New Gitzo tripod - broken after 2 months

I thought I would just post my experience with a new tripod that I

recently purchased so that others might learn from my mistake. Two

months ago I purchased a Gitzo 1325 from Robert White. Last week I

had a problem with the tripod that requires fixing. I wrote to Robert

White to ask how I should go about receiving my "limited lifetime

warranty" on my tripod.

 

My reply.....

 

"Thank you for the email. I am sorry to hear that you are having

problems. Sadly the Gitzo we sell does not come with a international

warranty. You will not be able to get the item repaired under

warranty in your country.

 

If you wish to have the item repaired under warranty you would need

to send the tripod back to us. Sadly we are unable to pay for return

postage, It might be cheaper to have it repaired in your country.

 

Please let me know what you would like to do ."

 

Obviously I did not pay enough attention when purchasing my tripod to

all the fine details. On the Robert White site is the following...

 

"Goods that are Faulty within the warranty period will therefore need

to be returned to the UK to be sorted - unless advised otherwise - at

the customers cost"

 

In fairness I should have read everything closely, so I guess I

learned from this.

 

Regards,

What went wrong with your unit? I just got a 1348. Is there something in particular I need to watch out for? Thanks.

I'm sorry you had a problem. Buying things from other places that aren't imported by the offical US importer would not have a US warranty. That's the cost of the cost savings. I too bought a G1325 from Robert White. At the time it was about $300 cheaper (no longer the case with the lowered US prices). I fiqured that $300 would pay for a lot of repair and Gitzo tripods are pretty durable. I too would like to know what type of problem you had since I also have a G1325..

 

Good luck, Ed

Unless there is a huge price difference, buying from a foriegn source is a matter of "knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing". Why not buy from B&H or Badger. If they sell gray market, they tell you up front, and you send defective stuff back to them. The price disparity seems to be lessening and my most recent experience with Robert White was not good.

Glad you brought this one up though sorry you are having a problem. The Gitzo "lifetime" warranty isn't worth much in any case. I have had to take a few in and the current guys don't seem to want to honor what was bought a number of years ago. Oddly enough,Velbon does. I have an older Velbon Pro head I got when they first came out. Best tripod head I have ever owned. It experienced a problem after about 8 years & I called them & was told "send it in, Lifetime warranty". They fixed it for nothing & sent it back with the reaffirmation of 'if anything goes wrong again, send it in... the warranty means what it says."

A larger problem is purchasing gear while traveling. Not going overseas specifically to buy equipment, but finding something you like & getting it while there. Get home & no warranty coverage. You paid full price where you got it. It is the same brand & model you could have purchased at home. You bought it in good faith. Yet get home, something happens & you are in the same boat as this fellow. No coverage. Lifetime warranties don't mean much except in customer frustration for many companies.

Also I am curious what the problem was with the 1325, as I have one too. Generally my suspicion about lifetime warranty is: a dead product is not alive...

I apologize for not mentioning in my original post what the problems is. Thank goodness it is not serious but just a darn nuisance. One of the rubber grips on the top leg section has come free from the leg. Now when I need to tighten or loosen the collar I need to grip like a mad man, the rubber collar so that enough pressure is applied to the actual leg lock and it does it�s actual function.

 

As a side note I wrote to Gitzo first about a week ago about this problem (via the website � write to us) to both describe my problem and ask for guidance on where I might go to get this repaired. Not even so much as a simple canned reply. So much for good customer service. I would now whole heartily recommend that anybody considering a future tripod purchase think long and carefully before buying a Gitzo. I was under the false impression that by paying a premium price I was receiving a premium product and premium customer support. This has definitely not been my experience.

 

I also am actually thanking the �Great Spirit of the North� for bringing this to my attention at this time. I am presently on the verge of purchasing a brand new lens for this upcoming season. My intention was to purchase it from Robert White, but now understanding the warranty concerns I will think carefully before spending my hard earned money.

 

Hopefully my experience is the �exception to the rule� and that others will have a much better record of success in their purchasing of tripods and such.

 

Kind Regards,

No sooner had I posted my previous reply and I realized I wanted to ask for help. Does anybody actually know (please not a guess or suggestion) what type of glue I should use to re-attach the rubber grip to the carbon fiber leg? I will probably only have a single opportunity to get this correct with the proper glue to carbon fiber connection, so I do not want to just attempt various glues and mess the leg up multiple times.

 

Thanks for any help,

I recommend calling Gitzo's American distributor, Bogen Photo, in New Jersey and asking for their recommendation, and possible assistance. Bogen's address and phone number can be found at the Gitzo website, http://www.gitzo.com. If that doesn't work, Bob Atkins has a review of the 1325 at the following link: http://bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/g1325.html. In the review, he points out that users of the 1325 learn to carry a tube of superglue with them to reattach loose parts.

Well I know a great glue. Made by 3M and can be purchased at auto parts stores. It's used to glue rubber car mouldings to steel car bodies. Comes in a red and white tube. Called "Super Weatherstrip Adhesive - black".

