Has a ski shop messed up your mount?

14208797:Burrito said:
A few years ago I moved to a town (Santa Cruz, CA) with a single shop that I absolutely do not trust with my gear. It's one of those weird, bargain-basement spots that sells patio furniture in the summer. With no other option I did my first paper template self-mount that season. It's a little nerve racking at first, but at the end of the day it's not that hard...and you'll only have yourself to blame if you fuck it up.
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Lol this sounds like Christy Sports in Colorado. That's where I got my season ski rentals as a kiddo, and always thought it was so fuckin weird that they sold patio furniture in the summer. Some of the mountain town locations do bike rentals and sales in the summer but in the suburbs of Denver they are patio furniture. Shop techs didn't seem horrible but definitely not the most knowledgeable bunch, and it was pretty weird to see a grimy ski tech trying to sell patio furniture to rich people.
 
Definitely think you have a valid post here op and would be a decent read if you wrote an article.

I've only had 6 or so skis mounted at shops and they were all fine. I got mounted at rec so easy to not fuck up... After seeing threads on here I made sure to thoroughly inspect the skis after I received them back. With mount costs ranging from $40-75 at the various shops around here and lead times up to 2 weeks, one should expect accuracy when they drop off their $500+ piece of merchandise to have holes drilled in it attaching a piece of safety equipment and also permanently reducing its value with each hole drilled. If they fuck up a simple mount WITH A JIG, wtf else did they miss?

Compared to the overall amount of skis getting mounted, I think it's probably safe to assume a high percentage are mounted accurately. Do nsers see higher rates of error because they're requesting different than rec? Perhaps, but it's no excuse. What is an acceptable margin of error? What contributes to increased rates of error? Work environment, distractions, substance abuse, fatigue are just some possible reasons. We are all human and make mistakes. As long as a shop and tech own up to those mistakes and remedies the situation, that's fine in my book. Shit happens. If it is a recurring problem with a shop or tech then that needs addressed further. What's bonkers is hearing people saying a shop fucked up their mount at recommended or when clearly marked, and then only offer to remount. Lol um no. At that point, I think a valid response is "we will refund your mount purchase and replace your skis". The shop can then keep the old skis to resell at a discount to recoup the loss.

For anyone super nervous or who doesn't have a good or reasonably priced shop near them, mount it yourself. If I can use a paper mount and accurately do it just by reading online tutorials, then you certainly can. It just takes time. Then just drop off your skis at a shop for a binding release test to double check everything and you're golden.
 
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Saved my buddy from North Carolina yesterday. His first new skis in years, Deathwish w/P15 don’t want to mess that setup up.
 
I have mounted multiple pairs of skis on my own to save $, mount older bindings that aren't indemnified and make sure they are exactly as I want them. That being said, I have to give a big shoutout to Sporting Intentions on PEI and Georges' Ski World in Newfoundland for always doing a great job.

Being far from major ski areas and having only small ski communities around, one might expect techs in these parts to be less practiced/out of the loop, but both of these shops have always happily mounted my bindings exactly where I wanted them with 0 issues ever. They also both have been really helpful getting bindings warrantied when they broke.

A friend went to a different shop on PEI one time though and they somehow mounted the toepiece out of line with the heelpiece on one ski and my friend didn't notice until he was thousands of miles away.
 
14208797:Burrito said:
A few years ago I moved to a town (Santa Cruz, CA) with a single shop that I absolutely do not trust with my gear. It's one of those weird, bargain-basement spots that sells patio furniture in the summer. With no other option I did my first paper template self-mount that season. It's a little nerve racking at first, but at the end of the day it's not that hard...and you'll only have yourself to blame if you fuck it up.
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Helm of Sun Valley I assume? I only dealt with the San José location and with that limited experience there's no way I'd have taken skis there for anything.
 
14209144:mystery3 said:
Helm of Sun Valley I assume? I only dealt with the San José location and with that limited experience there's no way I'd have taken skis there for anything.
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That's the one. I don't want to bad-mouth them too much since I never actually gave them a chance, but the five minutes I spent in the store did not inspire any semblance confidence.

