Unhappy with gerbing heated gloves

[eazyduzzit]

I'm sorry, but I have to vent...

 

I bought a pair of Gerbing heated gloves on November 4. It has been colder here this year than the last couple of years, and I don't want to stop riding yet. The first few times I wore them the temps were in the 40s and they performed fine (my non-heated gloves also do fine at those temps). Well the temperature keeps getting colder, and that's why I paid huge bucks for Gerbing heated gloves.

 

Heated gloves really are the trick. They keep your fingers warm, BUT I started noticing my thumb on my right hand gets freezing cold while the rest of that hand and my left hand are still warm. I mentioned this to another hardy soul at my work who is still riding. He said he had a similar problem with the gloves he bought at Harley Davidson. He took it back and they gave him another. He was back riding in minutes.

 

Well, I paid big mucho bucks for these gloves. They don't work properly. I'll go this evening and get it replaced like my Harley friend did. I only ride 12 miles to work, and the thumb in question gets cold in that short distance. Dixie Custom Cycles in Clinton TN. where I bought the gloves is about 30 miles from work, and my thumb felt like it was frostbit by the time I got there. It's worth it though thinks I,as now I'm back to where warm gloves are sold and they will make it right.

 

I tell the lady there what the problem is and she gives me a look like I had farted or something. I explain it more slowly and finally she takes the glove and plugs it into her display stand (which is a smart thing to do that way she can see that it's not heating as much as the rest of the glove). The problem is she puts the glove on and it feels warm. I try it and it feels warm to me too. It's 68 degrees in the store so everything in the store feels warm.

 

Now why would a sane person (I am sane, but you'll have to take my word on this) ride 20 miles out of his way to have a defective product replaced if it was not defective? Don't answer that yet, let me finish.

 

Ok the only suggestion she has is that I send the offending glove in to Gerbing to "have it rewired". I offered another fix. You could give me a replacement then you can send it off for god knows how long to "have it rewired". She gives me another look like I farted in her showroom. I told her the reason I paid way too much for a pair of heated gloves was so I could avoid situations like this. She said Gerbing is a good company. They will make it right.

 

So I email Gerbing. This is getting way too long, so I'll try to condense the rest of it.

I got one email from Heather and one from Carrie basically telling me to mail the glove in they will "look at it" and in 4 weeks (maybe) they'll send it back.

 

I tried to explain that I bought the gloves for cold weather riding, and that it's very cold RIGHT NOW, but that doesn't seem to register with them.

 

So in the last email I just sent. I basically told them that the only thing I could do is complain on the internet. I know some of you on here like Gerbing and that's the reason I chose that brand. I wish now that I had went to the Harley shop where the guy at work got his. It may be the same brand, but at least they did care enough to replace it for him.

[Missionary Rider]

I also had a problem with Gerbing, bad seam stitching, which they forced me to have repaired myself. I would not recommend anyone buy from Gerbing with their current climate of disregarding the customer. Personally, I'm praying that Walmart gets into the motorcycle clothing business.

Lynn

[Squidley]

Send them a link to this conversation and tell them that there are 6000 members here and many of us belong to the AMA, the MTA and other various riding clubs. Perhaps they might change their tune, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it, customer service is a dinosaur pretty much where ever you go

[ibents]

Thanks for the heads up Jim. I am looking for heated gloves and I guess this is one company to avoid.

 

Ian

[pegscraper]

Sounds like it's time for some of us to figure out how to wire up our own gloves for heat like has been done with jackets. Ctraylor? You around??

[midnightventure]

A friend of mine bought the gerbings. He has never been happy with them and has sent them back to be rewired. I have Widders and am satisfied with them but they are going out of business. Their website says that every thing is on sale. I also have the vest and sleeves and my friend only has the gloves. That might be the reason they work for me because my core is toasty.

[RedRider]

I have the gloves and jacket liner from Warm and Safe. Very good folks to deal with, made in America, and top notch stuff.

 

www.warmnsafe.com

 

RR

[Yammer Dan]

Will remember to look somewhere besides Gerbing.

