I have always wondered why people talk so negatively about Zumiez, but undeterred by other peoples opinions, I decided to go into this location when I was recently shopping for a new skateboard setup. I came across a Superior skateboard with two lovely young ladies playing scrabble as the graphic, and even better, for the steal of a deal at $29.99. I wish I had listened to other peoples opinions. I purchased the Superior deck, and seeing how I don't usually burn through my skateboards very fast, I had this deck setup and on standby for a good 32 days before I got around to first using it. And when I finally did, after three hours of use, the tail had started splitting in between the layers, which honestly, in my 16 years of skating, I had never seen before. I figured this had to be a quality defect, and knowing that it was past the thirty days allowed for returns at Zumiez, I reluctantly made it back to this location to see if they might be able to help me quicken the warranty process. At the back of the store where the skateboards are displayed, there was a employee with a backwards hat and long beard assembling a customers board. After seeing me browse around a minute, he asked if I needed any help. I went on to explain to him how I believed the deck I had purchased was defective, and wanted to see if they could help me out. He told me to hang on a minute while he continued to assemble the other customers skateboard, absolutely fine, customer service and what not. In between chatting with that customer, he began to ask how it had happened and when I had bought it. I explained that I had been at a skate park riding a bowl when the tail became flexible, that it appeared to be a manufacturer defect, and that I knew it was past the thirty days allowed for returns. This is where it began. The employee began to seem agitated that I had returned with this deck, and with a sarcastic undertone stated that even if I had returned the deck before the thirty days allowed, that they wouldn't be able to do anything for me. I ignored the undertone and began browsing for another deck, finding an identical graphic to the one I had purchased. I figured cool, maybe they would just be able to switch it out for me. Yeah right. I began talking to the employee again and explained that in my sixteen years of skateboarding, I had never seen a deck split in this manner. The employee then asked to inspect the deck, and his conclusion was that it was a downward split, and that it looked like I had tried to jump some stairs, and went on to say that he had seen A COUPLE decks split like this over the years. I figured probably bought from this "skate shop" as well. The last straw was when this employee stated "It's a $30 deck. What do you expect?" What?! So is this to say you guys knowingly sell defective products at a sale price?! A polite argument then ensued. I stated to the employee that if this was the case, maybe Zumiez should display a sign stating that if you purchase a $30 skateboard deck from this store, that this is the kind of quality you can expect from their products. The employee went on to verify that they would not be able to do anything for me, but offered to discount $10 off of any other deck I would like to purchase. And what? Waste more money at this store on another defective board?! No thank you. At this point, I admit, I was irate with the level of "service" found at this store, and proceeded to exit while in a raised voice began stating "Do not buy a skateboard here! They will sell you defective products and not care! And then won't do anything for you!". I then made my way to a REAL skate shop and purchased one of their shop decks which has lasted me about three weeks now, taken a good beating, and still has no pressure cracks. The old adage "you get what you pay for" is usually correct, but before I had finally started riding the defective Zumiez deck, I was riding around on a Turbo blank deck, which is pretty much a generic brand that I paid $22 for, but had lasted me a good two and a half months including the 32 days I had this Superior skateboard on standby. So not in this case. In the end, I see my purchase at Zumiez as more of a wall decoration than skateboard investment. If you want a bad buying experience, then by all means, go here. But if you REALLY skateboard and want quality products, stay out of Zumiez and the mall for that matter. Find an ORIGINAL skate shop as I have and after this always will. I now join the majority and have only negative things to say about Zumiez "skate shop". read more