**This post was edited on Dec 8th 2020 at 11:54:19pm
 
14209151:Burrito said:
That's the one. I don't want to bad-mouth them too much since I never actually game them a chance, but the five minutes I spent in the store did not inspire any semblance confidence.
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Same, I bought some brakes for attack bindings and was glad that was all I really needed.
 
topic:cydwhit said:
Thinking about writing about ski shops and how unacceptable it is that they mess up ski mounts so much. Has this happened to you? If so, how did they mess up, and how did they go about making their mistake right with you? And have you noticed a difference between local ski shops and big box stores?
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anybody else getting super paranoid and about to go check their park skis or is it just me
 
14209245:Poindexter. said:
Oh also real quick, don't bitch about dins if you didn't specify. If you don't specify what you want you're getting what the chart says, and if you belly ache about it when you pick it up I'm gunna tell you to pick up a screw driver and maybe also tell you that if you're uncomfortable setting your dins yourself you should just take what the system gives you
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i always laughed at this. But my dins are too low!!! uhhh okay buddy grab a screwdriver and put them where you want them then.

if you don't know how to do that i have a hard time believing you need your din at 12
 
I dropped my skis off today for a remount. I have on3p Jeffries and I set them on the counter and the employees exact words were “I haven’t seen these before, how do you pronounce (the name) of this brand” after I told him and laughed nervously I set my boots on the counter, dalbello kryptons and he goes “huh, they look like full tilts” which in a sense they do. I’m posting this on this thread because after reading your guys stories it’s got me nervous. Lol pray for me
 
14209717:EndoCroc said:
I dropped my skis off today for a remount. I have on3p Jeffries and I set them on the counter and the employees exact words were “I haven’t seen these before, how do you pronounce (the name) of this brand” after I told him and laughed nervously I set my boots on the counter, dalbello kryptons and he goes “huh, they look like full tilts” which in a sense they do. I’m posting this on this thread because after reading your guys stories it’s got me nervous. Lol pray for me
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not gunna lie i saw a pair of dalbellos the other day when i picked up my sticks that i thought were tilts at a quick glance.

BUT that is definitely a minor gaff compared to never having seen ON3P skis before and you work at a shop LOL

edit: prayers up for this guy

**This post was edited on Dec 9th 2020 at 6:58:19pm
 
I want to know how many skis out there exist with at least one of the holes stripped and effectively not helping secure the binding to the ski. I have mounted multiple pairs of my own skis, used a drill press to insure they holes were vertical, and taken care when threading in the screw and still had several strip. I’ve rectified my errors by inserting a quiver killer or heli-coil on the bad hole. But I can imagine a lot of these bad techs regularly strip a hole and think “Ah well, there is three more”.
 
14210110:Way*Mo said:
I want to know how many skis out there exist with at least one of the holes stripped and effectively not helping secure the binding to the ski. I have mounted multiple pairs of my own skis, used a drill press to insure they holes were vertical, and taken care when threading in the screw and still had several strip. I’ve rectified my errors by inserting a quiver killer or heli-coil on the bad hole. But I can imagine a lot of these bad techs regularly strip a hole and think “Ah well, there is three more”.
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+1
 
14210110:Way*Mo said:
I want to know how many skis out there exist with at least one of the holes stripped and effectively not helping secure the binding to the ski. I have mounted multiple pairs of my own skis, used a drill press to insure they holes were vertical, and taken care when threading in the screw and still had several strip. I’ve rectified my errors by inserting a quiver killer or heli-coil on the bad hole. But I can imagine a lot of these bad techs regularly strip a hole and think “Ah well, there is three more”.
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Ive mounted quite a few and never stripped one. But i can definitely see this being a thing unfortunately lol.
 