[V7Goose]

Really appreciate the info - such a callous disregard for the customer is reason enough for me to never buy anything with the Gerbing name on it!

Goose

[eazyduzzit]

Thanks for your feedback. I'm glad you guys feel like I do about customer service. From the response I got from Gerbing and the store where I bought them I thought maybe I was being unreasonable for thinking I should get what I paid for. I will send them a link to this thread.

[MikeC]

This is very disconcerting since I just purchased some of their gloves as well. I haven't had any problems, thankfully, but I'd feel much better if I knew they'd stand behind their product.

[eazyduzzit]

This is very disconcerting since I just purchased some of their gloves as well

 

I hope yours work great. I'm sure it's not everyone who has a problem with them.

[ctraylor]

It would be easy to wire your own. Just wire them inline from your jacket. The only problem is that you would have to have them on for your jacket to work unless you made a jumper to complete the circuit. If you just want to wire your gloves into the bike you would have to install resister inline to cut the voltage down.

[eazyduzzit]

It would be easy to wire your own. Just wire them inline from your jacket.

 

I didn't buy a jacket, just the gloves. I wish I had made my own, or bought some other brand.

[Mobile]

Hello, to all , I've owned Gerbing's clothing since 1996 I use it in the early riding season,March-April when the roads start to clear from the snow and ice,and I use them in the fall October till the snow comes to stay, I have never had any complaints, I must admit no gloves, I wear snowmobile mitts, the jacket or jacket liner have extended my riding season or at least made it much more comfortable, many of the local riders use Gerbings, some have had the odd thing go wrong, but a phone call or e-mail has usually brought quick results, up here in Winnipeg MB we do experince some very cold temps eg: last night low -35c with a windchill

of -45c now when I see the guy's south of us complaining of cold riding when the temp is about +40f many of us would love to have the opportunity to ride anytime in that temp.

a " Great 2009 " >mobile

[Guest tx2sturgis]

Glad I read this thread...I too have the Widder setup...and am very happy with it, but it was mentioned that they are going out of business...so I went to the website and ordered a few extra parts for my existing vest/glove setup. I see on the website where the warrantees have all expired now. Bummer. However, with the quality of the Widder products I have, I would not hesitate to order gloves or anything else, especially at 35% off.

[Venture90]

Which pair do you have? They have the G3 which heats the top of the glove and uses your heated grips. The classic is the all around glove that heats all over. My classics I've had for over 3 years and have never failed keeping my hands warm even in 3 degree weather.

I think that the place where you bought them is very poor in their customer service.

[Guest Longdistanceman]

I have the gloves and jacket liner from Warm and Safe. Very good folks to deal with, made in America, and top notch stuff.

 

www.warmnsafe.com

 

RR

 

Warm and safe is made in Pakistan.

 

I've been doing business with Gerbings since 1976. They are a good company that has treated me well over all these years and over 1/2 a million miles of riding. When I had a problem one call to customer service and things were taken care of. Granted if it's the busy season for them it might take a little longer.

 

I do know that their heated gloves are now much warmer and you can't feel the wiring at all.

[ArcsSparks]

all manufactured products have problem from time to time but the real test of a "good" company is how well they handle customer service. and it doesn't sound like Gerbing cares much, thanks for the heads up!!! and the 2 gerbing employees that responed here not with standing i THINK i'LL TAKE MY BUSINESS ELSEWHERE

[Freebird]

I'm not saying you are wrong about the two Gerber employees but don't see anything that proves it. I see two posts that had positive things to say about them. One of those is a new member who has only posted here one time and may have joined just to do so but though that might diminish the credibility of the post, it doesn't indicate that it was a Gerber employee.

 

It appears here that most feel that Gerber could learn a few things in regards to customer service. There is little doubt that the 6500 members of VentureRider.org will think long and hard before spending any money on their products but let's try to stick with just the facts please.

[midnightventure]

Freebird

Thanks for trying to keep everything on an even keel.

