Dead Kooks

Best customer experience I've had in a long time! – I bought a custom made 9'7 Nausea "Matcha Tea" with heavy glass. From the first phone call to delivery, and the board itself, everything has been perfect. I recommend Dead Kooks to anyone who is seeking for a top-quality, nice looking board.

Do not buy a surfboard from dead kooks – Do not deal with Dead Kooks. What a horrific customer service (or lack thereof) experience. I paid a $500 deposit to have a surfboard custom made as a present for my husband on our wedding day. I went to pick it up the day before our wedding as organised and was met with a closed store. I called, emailed, left phone messages, sent messages on Facebook and Instagram. I received no response. That was obviously upsetting.

On the day of the wedding the groomsmen attended the store and there was an employee present. He confirmed the board had not been made and was surprised the owner, [name removed] had not communicated that it was not made. In an attempt to rectify the situation he gave them a board to take photos with and said he would organise its return - [name removed] agreed to this via telephone.

Nothing was then organised to return the board. There was no communication, the store was again closed and the board was unable to be returned while we were in Byron.

I had to again attend the store in person on another day to get a response – thankfully on this day the owner was in the store. At that time he said that he would discount the board I had ordered, pay for shipping for the board to be sent to my house and pay for the freight for the other board to be returned to the store. I was still disappointed but thought that at least my husband would still get a board.

However, two days later, without any communication in the interim, I received an email saying that I had essentially stolen a surfboard, I needed to pay for its return and that he would not be providing the board that was ordered until I had done that. This was extremely surprising considering our prior discussion and was obviously upsetting considering I had done nothing wrong.

I have made every attempt to discuss this all with the owner, [name removed], to get it resolved. He does not wish to talk on the phone. He instead has continued to send me emails threatening that he had a lawyer acting for him and that he will now get police involved. He continued to act in this manner even when I have pointed out I am merely a paying customer who has done nothing wrong and that this has been extremely upsetting considering this was a wedding gift. None of this concerned him and he has continued to threaten me throughout the process.

Dead Kooks have now refused to make the board, initially withheld my $500 deposit (they have only now refunded that after I confirmed would be taking formal steps to recover that money) and are now threatening to report me to the police on the baseless allegation that I have “stolen” a board – simply because he refuses to collect the board or take responsibility for it.

All in all the worst experience I have ever had in buying a good. I was trying to create a great memory for my husband on our wedding day but instead Dead Kooks has tarnished what was otherwise the best day of our lives – something they have no remorse for.

I have no idea what the quality of their boards are like. But because of the aggressive, disrespectful and inappropriate manner in which they run their business I will never buy any product from them. Please share so that other people don’t make the same mistake!