Patagonia gallegos waders

[DAVID95670]

I purchased these in Nov 2011 and now are leaking from both the seams and the boots. There have also been a lot of issues with small leaks pretty much everywhere.

Beware and do not purchase these if my experience is anything to judge the quality of the product.

Should have purchased Simms.......

[chapmag]

Patagonia had an iron clad return policy the last time I had to use it a few years ago.

If you don't like their product, for any reason, any time, give them a call. I had a pair of Patagonia wading boots that tore on me after several fishing trips. I called and complained and they refunded my purchase price.

[DFrink]

Patagonia is an awesome company, I bet they would have no problem taking care of your waders for you.

[ownfl4g]

To be fair, I got my first pair of Simms freestone waders and they leaked off the shelf. Returned them for repair (or replacement?) and they are wonderful now.

[KJE]

Yeah - you could literally walk into a Patagonia store, hand them the waders, tell them they leak and they'll hand you a new pair. Or give you store credit.

[DAVID95670]

I have been calling patagonia all morning asking them to exchange it at either the SF or Reno locations. They do not stock it at either location, so I asked if I drive up to Reno if they would have the item at the store to exchange it since their order fulfillment is in Reno. They want them shipped then reviewed, the store manager and the phone order people have both said they would not have the waders at the store for me to do this exchange. I asked telling them i would drive to reno nv in order to do this exchange and both said no.

Don't bother with patagonia.

This is terrible to me since i have been using patagonia extensively since 1983 when i started rock climbing i have a lot of the original pat stuff as well as met the french man once......

Next time simms .

[DAVID95670]

Well after all your comments that they should have great customer service I got back on the emails and phone got a person named Nikki and she set up to ship the new waders to me with a return label. I did in fact tell her I had no problem driving to the Reno store to exchange them (fishing the truckee while I am out there and heading to Sparks to check out a board member's fly shop) .... but they are in the post as it were.....

I guess I am up set cuz I met Yvon in the 80s and I have owned so much Patagonia stuff over the years to be met with such resistance from three different Patagonia CSRs and Manager discouraged me... Yvon was a cool guy

[nvpescador]

Surprised you so much trouble. My experience with their waders (and customer service) has been excellent. Even the best products will wear with high use... I don't think Simms has an ironclad guarantee when it comes to wear and tear from regular use... and they charge for repairs. On older waders Pata does too.

Not sure the battle cry of don't buy Patagonia waders and product was warranted, it's good gear and it looks like they've taken care of you.

[IronMtn]

I've said it before... Redington sonic pros... best waders for the price. Crazy good customer service too. Never been hassled.

[joshfish]

My brother is a Patagonia dealer. So he hooked me up on a killer price for the watermaster waders. 2 years later they developed a leak in the crotch. He called Patagonia, told them the details and I had a new pair of waders in three days no questions asked.

[aaron]

Patagonia, like most companies the last few years, has had to tighten up a bit on warranty. They're trying to get away from the days of people buying 15 year old products at garage sales then turning it around and expecting a brand new replacement. They'll give you a hard time if your product is experiencing normal wear and tear or is ancient; but because of the iron clad guarantee, for better or worse, they'd still warranty George Mallory's underpants if you dragged them down.

[joshfish]

The leak in mine was a breakdown of the material. There was a spot in the crotch area where the material started to come apart.

[amoeba]

I have been calling patagonia all morning asking them to exchange it at either the SF or Reno locations. They do not stock it at either location, so I asked if I drive up to Reno if they would have the item at the store to exchange it since their order fulfillment is in Reno. They want them shipped then reviewed, the store manager and the phone order people have both said they would not have the waders at the store for me to do this exchange. I asked telling them i would drive to reno nv in order to do this exchange and both said no.

Don't bother with patagonia.

This is terrible to me since i have been using patagonia extensively since 1983 when i started rock climbing i have a lot of the original pat stuff as well as met the french man once......

Next time simms .

DUDE! Any manufacturer makes you send the product back for review - Simms included. You had the waders for 7 months; that's not exactly no use in there. And JoshFish and his 2 years and sending them back ? Oh brother. I suppose you'd send your boots back if the felt wore out. I'm not sure what you all expect out of waders, but they all leak...and most sooner in real life than anything you read on the internet. My rough estimate is to expect 30-50 miles of wading and your waders are wet toast - anything beyond that is gravy. That could be 3 years for people who stand still and fish all day within 200 yards of their car, or 3 weeks for aggressive waders who hike miles. It's not a defect. It's wear and tear.

You'd save alot more grief (and postal costs) by learning how to find and repair leaks.

[joshfish]

amoeba, not quite sure what your implying with that comment but i didnt have my brother call patagonia demanded they replace the waders. he called and told them how old the waders were and what was happening to the material. if they told me to send them in for repair at my exspense i would have done that. if they said there was nothing they could do because of age i would have excepted that. patagonia was the one that made the decision to replace them. i was just posting my experience and the fast turnaround i had with patagonia.

[DAVID95670]

Mine too broke down in the crotch, speaking with the Fly Shop people it is a problem with the Patagonia waders, it can not be patched,

they did swap them out via UPS they were nice and I have them back now,

For all those who feel that spending $500 on waders means the product should last and should hold up to 100 days of fishing in a year, pay heed to the issues from Patagonia's waders

I paid $199 for them from the Fly Shop ..... If I were to pay full price then it would be Simms

take it for what it is worth when making a wader decision