[ArcsSparks]

hey sorry my statement was misunderstood, It was a way of poking alittle fun. I didn't mean I actually thought they were employees, it just sounded like they were doing a commerical.

[eazyduzzit]

I am sure there are people who have had good experiences with Gerbing. My experience was not good at all. I am out over $200 and I feel helpless.

It's now the middle of Feb. and I still haven't gotten any kind of service from Gerbing.

I realize any company can make a defective product, but when they won't do anything to remedy the situation the only thing an individual can do is let everyone know about it.

 

I am not the kind of person who complains normally. If anyone wants to look at all of my posts they can see that I have praised vendors who treated me right, but this company hasn't left me any other option but to share my disappointment with you all. I hope everyone who is thinking about purchasing heated clothing reads this first.

[Sylvester]

I, too, am a loyal Gerbing user. I have had Gerbing gloves, pants liner, vest, and socks for nearly twenty years. I purchased newer gloves four years ago and everything works fine. I have never had a complaint with their products.

[JohnnyB]

I'm sorry, but I have to vent...

 

I bought a pair of Gerbing heated gloves on November 4. It has been colder here this year than the last couple of years, and I don't want to stop riding yet. The first few times I wore them the temps were in the 40s and they performed fine (my non-heated gloves also do fine at those temps). Well the temperature keeps getting colder, and that's why I paid huge bucks for Gerbing heated gloves.

 

Heated gloves really are the trick. They keep your fingers warm, BUT I started noticing my thumb on my right hand gets freezing cold while the rest of that hand and my left hand are still warm. I mentioned this to another hardy soul at my work who is still riding. He said he had a similar problem with the gloves he bought at Harley Davidson. He took it back and they gave him another. He was back riding in minutes.

 

Well, I paid big mucho bucks for these gloves. They don't work properly. I'll go this evening and get it replaced like my Harley friend did. I only ride 12 miles to work, and the thumb in question gets cold in that short distance. Dixie Custom Cycles in Clinton TN. where I bought the gloves is about 30 miles from work, and my thumb felt like it was frostbit by the time I got there. It's worth it though thinks I,as now I'm back to where warm gloves are sold and they will make it right.

 

I tell the lady there what the problem is and she gives me a look like I had farted or something. I explain it more slowly and finally she takes the glove and plugs it into her display stand (which is a smart thing to do that way she can see that it's not heating as much as the rest of the glove). The problem is she puts the glove on and it feels warm. I try it and it feels warm to me too. It's 68 degrees in the store so everything in the store feels warm.

 

Now why would a sane person (I am sane, but you'll have to take my word on this) ride 20 miles out of his way to have a defective product replaced if it was not defective? Don't answer that yet, let me finish.

 

Ok the only suggestion she has is that I send the offending glove in to Gerbing to "have it rewired". I offered another fix. You could give me a replacement then you can send it off for god knows how long to "have it rewired". She gives me another look like I farted in her showroom. I told her the reason I paid way too much for a pair of heated gloves was so I could avoid situations like this. She said Gerbing is a good company. They will make it right.

 

So I email Gerbing. This is getting way too long, so I'll try to condense the rest of it.

I got one email from Heather and one from Carrie basically telling me to mail the glove in they will "look at it" and in 4 weeks (maybe) they'll send it back.

 

I tried to explain that I bought the gloves for cold weather riding, and that it's very cold RIGHT NOW, but that doesn't seem to register with them.

 

So in the last email I just sent. I basically told them that the only thing I could do is complain on the internet. I know some of you on here like Gerbing and that's the reason I chose that brand. I wish now that I had went to the Harley shop where the guy at work got his. It may be the same brand, but at least they did care enough to replace it for him.

 

I got the Gerbing gloves and when I took them off the liners would come out, they told me to push the liners in with a chopstick, and it was a real hassel to get them back in, also they say the gloves are waterproof, the ones I had were not. I would not buy Gerbings again.

Take care ,

Johnny

Edited February 13, 2009 by JohnnyB
double name