Disclaimer: I am not a skater. I have never attempted to skateboard. I see them as 4 wheeled wooden death traps. Until now I never even dated skaters. Okay I may have banged Matt in high school but I kept it on the down low. I thought skaters were dirty, slacker, scoundrels. Sure my ex claimed to be skater in his youth but in the whole time we were together he never touched a board. I did not appreciate kick flips, 50-50, nose grinds, backside shuvit, tailslides, etc…
I had no clue what those things were. I knew what a ollie was, that was about how extensive my knowledge ran on the subject. In the last 20 months I’ve gotten a crash course on all things skateboard related. I’ve watched enough videos, sat in enough skate parks, been around enough skaters that I’m no longer a total idiot on the subject. I enjoy watching it, if I wasn’t so clumsy I would want to learn. I know what bearings are, trucks, all the damn components of a skateboard. I know mostly what Matt likes cause believe me he’s specific as hell. Which brings me to the point of this blog.
Matt lost his board, he left it in Lewisville. Some lucky dude scored himself another board that day. Financially it hurt a little. We live on a budget so Matt can’t just go out and buy what ever he wants. After a week or so of sheer agony I decided I’m going to get Matt a new complete board. When I talk about agony I’m talking about me. I have to live with the mopey, moody, mad man Matt becomes without skating. It’s just ridiculous.
Well I don’t drive so the places where I can buy a board are limited. I can’t drive out to Hurst or Dallas. I’m stuck going to the mall. After some extensive comparison shopping I settled on Zumiez. Zumiez isn’t even what I would call a skate shop. Heck they describe themselves as a “mall based specialty shop”. Which means they sell boards and over priced tee shirts.
I buy a complete for under $100 bucks, felt liked I scored. Didn’t walk away with crappy trucks, wheels, or bearings. I was very specific about everything down to the truck size, the wheel base, even the length of the board. The only down side was the color of the Thunder trucks, red. Matt prefers silver trucks but beggars can’t be choosers right!
Matt was stoked with his present, I was stoked. Well there are many things my husband likes to blame for his “off” days on his board. Sometimes it’s his shoes, the size of the board, the wheels, a lunar eclipse, heck too much sex the night before. Well this time it was the color of the trucks. So he decides to strip the paint and make them silver. He and his buddy Adam have a retarded night in a cold work shop trying to strip these trucks. Pretty sure Matt poisoned himself with industrial airplane paint remover but he did come home with silver shiny Thunders.
Well it is at this point when Matt notices that his trucks well aren’t even the same height. Hmm maybe that’s why they felt “off”. Son of a bitch this is our life, where every small thing that can go wrong will go wrong. He’s so bummed and I’m a little pissed. Did we really just eat $40 bucks on this one.
I call Zumiez and am pretty much told it doesn’t matter what color they are now “you ride it, it’s yours”. They do not accept returns unless the item is unused in its original condition. Fine I really have no qualms with that but Zumiez shouldn’t have sold me two trucks that were not the same size in the first place. Poor Matt he just wants to ride his board, feel the wind in his hair, do some kick flips.
There is a reason why people go to the independently owned skate shop. They are run by skaters, they employ skaters, people who know their shit. They don’t hire the 16-year-old high school chick who doesn’t know what trucks even are. I would have walked away with two trucks that were the same fucking size if I had went to Index. Yes I know this is along story but it has to be.
I’m pissed at the world by this point. I tell Matt “baby I’m getting you trucks”. I write an email to Zumiez explaining the situation and demanding new trucks. I get a timely response telling me to call the store or the corporate office. Dude really contact the store. That didn’t work out so well that’s why I’m emailing you douche. I call the corporate office and am told to leave a message for that districts manager.
He calls me back within an hour. Before I can say two words he says I’m sorry, I’ve called the store and you will have new trucks. He tells me my White Snake call tone is awesome and wishes me a good day. All I left on the message was that Zumiez sold me trucks that were two different heights and because they were no longer in their original condition I could not return them.
I walked out of Zumiez today with a more expensive shiny silver pair of Indy’s and a new deck for the kiddo. So Zumiez may need to hire actual skaters to be on par with their independent competitors. Which may never actually happen since it was created by some dude that worked for JCPenny’s. But I will give Zumiez an A+ for conflict resolution.
Matt is back on his board and I have one less headache.
Well till I write the blog about Kroger and the dumb ass people they employ!
