Salient's Catalyst Medium Backpack

[steinkecm]

I thought they finally agreed to cover the shipping on warranty claims.

Man.

I can't wait to hear how the show debacle goes.

 

[B3NDER]

I think that was JUST for the guy who got a bag without attached straps.

 

[zj1002]

Stay away from Salient and their product that's being made in Taiwan or whatever dumpster of a country they can get it made the cheapest.

Hmm you should research where the Grip bags are made

Yes Grip is higher quality, but it is made in a county you would refer to as a dumpster

 

[preracing25]

Salient covers return shipping on warranty claims as stated in our warranty policy on the website.

delaveagabeast I am sorry to see that your bags stitching has failed. I am glad we were able to get you a new bag and you were able to recoup your money by selling it.

I will say not all the big name companies even make their bags in the US. Not many do besides MR and a couple others. Most products in general these days are unfortunately made outside the US.

We are currently working on making sure manufacturing on all future bags is more consistent than it was before. We are also changing manufactures for future orders for stock.

 

[preracing25]

Hmm you should research where the Grip bags are made

Yes Grip is higher quality, but it is made in a county you would refer to as a dumpster

This following statement is just a general statement. With the amount of products made overseas these days the thought that something is poorly manufactured because it was not produced in the US is becoming less and less true. Yes you can still get stuff made overseas and have it manufactured poorly but the products coming from overseas are getting better and better.

 

[delaveagabeast]

Hmm you should research where the Grip bags are made

Yes Grip is higher quality, but it is made in a county you would refer to as a dumpster

First of all, not all asian countries are equal, especially where you choose to get them made. I work for a lighting company and we import containers from various different companies overseas, some are complete trash (well most) and some have a higher standard of product quality. We can buy bulbs at about half price from one of the crappier manufacturers, but you get what you pay for in terms of quality and durability.

Products from overseas aren't really getting 'better and better' as you claim either, my company is 99% chinese and they are the first to tell you that Chinese people are great at reverse engineering and creating a product, but create ****ty products overall. Whenever they tell us certain products are going to be upgraded etc, it's often the exact opposite, cheaper (but different) parts that crap out even sooner. *shrug*

As someone who has owned a Catalyst and a GRIP bag, they are night and day in quality and durability.

 

[preracing25]

First of all, not all asian countries are equal, especially where you choose to get them made. I work for a lighting company and we import containers from various different companies overseas, some are complete trash (well most) and some have a higher standard of product quality. We can buy bulbs at about half price from one of the crappier manufacturers, but you get what you pay for in terms of quality and durability.

Products from overseas aren't really getting 'better and better' as you claim either, my company is 99% chinese and they are the first to tell you that Chinese people are great at reverse engineering and creating a product, but create ****ty products overall. Whenever they tell us certain products are going to be upgraded etc, it's often the exact opposite, cheaper (but different) parts that crap out even sooner. *shrug*

As someone who has owned a Catalyst and a GRIP bag, they are night and day in quality and durability.

You are correct by saying you need choose wisely on who manufactures your product when you choose to go overseas. Thats why we are changing to make sure future bags are built with a higher quality, consistancy, and overall higher standards when it come to building a product.

You are also comparing a bag that is in a different price range but that's no excuse. Again that's why we are changing manufactures for future builds to make sure our bag stands the test of time.

 

[steinkecm]

Here's the thing, though.

It would be wonderful if all of our products were made in the USA.

It's unrealistic to assume it to be true at this point, but overseas manufacturing does not equal poor quality (at least in immediacy).

Toyotas last forever. Why? Because they are manufactured well regardless of where.

I think the issue that you're going to run into, ScottP, is that your company skimped on its first manufacturing run, giving a reputation of poor quality, limited customer service skills and an overall air of incompetency.

It's going to be really hard to run a marketing campaign saying, "Hey, these ones are better. Forget all that other stuff!"

Just don't take pre-orders on the next run.

 

[preracing25]

Here's the thing, though.

It would be wonderful if all of our products were made in the USA.

It's unrealistic to assume it to be true at this point, but overseas manufacturing does not equal poor quality (at least in immediacy).

Toyotas last forever. Why? Because they are manufactured well regardless of where.

