Simmons Pads (and service) Review

[Free Willy]

This review speaks more towards service than it does product but here are the facts.
Please keep in mind when I ordered these pads I knew very little about design and effect of goalie pads.
Step One:
Call Simmons and order pads.
• I was asked for his height, weight and age.
• I SWEAR to God I was not asked his ATK. I still have the email.
• I was sent 31 + 1, 993s with an ATK of 18.
• I can post a picture proving this.
Step Two:
Receive pads.
• Absolutely gorgeous pads, but the knee block is too high and his knee is on the very bottom edge of the block.
Step Three:
Call Simmons.
• Tell them that the knee is not in the knee block and ask them what my options are.
• I’m told that “it is not necessarily critical that his knee be in the block so give him some time to get used to them”.
Step Four:
Call Simmons back because “he isn’t getting used to them and his knee is hitting the ice”.
• I’m told to “lower the knee landing gear towards the bottom and see if that helps”.
Step Five:
Call Simmons back because that didn’t help.
• I ask if I can drive to Woodstock, drop the pads off for a day and stay in a hotel so they can move the knee block.
I’m told that they would not do that because it would take too much time and I could not afford the labour.
Step Six:
Call Simmons and ask if there is anything else we could do because clearly he can’t use these pads.
• I’m told “no…and you can’t send them (or bring them) back because you used them”.
Step Seven:
Buy different pads.
Conclusion:
I’ve since had a few conversations with the guys from Simmons (including Mark) and the best they could do was offer me a deal on a new set of gloves.
800 Dollar pads that I can’t sell because of the ridiculous ATK and the best they can do is offer me “a deal” on a new set of gloves?
All because I never asked the magic question “can I bring them back” at the right time.
Instead I did what was suggested and then before I realized what was going on, it was too late.
Very, very bitter.

[goaliecrease]

First time I've read a bad review, I'll keep that in mind.

[mike122976]

first off you said you called them and asked to bring them back to woodstock??? they are in fort erie next to the buffalo border. so istheir manufacturing plant.

I was there in 2006 and bought a pair of 993 12" wide. i loved teh feel, look, everything...so i got a set of full right gloves, and a pair of pants and some skates...i asked them for a deal, and he siad if I am buying all these items right now, sure..."we will hook you up with a price"...
plus I bought a simmons MATRIX mask ther 1 month previous so I was on their customer list as they checked.
after whining to his buddy that I was taking to long to pick out a size/color of pads (my wife was walking around and over heard them), I brought everything to the front and gave themmy credit card...all the price tags were on, so I knew the exact total, and roughy tax amt in my head...with all this I assured myself a min of 5-10% off.
I was asked to sign, i did. I looked at my bill....they took $2 off!
YES $2.00...total was $1700 approx.

I get home, pissed bt excited at the same time...I play around with them more...put all of my gear on and try it all out...with the pants on, there is not way i can get down on my knees...the knee lifts are WAYYY too big, didnt fit in the block properly, , gloves never fit in with my arm/chest sleeves, etc... even after making alot of adjustments, it was not working...and would never work...

i called them up and they were pretty snippy with me, and once they agreed to let me return them , they tell me since we gave you a deal, on them we have to charge you a 15% re-stock fee...
that is over $250 plus a trip there (2 hours each way) in my truck (easy $80 on gas)....those jerks!
i sold the pads for $700 and kept the gloves and pants.

in all honesty I WILL never buy SIMMONS again, their service was terrible, shady and dismal...

i cannot wait to deal with SCOTT!

[Free Willy]

first off you said you called them and asked to bring them back to woodstock??? they are in fort erie next to the buffalo border. so istheir manufacturing plant.

I was there in 2006 and bought a pair of 993 12" wide. i loved teh feel, look, everything...so i got a set of full right gloves, and a pair of pants and some skates...i asked them for a deal, and he siad if I am buying all these items right now, sure..."we will hook you up with a price"...
plus I bought a simmons MATRIX mask ther 1 month previous so I was on their customer list as they checked.
after whining to his buddy that I was taking to long to pick out a size/color of pads (my wife was walking around and over heard them), I brought everything to the front and gave themmy credit card...all the price tags were on, so I knew the exact total, and roughy tax amt in my head...with all this I assured myself a min of 5-10% off.
I was asked to sign, i did. I looked at my bill....they took $2 off!
YES $2.00...total was $1700 approx.

I get home, pissed bt excited at the same time...I play around with them more...put all of my gear on and try it all out...with the pants on, there is not way i can get down on my knees...the knee lifts are WAYYY too big, didnt fit in the block properly, , gloves never fit in with my arm/chest sleeves, etc... even after making alot of adjustments, it was not working...and would never work...

i called them up and they were pretty snippy with me, and once they agreed to let me return them , they tell me since we gave you a deal, on them we have to charge you a 15% re-stock fee...
that is over $250 plus a trip there (2 hours each way) in my truck (easy $80 on gas)....those jerks!
i sold the pads for $700 and kept the gloves and pants.

in all honesty I WILL never buy SIMMONS again, their service was terrible, shady and dismal...

i cannot wait to deal with SCOTT!

Scott saved my ass big time. He made us pads in about 10 days even though he was busy.

[Cujo_64]

No offense man, but you should change the name of this thread to
"How Stupid Was I Part 2"




I read your previous posts and I just cant believe you didnt step up and ask are you sure ? this is a lot of money and this makes no sense on your part. You ordered from them before and had the same size so it just seems off......



:(

[Free Willy]

No offense man, but you should change the name of this thread to
"How Stupid Was I Part 2"




I read your previous posts and I just cant believe you didnt step up and ask are you sure ? this is a lot of money and this makes no sense on your part. You ordered from them before and had the same size so it just seems off......



:(

This is a review of service based on one purchase.
I only bought one pair of pads from them and I've been fighting with them every since.

I never bought a second pair from them.

[rpearce76]

I had a good experience at Simmon's store. I bought a Hackva which was already on sale (50 dollars off) and a pair of Itech goalie pants which were on sale too. I got a price break of about 20 bux or so on the pants on top of the discounted price. The guys were nice. When I asked about how they make the pads the guy said if it was a normal work day he coulda brought me over and shown me which I thought was pretty cool.

[kevinsane]

This review speaks more towards service than it does product but here are the facts.
Please keep in mind when I ordered these pads I knew very little about design and effect of goalie pads.
Step One:
Call Simmons and order pads.
• I was asked for his height, weight and age.
• I SWEAR to God I was not asked his ATK. I still have the email.
• I was sent 31 + 1, 993s with an ATK of 18.
• I can post a picture proving this.
Step Two:
Receive pads.
• Absolutely gorgeous pads, but the knee block is too high and his knee is on the very bottom edge of the block.
Step Three:
Call Simmons.
• Tell them that the knee is not in the knee block and ask them what my options are.
• I’m told that “it is not necessarily critical that his knee be in the block so give him some time to get used to them”.
Step Four:
Call Simmons back because “he isn’t getting used to them and his knee is hitting the ice”.
• I’m told to “lower the knee landing gear towards the bottom and see if that helps”.
Step Five:
Call Simmons back because that didn’t help.
• I ask if I can drive to Woodstock, drop the pads off for a day and stay in a hotel so they can move the knee block.
I’m told that they would not do that because it would take too much time and I could not afford the labour.
Step Six:
Call Simmons and ask if there is anything else we could do because clearly he can’t use these pads.
• I’m told “no…and you can’t send them (or bring them) back because you used them”.
Step Seven:
Buy different pads.
Conclusion:
I’ve since had a few conversations with the guys from Simmons (including Mark) and the best they could do was offer me a deal on a new set of gloves.
800 Dollar pads that I can’t sell because of the ridiculous ATK and the best they can do is offer me “a deal” on a new set of gloves?
All because I never asked the magic question “can I bring them back” at the right time.
Instead I did what was suggested and then before I realized what was going on, it was too late.
Very, very bitter.

If their suggestions were such that you had to incorporate the changes ON THE ICE, they should refund your money. If you did what they asked, trying to be patient and fair about the process, and they decide there's "nothing they can do', you have a right to be upset.

I find an 18" ATK on a 31" pad a little baffling.

[goaliecrease]

I find an 18" ATK on a 31" pad a little baffling.

Someone is measuring wrong I figure.

[snlsmith]

maybe it is/was FTK, not ATK. That would put ATK around 15-16, making a 31 more likely.

[Free Willy]

http://i50.tinypic.com/w87yhh.jpg

[Free Willy]

There is almost no thigh rise.
http://i48.tinypic.com/8z4rgl.jpg

[Punisher]

Sell them to Kelly Hrudey.

pun.

[kevinsane]

That's............"weird" is the word that jumps to mind. I have the same ATK, but on a 34.5 in pad.

Who wears 31" on an ATK of 18?!!!

[bc-30]

Here is a DS website pic of a 31+1 993. Note the thigh rise seems normally proportioned:


http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/6941/882alg.jpg



Here is a DS website pic of the back of the pad, showing the (normal size)thighboard:


http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3155/882dlg.jpg



Here is your pic, showing what appears to be a shortened thigh rise, and what looks like a half a thighboard:


http://i48.tinypic.com/8z4rgl.jpg



It almost looks like you a 34-2 instead of a 31+1.

Perhaps they sent you someone's custom order gone bad.:(

[bc-30]

Or perhaps not - :o

I just found this set on ebay:

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/3404/1f2435.jpg

http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360213544857


So I guess we are back to "wierd"

[Free Willy]

Would you look at that. So I'm not crazy.
Who fits into a pad like that?

My knee was below the knee block and I'm 5'10".

[goaliecrease]

Here's The Skinny
to the best of my knowledge as pad in question is 2-3 years old. We produced a custom sizing 31+1in. in the 993's to fit shorter bantam,midget and women goaltenders with the occasional oversized pee-wee thrown in. I believe the A to K was 17 1/2 - 18in. with a shorter thigh rise. This was an adult pad built to a smaller scale and had an overall length of 32 inches. I believe we built over 150 sets of this size. Very few issues.

Our policy on sizing is if it doesn't fit send it back and we will send you a pad that fits. We will bend over backwards to satisfy a customer. If a sizing error is made at our end we fix, if a sizing error is made at the customers end we fix, if worn and sent back within a REASONABLE TIME FRAME we fix, if custom ordered with custom colors and name embroidery where a CUSTOMER orders and insists on the wrong size we fix. The only thing we can't fix is a situation where a customer calls about a product that's technically 2-3 years old and worn 30-40 times tells us he's unhappy and THREATENS THAT IF WE DON'T GIVE HIM A FREE SET OF GLOVES WITHIN 24HRS. HE'LL TRASH US ALL OVER THE INTERNET. I'm sorry but that i can't fix.

Can you explain this?