I was reading all those threads about messed up mounts and was half laughing because I had left skis in the shop to be mounted, but I felt like yeah, these things only happen to others right? Haha. Plus the shop I left my gear at has a strong reputation in the freestyle scene over here, so I thought no way my Chronics would get messed up, like wrong way or mounted at -5. I mean the tech seemed really experienced and attentive, he actually called me when the bindings I swapped couldn't fit on my old rock skis, so I brought other bindings and he was really careful when he checked to see if they could fit and where. Fast forward I get home with my new skis and thoroughly inspect whether I get to make yet another thread on NS or not, and you guessed it, here I am.

I got to say I have rather the opposite problem of people here: I got my skis mounted center, when there's still the sticker on them saying "Reco". I can understand why the tech would assume I might want them centered looking at my setup (it's like a cliché: Full Tilts, Pivots, Line skis, Newschoolers stickers on my old skis...). I'm still unsure whether it's worth it to unleash my inner Karen or not. I was heavily undecided where I wanted to mount them, considering I skied centered park skis as dailies for years without any problem, but eventually went with -3 as recommended. I'm still appalled this has happened, but I'm not that mad since there was a 50% chance I would've wanted them centered anyway. But still, it does not only happen to others...
 
14209916:KilaTsunami said:
It happened to my friend. He made a big stink about it and they fixed it for free lol. He always doin the most
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How did they fix it? Brand new skis? Anything less and they didn't.
 
14208809:WisconsinDogfart said:
Go to ERIKs. mine called me asking if i wanted my honeybadgers center or recomended. they did a great job mounting the binding too, no volcanoeing.
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Not trying to discredit erics here but my friend went to them and he asked them to mount true center and the went back quite a bit without asking him at all.
 
some pretty salty individuals who commented on the FB link that was shared haha, maybe get better at your jobs and stop messing shit up??
 
14210705:DeebieSkeebies said:
some pretty salty individuals who commented on the FB link that was shared haha, maybe get better at your jobs and stop messing shit up??
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Right!? Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. Comments seem to be full of the techs who talk down to me and then leave random holes in my skis.
 
14210730:cydwhit said:
Right!? Glad I’m not the only one who feels that way. Comments seem to be full of the techs who talk down to me and then leave random holes in my skis.
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There is no place in this industry for “cool guy” types who talk down to people. It’s just a huge pet peeve of mine, and is overall not a proper way to conduct business.

Even though I consider myself a very proficient ski tech, we are always learning new things every day, no matter how big or small.
 
14210741:.nasty said:
There is no place in this industry for “cool guy” types who talk down to people. It’s just a huge pet peeve of mine, and is overall not a proper way to conduct business.

Even though I consider myself a very proficient ski tech, we are always learning new things every day, no matter how big or small
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Totally! And every time it happens to me I can’t help thinking “I’m a white dude who looks like the most stereotypical skier ever, how much more shit do these douchebags talk to folks who don’t look like me?” If a shop gives me bad service and a hard time it’s guaranteed to be even worse for my partner.
 
lolling at fb replies, 10 bux they got some wrong mounts on them.

record here for a dude in a day was OVER 100 pairs though in a single day, stuff will be moving fast
 
14208734:No.Quarter said:
The last time I got skis mounted in a shop they didn't adjust the AFD height and I didn't notice until I was standing on top of the ridge and could rock my toe up and down in the binding, made it down the sketchy early season chute and got to a bench with a screwdriver and saw that the FP was incorrect as well.
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I'm glad you didn't get hurt. I noticed mine after popping a ski off twice on some firm chop.

You'll probably still hear "you should take them to your local certified ski shop so they can "perform release testing" right...there's no way in hell either of the pair of shifts I had done should have passed release testing at least not with my boots.
 
14211069:anders_a said:
if you didnt get a printout, they didnt test it
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That’s not true, some shops (like us) use the Vermont calibrator which isn’t a machine that prints out results.
 
14210575:SPK_ said:
I was reading all those threads about messed up mounts and was half laughing because I had left skis in the shop to be mounted, but I felt like yeah, these things only happen to others right? Haha. Plus the shop I left my gear at has a strong reputation in the freestyle scene over here, so I thought no way my Chronics would get messed up, like wrong way or mounted at -5. I mean the tech seemed really experienced and attentive, he actually called me when the bindings I swapped couldn't fit on my old rock skis, so I brought other bindings and he was really careful when he checked to see if they could fit and where. Fast forward I get home with my new skis and thoroughly inspect whether I get to make yet another thread on NS or not, and you guessed it, here I am.

I got to say I have rather the opposite problem of people here: I got my skis mounted center, when there's still the sticker on them saying "Reco". I can understand why the tech would assume I might want them centered looking at my setup (it's like a cliché: Full Tilts, Pivots, Line skis, Newschoolers stickers on my old skis...). I'm still unsure whether it's worth it to unleash my inner Karen or not. I was heavily undecided where I wanted to mount them, considering I skied centered park skis as dailies for years without any problem, but eventually went with -3 as recommended. I'm still appalled this has happened, but I'm not that mad since there was a 50% chance I would've wanted them centered anyway. But still, it does not only happen to others...
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UPDATE : They gave me new skis in the hour, but holy shit was the tech an ass... The first thing the guy said when I asked him what was he going to do now, is "I'll just mount them back where you wanted". I was kinda taken aback that the dude would really try to screw me like that... I had to tell him like three times a remount wasn't going to make it. He never apologized or anything, he never even said once "we'll replace them new"... He even tried to convince me that another mount wouldn't be too bad, because the beat up rock skis I had him remount were mounted three times already, so what difference would a second mount make on a brand new ski? Talking to him I really felt like I was the asshole for noticing his screwup and demanding that he make it right. Apparently the dude can't read an instruction sticker on a ski and can't bother having a sense of customer service...

PSA for the first timers of the botched mounts : if the tech screw up his mount, you get new skis. Period. Don't be an asshole to him, but stand your ground firmly. Don't leave without being told they'll replace them new, order them, or reimburse you. If they have the skis in stock, ask for them to be mounted while you're here. It takes 5 minutes with a jig to mount a ski and quadruple check, don't let them lie to you saying they can't do it before next Tuesday. If you didn't buy your skis at the shop, ask them to make it clear what their policy is if they screw up. You don't want to discover they have a terrible one when you need it.
 
Big als new zealand messed up my mout in 2019. When i gothe them i noticed some screws were not straight and loose. I tightened them and forgot about it. Fast forward to late february in vail. Im hitting this kinda high off the ground rainbow box and my right heel peice rips out as i land on the box. I fall and the ski shoots down the hill. Oh well, it happens.
 
14210633:Static said:
How did they fix it? Brand new skis? Anything less and they didn't.
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I just meant they remounted them where he wanted them (centered). They were Line Chronics. I actually rode them and loved them. We both couldn't tell it was remounted. They filled the holes i think too...,,,. The more I elaborate, the worse this all actually sounds hahaha damn. We were young tho. Is remounting really that terrible for a ski?
 
14224073:KilaTsunami said:
I just meant they remounted them where he wanted them (centered). They were Line Chronics. I actually rode them and loved them. We both couldn't tell it was remounted. They filled the holes i think too...,,,. The more I elaborate, the worse this all actually sounds hahaha damn. We were young tho. Is remounting really that terrible for a ski?
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If they're your own pair of skis that you never plan to sell, one or two remounts shouldn't have MUCH if any noticeable effect. If the holes are too close it could risk your binding ripping out, but the chances are low. As far as resale value goes I'd say a mount is the equivalent to 50K miles on a car. A ski with 1 mount would be like buying a car w/ 50k miles. 2 mounts = 100k etc.. You wouldn't ideally buy a car w/ over 150-200k +(unless its a yota) as you're likely going to run into issues sooner than later..
 
14224128:Denseclouds said:
If they're your own pair of skis that you never plan to sell, one or two remounts shouldn't have MUCH if any noticeable effect. If the holes are too close it could risk your binding ripping out, but the chances are low. As far as resale value goes I'd say a mount is the equivalent to 50K miles on a car. A ski with 1 mount would be like buying a car w/ 50k miles. 2 mounts = 100k etc.. You wouldn't ideally buy a car w/ over 150-200k +(unless its a yota) as you're likely going to run into issues sooner than later..
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Oh big facts. Although the whole time I was like “bro not if it’s a yota” but you specified ??
 
