I dont know that I see this as exemplary customer service. I feel like I have to make a disclaimer here, cause I know I represent a different company, but this is me speaking as a NS'er of 8 years, not as a production manager for 1 year.
Spence was bummed about how long his skis lasted. Yes, any manufacturer will not warranty damage from rails - you'd have to be absolutely crazy, rails wreck skis. The difference was that he allegedly saw some pretty major damage after only a few days of park riding, which, lets face it, shouldnt happen. Either Spence must be lying, or Spence is the most abusive park skier out there to their gear, or there was a manufacturing defect that caused the ski to come apart faster than it should have.
Whatever the case, both parties handled it pretty badly. I dont know if one does have the right to talk shit and say a brand is awful if one does have a bad experience with them - I'd be tempted to do that as a consumer, certainly. I also know that as a manufacturer, what gets warrantied or not can be pretty heartbreaking. If a ski comes back thats absolutely been loved, shredded and abused every day, but has obviously been skied through a parking lot, it sucks, but we cant cover it. If we do, it sets a precedent, and you cant run a business that replaces skis that have seen a full year of rails in the park.
I'm not saying anyone is right, but I really think the "Big Spence Invitational" took this a step too far. If you want to shut up a loudmouth complaining about how a company screwed him, you either suck it up and deal with it or warranty the ski. By having an event in honor of the disagreement, all thats been done is really propel it into the spotlight, piss Spence off even more, and showcase your dirty laundry. You're mocking a genuinely dissatisfied customer, and if this is what customer service will be from now on, do all the other customers that had to get their pairs warrantied get their own invitationals as well?