I purchased a Noard SpeedCruise 470 cm kayak and was extremely disappointed with the design and build quality. The seat D-rings are oriented in a way that causes them to stretch and wear out very quickly under normal use. When I contacted customer support about this issue, I was told they had a “fix” — which turned out to be me replacing the D-rings myself. For a brand-new product, that is completely unacceptable.

What concerns me even more is that a newer model has clearly been updated to correct this flaw — yet the older model is still being sold without any warning to customers that the D-ring wear is a known problem.

I requested a return and refund, which should be covered by their stated 5-year warranty, but weeks have passed and the company still has not provided a return label or responded to my follow-up messages.

I am now involving German consumer protection authorities, since I have not been able to resolve this directly with the company.

Very disappointed — buyers should be aware of these issues before purchasing.