Yes. Recently I got my new Vishnu wide plus mounted. I had marker griffons which I purchased at the shop, very well reputable around the area I might add. Had them center mounted which they had no issues with and they shouldn’t considering the ski was built to be mounted that way. 3rd day on snow the back piece ripped straight out of the ski. I do ski fairly hard but I take good care of my equipment. Anyways take it back and they basically blame the ski company and told me it was a common issue with the brand which is bs. Talked to the owner emmet and he told me the issue is extremely rare and unlikely and I personally have never had any issues similar or herd of any before with them. Takeaway mount your own skis or get a shop you really trust.
 
14372834:Matthewbyrne1 said:
Yes. Recently I got my new Vishnu wide plus mounted. I had marker griffons which I purchased at the shop, very well reputable around the area I might add. Had them center mounted which they had no issues with and they shouldn’t considering the ski was built to be mounted that way. 3rd day on snow the back piece ripped straight out of the ski. I do ski fairly hard but I take good care of my equipment. Anyways take it back and they basically blame the ski company and told me it was a common issue with the brand which is bs. Talked to the owner emmet and he told me the issue is extremely rare and unlikely and I personally have never had any issues similar or herd of any before with them. Takeaway mount your own skis or get a shop you really trust.
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Griffons have a fairly spread out hole patters so i call bullshit on the ski being at fault. Pivots can pull out of skis sometimes because of how close together their holes are. They probably stripped some of the holes by over-tightening the screws, which is really unfortunate. A tech should always be honest with their client cuz having a heel pull out at the wrong time can lead to some bad shit
 
About 5 years ago a friend of mine who is now an NS favorite and film pro fucked up a mount of mine. Mounted my skis about 3cm forward of center and 5 cm forward of where I wanted them.

i shall not name names or location. A secret I will take to my grave
 
im just postin to say im probably close to 10k of mounts

with 2 1/2 decades of experiance

and yup shit happens

fuckin stoney broney mounted my new sticks and left the dins at 5



railed the grooms and frontside with my bros groms all morning at the sillytudes

and didnt discover it till i hit the moguls

id be pissed

but im kinda stoked i skied so hard and well on less than 1/2 my preferred din setting

and i didnt space that one out on a customer

I will say the majority of our shops mismounts come from piss poor attention to detail in the intake paperwork process
 
14210617:.nasty said:
After reading this thread I guess we'll have to open up stores country wide!! hahah
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14211087:.nasty said:
That’s not true, some shops (like us) use the Vermont calibrator which isn’t a machine that prints out results.
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before ya go buy new shops maybe spend a little loot on a REAL binding testing machine

vrs. 45 year old antiquated technology that isnt subject to user error or varibilities
 
14372885:SFBv420.0 said:
before ya go buy new shops maybe spend a little loot on a REAL binding testing machine

vrs. 45 year old antiquated technology that isnt subject to user error or varibilities
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I'm sure if we did we would be in a spot to do so, don't ya think?

More shops use Vermont style calibrators than you think, heck, most shops don't even actually test skis and say they do.
 
so your saying you dont have the money or feel buying good reliable modern shop safety equipment is a good investment

okay keep doin it the way we did it before the turn of the century without modern technology
 
14372896:SFBv420.0 said:
so your saying you dont have the money or feel buying good reliable modern shop safety equipment is a good investment

okay keep doin it the way we did it before the turn of the century without modern technology
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What I'm saying is that in a little over 10 years of business, we have had zero issues and Vermont calibrators are still a 100% legal from of ski binding testing (yes they still sell them even today). So why would I change what works and is legal to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside? That is where you decide whether or not you give your business to us, and as an adult you are welcome to do so.

**This post was edited on Jan 3rd 2022 at 8:46:00am
 
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