Gitzo tripod

Well it was the second time my leg fell out of the 'ball head support'?, i sent it to gitzo, or rather manfrotto. I had put the tripod in my trunk, not knowing that the leg fell out, didnt see it laying behind the car. I backed out and ran the damn leg over, broke the bottom part of the leg. I saw it as i was pulling away wondering what that was, well it was mine. I duct taped the top back in to finish using it that day. Bought One from Mark Hudon, let mine sit at home for eight months or so before i got around to sending it in. I sent it in with the receipt, and was told it was not repairable. Maybe to get out of the warranty? I was told by those people that i let is sit in saltwater and it got corroded. I had to laugh pretty hard at that one, i told the guy, or my wife did, that it was duct tape residue from taping the leg back on to finish using it for the day, and had nothing to do with salt water or the fact that the leg 'again' fell out of its support. The other legs are fine. We had a go round with 'John' and then talked to his supervisor. She, then went on to say that the tripod was 'abused' and the legs had water in them at one time. She 'tasted' ? the water and said it wasnt salt water, and that after each use of the tripod, it should be dismantled and cleaned or your warranty will be void. And, by not cleaning it it will fall apart. Now this goes against their slogan of tough, durable, designed for rugged use. She then said that at the end of the conversation that is was grains of sand that 'destroyed' the tripod. Still waiting for them to send it back so i can duct tape it again and take a picture of it and send it to them showing what a durable product duct tape is! Now i dont claim to be perfect with my tripod, but i do take the water out after shooting in a creek. But after six to eight months sitting in my computer room, i really dont think water, if left in there, would still be there. Maybe condensation. I also told them to fix it anyway and i will pay for it. It just needs a new leg. They couldnt do it. Oh well, just a story for you to read and maybe think about what a good product duct tape is if yours goes bad and they dont honor their warranty. Have a nice day!

As a Gitzo use, I'm unhappy the read about this. Bad customer service and reneging on warranty work can damage a company's reputation and ultimately damage the company. Circuit City reneged on an extended warranty for a point-n-shoot camera I bought from them, so I stopped patronizing them, Pretty soon they went out of business.

I had a Gitzo leg loosen in its socket in the top part of the tripod. Epoxy fixed it permanently. Although, I could understand your sentiment if you choose to leave the duct tape in place. Is it usable even though you ran over the leg?

Have another one Buck. Bought off an npner. Will call gitzo and ask to buy a new leg to put on it, for the manfrotto people said it was unrepairable, which makes no sense to me, just needs a new leg.

That really doesn't sound like the Gitzo/Manfrotto I've dealt with. Excellent customer service and great support with a carbon-fiber tripod that broke under extremely cold conditions (-55 F). No gripes from me.

I dont understand. I got my tripod back from manfrotto, there is nothing wrong with it other then the broken leg. There is no 'corrosion' like they say, there is no sand that 'destroyed' the tripod, the other legs work perfect. They loosen and tighten perfectly to extend and retract. They didnt send back my original box.
Well Jim, good thing you got support, i didnt, they lied and didnt back up their product like they say they do. The corrosion, on the 'outside' is from leaving the duct tape on for too long, it had nothing to do with the leg falling out, only with keeping it in. Duct tape is and excellent product.
Manfrotto is a ^&*^ company and thats all there is to it. I will cut the top of my leg off a little and epoxy it back in and where it got broke off, it is just slightly shorter then the other legs and will do the same down on the bottom and put a rubber bumper on it. better then they could do i suppose. Have a nice day.

They have that stupid one fixes all policy for minor things that wouldn't even cost as much as their price! You are better off doing it yourself! I switched from manfrotto to gitzo and hope the next I need help it won't be similar to what you went through!

I fixed it with epoxy and a rubber bumber for the bottom. It is just maybe 2inches shorter then the other legs. The lady the wife talked to also said to her as she was twisting one of the legs...'do you hear that crackling sound, the sand has destroyed his tripod...' Thats too funny. I got it back, and the 'sand' that destroyed my tripod was actually the plastic piece inside the upper section that was stuck down around where you twist it to tighten and loosen the leg. Whoever took it apart, didnt put it back together right, and the twisting was the threads rubbing on the plastic piece and that is why it wouldnt tighten. How can you corrode plastic and carbon fiber? At least not in my life time.