 

I have noticed that it does not take very much torque to lock the legs on this tripod. I have been being careful not to twist them very hard. I sort of intuitively see this leg lock as the weekest link in the system of this device.

 

This glue is NASTY stuff and a bit hard to work with. It likes to make 'spagetti strings' when you take the tube nozzel away from the item being glued. I strongly advise that you carefully mask all the carbon tubes near the repair site cause you'll never get it off of that carbon. I examined my tripod rubber grips and indeed cannot figure out why yours would be slipping unless some lubricant has gotten between the rubber and the ALUMINUM sleeve the rubber is surrounding. I would try cleaning the rubber and aluminum part with a solvent. Allow to thoroughly dry ... and then reassemble. I don't 'think' the rubber is meant to be glued at all.

 

Are you sure it is just the rubber slipping on the aluminum tube? Is the 'jamb=lock'device working properly? Inside that sleeve/tube assembly there is a little piece of what looks like tubular tan colored paper board with a split in it. If this gets any greese on it it would take excessive tightening to lock the legs ... which might cause the rubber grip to start slipping. Just a thought.

I second calling or e-mailing Bogen. They are the US suppliers. It most likely won't be free, but I wouldn't think that part could cost all that much.If it needs replacing at all. The web site is http://www.bogenphoto.com and you can e-mail at service@bogenphoto.com

 

 

Good Luck, Ed

For what it's worth, I have gotten extraordinary Gitzo warranty service. I had a joint fail on a 4 year old 1228. I called them, got RMA authorization, and overnighted it to them with a request to expedite because it is my primary tripod which I use daily during "shooting season". They repaired it within 48 hours and returned it to me via FedEx overnight. I paid to ship it to them (about $30), but everything else was done at no cost to me. I phoned them and shipped to them on Monday, and received the repaired tripod on Thursday of the same week.

 

I mention this only to refute the notion that the Gitzo warranties are lousy. You can choose to pay for it (USA version) or save money and not get it (Grey or Imported version) depending on your economic and philosophical view of the cost/benefit. In this case I chose the warranty and it paid off, but many of my other equipment purchases have been grey. One of the requirements of the warranty is that you include a copy of the original purchase receipt, which again you can choose regard as reasonable or unreasonable based on your own views.

It is not only a matter of warranty, it is also a matter of quality. Something that after 2 months of use requires fixing of any order, means its trade mark is quite bad. Presently made in China/Corea ?...

Sergio,

 

 

To state a trademark is bad becasue of one tripod where a rubber sleeve came loose is at best a overstatemet. There's no company that makes anything where there's a 0% failure rate. Gitzo tripods are made in Italy and are concidered by most the standard for mental and CF tripods.

ahhh, make that metal not mental

Now GreyWolf, you just have to quite using your Gitzo for shovelling snow!

Whatever glue you decide to use a hypodermic needle to shot it under the rubber

in strategic places.

<BLOCKQUOTE><I>

Gitzo tripods are made in Italy and are concidered by most the standard for mental and CF tripods.

</I></BLOCKQUOTE>

Actually, they are made in France, yes?

<P>

(Coffee is my mental tripod, and sometime's it's even French coffee.)

Well.. mine at least had a made in Italy sticker on it....

I'm not quite clear on needing the original bill of sale for a product which is supposed to carry a lifetime warrenty.

Bill,

 

Because a lifetime warranty, in most cases doesn't transfer to a second owner, in case it was second hand.

Lisle Kelco is the Canadian Distributor. Although recently "out of business" they still have their knowledgable staff available. I'd discuss the problem with their Gitzo service person. They were very helpful when my CF Gitzo fell ill after I ran over it with my car.

Their stock is being sold off at bargain prices.

wasn't it the case that the Gitzo lifetime warranty used to be run by the US importer/distributor. Then when they stopped distributing Gitzo's, the Lifetime Warranty ceased to be in effect. I seem to remember an endless thread about this 2 or 3 years ago.

 

So maybe it's just for the lifetime of the distributor... :-)

 

Of course that was when Gitzo was French, not a British company who, it seems, now make Gitzo's in the same factory they make Manftotto/Bogen tripods (which they also own)?

LK is selling off their stock of Gitzo parts online (as well as tons of Jobo stuff I think, all in Canadian Pesos) - but helpful, I didn't find them - several emails and faxes trying to get the right replacement bolt for my Gitzo never got anywhere with them. I ended up getting a replacement from Canadian Tire - cheaper, but not as pretty as the original french bolt...

 

(On top of which, I don't think they've done a great job as the Canadian Leica distributor either...)

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003Dfn

 

Check Bob S's history of Gitzo/Bogen/manfrotto etc half way down along with the story of the Warranty

 

NB - Gitzo in the US now has a Limited Lifetime warranty (whatever that is...)

I'm not sure exactly what Gitzo means by Limited Lifetime warranty. But in most cases I see this, it says something in small print about factory defects only.