Maestrale RS and Maestrale. The recall is for the 2017 version of these boots, before you panic, IDENTIFY YOUR BOOTS USING THE SCARPA WEBSITE LINKS BELOW. SCARPA fixed the problem in later manufacturing runs.
SCARPA Maestrale RS. While this boot began its tenure as a fairly reliable workhorse, it is no secret that the fall 2017 manufacturing run of both Maestrale flavors had problems with cracks developing in the toe area of the lower shell (scaffo).
According to my source at SCARPA, they saw the first cracked scaffos beginning January of 2018. At first, I’m told, the return numbers were within the realm of acceptable quality level (AQL) — and the problematic manufacturing run was virtually sold out by January of 2018. The defect was in the long U-shaped opening in the lower shell underneath the tongue. This opening is configured as much to facilitate release from the injection molding machine as it is to function for the user, and it introduced a weak point. For unknown reasons, the SCARPA factory’s cyclic boot durability testing didn’t catch the defect — it was boxed up and shipped for consumers to discover (yes, I like that about as much as you do, dear readers). SCARPA fixed the problem in the next run of Maestrale and Maestrale RS for fall 2018 (and we hope revamped their in-house testing).
The Fall 2017 run was thousands of boots, and the breakage/returns gradually exceeded SCARPA’s threshold for acceptable quality level. As I’ve written about in the past, I’m an advocate of immediately recalling any safety-related product (just about any mountaineering gear) with issues. But things take time in the big ol’ world. It’s now fall of 2019, two years since those first fall 2017 Maestrales hit the retail pipeline — and cracked.
Thus, I’d have liked to see it happen sooner, but I’m glad it is happening. SCARPA now announces a voluntary recall of All fall 2017 manufacturing run Maestrale RS. They will repair the boots by installing a new scaffo.
As always, we applaud any ski touring gear company going all-in on a recall instead of playing games with PR, customer service, tired euphemisms. Nothing is perfect. Our loved ones and friends use this gear. If there’s a problem, I want it zeroed. Seeing SCARPA own up to the imperfections and make it right is key. They’re doing it. They’re a good company who deserves our support. If you’re a Maestrale or Maestrale RS owner, use the info links below to ascertain the need for a return. If so, enjoy your new scaffos. And let us know how your return process proceeds. Official word follows. Comments open!
SCARPA issues voluntary recall for 2017 Maestrale and Maestrale RS ski boots
Only 2017 boots are affected; users are asked to send boots back to SCARPA immediately for repair.
BOULDER, Colo. (DRAFT) – SCARPA North America has elected to voluntarily recall all Fall 2017 Maestrale and Maestrale RS ski boots. It appears that under certain conditions, the boot shell may crack, which may render the boots unusable for skiing.
This recall applies only to the Fall 2017 Maestrale or Maestrale RS models purchased in North America. It does not apply to any other Maestrale or Maestrale RS models. A guide on how to identify affected Fall 2017 models can be found at this link on SCARPA’s North American web site.
SCARPA North America is asking all consumers who have purchased Fall 2017 Maestrale and Maestrale RS ski boots in North America to cease using them immediately and return them to SCARPA North America as soon as possible for repair.
To initiate a recall and receive a shipping label free of charge, consumers may email recall@SCARPA.com. More information is available at http://www.scarpa.com/product-recall. SCARPA is also available via phone toll free at (866) 998- 2895 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST Monday through Friday.
Initially, SCARPA is anticipating a two-to-three-week turnaround time once the boots are received to repair and return. During ski season, SCARPA is anticipating a one-week turnaround. Boots will be repaired in the order they are received.
SCARPA North America apologizes for any inconvenience this causes users of its ski boots.
CONTINUE READING FOR SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION ON IDENTIFYING DEFECTIVE BOOTS
How to identify defective SCARPA Maestrale.
35 comments
Stay tuned everyone, all the info is coming within the hour. Sorry about the accidental button press. Glad I wasn’t managing a missile silo. Or perhaps I was?
Lou what about the Scarpa Geas? we have seen those break too, although not with the same frequency probably due to average size and weight of skiers using the womens version.
