I was at Wisp on Friday night. Nobody on the mountain, a light snow falling, my second run down Ace's Run and the binding on one of my new skis comes off! The ski took off down the hill, but luckily stayed on the slope and was recovered.

Bought the skis at one shop in April, Volkl AC Motion Unlimited. Then bought new boots at a second shop in October. The tech at Wisp said that neither binding had been clipped in properly. So the second shop had the skis for a binding adjustment.

Probably don't have the receipts for either one.

I didn't get hurt, recovered the ski, got a ride back to the lodge, on the whole came out well, just out $25 and about an hour of skiing on a great night.

Do I complain or just never go to that shop again?

Steve

You may not have the receipt, but I bet they have a record of the work they did...they need it for liability purposes. I would take it back and see if they act accordingly. They may have a tech that needs more training or their procedures could be sloppy. Either way I think you should let management know before someone gets hurt because they made a mistake.

But that is just my opinion. More experienced folks might think otherwise.

Can you be more specific about what came off? The heel piece I assume? What kind of bindings?

It would not be unheard of for the heel piece to work itself off the track if it is a Marker that was adjusted for larger boots and the forward pressure was not set properly. Just a wild guess based on the tidbits you mentioned.

When I demoed the skis I now have there were Marker bindings on the ski as part of the package. Part way down cliffhanger I fell for no apparent reason, got up tried to put ski back on and realized that the heel was loose in the channel in which it slides. I could not tighten it and started to walk out when a patroller called a rescue snowmobile for me.
The folks at the shop were obviously concerned and found that the binding was a Marker demo (ealily adjusted for multiple boot sizes) and that the lever on the binding had somehow twisted to the open position. Told me that the demo bindings had been recalled for this very reason and that all they had were supposedly retrofitted with fix.
Glad I was not hurt.
The Colonel

I would go back for all the reasons you stated above

I agree. I would recommend it for any product that didn't perform well after being adjusted. I would DOUBLY recommend it where people's lives and limbs are at stake.

Colonel, that's the reason I won't go near used skis with demo bindings. Besides, they are heavy. I don't care what make they are, rental bindings with a lot of mileage just scare me.

As for the improperly secured/mounted bindings that came off, I most certainly would approach the shop manager. I got a new pair of skiis one year after a shop drilled the holes in the wrong place for the binding mounts then re-drilled them without telling me of their mistake. Wouldn't have been a big issue except by doing so weakened the ski and the issue of their dishonesty.