[dreamse83]

Now I know a lot of you probally read the subject and gasped, "Blasphemy!" Hear me out.

I have an Arai Quantum/f. I love it. It is super comfy, fits perfectly and has great airflow. One day I decided I should buy a mirrored face shield for it. While swapping shields, the side plastic cover blew off. I took it into the shop and asked if they could give me pointers on taking the shield off and on. The problem kept persisting and they told me it just needs time to break in. Well that was back in June. You wanna know how bad it is now? I cannot TOUCH my shield while riding! If I do, the panels will blow off. This helmet has never seen a crash and I am using Arai brand shields specifically for the Quantum/f. I have to keep my shield in the locked position at all times! I was on the highway and didn't even touch the thing and the bottom half of the panel unclipped!
So I emailed Arai. They mailed me new mounting hardware and new side pannels. Still not working properly. I emailed again to tell them I think it's a defect. They told me to send it in. My bike is my main mean of transportation and I can't possibly go a couple of weeks without a helmet. I'm sure as hell not going to buy a cheap one in the meantime. They said, "Sorry, we don't have loners, you'll just have to send it in and wait." Am I the only one sick of paying hundreds of dollars for a product and then getting the kind of customer service that you'd expect at a fast food resturaunt?! I'm pissed! I want my helmet to work! I sent another email stating my anger and frustration. I told them to figure it out. If they can't solve this problem, I'll work my way up until I'm talking with the CEO!
sigh.....
Thank you all for being my sounding board. I feel a little better.
If this helmet weren't so damn comfy I'd have thrown it against a wall by now.
I've checked out SHOEI's, ICONS, and lots of others, but it's just not the same....

 

[iamic]

I hate the Arai shield mounting system - it is awful! I've had my side panels pop off too. I do like my Signet, but I like my Shoei X-11 much better.

 

[Guest]

Many of the guys I ride with wear Arai helmets with no problems what so ever. I agree tha the side panels are kinda quirky, but I've never seen the blow off. No, you shouldn't have to wait that long for service, but that's life. I think it sucks, too.

 

[Capt. Steubing]

When I first got my Monster, I borrowed a friends Arai Quantum, and really liked the fit of the helmet, but he said that both of the vents had fallen off, and when he tried to get replacements from Arai, they wanted to charge him something like $30, so he just glued in the old ones. So when I went helmet shopping, I tried on and liked the Arai helmets, but went with Shoei instead and saved $100 and probably lots of little headaches. Just my .02, I know that they are nice helmets, but some of their quality control seems to be questionable.

 

[dreamse83]

Good point about the quality control. I've come to love the fit of my Arai. I've tried on several different SHOEI's and they're nice and all, but none really blew me away. However, I've heard great things about the X-11's. Haven't tried one of those on yet.

 

[Guest]

Good point about the quality control. I've come to love the fit of my Arai. I've tried on several different SHOEI's and they're nice and all, but none really blew me away. However, I've heard great things about the X-11's. Haven't tried one of those on yet.

Mmmmmm. I have.

 

[dreamse83]

What I mean by "figure it out" is A) send me a loner helmet in the transition B) arrange with a local Arai dealer to let me use

 

[test-reg]

What I mean by "figure it out" is A) send me a loner helmet in the transition B) arrange with a local Arai dealer to let me use

 

[mmoore]

If you go to any major bike shows or especially big races, Arai often has a booth there with technicians who do minor repairs on the spot. You might try taking it by and having them look at it. I have an older Quantuum/F and a Renegate and both have been fine, but I almost never remove the shield because the mounting system is (to my mind) completely non-intuitive.
-------------
OK, I just looked at your profile and you're in Monterey, so you should definitely go to Laguna and have them look at it.

 

[Guest]

I have owned 2 RX7rr 3 and 4's. I have changed the shields over 100 times and have never had any trouble at all.

