[indygirl2560]

I have an Antares saddle with a broken tree that should be covered under the 5 year warranty. My local Antares rep responded to my initial email, but hasn't responded since. I've been unable to get ahold of anyone at Antares to resolve this issue and I need my saddle fixed!

Does anyone have reliable contact info. for anyone at Antares?

[PaintedHunter]

Pretty sure you have to send a smoke signal to a unicorn, who will relay your message to a candy-eating leprechaun who poops rainbows.

Good luck!

[PaintedHunter]

In all seriousness, how did you try to get in touch with the corporate office? Did you call their US 800 number, or write or e-mail them? Or all the above?

[indygirl2560]

Pretty sure you have to send a smoke signal to a unicorn, who will relay your message to a candy-eating leprechaun who poops rainbows.

Good luck!

I knew I was missing something!

I've tried everything I can think of, (emailing/calling local and corporate), and I've gotten no response. This saddle is relatively new and hasn't been mistreated so it really shouldn't be having a tree problem. And I ride a lot of horses every day so I need it fixed. It's a darn good thing I haven't sold my CWD yet.

[jn4jenny]

...I hate to say it, but do a forum search. I remember another thread about broken Antares saddle trees in the past 5 years, and you're not the first one in this position. The brand's handling of this issue has been inconsistent.

[indygirl2560]

I saw the several threads of the same issues but I was hoping for some sort of miraculous company change in handling this situation. If they offer a warranty, they should stand by it. I'm not going to give this up easily so I don't think they'll be easily able to weasel out of it. I haven't resorted to posting directly on their Facebook wall yet, but I was trying to give them a little more time to respond before I do.

[PaintedHunter]

Maybe send a letter via certified mail to their US address?

[trubandloki]

Try PMing some of those who have had this problem (other threads) and see if you can get some insight that way. (Not saying they do have info but they might.)

Hope you can get it resolved.

[bluebuckets]

I went to the corporate website
http://www.antares-sellier.com/selle/saddles.html

And sent them an email with this form
http://www.antares-sellier.com/contact-us/

when I needed help with my saddle. I was very polite, and within an hour, they had contacted a saddle fitter who was in my area for the week and he had contacted me and left me a voicemail. (I was not asking about a broken tree, I was asking about a fit issue and potentially replacing the tree I had with a new one or re-building the panels on my saddle). The fitter they sent was fantastic, if you are in CA I can PM you his contact info.

Getting in touch with them should be the easy part. The hard part is either getting your saddle back from France if you send it to them to do the repair, or if you send it to one of their repair people in the States, (I have the info for one really great guy in CA if you want it) getting a tree sent over here. That's what takes f.o.r. e.v.e.r.

[MILOUTE55]

have you tried (301) 421 0019? Evelyn usually picks up right away. I've never had a problem reaching her.

[indygirl2560]

No, I haven't tried that number yet! Thanks!

[FineAlready]

Although she is absolutely awful to deal with, Evelyne is the right person to contact about this if you are not getting responses elsewhere.

My experience with my Antares tree breaking TWICE in less than three years (so, actually, two separate trees broke) despite no trauma to the saddle at all was less than satisfactory, to say the least. I find the company to be horrible in every respect, and will never, ever buy anything from them again.

And, yes, if you ask around, you will probably find a lot of people with Antares tree problems. I know I sure did!

Anyway, in the event you would like to make a written record of your discussions with the company, I recommend e-mailing Evelyne at evelyne@antaressaddle.com.

Good luck.

[FineAlready]

And, FYI, they will probably try to get you to buy a new saddle at a "discounted" price and take this one back from you. I personally ran as far and as fast as possible away from that option, as I had no interest in acquiring an additional problem and being stuck dealing with their terrible customer service yet again.

I ended up getting a Beval and am much happier.

[myalter1]

CALL EVELYN. She was nice enough for me to deal with. Good luck... and painted hunter..ha ha ha ha ha ha.. you are so right and so funny.

OP.. PM me.

[indygirl2560]

How ironic, right as I was typing up an email to Evelyne, one of the Antares employees I contacted gave me a call! Supposedly, the repair person will be contacting me today or Monday to get my saddle shipped back to Virginia for repair. Hopefully everything will go as smoothly as promised, but I have feeling it may not...

If I don't hear from anyone Monday/Tuesday, Evelyne will be getting a call.

[BAC]

Although she is absolutely awful to deal with, Evelyne is the right person to contact about this if you are not getting responses elsewhere. .

I have only good things to say about my experience with Antares customer service in general, and Evelyne in particular, she is lovely to work with. I do not own an Antares saddle though, but I had frequent dealings with them buying bridles and other strap goods, both for myself and others. I found their customer service to be exceptional.

OP, are you the original owner of the saddle? When I sold my 7 year old CWD I found out that the lifetime warranty only applies to the original owner, not subsequent owners, which was fine with me as I was the original purchaser and never had any problems with the saddle. Maybe your next saddle should be CWD.

[FineAlready]

I have only good things to say about my experience with Antares customer service in general, and Evelyne in particular, she is lovely to work with. I do not own an Antares saddle though, but I had frequent dealings with them buying bridles and other strap goods, both for myself and others. I found their customer service to be exceptional.

I've no doubt she is lovely when you are looking to buy and spend money, as are most people in the business of selling things.

[Renn/aissance]

Evelyne was the only helpful person I found in the entire company when I was having problems getting a saddle that fit. (They sent me two that really, really didn't, and the rep appeared to be ignorant of basic geometry.) Ended up doing what I wanted, which was returning the saddle for a full refund owing to rep's incompetence. If you're going to get any help, I would suspect it would be from her.

[KateKat]

I was going to say I know that NorCal doesn't currently have a rep so the old rep, Nia Davis is supposed to be handling things until they fill the position.

[jody jaffe]

I bought an Antares on EBay and the tree broke. the Antares people could not have been nicer. They replaced it for free and even changed it to a wide. And they sold me a seemingly new buffalo CWD for a screaming deal.

This was a couple years back, so I don't know if things have changed. But they were the Nordstroms of saddlery to me.