Purchasing a Strongwater Runt: my story

Update 1/20/2021

Here’s my final review of the board.

Update (boards received) on 5/12/2020:

On May 12th, 2020 I received the two Runts I originally ordered. While it is nearly 2 years since I originally paid for the boards, I am happy to finally receive them. I plan on surfing the Runt during the 2020 season and doing a full review of the board after the runoff is over.

Original post, published on 7/29/19:

Here’s the bottom line: I paid for two Strongwater Runt 5′ boards over a year ago, and I have not received them. I have asked for a refund multiple times, but they have not refunded my money. They have plenty of excuses for why they haven’t gotten my boards to me, but at this point I wish I had never ordered them. I know there are several other people in the same situation as me (paid for a board many months ago, but have not received it). If you want a Strongwater Runt, DO NOT order/preorder one online. Only exchange money for a physical board in person.

Last year (2018), on July 6th I surfed a demo Runt for the first time. I enjoyed it enough, that I paid $1200 for two boards (one for myself and one for Erin) using Venmo. The agreement was that the boards would be shipped in a month. Since it was near the end of the season, I didn’t mind waiting.

On August 16th, I sent Strongwater a message asking about the status of the boards. They told me they would check on the status, and that was the last I heard from them until December (despite my continued messages asking for updates). On December 3rd, they told me they would “100% have your boards end of January.”

On February 13th, I asked for another update. They replied that they were “on it”, and then went silent for two months. On April 5th, they told me I would have the boards by April 21st. After the 21st, I attempted to contact them again, but they went silent until June 4th.

On April 25th I started asking for a refund. I continued to ask for a refund in almost every conversation, but they never offered to refund my money.

On July 1st, they offered to send me a free softie Runt “to tide you over til your other boards get done”. I told them that I would prefer to get my money back, but if that wasn’t an option I would take a softie. That was on July 2nd, and I haven’t heard anything from them or had a softie Runt show up on my doorstep.

At this point I feel like I am not going to get my money back, and will never receive the boards I originally ordered. Please beware if you are considering ordering one of these boards from Strongwater. You might lose your money, and never receive a board.