Global Surf Industries Reviews 167

Ordered a salt gypsy. Rode under 5 times and the board is delaming. Will not help me, will not offer a replacement because its older than 90 days. Offered me a vip code to buy another board.. Why would I buy another board when this one is falling apart. A 700 dollar board should not be delaming the way this is. Super disappointed.

Edited:
As the company has said the board is 3 years old. The boards been ridden a few times. 3 years old or not it should not be delaming right now the way that it is all over the board.

Edited again:
Why would I purchase another board from you if youre unwilling to even look at this board to determine if its a manufacturers defect. You have sent me damaged boards day 1 in the past. I have 2 salt gypsys, both were sent to be obliterated. yes you did reship me new boards, but now with this board im having all these issues arise. I offered to send pics or even send you the board to evaluate. Again its like a foundation pourer of a house. If you mix too much water or too little water into the concrete the foundation will crumble. I have a feeling there was an issue with your process and now this is happening. Your lack of willingness to even try to help fix this issue is disappointing. Again, 3 years old or not this shouldnt happen. I have 8 year old boards made by locals that have been beaten to death with no issues. I know im not the only one with problems.

Date of experience: September 10, 2023

I have purchased 3 boards from Global Surf Industries over the past 10 years. They have all been amazing. Most recently I bought a Love Child - after chatting with their customer support team online I decided on the 8'0 model and I love it. Perfect board for me!
Also, it was delivered 3 days after I ordered it!
Thankyou Global Surf Industries - keep up the good work! 🤩

Date of experience: August 10, 2022

I recently got back into surfing after a 20 year break. I visited the surfindustries.com website and after looking at a few boards the chat window popped up. Mike helped me narrow the search for the right board. Which turned out to be the Modern Highline. He guided me to the 6’8 version due to my weight. I asked my local surf store if they had it in their inventory, which they didn’t. Only had smaller sizes, so I bought it on my phone in the parking lot of the store and it was delivered two days later. I love the board and it has gotten my back in the water every other day. I feel like I am in my 20s again.

Date of experience: August 10, 2022

Overall good experience - had a problem initially with the board but they sorted it out.

Date of experience: August 10, 2022

I own a surfboard repair business and I strongly advise against buying their product. They are glassed ultra thin and then sealed with plastic! They dent like crazy and literally ding at the drop of a hat. I absolutely refuse to accept their surfboards for repairs. Mass produced in Thailand, repairing them is a nightmare.

Date of experience: August 21, 2021

Do not purchase!!!! I bought a 9’ three palms from GSI. In less then 3 months maybe 10 sessions on knee to waist high the board buckled across the top third and the leash also snapped. Total junk. They were good at getting back to me, only to make claims I did something I didn’t. They do not stand by there product. My fathers been surfing for 30 years and has broken one board, this broke in 3 months. Wish I came to this review board and would have never bought this product.

Date of experience: August 14, 2020

I have several boards from GSI
1 - Hayden Shapes Hypto Krypto (EPS)- amazing board, strong and light. I surfed it a bunch on the east coast and Hawaii and not a single ding yet.
2 - 7S Slipstream in carbon vector (EPS) - another amazing board - also light and strong.
3 - 7S Wave Magnet - the old school PU board from 10 years ago - this one surfs amazing but had dinged easily. 7S has really improved construction since then.
I also rented the 7S SuperFish 2 (carbon vector) for a week on a trip to Cali and could not be happier.

In summary I would say that you get what you pay for. If you buy the lower end price range like Modern Surfboards, expect dings. If you buy 7S or Hayden Shapes you get a top notch board with all the latest materials (EPS, epoxy, stringerless, etc) that would cost $200 extra or more from other shapers, plus you get free shipping and no tax. Choose wisely.

Date of experience: July 17, 2020

I purchased a Modern Surfboard a month ago from the website, and just after three uses, I noticed cracks on the edge of the board after a session. Devastating. Barely had the chance to try this board.
I have a similar board, same material composition and thickness, which I have never had issue with, nor any board in my surfing experience. In contacting the company, they advised that it could not be a fault with the board and refused to assist me or hear me out. Will not be buying from this company again.

Date of experience: June 09, 2020

my 9'6" retro is awesome just got the 9'1' retro clear . epic board

Date of experience: March 25, 2020

Bought 2 love child's 6'4, amazing performance and fun, however considering the dimensions of the board, thickness, solid stronger etc, you would think these boards would last. Both I managed to snap within 6 months, haven't snapped any of my short high performance boards, buckled one but that's it in the last 8 or so years. Maybe unlucky, but I doubt it, these are mass produced in China! I would stay clear, spend your money elsewhere..

