Black Diamond Equipment

My Black Diamond Viper ice axe broke while I was leading a mixed route, putting me in a seriously dangerous situation. I contacted BD customer service not to request a replacement (the tools are 10 years old and out of warranty), but to report a safety-critical failure and ask if I should retire the other axe. Instead, I received a dismissive response and a lecture about aluminum stress. This is unacceptable for a life-critical tool. I will never buy Black Diamond again and strongly advise caution to anyone considering their gear.

Now I see an automated "response from the owner" to my review that was not too good about Black Diamond's customer service and support. Then, I wonder 'who is Black Diamond, now?'. Poor service of late, curious shifts in product focus and management, etc. I didn't realize they became part of a Corporate Holding Company in 2010. It's taken a while, but that management style eventually takes over. A decade and a half to hold off is pretty good - now we see the 'corporate slide'.

They don’t stand by their product. If you buy something made by them do so from REI, at least they stand by what they sell. One week old piece of equipment is defective and they say tough contact the warranty department (which is closed. Easier to just dispute the charge on your credit card. Won’t buy direct from them ever again.

Why is everyone making rude reviews? The customer service is amazing and the product is perfection. Large shout out to my favorite people: Tyler, Jeremiah D and Timothy. Give them raises they have my business forever.

I’ve had a set of BD adjustable ski poles for 10+ years and have still yet to break them even through several bad crashes over that time. This summer I picked up a second pair and broke the bottom portion this weekend in an awkward fall. Went over to the store today and was able to pick up a new bottom portion to fix my pole. Staff was helpful and friendly. As long as BD keeps selling the bottom part and I can pick it up at the store these will be the only poles that I will use.

Black Diamond is a great brand. The people at the shop are very nice and helpful. Feel like the sizes are missing in the size I need. Love the light weight trek poles the best.

Visiting and shopping at BD’s Retail Store. Topping up with a BD Tour around the Headquarters - watching how products are made, a sneak peak of their new collections and meeting the team behind BD! What an amazing day!

The folks at BD are always super helpful and I always leave with more than I planned on. Awesome to have this shop connected to HQ, and they are all around a great brand.

How has this place not landed on the map yet? Black Diamond... where I got both my Mountain Hardwear puffy jacket and Arc'teryx jacket on sale. Where my husband bought his Megawatts (end of season sale, with bindings, ridiculously cheap!) and both of us got our adjustable height poles. This place is a staple for all backcountry skiiers, snowboarders, and adventurers. They offer backcountry rental gear (boots, poles, bindings, skis, skins!) and also sell a large variety of clothing and soft goods as well. It's not always the cheapest place to find things, but it's always a good place to start- even if you're just looking and want to see what's out there. The staff is always helpful (although it helps if you already have a good idea what you're looking for) and in my experience the selection has usually pretty great. Of course, their end-of-season sale is not to be missed. Every year we've gone, my husband (or myself- whoops!) has left with a new set of gear.

I can not express the amount of frustration and disappointment in this company. Long time user, but now I will question purchasing anything again from this company. I sent my CAMs to be re-strung and they said at time of ordering 4-6 weeks. It has been 8 weeks ( I have the UPS conformation of receipt) and talking to their customer service they say this is their busy season and I am looking at another 4-8 weeks. OK, so I asked the CSR why did I get an e-mail 4 days ago when I called saying your order is in the process of shipping out and we will send you the tracking, got that in writing. Now BD says they are still evaluating my cams and haven't touched them and I should hear from them in 4-8 weeks. Asked to speck to a manger, was informed they are not allowed to talk to customers. Asked to talk to someone in the CAM department, she said they are not allowed to give that number out. She did say I am sorry you are upset. That really helped when BD will have my CAMS for 16 weeks.

Ordered a jacket and a pair of pants. But they only sent jacket. And there is no customer service. On their website, "Due to a staffing shortage, our phones are currently off. For assistance, please try our Live Chat or email us with any questions or concerns. Our team will respond as soon as possible." But there is no live chat either. Emailed them, but haven't get any response yet.

I purchased a Black Diamond Sprint headlamp; the lamp's plastic fastening to the headband attachment broke within months, while the lamp was inside a plastic container in my backpack (image attached). My assumption is that shaking and shifting of items in the container caused it to break. I attempted to purchase a replacement part online and couldn't seem to find it; so I filed a warranty claim. Here was the response after a 52 day delay: -- begin email -- Hello Aaron, Unfortunately, the damage that occurred is not a defect and is consistent with "accidentals" which are not covered under the warranty policy. Please let us know if you have any questions. Thank You, [REDACTED] -- end email -- No conversation, no back-and-forth, no offer to send me the tiny plastic part that broke. Just refusal.

Used to be a great brand spent thousands with them, but I don't recommend investing in any of the more expensive items as support is pretty much non existent now. I purchased a premium Black Diamond Jet Force Back Pack for well over 1000 USD. I used it maybe 5 times, the pack was never engineered for storing as it has a small draw on the battery. I was basically told the only way to get it fixed was to spend $400 for a replacement battery. I'm still not sure how a battery for this backpack is $400 it's almost half the cost of this backpack. This is really pitiful performance of a battery if I've only used the backpack 5 days and only did test inflations to make sure it was working. I now have a useless backpack, don't support companies that don't support their customers with reasonable service options. They should mention that the battery has a useful life of 2 years even if unused. CS response: After many years of complimentary service on first generation JetForce Avalanche packs, Black Diamond is switching to a paid service for packs outside of their warranty period. If your pack is older than 2 years (from date of purchase), please visit the link below to purchase the new service option: Link to $400 purchase. Don't risk your life with this poorly engineered product.

I think I expected a little bit too much for a retail store. It had a lot of gear, but it didn't even scratch the surface in terms of presentation and the amount of items available to try. Unless you needed one of their fitting services I would probably still buy online.

Worst customer service out of any company I've had to deal with.. I would not suggest any body use them. I've been waiting for a refund for an item that was returned for over a month now. They have stoped replying to my emails. Shop elsewhere to avoid any trouble!!

I called customer service about approach shoes with a design flaw. They failed in five days. On the phone they were totally rude and told me to fill out a warranty form online. I did but after almost two weeks I have heard NOTHING. I called customer service again. The response was, "you have to understand we have a process, and they are very busy." Total crap - NO help. This is not the company that use to take customer service seriously. The company doesn't stand behind their gear.

Wow, just had an unexpectedly wonderful Black Diamond Equipment customer service experience by phone. I was heard and was walked through diagnosing the issue with my Z-poles. The inner cord had broken -- after several years of hard use. Then the friendly and knowledgable agent helped me locate the same poles on their website (I am glad they are still available), looked up the restock date (since they were currently out of stock), and even sent me a coupon code for a discount. Very happy : )

I come for the quality products, but am surprised every single time by the people behind those doors. The staff act like they are better than the customer with almost everything they say, especially when you are or look young. I also don't recommend renting gear from them. After a long day in the backcountry, the bindings on the skis acted up. Upon arriving and letting the staff know what had happen, Matt made a smart-ass comment, saying I could have been the one to blame for the bindings. Great customer service skills Matt. Besides the staff discriminating based on age and terrible backcountry rentals, there IS one positive at BD...Lee M. He is the most genuine guy around and needs to be in charge of hiring.

My review is on their warranty service, or lack of , made a call about a headlamp on 11/23 was told 10-14 working days would hear back , Tuesday 12/22 will be 22 working days . i understand with Covid going on things are different , but 22 days and counting REALLY .

I have been very happy with the quality of the gear. Crampons and gaiters are great. Staff was helpful.

The 2 guys helping us out tonight were awesome! Super kind and inviting. We were new to the area and they gave us some awesome recommendations. If we lived here this would definitely be a store we would frequent! Thanks!

Terrible customer service and willingness to fix an issue with a product that was screwed up. Don't do it. Buy another brand.

What an easy experience! A group of us were out backpacking and on the way hiking down, I realized the last section of my pole was missing! The terrain was really iffy and there were so many down trees around us we were unable to locate it. When arriving back home, I emailed Black Diamond. Haley D. quickly responded with answers and provided me the link to order the exact replacement part that was needed. Within days it came in the mail and fit like a glove! I am back in business with my trekkers!

Black Diamond used to be a great brand and shop and I don't know what has happened! I took my skis in for a mount 3 weeks ago and purchased skins to have them cut. I called today for the third time and the mount has not been done. The woman who answered the phone told me it would be at least two more weeks before they could get it done. When I told her I needed them before then as 5 weeks to mount skis and cut skins (the ones I purchased from their store) seems a bit much, she advised they were under staffed and under going a remodel. When I asked her who should could recommend to cut THEIR skins she told me to google it. Incompetence and poor service is one thing, but this was coupled with insults and a total lack of accountability. Sad to see a shop I would otherwise love to support experience such a drastic drastic decline in service.

Awesome company. Great customer service. Stand by their products. Very friendly and knowledgeable staff.

Most ski boot shops can probably correct hot spots in your tele boots. But Patrick, the expert boot fitter, analyzed my feet and then correctly predicted where my hot spots were and which foot was worse. This is my second purchase of touring boots from BD after an initial purchase from another local and storied outdoor shop of boots that never fit well. Why would you buy boots anywhere else?

I stopped by looking for a display of some equipment that they no longer had up to see if it was a fit for an application. they went down to the basement unpacked it set it back up on the floor and let me spend expensive time checking out the product. as well as humoring me by answering my question. The staff was extremely knowledgeable and extremely helpful. the call the other products were are great.

What can I say? Knowledgeable staff, makers of the best equipment for mountain enjoyment, and the retail store has a selection far beyond their own product line. Absolutely go check it out and see what their latest gear is. I know BD gear pretty well and still end up surprised sometimes.

I went in here with a ton of question because I am new to climbing and Jaima was super cool in answering them and giving her advice from her years of climbing. While Jaima was grabbing my climbing shoes I had excellent customer service as the team asked how I am doing and if I was being helped. Jaima listened to my goals and found me what I needed, rather than grabbing the most expensive item on the shelf and trying to sell to me. I walked out of the store as a definite new customer and the staff helped motivate me further with sharing their opinions of what realistic goals I should try to reach and even a few ideas on how to get there.

I've never been to the retail store, but I can say this: The company's customer service is probably the best I have ever received from an outdoor gear retailer. They sell excellent products- a Bibler tent in my case- and stand by them. They are courteous and efficient. Thanks BD!

Black Diamond Store is now having speaker nights once each month. March 15 was Andrew McLean talking about his climbs in Alaska . He talked in detail about the three family mountains and gave much information for those interested in Alaska and climbing in general. It was a terrific event...comprehensive and entertaining. The pictures were dynamic and the stories captivating. Nice job Andrew and thank you Black Diamond.