I think the issue that you're going to run into, ScottP, is that your company skimped on its first manufacturing run, giving a reputation of poor quality, limited customer service skills and an overall air of incompetency.

It's going to be really hard to run a marketing campaign saying, "Hey, these ones are better. Forget all that other stuff!"

Just don't take pre-orders on the next run.

I completely understand what you mean steinkecm and I don't disagree. We do preorders when we have to base on financials that is the only reason why we do it. As far as more catalysts are concerned we do not foresee needing to do a preorder for new ones.

The thing I wish I could change but cant because it is the past is people thinking because we had issues with the catalyst that means all the products have issues. Are discs are manufactured by us and manufactured with a high level of quality and consistency. The more plastic we run the better and better Salient gets at producing it. I know since I work for Salient my opinion is viewed less highly which I can't blame you guys because I do the same thing when it comes to company reps but all the antidotes I have are identical other than weight. All my cryos fly the same and all my liquids fly them same and they are not all from the same run or the same day.

I just want it known that we do care about the products we produce and are learning from the mistakes we have made. When a product fails we want to know why it failed and how we can prevent it in the future. You can't fix the past we all know this but we can build on it to make the future better.

 

[zj1002]

First of all, not all asian countries are equal, especially where you choose to get them made. I work for a lighting company and we import containers from various different companies overseas, some are complete trash (well most) and some have a higher standard of product quality. We can buy bulbs at about half price from one of the crappier manufacturers, but you get what you pay for in terms of quality and durability.

Products from overseas aren't really getting 'better and better' as you claim either, my company is 99% chinese and they are the first to tell you that Chinese people are great at reverse engineering and creating a product, but create ****ty products overall. Whenever they tell us certain products are going to be upgraded etc, it's often the exact opposite, cheaper (but different) parts that crap out even sooner. *shrug*

As someone who has owned a Catalyst and a GRIP bag, they are night and day in quality and durability.

I should have used a smiley face I guess. I am fully aware that these factories can vary greatly and it has nothing to do with the country it comes from. I was just poking fun at the guy who made the Taiwan dumpster comment. Grip has years of trial and error behind it already. That is the main reason their bag is the best backpack. The original Grips were garbage. They have learned a lot and really worked to produce a top-end bag. Their overseas factory has turned out to produce a better product than the american one.

 

[kilgus]

I haven't chimed in much lately but I would like to understand how we could have gone about giving you a better experience? Your bag straps failed and you got a replacement correct?

This is not an excuse but all in all we have sold nearly 1000 bags and we expect a 5-10% defect rate. We offer a competitive price and many people have been happy with their product. With that said like Scott P has mentioned we are changing manufacturers to even better reflect our products quality (increasing that perception) and hopefully get closer to a 0% defect rate.

If your free replacement bag was not handled properly or you have thoughts on how we can produce a better product/customer service please contact ScottP so he can take your questions and help us implement a change in the process.

Do *NOT* do business with Salient. If you want a cheap bag that wont even last two months then maybe you can consider the Salient Catalyst.

I pre-ordered one of these. I actually run a disc golf club in the bay area and it was quite embarrassing to find my straps ripping from my bag and the material falling apart. Two months of use, probably 2-4x per week and the bag was already 10x worse off than my innova competition bag. See some pics below:

http://imgur.com/a/XplSz

After I paid out of my pocket to send it back to Salient, I was fortunate enough to receive a 'new' bag. Knowing the bag would fall apart again, I quickly sold it off and purchased a grip bag. With grips warranty and quality, it's the best disc golf purchase I've made in awhile.

Stay away from Salient and their product that's being made in Taiwan or whatever dumpster of a country they can get it made the cheapest.

Just looking out in case any one else was considering doing business with them~

 

[kilgus]

I should have used a smiley face I guess. I am fully aware that these factories can vary greatly and it has nothing to do with the country it comes from. I was just poking fun at the guy who made the Taiwan dumpster comment. Grip has years of trial and error behind it already. That is the main reason their bag is the best backpack. The original Grips were garbage. They have learned a lot and really worked to produce a top-end bag. Their overseas factory has turned out to produce a better product than the american one.