Date of experience: March 05, 2020

they are amazing to deal with and they have a great website for information on choosing the right board .... 5 stars for the great pricing and choices

Date of experience: January 30, 2020

I've got the Modern Double Wide, the board looks good and rides well but it's too fragile. After a few sessions, I noticed the board too heavy and I found a crack in the center fin box, I haven't hit anything and I looked after the board very well. It's only 2 months since I bought the brand new board and I've got a negative response from GSI

Date of experience: January 09, 2020

My adult daughter called to make certain she would obtain the proper bag for her surfboard. She gave the exact size and type of board to the representative who then stated she needed a particular bag. I purchased the bag for her as a gift. It did was way to large for her surfboard.
My daughter called the company which stated that they would issue a credit if she paid to return it. The cost to return the bag was $27.00 by UPS ground. Here is the frosting on this cake! Their representative recommended the wrong bag, In addition to my daughter paying $27.00 to return the thing, Global Surf is charging me a $30.00 restocking fee. These people are ripoff artists. BUY NOTHING FROM THEM

Date of experience: January 07, 2020

Ill share my experience and you makeup your mind.....

Purchased MODERN 7'6 LOVE CHILD PU PSYCHEDELIC SURFBOARD plus board bag for my son for Xmas from Global Surf Industries on line. TOTAL COST $960.00. Big steps - moved from a soft board to his first fibreglass board.

Opened the box on Christmas Day whilst at the beach on holidays to find:

(1) Dust, dirt, a hair and other impurities under the clear coat.
(2) Cracks along rail top and bottom at front of nose.
(3) visible glass matting on the tail buckled with uneven glass finish and not sanded.

Son was hanging out to use his present so took it to the local surf school to see if anyone could give me advice on it - advice was it looked crushed and need repair before going in the water. Found someone to repair it for $50. Three days later got it back set it up with fin, leash and tail pad. Waxed up and took my son for his first surf on his new board. He had a lesson at the surf school with an instructor, seas were about 3 - 4 foot water depth was 3-6 foot out about 35 - 45meters from the beach. Rider is 39kg and 140cm tall. Session went for about an hour. The next day another session at the same spot in the same conditions for the same period of time. Condition of the board has deteriorated to:

(1) further cracking along the rails on both sides of the board in several places (the board looks trashed)
(2) cracking forward on the rail near the nose
(3) broken zipper on the $100+ surfboard bag

Contacted the GSI team and sent photos of the issue to let them know and discuss and was informed (and I quote):

(1) the damage when you got it sounds like it was from warehouse you know with Xmas a lot of boards would have been sent out.
(2) the other cracking sounds like he surfed it into the sand or dropped it or bumped it you just don’t know what they did with it.
(3) yeah it sounds like he dropped it.

Non of any of those things actually happened - he never surfed into the shore, I carried the board at all times, it was transported inside the car it was handled delicately at all times. It just seems overly fragile literally like an egg shell.

The guy on the phone from GSI was just not interested in anything other than deflecting responsibility away from themselves.

There was no offer of anything for the damage on receipt (straight out of the box mind you) and he sounded pleased that I repaired it. I advised that I was making arrangements to get the cracking repaired and he was happy enough for me to do so and requested I let him know where I take it. I live an hour and half away from the Gold Coast which is the closest repairer to me.

I didn’t argue and was polite but I’m not a fool either.

Again no offer to assist and compensate me for the costs I have and will incur (remembering it’s a brand new board) however they did say if I send them a photo of the Surfica board bags broken zip they’ll replace that for me.

In summary :

Spend - $960.00
Age of board (out of the box) - 12 days
Surf time - 2 to 3 hrs max
Repairs to date - $50 (pre water time)
Repairs pending - estimated only at this stage of $200.00.

You choose where you spend your money.......

Date of experience: January 06, 2020

Terrible customer service from the European side, two emails with no reply at all. Don't make the best boards either, new HS hypto krypto creased on the first surf while duck diving. Other people have had similar issues with the GSI boards made in Thailand

Date of experience: November 12, 2019

Bought a Modern Love Child. Took out for first day. First wave fine second wave closed out dismounted the board and board took normal roll in the wave. Knee to Thigh high surf. Pressure from the wave on the side bite fins buckled one of the FCS 2 Fin boxes in and glass and foam compressed and delaminated. Contacted GSI they said it looked like I had ridden it onto the sand and caused the fin to compress the box. Told me to take it back to the shop I purchased it from. Shop won't seek warranty for a new board. Charging me $90 bucks to fix it. Not sure what it will look like, besides the shape the resin colors are really cool. Guess I'll have to wait and see what kind of glass job they do. Fingers crossed they don't destroy the resin job. Ive been surfing a Modern 9'2" long board for 10 years with no issues other than normal pressure dings from use. I love this board and is the reason I purchased the Lovechild.

