled expecting nobody to notice.

fair enough

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

Guys I randomly found another weird thing out.

I found the picture with the orange letters on candides insta page where he shows his skis closely.

The one with the yellow letters is my ski.

Now please compare these two I found two differences:

1. On the yellow one(mine) It says "Handmade in Austria" on the orange one(candides) it says "Handmade in Europe"

2. On the yellow one(mine) the rocker profile goes T410 C0 T360 on the orange(candides)

it goes T410 C0 T365.

so candides has 5 milimeters more rocker at the tails?! Im confused as hell.

 

[BradFiAusNzCoCa]

I remember Sport Bittl had some killer deals on faction CTs last year or the year before. I think they’ve got a lot of pull with the Euro companies and get stuff others don’t and for cheaper.

 

[e.will]

2. On the yellow one(mine) the rocker profile goes T410 C0 T360 on the orange(candides)

it goes T410 C0 T365.

so candides has 5 milimeters more rocker at the tails?! Im confused as hell.

[/quote]

I wouldn't stress that much about these, as 1) could be a sample w/ incorrect pad prints (on either yours or candide's), could be a running change in production (the 5 mm), and skis could be samples and they might make samples in a different factory.

the big issue is that tip doesn't appear to be a cosmetic blemish, and the place you got them from didn't -- intentionally or not -- let you know that the ski was below quality standards.

I'd keep hammering with the shop, as ultimately it's on them. They'll be able to get Faction's attention better than you and some poor CS rep at Faction.

 

[BradFiAusNzCoCa]

Double posting because I finally read the rest. Kind of weird faction said B grade skis won’t tell the reason. Most ski companies will tell you what the blem is if you ask. Honestly, it sounds like you got a pre-production batch ski

Guys I randomly found another weird thing out.

I found the picture with the orange letters on candides insta page where he shows his skis closely.

The one with the yellow letters is my ski.

Now please compare these two I found two differences:

1. On the yellow one(mine) It says "Handmade in Austria" on the orange one(candides) it says "Handmade in Europe"

2. On the yellow one(mine) the rocker profile goes T410 C0 T360 on the orange(candides)

it goes T410 C0 T365.

so candides has 5 milimeters more rocker at the tails?! Im confused as hell.

View attachment 1061394

View attachment 1061400

 

[animator]

OP let me clear some things up for you since I have a friend who works at Faction

1. The color thing is legitimate, the ski you have was the original color palette and they did then switch over to the green/orange combo (lord knows why, because the colors you have are way nicer IMO)

2. The graphic that shows the amount of rocker and whatnot that's different on your ski is purely like a graphic thing, the ski itself is the same. Initially for that year, they wanted to change the skis shape, giving it more taper, changing the rocker profile, etc, so the initial graphic had that updated shape on there. What happened was Candide loved the 5.0 just the way it was and didn't want the shape to change, so when they moved to the green/orange color, the numbers were changed back to the original numbers. Essentially the graphic on your ski was for the "new, updated," shape, which was canned before production due to Candide wanting to keep the ski the same. The shape of your ski is still the same as the regular one.

 

[SofaKingSick]

OP let me clear some things up for you since I have a friend who works at Faction

1. The color thing is legitimate, the ski you have was the original color palette and they did then switch over to the green/orange combo (lord knows why, because the colors you have are way nicer IMO)

2. The graphic that shows the amount of rocker and whatnot that's different on your ski is purely like a graphic thing, the ski itself is the same. Initially for that year, they wanted to change the skis shape, giving it more taper, changing the rocker profile, etc, so the initial graphic had that updated shape on there. What happened was Candide loved the 5.0 just the way it was and didn't want the shape to change, so when they moved to the green/orange color, the numbers were changed back to the original numbers. Essentially the graphic on your ski was for the "new, updated," shape, which was canned before production due to Candide wanting to keep the ski the same. The shape of your ski is still the same as the regular one.

1) now that's some good info

2) god bless our lord and savior candide. fighting against taper is just one of his many feats

 

[animator]

1) now that's some good info

2) god bless our lord and savior candide. fighting against taper is just one of his many feats

apparently they proposed the shape change before consulting him and he was like, nah were keeping it the same. In the catalogues the info for the 5.0 is actually the same as on OPs skis!

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

This man is a treasure of knowledge.

Thanks!

OP let me clear some things up for you since I have a friend who works at Faction

1. The color thing is legitimate, the ski you have was the original color palette and they did then switch over to the green/orange combo (lord knows why, because the colors you have are way nicer IMO)

2. The graphic that shows the amount of rocker and whatnot that's different on your ski is purely like a graphic thing, the ski itself is the same. Initially for that year, they wanted to change the skis shape, giving it more taper, changing the rocker profile, etc, so the initial graphic had that updated shape on there. What happened was Candide loved the 5.0 just the way it was and didn't want the shape to change, so when they moved to the green/orange color, the numbers were changed back to the original numbers. Essentially the graphic on your ski was for the "new, updated," shape, which was canned before production due to Candide wanting to keep the ski the same. The shape of your ski is still the same as the regular one.

 

[AngryGramps]

I have these same skis, with the same graphic and they can be tracked to the pre-production samples. The graphic was changed between the sell-in and the production, but the ski shape is that of the ski that Candide himself rode the season before. Most athletes will get on samples the season prior to their release to produce content. Hold on to that ski like your ski life depends on it. Quite possibly the best ski ever made.

 

[SWRTOFFICIAL]

Faction moment

 

[K2K2K2K2K2]

So they're the same construction and shape wise as the orange ones just that they changed the graphic for some reason?

I have these same skis, with the same graphic and they can be tracked to the pre-production samples. The graphic was changed between the sell-in and the production, but the ski shape is that of the ski that Candide himself rode the season before. Most athletes will get on samples the season prior to their release to produce content. Hold on to that ski like your ski life depends on it. Quite possibly the best ski ever made.

 

[AngryGramps]

So they're the same construction and shape wise as the orange ones just that they changed the graphic for some reason?

Exactly. These kinds of changes are super normal and happen with every brand- it is the reason they make samples. Just like when you print out something at home, the colors and materials can look different in person than on a computer so it is normal for things to get changed aesthetically. The tip shape of the CT 5.0 is kinda weird and the ski is made in a "closed mold" meaning that the shape literally cannot vary from one to another. Camber has tolerances but the shape is consistent due to the nature of construction. Your ski is likely from the very initial run of samples and athlete skis that is produced the season prior to release.