Kurt's Polaris, Inc.

Review: We bought a ATV Ranger 900cc/2013 and in less then 30 days it has been in shop 2x for various mechanical issues. The first time; was when we got it home it started over heating. We did not even sit on it. The second time the power steering and something else, the wheel bearing I think went out while driving on a clear mountain trail in the woods, which caused the ATV to loose control and roll over the side of the mountain, which resulted in injuries to my self and my freind. We were lucky we made out a live. I called and complained to Kurt Polaris of Kurt Polaris of Seeley Lake, MT. They said they would like to fix it but when I asked for a diffrent ATV, they said no, I was shocked, since it was supposed to be new when I bought it I even paid new sticker price on it. I feel this ATV is mechanically unsafe and dangerous no matter how many times it will be repaired. I feel that this unit should be replaced with a different ATV, I would accept the same make and model or something comparable. I believe they sold me a lemon!Desired Settlement: I will accept a replacement with different ATV, or same make and model or something comparable

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted]:

I am in receipt of your letter dated Thursday October 24, 2013 referencing a complaint made by a customer of

Kurt’s [redacted] and assigned the Revdex.com ID # of [redacted].

This customer originally contacted me and said that they wanted to do business with me because they did

NOT like the [redacted] Dealer in Kalispell (expressing to me that they felt the Kalispell Dealership was not

reputable). They said that they had heard good things about us and the way we take care of our customers

and as such they wanted to do business with us, despite the two plus hour drive one way to get to our store.

When they originally bought the unit (a side by side Ranger) from us they had nothing but nice things to say

about us and our service, and I found that to be gratifying certainly, but not something we haven’t heard

before…we always go above and beyond to make every effort to properly service our customers.

The day after the customer purchased the unit they called to complain about the unit running hot. They

indicated that they had driven the unit about two miles when a hose became loose on the thermostat housing

and leaked some coolant causing the machine to overheat. We instructed the customer to tighten the loose

hose clamp and add some coolant to the machine to replace what was lost through the leak in the hose fitting.

The next day I had my Service Manager follow up with the customers to see if everything was okay and they

confirmed that all was well.

Approximately three days later they called to say that the unit would not start. I personally drove up there to

pick up their ranger to bring it back to our Seeley Shop for diagnosis and repair. I brought another ranger

along with me for them to use while we repaired their vehicle so that they would not be without use of a vehicle

while we did the repairs. The customer was very appreciative of my responsiveness and the length to which

I was prepared to go to make sure they were taken care of (i.e. driving 5 hours round trip and giving them the

use of one of our vehicles while we did the repair. Not to mention another 5 hour round trip to return their

repaired unit to them and pick up our ranger).

Upon inspection it was concluded that their ranger had a faulty voltage regulator and that is why it would not

start. We replaced the faulty regulator with a new one and returned the unit to the customer working fine with

no additional issues, and I might add, with their gratitude and appreciation for our efforts to make the whole

experience as easy on them as possible.

Approximately two or three weeks following the voltage regulator repair they called to tell me that they had a

wreck with the unit and that they thought the brakes had failed and that a tie rod or something had broken

causing the accident. I went up there to investigate the claim and to pick up the unit for repair. I brought a

replacement ranger along as I didn’t want them to be without a ranger due to a product failure on [redacted]’ part.

However, what I found in my investigation was that the brakes were intact and working fine and that while a tie

rod was indeed broke, it was broke as the result of blunt force and NOT, in my opinion, due to a product failure.

In other words it would appear that they had hit something quite substantial which ultimately caused the tie rod

to bend at a 45 degree angle prior to finally breaking.

Also, it should be noted that this unit didn’t come with power steering and so that part of the complaint is a non-

issue. The question is, could a broken tie rod such as this affect their steering and cause them to run off the

road? Sure if they had hit something prior to running off the road and then drove the unit with a severely bent

tie rod until such time as the tie rod finally broke causing them to then go off the road. That is certainly one

possibility. Another even stronger possibility is that they were not paying attention to the road conditions such

as they were and ended up driving off the road which resulted in the impact related findings on the machine

when I investigated. They would certainly not be the first people I have encountered that ran a vehicle off the

road as a result of driving too fast or not paying attention to where they were going. For all I know they were

texting someone at the time or otherwise distracted.

I suspect that by the time they realized that they were going off the road due to their own negligence, they

panicked and reacted out of fear instead of skill or experience and in the end it was merely a case of operator

error (over correction/under correction etc.). If one of their wheels caught a soft shoulder and they were not

paying attention, I can see how they felt that maybe the steering and/or brakes had failed as the slide of the

machine would have pulled their machine away from the direction they were steering and once they began to

slide downhill there is very little that brakes can do for you if the soil is loose and braking away as you slide.

Bottom line is that while the customer may feel like they know what happened here the evidence of the case

does not support their version of what happened. What the evidence does strongly suggest is that they

wrecked their new machine as a result of operator error and now find themselves in the unfortunate position of

having to pay to replace or repair the damages, and are as a result trying to put this off onto the manufacturer

as a preferred method of payment for the damages incurred.

At this time and as of this writing the customer continues to enjoy the use of the ranger I gave them to use,

courtesy of [redacted]s [redacted], so they have not been without a unit this whole time as we have tried to sort

through all of this with them and [redacted]. While it is my belief that this is a simple case of operator error I am

allowing them to use one of our rangers while [redacted] goes through all of its due diligence relating to their own

investigation of this event. Once [redacted] is done reviewing everything they will elect to either fix the customers

unit if they believe the damage was a result of product failure or they will decline to cover the costs if they

believe the damages were the result of operator error. This decision will be made by [redacted] Industries as

they are the manufacturer and ultimately have the final say in such a repair. In the meantime we continue to

support the customer in every way we can, to include as I mentioned, allowing them to use one of our other

rangers until such time as this all gets sorted out.

In conclusion, I would like to go on record as strongly disagreeing with the customer’s findings and contentions,

and reiterate that the evidence that I have seen and shared with you in this letter strongly refutes the claims

made by the customer, and as a result lead me to believe that they are simply trying to shift the financial

burden of this unfortunate accident from themselves to a perceived deep pocket party, namely [redacted]

Industries, Inc. in order to avoid having to incur the loss themselves.

[redacted]’s reputation is spotless in this regard. We work very hard to take care of our customers and the

extent to which we have gone out of our way to take care of this customer and continue to is self-evident.

Sincerely,

[redacted], CEO

[redacted]’s [redacted], Inc.

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[redacted].com

[redacted].com

Consumer

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted]: