- Location
- Cleveland, Ohio
This is a very long over due story of my experience with the Freestyle Factory. Just to clear things up i want to start with this.
The Freestyle Factory at the time when I decided to order my Chan consisted of Gary Burtka and Greg Brock.
I called the FF and happened to speak with Greg and ended up dealing through him.
Through the months of waiting for my hull, Gary split off from the FF and is now has his own personal company, aka, "Backie Chan".
I placed my deposit down for a 75lb hull on june 12th of 2014 and was told that my hull would be done in about a month.
As excited as I was I didnt bother Greg too much. I shoot him an occasional text to see the progress. As you can expect from any new company It was taking longer than expected.
Come September, my hull still wasnt ready for me. He said that my hull was going to be around 90lbs and asked for another $1k deposit. I agreed.
Come mid October the hull wasnt done and i was called back to work. (I travel for long periods of time)
I had explained my job situation to Greg and told him that I will be back in january and if it was alright for me to pick the hull up then. He agreed. I would call or text Greg about 2 times a month to check up.
When january came i had told him that i will be home with a week or two and i will be coming to the Freestyle Factory personally the first week in February (a 1 month heads up).
We had set up a date and i made the trip from cleveland to chicago on february 6th of 2015. We agreed on meeting at 10am at his shop. I called when i was 20 min away and he said hed like to meet at 12 instead. No problem, ill just drive around chicago...
When i walked into the shop, to my surprise, he was just starting to glue my turf on... I was shocked. I would have figured the hull would have been ATLEAST completed after a 8 months.. I asked him what the weight of the hull was and he then told me around 116lbs. WTF? I was dissapointed with the entire hull to say the least. I regret not asking for a refund then. I was in shock and just decided to do all the extra work myself..
When i brought the ski home i stared at it for about a day in the garage. The lack of attention to detail left me completely baffled. I couldnt believe i waited that long for something like this..
The hood alignment was terrible. It was trimmed too short. The engine bay finish was the worst i had ever seen. The ride plate does not fit without modification. The entire trimming of the hull wasnt even and wavy.
What i ordered and payed for.
75lb hull ready to drop a motor in
foamed hull
Turf, padding, and heal locks installed
Scupper and versa plug installed
Pump shoe installed
Handle pole mount drilled
ratchet strap installed
gas tank and waterbox hull mounts installed
Hood seal installed.
This is what i got....
137lb hull that isnt ready for a motor
foamed hull
Scupper and versa plug installed
Pump shoe installed
ratchet strap installed
Hood seal installed.
His excuse for the weight was turf and a scupper...
About 2 weeks went by and i had called Greg and asked him politely if he would give me a refund. He said hed consider it and get back to me. Another week went by and he called and said that he will not give me a refund and that i "expected a rickter quality hull" and that "weight is over rated". I argued and told him that i expected to recieve what he TOLD me i would be getting.
At this point in time i was so fed up with what i was told, what i received, and how disrespectful greg was being so i simply listed the hull for sale for what i payed for it.
After being listed for sale for 40 days and no interest i decided to build it. Its VERY frustrating doing work to a hull that you have already payed for to have been done.. So I tore off the 1 layer of turf because it was trimmed way too short. Drilled the handle pole mounting area that i payed for. The cooling tubes and trim tube needed deburred and werent sealed completely.. There are gaps in the sealant that was used to secure the cooling lines. The engine compartment needed sanding due to raw fiberglass. The entire hull needed attention due to how sharp every corner was inside and out. I was shocked to find out that all hull inserts are miss matched. Some are SAE and some metric thread. The midshaft inserts were also installed crooked and 1/4 inch off.
Due to the hood not fitting i contacted Gary ( Backie Chan) because greg didnt want anything to do with me. I asked him " what can we do" because i was given something i didnt buy. His first response was "ive purchased hulls before that were far worse, sorry". REALLY??? After talking to him some more i finally got him to work with me. He asked me if i would be happy if he sent me a new hood so we can put this behind us. I agreed. He said that he will have it in 1 week. I simply sent him a message asking about progress a week and a half after talking to him and he freaked out and said that i wasnt worth asking his "supplier" for 1 hood... I thought he was some great business man? Guess not. I received the hood about 3 weeks after he told me i would. To my surprise, IT DOESNT FIT.... Its trimmed wrong in different areas than the first hood.
Long story short i bought a 75 lb hull that turned out to be 137lbs. I payed for work to be done to my hull that wasnt. I was told "too bad, you got what you payed for"... All i wanted was what they TOLD me I was getting..
When i listed this for sale i wasnt trying to screw anyone. I listed everything as what it was. I simply did not want a hull that represented The FF or Backie Chan. I purchased this hull to move forward but it didnt do anything for me but taking a step back.
These hulls are still being advertised as 75-85lb hulls and are not.
This photo really shows how well the hood lines up....
