Desert Stryker and BowTech

BigBird-VA · Post by **BigBird-VA** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:16 am

As I promised the guy in BT's customer support I'm spreading the word on my Stryker problems and BT's lack of caring and support.

The limbs cracked on my Desert model. I contacted the dealer I bought it from and he got a RA number and it was sent back to BT with with them paying for shipping. Sounds good to me so far. They get the xbow back and I call and ask what's next? He says it's in R&D and it may take them 2 weeks or so to figure out what went wrong. I asked would they be sending me another one during this wait? Didn't know was his answer. He also said they aren't producing any at this moment due to a backorder on parts. Estimated time for production to begin is 2 weeks. Asked if they had any new ones available to send out and again he didn't know. Called my dealer back and he called them. Found out they do not keep an extra replacement xbow in case of such an event as mine.

Plan 'B" had already failed so I was stuck at this point. Plan "B" was to just get limbs and fix mine before it was sent back. This is not a simple task either. Seems you need a certain press, Shurlock X-Press, to work on it. My local dealer didn't have that one. It took all of one day waiting for a return phone calls from the person in the know at BT to even find this out. They would not ship limbs until they knew if my local dealer had a suitable press. Until now no one knew this xbow required a different press and BT never let it be known either. Wyvern is not my local BT dealer so this makes 2 BT dealers that didn't know or have the right tools to fix one. Of course if you don't know you need something special how or why would you obtain it?

After all efforts had failed I called BT again and asked to speak to a manager or person in charge of warranty issues. I was treated in the most improper manner I've ever received in a warranty related issue. I was in shock and still am. The final outcome is Wyvern Creations, the dealer I bought it from, is sending me a new one he has in stock so I can finish out bow season with it. Had he not stepped up to the plate for BT I would be looking at 2 weeks minimum wait for my replacement xbow to get to me. At his point I have 10 days left in bow season. Sad that a dealer has to take up slack for the manufacturer. BT will send him a new one once production starts up again.

Closing is avoid BT and Stryker at this point in time. The xbow is an amazing piece and I really love it. But with the issues that BT is having with customer service issues and possible hardware issues I cannot recommend anyone buying one.

I cannot say enough about Wyvern Creations and his time and effort spent trying to fix this mess. Just goes to show you can't put a price on a good dealer.

LV2HNT · Post by **LV2HNT** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:26 am

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Atleast you had a somewhat favorable outcome though. Are you thinking of a plan C by any chance? Something like sell the repaired xbow and get another excal, or get an excal as a back up incase it happens again.

BigBird-VA · Post by **BigBird-VA** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:38 am

LV2HNT wrote:Sorry to hear of your troubles. Atleast you had a somewhat favorable outcome though. Are you thinking of a plan C by any chance? Something like sell the repaired xbow and get another excal, or get an excal as a back up incase it happens again.

Plan "C" is already in my mind. I fortunately have a back-up xbow (3 in fact) but that's not the point. What about the guy who doesn't? What about any future issues? When I posted about limb cracks I received 2 PM's (another forum) from others that they too have small cracks showing on their limbs. I feel since all 4 of my limbs (split limb xbow) cracked at the same time and others are showing something there has to be an issue here with limbs or design. I do not feel I'm fully over the limb dilemma with them. For the $$ I paid for this xbow I do not feel I got the treatment I was entitled to. As it stands now I'll get the replacement Friday and have to rush to set it up and get out of here to hunt Sat with it. And yes I'm going to shoot the heck out of it to see there are issues or problems. But I'll also have my used, bought on Fleabay and older Tenpoint that has never let me down as a backup with me. I've had 6-7 mostly used xbows and never had anything of any consequence go wrong. I also plan on sending a letter to BT's owner for what that's worth.

Pydpiper · Post by **Pydpiper** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:04 am

Thanks for the heads up BB!

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:19 am

OK i won't buy no DS! I have my 2 Excals one fer hunting & one fer 3-D's!

GREYWOLF · Post by **GREYWOLF** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 11:42 am

I had 3 STRYKERS before I got 1 that was right !! first one blew up on the second shot , I sent it back 6 days later I got a replacement . Our store is a dealer so some speed in service might be better ?? second one I recieved the crank chain broke on the first shot . I called them and was told to ship it back AGAIN !! I expected another one to be sent back overnight , BUT NO !! I was told they were out of stock 13 days later I got the 3RD. one which I promptly sold on EBAY . we had problems with 2 other ones that were sold also . I think BOW makers should stay with VERTICAL bows and not jump on the growing band wagon of crossbow popularity. just my 2 cents

tuskntine · Post by **tuskntine** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:33 pm

Ever thought about buying an Excalibur ? Great Xbow , great service . Simple IS better.