 

[Guest]

yeah, I have a corsair, no problems yet other than the grey plastic piece coming out...that was a bitch to put back in without tools !!! Butit can be done !!!! I had to usesticks LOL

 

[Guest]

Hey Dreams you can borrow either one of my Arai's while yours is getting fixed, but the right side visor cap keeps flying off on one, and the other one the front vent cover fell off. Other then that they work fine.....

 

[Guest]

Did anyone show you how to change the shield? You don't have to take the side covers off to do it. That's how they get broken. Arai doesn't stock helmets in the US, distributors do, they supply the dealers. The helmet doesn't need to "break in" for you to be able to change the shield. It sounds like you broke it and need to find someone who knows what they're doing to fix it for you. Loaner helmet? I don't think that's going to happen...

 

[Bloodshot]

Not to be the only detractor here, but I think it's highly unreasonable to expect a company to give you a "loner" every time something breaks. A car is a $10,000+ product if not far more, you can't expect a helmet company to send you a loner on a $400 product. Hell, I work in a high availabilty Data Center and computer companies won't even give us loners for $10,000 products that break. It would be nice, but doesn't seem realistic to me...

 

[dreamse83]

Perhaps I have not clearly stated where I am coming from with this.
1) I did not break the helmet, nor have I ever intentionally removed the side panels in order to get a shield on or off. I am very well aware of the proper technique.

When you buy something, a product, you buy it because it is new and will function as something that is new. If Arai talks about how they're the best helmet company, you'd think that this kind of a problem would never happen. Of course, gliches and defects are bound to come up here and there. If you make a product that you stand behind so much, why the lack of help? I can't help but feel that there is an attitude now a days that it is my privilage as a customer, to be shopping with somebody. What happened to when the company felt it was a privilage that you are shopping with them? Had this been a $150 helmet, I might expect this problem and this kind of customer service. Having spent nearly $500, that's a pretty good number as far as helmets go. Am I being unreasonable in asking for some sort of assistance during the repair transition? Why should I have to find other means of transportation, putting myself at a further inconvienience, due to a problem that has risen from a product defect. Had I crashed the helmet or mistreated it, I should expect something like this. What does it say of consumer/producer dealings when I have to take all this as my own problem?

 

[dreamse83]

Now this is customer service as it should be! This was the kind of sollution I was asking for.

Dear Mr. Vaughn:

It is unfortunate that our first attempt at solving your
problem did not work as we had hoped.
We will of course do everything possible to correct the
problem, even without the added incentive of avoiding
negative comments about our service to your forum. Although it was unsuccessful, we have made an attempt to solve your problem.
We are trying to obtain a loaner helmet for you, so we can
get your helmet back here and see what the problem may be,
as it is unusual that with a complete set of parts the
problems still exists.
Out of curiosity, has your dealer had a look at it? While
they may not be able to pinpoint or correct the problem,
they may be able to spot something out of the ordinary that
we could attribute to what is happening.

Upon receipt of your helmet, we will call you after we have
had a chance to look it over.

Best Regards,
Brian M. Weston
Director of Operation
ARAI HELMET AMERICAS, INC.

Dear Mr. Weston,

Let me apologize for my bluntness in my previous letter. I think you can understand my frustration. Thank you for your prompst response and flexibility in assisting me with this situation. I have taken the helmet on several occasions to the dealer. We have spent hours trying to solve the problem. It appears the red tab that connects to one of the clips just does not hold tight enough. We have experienced the same problem on both sets of parts. The employee told me it wasn't common, but she had seen this problem several times before with some Arai helmets. I brought this topic up in a forum and several other riders said they had experienced a similar problem and simply stopped taking off there faceshield.

Thank you again for your help. It is greatly appretiated. Because of your kindness, I can assure you have an Arai customer for the rest of my riding-life.

Sincerely,
Cody Vaughn

 

[Guest]

hey, get me a free helmet too please

 

[test-reg]

good going!

 

[mitt]

You better change the title of your post???

mitt

 

[Guest]

Hey dreamse83 you have Mr. Weston's address.....I seem to have the same problem....thanks.