I admire what Patagonia is doing as a manufacturer of outdoor equipment, including wetsuits, but my recent experience with a review of a Patagonia wetsuit is questioning my view of the company.
I recently sent a suit back because of warranty issues. The wetsuit repair department was professional, and offered me a partial credit.
The negative part is how the social media / product review department dealt with my review submission. Perhaps I'm naïve, but I thought Patagonia at the least would do better. They won't publish my review. While they don't directly say so, my interpretation is that they won't publish because my review isn't positive. Here is my original submission, followed by the reason for not publishing. I've questioned them on their rationale and gotten no response, and so I felt I needed to share with my community.
Review body: I've owned numerous Patagonia full suits, always front zip, usually with hood. R4s, R3s, and an R2. Unfortunately, I've often gotten "pinhole" leaks (aka cold water injection points), often in the crotch. I love what Patagonia is doing sustainability-wise, but I'm thinking I may be at the end of my rope given how many times I've warrantied suits (contemplating again with my current R3... Patagonia already replaced the crotch panel because of pinhole leaks in this suit, but since using the suit again a couple of weeks ago (haven't used since last fall), as our kiting season has started again where I live, I've noticed pinhole leaks all over torso, and this is no fun). The crazy thing is that I've alternated over the last month between my ~8 year old O'neill high-end suit that I generally save for really cold temps and the O'Neill has zero pinhole leaks and so feels fantastic to wear, whereas the R3 was bought in 2019 and had crotch panel repaired in 2020
Reason for escalation: Reviews Star Rating
______________________________________________________ Patagonia Customer Service via gmail.com Thu, May 13, 10:20 AM (5 days ago) to snapcj2008@gmail.com
Hey Chris,
Here is what I gathered from our Social media product review team, "Yeah, this one's a combo of competitor reference, multiple item reference, and not relevant content (repair mentions fall in the CS category). If the cust could hone in on their experience with the R3® Yulex® Front-Zip Hooded Full Suit, we could publish." I think the mention of O'neill is what is keeping it from being published.