BigBird-VA · Post by **BigBird-VA** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:07 pm

GREYWOLF wrote:I had 3 STRYKERS before I got 1 that was right !! first one blew up on the second shot , I sent it back 6 days later I got a replacement . Our store is a dealer so some speed in service might be better ?? second one I recieved the crank chain broke on the first shot . I called them and was told to ship it back AGAIN !! I expected another one to be sent back overnight , BUT NO !! I was told they were out of stock 13 days later I got the 3RD. one which I promptly sold on EBAY . we had problems with 2 other ones that were sold also . I think BOW makers should stay with VERTICAL bows and not jump on the growing band wagon of crossbow popularity. just my 2 cents

Keeps getting better and better for them. Got a PM on another forum that maybe someone is looking into it. Not holding my breath for one second. I'm just trying to figure a way to get out and not lose most of my $$$ in this and go in another direction. Sucking part is new DS xbow packages are going as low as $550 on Ebay - now during deer season.

rattler1 · Post by **rattler1** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:13 pm

You are lucky to have Wyvern Creations backing you up. He is one standup guy as far as I heard.

Hi5 · Post by **Hi5** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:35 pm

Criticism and credit where each is due, that would be the perfect balance in life. It sure sounds as though you have reason to complain against the manufacturer, but it also seems clear that you could be praising the retailer with the same level of enthusiasm.

In fact, to be truly fair to the retailer, it would be better for him if he had not even been identified in your thread. Given the frailties of human thought process and memory, some time from now, all that will remain in some folk's memory of your thread will be the bad experience somebody had with that named product and the named retailer. To get your point across they don't both need to be named and the honorable one doesn't deserve it.

Don't take this as a personal slam against you, please. I don't mean it that way. I just thought as I read your thread that there were two victims--you and the retailer, and I felt sorry for both of you.

BigBird-VA · Post by **BigBird-VA** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:15 am

Hi5 wrote:Criticism and credit where each is due, that would be the perfect balance in life. It sure sounds as though you have reason to complain against the manufacturer, but it also seems clear that you could be praising the retailer with the same level of enthusiasm.

In fact, to be truly fair to the retailer, it would be better for him if he had not even been identified in your thread. Given the frailties of human thought process and memory, some time from now, all that will remain in some folk's memory of your thread will be the bad experience somebody had with that named product and the named retailer. To get your point across they don't both need to be named and the honorable one doesn't deserve it.

Don't take this as a personal slam against you, please. I don't mean it that way. I just thought as I read your thread that there were two victims--you and the retailer, and I felt sorry for both of you.

I think when you leave off details you lose a certain amount of credibility to the post. Wyvern bailed me out and he needs to be given credit for taking up BT's slack. He can't help it and it also was there to show that BT doesn't even keep their dealers totally informed. Like the part that a special press is needed. He and my local dealer hadn't a clue on that info. So why would you make and distribute a new expensive product and not provide support? Or even give info out to allow others willing to provide support to do so? Simple the same reason they do not have a single one on hand for warranty - they're out to make every dollar they can and to hell with the person that already bought one. They also BTW advertise they strive for a 72 hour turn around on this xbow for warranty related issues. As we've seen with 3 out of 3 Stryker issues posted in this thread they've averaged well over 72 hours. Again it's all about the sale and profits. Yes both of us suffered. He's got to wait for my bow before he can sell it. Now sure if he's got to pay in advance for stock but even if he didn't he's out potential profit from a sale by not having something he should.

Cossack · Post by **Cossack** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:54 am

I'm thinkin' that this is a case of neglected buyer beware. I considered maintenance BEFORE purchasing both my bows. Having no local support I knew I'd b on my own. So my purchase was made accordingly:Excalibur (recurve) and Parker (compound). Both companies are known for their fantastic customer service but so far I only needed a small part from Parker which was lost when a string broke. I got it in two days. Ecal? What can I say, it just works. But judging by the satisfaction of the users here and elsewhere the company stands behind their product and knows how to make great bows.