I'm very disappointed in the response or should I say lack of response on a warranty request. Guess its just easier to blame the customer than replacing a board that clearly had a manufacturing defect. Defects happen when you mass produce. Just step up an admit it and make the customer happy. I'm apparently stuck with this thing now hopefully the repair will make the fin box stronger and Ill just deal with what ever the resin lob looks like.

Date of experience: July 31, 2019

I bought a modern surfboard and the first time I stood up on it my knee went through the top. I thought it was a freak accident so continued surfing and every time I put pressure on the top it caved in. I contacted GSI about it and they said they would get back to me. Months went by with no follow up. I checked back in with them and they said that it was deemed "normal wear and tear" and that they would not be doing anything for me. I've decided to try to fix it myself. As I cut away the damage I can see that the epoxy is extremely thin... not surprised that it couldn't withstand my weight. I weight 170 lbs and this board is supposedly rated for over 240lbs. It's obviously cheaply made, which I'm sure they know and are not interested in taking responsibility for it.
Buyer beware.

Date of experience: July 30, 2019

My experience with GSI has sucked. Potential customers should know that ALL the products GSI sells are made in China or Thailand, and that comes directly from GSI when I asked them Country of Origin of the Creative Army boards. GSI's license agreement boards, like the Waldens Creative Army or HaydenShapes ARE NOT the same builds as directly from the shapers. WARNING!
I purchased a ModernSurf X1 Double Wide 8'4" and paid for shipping. The fin box fit up out of the box was horrible and had gaps big enough to get a credit card into! After less than a month the pressure dings on either side of the stringer were so deep the deck actually split open along the stringer for 4" and cracked for much more! Oh, and the leash pin ripped out it 3' waves.
GSI drug it out for quite a while than agreed to warranty it. Offered full price of the X1 in credit at their online store but WOULD NOT cover shipping. ( Remember: I paid the original shipping, and the board was junk!)
I chose one of GSI's inflatable SUP's as it was the cheapest thing to ship. Wouldn't you know it....the SUP was garbage too! Used it twice in 3 months. Second time it would not hold air long. A quick inspection revealed it was leaking along a seam as well as around the valve area but not the valve itself.
This time GSI offers both full in-store credit for the SUP price as well as free shipping. The next day they retracted the offer and now told me the warranty would be 50% off any item in the on-line store as well as free shipping. This sounded like a really, really crappy resolve to warranty a defective item.
Reluctantly, I chose a Creative Army surfboard and placed the order online using my credit card. Within minutes I had a confirmation email from both the on-line store as well as the guy helping me with the warranty. The next day I get an email saying they don't ship to my location, and how was I going to pay for it? Meanwhile, they went ahead and charged my credit card but never shipped me any product and never had any agreement from me to pay for shipping. So they took my money before and without providing any services, and did not adhere to the agreement made at the time of purchase for free shipping.
Today GSI issued a refund for the Creative Army board that could take up to 30 days for me to see. And I still have an inflatable SUP that does not hold air, and am out the cost difference between the X! and the SUP as well as the shipping costs of the X1 and the SUP. Needless to say, I do not recommend this company to anyone. A web search reveals many other unsatisfied customers spanning over a decade. Great business model. And the carbon footprint for all those Chinese boards that will end up in landfills because they don't float!
I learned my lesson about GSI . I hope others can use my experience to make a better choice as a consumer.
GSI Sucks!

Date of experience: May 09, 2019

They crack real easy & the paint chips of before you walk out of the store... I have had three of these boards. I believe they are not made like they used to be made and they are way over priced.If you look around you will find better for half the price

Date of experience: April 03, 2019

My GSI board buckled after 20-30 sessions in 4-6 ft waves. It didn't hit the bottom. I called GSI customer service to find out what they'd do and they never called me back.
>Awful experience for new surfer.
>>>Once they get your money they don't care if their product meet expectations.
>>>>>Would definitely NOT recommend GSI products.
Ethan

Date of experience: February 10, 2019