Doug, good question, I’ll run that by my sources. It might be that the amount of breakage was easily under an acceptable threshold. Stay tuned. Lou
Oh man, now I have to get another pair punched!
Steve, that’s indeed a big problem with these situations. We’ve been through it here in the family, many times. It gets to where you’re scared to fit a boot… You sure yours ID as recalled? Lou
Mine broke first day of season last winter. Luckily it was on piste, I had skied them for a whole season in the box. My local shop sent them in for warranty but unfortunately they were out of replacements so my shop gave me a pair of Salomon mtn lab boots. The replacement didn’t come in until the end of last season. I thought I had done something wrong to break mine, makes me feel better it was a defect. Although my ego thought it was pretty cool that I’m tough enough to crack a boot by skiing so hard.
I had a friend who’s Salomon Mountain Labs cracked around the toe area but was out of warranty. Anyone else heard of a defect in those things?
I bought mine before going to the Ruth Amphitheater this April, and luckily they cracked on a tour AFTER I got home to Wyoming. I shutter to think what I would’ve done had they cracked on my AK expedition. On the upside, Wilson Backcountry Sports promptly sent them back to Scarpa and I quickly received a brand new pair.
Unfortunately, no dots 🙁 What a hassle. So I’m responsible for shipping them back, and for re-punching the new ones. The ownership cost is really starting to add up.
Too bad it’s not like an automobile recall when they lend you a fresh new-model rental car while the dealer or manufacturer does their thing: “Here is you pair of DPS and matching boots, Dinky, enjoy for a few months while we re-tool our factory — oh, and boot fitting included!” Lisa and I had a virtually new Nissan once for a couple of months, unlimited mileage. We drove it like we’d stole it. Seriously, the entire ski touring gear industry obviously needs to get on the stick. They need to up their in-house pre-retail durability testing, and should do a lot more full recalls. On a personal note, I’m bothered by the immense amount of time these things take from my writing-time budget. When I could be coming up with fun stories or useful reader service, instead, over and over and over again, I spend entire days sorting these things out and promulgating. Sometimes it takes multiple blog posts. Just ridiculous. It’s gotten to a point where I’m sometimes afraid, with boots and bindings, to do a normal product review unless the item has been consumer vetted for an entire season, and even then… As you’ve seen here before, I’d suggested never buying a new ski touring boot or binding unless it’s been consumer vetted for most or all of its first season. There is plenty of wonderful product now that’s been around for a while, proven. (And yeah, sometimes defects appear later, not much consumers can do about that. At least in this case the defect appeared early and in only one manufacturing run — though we’d have like to see the full recall happen much sooner. ) Lou
This is a voluntary recall, as per SCARPA’s memo, FYI.
Is there such a thing as an involuntary recall? I.e. They come and steal the boots out of your garage?
Henk, I think it’s voluntary since maybe they didn’t have the obligation to remove all units.
I suppose that the guarantee only forces them to change the units that were broken in the warranty period.
That’s why they call it voluntary recall
Yeah, in all seriousness, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has an amazing amount of power, and can implement a recall of any product, the dreaded “involuntary recall.” The voluntary recall is much better for the company, for a lot of reasons, is my understanding. Lou
Any word on if the GEA RS is also being recalled?
My partners don’t have the dots…
Funny: the recall is not valid in Europe! And yes, I allready found (in the EU) boots that fit the recall description….
Kind of suspicius to me! Reminds me of Tronic recall in USA and keeping the same boots on the EU market. I think Scarpa is playing the game with the EU market.
Lou, please, could you ask Scarpa Europe (Italy) why they don´t recall same boot with identical product reference numbers (and description) as in NA? European customers are extremely curious… 🙂 Thanx
It is maybe the effect of the possible bigger liability claims in the US vs the EU?
Yes, but Scarpa should care firstly about risk of injury even death in case of boot´s failure. There´s a different risk in NA vs Europe and rest of world? If the boot is the same, Scarpa should clearly explain why not in Europe. Very very strange…
I wrote an email to Scarpa Italia but I didn’t get any reply. Soon I will visit them at the factory (1 hour from home, fortunately) and we’ll see what they say. I think the American consumer has more protection and perhaps the market is potentially more interesting…
Franz, let us know what they say about all this…
I received an answer via email, wich I summarize below:
“The recall is limited to the United States and Canada due to the fact that in these countries a rate of was found defectiveness much higher than in other markets, a story that makes it absolutely necessary for the Replacing all the hulls, probably due to a technical problem present in that first production lot and also everything in specific environmental conditions.
The defect rate found to date in other countries falls, instead, within the limits of tolerance and procedure ordinary replacement of the hull, with reference only to the pairs that suffered the damage immediately, is found to be suitable for dealing with the problem….
That being said, despite the recall action only concerns products marketed in North America and dating back to the 2017 production lots, if the boot in your possession has the characteristics indicated in the images above, if you deem it appropriate, we authorize you to proceed with the return of the same for the replacement of the hull. Please contact the retailer where you purchased the product for the standard return procedure.”
I will tell you how it will end….
Scarpa’s customer service is extremely bad…
Marek…Scarpa North America has been a bummer to deal with and basically unresponsive via phone or email…
Just got reply from the scarpa regarding the Europe
“Dear Customer,
First of all we would like to thank you for the preference given to our brand and to confirm our constant commitment
to provide our consumers with products of the highest quality and reliability.
As you well know, the mission of the Scarpa group companies, which has a long history of more than eighty years, is
based on the responsibility of what is created and on the maximum attention towards a single objective: to guarantee
full satisfaction to the final consumer of our products.
To confirm this, we have decided to voluntarily undertake a restoration action with reference to one of our products:
the ski mountaineering SCARPA mod. MAESTRALE and MAESTRALE RS dating back to the autumn 2017 production
lots marketed in North America, which presented a defect consisting of a crack that starts from the tongue area over
the toes to the side of the shell. In all the cases examined, this defect has made the boots not fully usable for the
intended use and that, in extreme cases, could potentially cause a safety problem.
The recall is limited to the United States and Canada due to the fact that in these countries there was a much higher
defect rate than in the other markets, making the recall for the replacement of all the shell absolutely necessary,
probably due to a technical problem present in that first production batch and also to use in specific environmental
conditions.
The defect rate found to date in other countries falls, instead, within the limits of tolerance and the ordinary procedure
for replacing the hull, with reference only to the pairs that have actually suffered the damage, is considered suitable
to face the problem.
Following are images of the product subject to recall:
That being said, despite the fact that the recall action concerns only the products marketed in North America and
dating back to the 2017 production lots, if the characteristics described above are present in your boot, we authorize
you to proceed with the return of the same for replacement of the shell. Please contact one of our dealers for the
standard return procedure.
We apologize for the inconvenience, thank you for your cooperation.
Best regards.”
I personally find this total BS. “The recall is limited to the United States and Canada due to the fact that in these countries there was a much higher
defect rate than in the other markets, making the recall for the replacement of all the shell absolutely necessary,
probably due to a technical problem present in that first production batch and also to use in specific environmental
conditions.” Environmental conditions…. 😀
Here is the letter I got from Scarpa regarding Europe “Dear Customer,
First of all we would like to thank you for the preference given to our brand and to confirm our constant commitment to provide our consumers with products of the highest quality and reliability. As you well know, the mission of the Scarpa group companies, which has a long history of more than eighty years, is based on the responsibility of what is created and on the maximum attention towards a single objective: to guarantee
full satisfaction to the final consumer of our products.
To confirm this, we have decided to voluntarily undertake a restoration action with reference to one of our products: the ski mountaineering SCARPA mod. MAESTRALE and MAESTRALE RS dating back to the autumn 2017 production lots marketed in North America, which presented a defect consisting of a crack that starts from the tongue area over the toes to the side of the shell. In all the cases examined, this defect has made the boots not fully usable for the intended use and that, in extreme cases, could potentially cause a safety problem.