Mid shaft alignment. Dremeling/drilling the midshaft bolt hole larger fixed this issue.
The Freestyle Factory at the time when I decided to order my Chan consisted of Gary Burtka and Greg Brock.
I called the FF and happened to speak with Greg and ended up dealing through him.
Through the months of waiting for my hull, Gary split off from the FF and is now has his own personal company, aka, "Backie Chan".
I placed my deposit down for a 75lb hull on june 12th of 2014 and was told that my hull would be done in about a month.
As excited as I was I didnt bother Greg too much. I shoot him an occasional text to see the progress. As you can expect from any new company It was taking longer than expected.
Come September, my hull still wasnt ready for me. He said that my hull was going to be around 90lbs and asked for another $1k deposit. I agreed.
Come mid October the hull wasnt done and i was called back to work. (I travel for long periods of time)
I had explained my job situation to Greg and told him that I will be back in january and if it was alright for me to pick the hull up then. He agreed. I would call or text Greg about 2 times a month to check up.
When january came i had told him that i will be home with a week or two and i will be coming to the Freestyle Factory personally the first week in February (a 1 month heads up).
We had set up a date and i made the trip from cleveland to chicago on february 6th of 2015. We agreed on meeting at 10am at his shop. I called when i was 20 min away and he said hed like to meet at 12 instead. No problem, ill just drive around chicago...
When i walked into the shop, to my surprise, he was just starting to glue my turf on... I was shocked. I would have figured the hull would have been ATLEAST completed after a 8 months.. I asked him what the weight of the hull was and he then told me around 116lbs. WTF? I was dissapointed with the entire hull to say the least. I regret not asking for a refund then. I was in shock and just decided to do all the extra work myself..
When i brought the ski home i stared at it for about a day in the garage. The lack of attention to detail left me completely baffled. I couldnt believe i waited that long for something like this..
The hood alignment was terrible. It was trimmed too short. The engine bay finish was the worst i had ever seen. The ride plate does not fit without modification. The entire trimming of the hull wasnt even and wavy.
What i ordered and payed for.
75lb hull ready to drop a motor in
foamed hull
Turf, padding, and heal locks installed
Scupper and versa plug installed
Pump shoe installed
Handle pole mount drilled
ratchet strap installed
gas tank and waterbox hull mounts installed
Hood seal installed.
This is what i got....
137lb hull that isnt ready for a motor
foamed hull
Scupper and versa plug installed
Pump shoe installed
ratchet strap installed
Hood seal installed.
His excuse for the weight was turf and a scupper...
About 2 weeks went by and i had called Greg and asked him politely if he would give me a refund. He said hed consider it and get back to me. Another week went by and he called and said that he will not give me a refund and that i "expected a rickter quality hull" and that "weight is over rated". I argued and told him that i expected to recieve what he TOLD me i would be getting.
At this point in time i was so fed up with what i was told, what i received, and how disrespectful greg was being so i simply listed the hull for sale for what i payed for it.
After being listed for sale for 40 days and no interest i decided to build it. Its VERY frustrating doing work to a hull that you have already payed for to have been done.. So I tore off the 1 layer of turf because it was trimmed way too short. Drilled the handle pole mounting area that i payed for. The cooling tubes and trim tube needed deburred and werent sealed completely.. There are gaps in the sealant that was used to secure the cooling lines. The engine compartment needed sanding due to raw fiberglass. The entire hull needed attention due to how sharp every corner was inside and out. I was shocked to find out that all hull inserts are miss matched. Some are SAE and some metric thread. The midshaft inserts were also installed crooked and 1/4 inch off.
Due to the hood not fitting i contacted Gary ( Backie Chan) because greg didnt want anything to do with me. I asked him " what can we do" because i was given something i didnt buy. His first response was "ive purchased hulls before that were far worse, sorry". REALLY??? After talking to him some more i finally got him to work with me. He asked me if i would be happy if he sent me a new hood so we can put this behind us. I agreed. He said that he will have it in 1 week. I simply sent him a message asking about progress a week and a half after talking to him and he freaked out and said that i wasnt worth asking his "supplier" for 1 hood... I thought he was some great business man? Guess not. I received the hood about 3 weeks after he told me i would. To my surprise, IT DOESNT FIT.... Its trimmed wrong in different areas than the first hood.
Long story short i bought a 75 lb hull that turned out to be 137lbs. I payed for work to be done to my hull that wasnt. I was told "too bad, you got what you payed for"... All i wanted was what they TOLD me I was getting..
When i listed this for sale i wasnt trying to screw anyone. I listed everything as what it was. I simply did not want a hull that represented The FF or Backie Chan. I purchased this hull to move forward but it didnt do anything for me but taking a step back.
These hulls are still being advertised as 75-85lb hulls and are not.
This photo really shows how well the hood lines up....
Mid shaft alignment. Dremeling/drilling the midshaft bolt hole larger fixed this issue.
Last edited:
