Buyer Beware - Revzilla

[Slash2]

I've been wearing Shoei's Modular helmets for the past decade and while I've always been pretty happy with their performance, I thought it was time to try something new. I bought a Schuberth C3 Pro from "Revzilla" back in the spring and at first was impressed with the quality of construction, fit/finish etc. I liked it enough that I decided to treat my fiancee to one as well. It wasn't until her helmet arrived that I began to think something was wrong with mine. When her helmet came out of the box, it had a protective vinyl cover over the face shield, a large tag inside and just looked new where as mine had looked somewhat "not new." As the summer wore on, my helmet developed a litany of minor irritating issues. Firstly, part of the liner would fall out every time I removed the helmet. There seemed to be no way to attach it permanently. Secondly, when turning my head at speed, the helmet would produce this high pitched harmonic directly in my ear which at the right speed was so loud it would momentarily scare the heck out of me. Thirdly, and perhaps most irritating was the fact that for whatever reason, the helmet was incredibly difficult to close. Forget closing it with one hand while riding, it required two hands to be closed and even then would usually only latch on one side.

I should have brought these issues to Revzilla's attention sooner, but a busy life got in the way and it was always somewhere near the bottom of my "to do" list. Well yesterday before heading out on my R69S for a ride I attempted to reattach the loose liner for the umpteenth time only to find tucked in behind the liner the helmets original tag which appeared as though someone had chewed it out with their teeth or cut it with the dullest blade in the drawer. This finally brought all my suspicions to the point of no question and I called Revzilla to hopefully resolve the issue. The sale's representative I spoke to listened to my complaint but was steadfast in her response that this was a Schuberth Warranty issue and that all Schuberth Warranty's are handled directly through Schuberth. I had to insist to her for close to forty minutes that Revzilla selling a "Used" helmet is not a warranty issue and certainly not Schuberth's fault. I really couldn't believe that she was trying to pass the buck to Schuberth who clearly didn't sell Revzilla a used C3 Pro helmet. At any rate, after refusing to engage in a Warranty 9 or 10 times, she finally relented and said that "because I was clearly upset at the situation, she would make an exception and exchange the used helmet for a new one."

By the time we got off the phone it was now almost too late to go for a ride, but I donned by old Shoei and went out anyway. The R69S felt terrific and my old Shoei not bad either. I'll report back when the new C3 arrives with a review. My fiancee loves her C3 pro and I will say that even with all the issues that mine had, it was still a darn impressive piece of equipment which has gotta say a lot for Schuberth.

[brown3459]

Is it possible you purchased a Chinese ( or other) knockoff?

[Slash2]

Anything is possible. Although if it was a knockoff, it was remarkably well done. Aside from all the issues of course!

My fiancee used to work at Nordstrom, a department store which fancies itself an upscale version of Macy's. She was often forced to deal with customers who would purchase handbags costing upwards of $3k who would then return the item but switch it out with a Chinese knockoff. Surprisingly, they got away with it more often than you would think. In the extreme cases, the knockoffs would make it back out onto the floor to be sold to unwitting customers.

[guaire5]

Revzilla advertises their generous return policy. Maybe a return slipped into inventory without a good check up/set up??

[Slash2]

I would guess this is exactly what happened. I just received my replacement this week and it was clearly a brand new helmet. With sour weather I haven't had the opportunity to try it out yet, but I've got a feeling that I'm going to be happy with the performance.

Word to the wise, thoroughly inspect all purchases before accepting them.

[Diveboss]

I have dealt with Revzilla for many years and have always been treated professionally. I have swapped out parts that I had on my bike and was not happy with for no cost, received credits for purchases that later went on sale, and have gotten sound advice on purchases. I am a big fan of RevZilla and would recommend the to anyone. It's unfortunate that you had to fight with them, but bottom line is they did what was right by you.