How often people forget that there is a learning curve and process. zj1002 is right and I commend Grip for learning from their mistakes...we are doing the same things that our predeccesors have and thanks to support from the guys at Disc Nation and the customers that have supported and criticized we can hopefully continue to offer affordable and well made products. We sincerely appreciate everyone in all honesty.

 

[The Hammer]

we expect a 5-10% defect rate

 

[kilgus]

^^That's normal with textiles...which is why we offer a warranty service.

 

[B3NDER]

Isn't it somewhat odd to say you're on a learning curve and process still, but have a tagline such as "Disc Golf Perfected" ?

 

[The Hammer]

^^That's normal with textiles...which is why we offer a warranty service.

Your buyer should probably set your AQL quite a bit lower. A 5 - 10% defect rate is pretty huge. That's not going to win you many fans.

 

[preracing25]

What Chris said is correct to a point but should be explained a bit. When it comes to any product made of fabric that involves a lot of stitching and then gets exposed to a fair bit of abuse the manufacturer is very important. If the manufacturer misses a little bit on the strap but half hits their mark than you are going to have a big issue that might be hard to see until it is too late.

We are changing who makes are bags to someone that is not just overseas but also in the US. Their standards are higher, the quality of material is higher, and the end product will be better. This is something we have now learned and we will be striving to make sure we have no more issues with any future bags made by the new manufacturer.

 

[preracing25]

Your buyer should probably set your AQL quite a bit lower. A 5 - 10% defect rate is pretty huge. That's not going to win you many fans.

Your correct Hammer, this is why we changed who makes our bags. We need to strive for the 0%. It is impossible to be perfect in life but you should always strive for perfection and that is what we must do. This change we are making is going to be a big change. The bags that this company puts together for us will be leaps and bounds over the last manufacturer.

 

[onemilemore]

I haven't chimed in much lately but I would like to understand how we could have gone about giving you a better experience? Your bag straps failed and you got a replacement correct?

This is not an excuse but all in all we have sold nearly 1000 bags and we expect a 5-10% defect rate. We offer a competitive price and many people have been happy with their product. With that said like Scott P has mentioned we are changing manufacturers to even better reflect our products quality (increasing that perception) and hopefully get closer to a 0% defect rate.

If your free replacement bag was not handled properly or you have thoughts on how we can produce a better product/customer service please contact ScottP so he can take your questions and help us implement a change in the process.

If I recall correctly, delaveagabeast said he had to pay shipping to send it to you guys, even though that should have been covered by the warranty. I would imagine you could help him by refunding some shipping costs, unless I understood him wrong.

So 50-100 bags out of 1000 are expected to be defective? I really hope that number can come down, because that is huge when you look at it from an actual number of bags standpoint. Yowza. I wouldn't like my odds if I were purchasing, personally.

 

[shroom]

I haven't chimed in much lately but I would like to understand how we could have gone about giving you a better experience? Your bag straps failed and you got a replacement correct?

This is not an excuse but all in all we have sold nearly 1000 bags and we expect a 5-10% defect rate. We offer a competitive price and many people have been happy with their product. With that said like Scott P has mentioned we are changing manufacturers to even better reflect our products quality (increasing that perception) and hopefully get closer to a 0% defect rate.

If your free replacement bag was not handled properly or you have thoughts on how we can produce a better product/customer service please contact ScottP so he can take your questions and help us implement a change in the process.

How often people forget that there is a learning curve and process. zj1002 is right and I commend Grip for learning from their mistakes...we are doing the same things that our predeccesors have and thanks to support from the guys at Disc Nation and the customers that have supported and criticized we can hopefully continue to offer affordable and well made products. We sincerely appreciate everyone in all honesty.

How often people also forget about how they treat their customers and potential customers. I don't remember exactly who it was, (I am sure someone around here does though) but as I recall they called or email you directly. They were called little and insignificant. That ring a bell?

I personally asked you a question about your "Revolutionary" process that "You Created" and was ignored but I asked if this process was something not revolutionary, but something plastic users already use.

There are a couple of examples of "how you have handled customer service incorrectly".

5-10% seems to be low, because there have been a ton of people they complain.