[RC] American-Flex Saddles - Posted for a friend - Kathy Macki
The following letter was written by a friend
without internet access.
A Michigan Rider's American-Flex
Nightmare
In March of 2003 I purchased a new American Flex
Endurance Cutback from Hill View Farms in Minnesota for $2,095.00
I rode in it for the 2003 season with no problems
other than the usual trial and error search for the perfect pad and
girth.
Midway through the 2004 season a screw attaching
the stirrup hanger to the tree sheared off.
The stirrup hanger is a bar with three slots so
that one can hang the stirrups in a front, middle or rear position as
desired. It is attached to the tree by three screws - two in the front and
one approximately in the middle. If one uses the rearmost slot, as I do,
weight-bearing/posting obviously exerts a lever force on the middle screw, which
is the one that sheared.
I contacted the dealer, who referred me to an
"authorized repair center" (El Dorado Saddlery in Illinois), who instructed me
to replace it with a 1-inch wood screw, which I did.
A week before the start of the 2005 season, the
middle screw sheared off again, only this time the tree also split away from the
stirrup hanger, just above the two front screws.
I contacted the dealer again, who told me that the
tree, which was under a 10-year warranty, could only be replaced by the German
manufacturer.
I therefore shipped the saddle to Germany at a cost
of $203.22
The German manufacturer, American Saddle Gbr, not
only refused to honor the warranty, citing the first screw replacement as an
"unauthorized repair", but acted as though everything was my fault. I
ended up paying an additional $462.13 in order to have this saddle repaired and
shipped back.
Because American Saddles Gbr refused to even
discuss the possibility of a design defect, I have no idea whether the repair
will solve the problem. The saddle has a new tree, but the same stirrup
hangers are attached with three screws at the same locations; the middle
screws have much larger heads, but their diameter and length is unknown and I'm
not about to remove them to find out!
I actually like the concept of a panel saddle, at
least better than the other options of fixed trees, adjustable trees, custom
trees and treeless, but it does not appear that anyone is making any effort to
inform owners or prospective buyers of these saddles about this problem, so I'm
doing it. My advice is to:
1. Accept the fact that
a warranty from a foreign manufacturer is for all practical purposes
unenforceable and never ship your saddle to a foreign country for service
because you will be at their mercy (I happen to ba an attorney so finding myself
in this position has been extra embarrassing).
2. Find a facility in
this country that is able and willing to service panel saddles and have any
American Flex saddle you already own or are contemplating buying, inspected
reference the security of the hanger-to-tree attachment. El Dorado
Saddlery is no longer a repair center authorized by American Saddles Gbr, but
this is only relevant to a warranty that won't be honored anyway.