The recall is limited to the United States and Canada due to the fact that in these countries there was a much higher defect rate than in the other markets, making the recall for the replacement of all the shell absolutely necessary, probably due to a technical problem present in that first production batch and also to use in specific environmental conditions.
The defect rate found to date in other countries falls, instead, within the limits of tolerance and the ordinary procedure for replacing the hull, with reference only to the pairs that have actually suffered the damage, is considered suitable to face the problem.
Following are images of the product subject to recall [editor note, photos not included in this blog comment]:
That being said, despite the fact that the recall action concerns only the products marketed in North America and dating back to the 2017 production lots, if the characteristics described above are present in your boot, we authorize you to proceed with the return of the same for replacement of the shell. Please contact one of our dealers for the standard return procedure. We apologize for the inconvenience, thank you for your cooperation.
Best regar”
In March 2018 I posted about my companion’s new orange Maestrale’s which had split at the toe after a month of hard use. These were immediately replaced by the shop in Chamonix with a boot from the same batch.
I alerted him to this US recall last week.
Like the other European posters above he got short shrift from Scarpa. If his boots split they would consider any warranty claim.
He was a specialist insurance broker in an earlier life. He wrote this week to Scarpa suggesting they contact their liability insurer as he spent much of his time skiing no fall terrain and he had concerns about the boots. Yesterday they informed him that new shells were in the post! It’s a shame it had to come to that be informative nonetheless.
Recently tore my ACL in these boots this summer. I have a pair affected by the recall. I bent the speed lock early in the morning when trying to put the liners in my shell. I was at 14k feet on Denali. My guess is that the cold temps affected the strength of the aluminum (?) and caused it to bend under my force. As soon as I got the boots on I put them into walk mode. Unfortunately, I found out that the speed lock was bent and that they exit ski mode with any backward lean while on my third turn hours later. Took a big fall after accelerating quite rapidly. I couldn’t turn. Lucky it wasn’t worse. Any word if the recall is related to the speed lock or touring mechanism?
I just spoke with a Scarpa NA representative (via the number on their recall page) and was told that the repair process is to replace the entire lower shell. Any punch work would have to be redone (as mentioned in comments above). However, their representative told me that if I opted to keep my pair and it does crack later on, that the repairs would still be covered. This obviously doesn’t help with the safety aspect, but is something to consider if you’ve done extensive punch work.
Hi Matt, thanks for posting that letter. I’ll jump in there and fix it so it’s more readable. Meanwhile, I’m having trouble understanding why in the world the breakage rate in a European alpine region would be less than a North American region. Can anyone think of any reasons that make logical sense? Following are the only thought-experiment possible reasons I could come up with, and most seem impossible. I like the shipping container theory the best.
1. U.S. and Canadian skiers ski way harder, with more power, than their brethren in the EU.
2. The heat in the shipping container wrecked the plastic.
3. The percentage of women ski tourers in EU is much higher, thus a larger percentage of books being used by smaller folks, and thus less breakage.
4. The statistical and reporting methods used in the different regions differ enough to confuse the issue.
5. Product quality tracking is done differently.
6. Skiers just keep skiing the boots anyway, even if cracked.
8. Plain old disinformation (remember this is just a list of possibilities, I trust Scarpa)
9. Europeans own larger boot quivers, and thus ski each boot less.
7. Commenters?
Today, as the shop was a little far away, I went directly to the Scarpa factory in Asolo and they were very kind and super fast. They replaced the lower part of the shells, which were very used but not yet broken, whitin half an hour. And more, we had a pleasant conversation with the senior owner and the technicians.
Good job!
My boots didn`t have too many days on them due to an injury that kept me from touring for most of last winter, and I hadn`t noticed any problems with them. But in response to the recall notice I sent my shells to Scarpa last week. And today I received a whole new pair of boots, including new liners. So in some cases apparently they`re not fixing – just replacing.
Hi Betsy, I am Jenny from SCARPA North America. In some circumstances when a lower shell is not available for repair, we will provide new boots. This is done completely at the discretion of SCARPA North America.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to us directly at 866-998-2895 or email recall@SCARPA.com.