Adjustable helmets - thinking of returning mine
 

I've had mine for a year or so, it was like $60 from bell and feels pretty clunky. Someone helping me in the store told me that I should get a large. It's adjustable, so I tighten it all the way when I wear it without a hat, but when it's cold I adjust it to the largest setting and it fits over my thick wool hat. Now, should the helmet be this adjustable? I just called EMS and they said I can return it for a different version (thinking of getting a more expensive one that's more aero and lighter and maybe trying to get a smaller size. Even in the smallest size I feel that it droops a bit in the front and could fit better.

Do you think it's odd to return a helmet in this fashion? EMS has a great return policy and I've never scratched the helmet or crashed in it - I just want to find one that fits better.

Also, if I get a medium, maybe I'll get a much thinner hat/beanie when something covering my head/ears is required.

Yes. You used the helmet for a year. You could determine whether it fit you appropriately in much less time than that.
IMHO, you would be taking unreasonable advantage of a generous policy by EMS.

Would you ride a bike for a year, decid it really didn't fit you, and expect to return it and get your money back?

I agree. Deciding to return the helmet after a year because you don't like the way it fits is abusing the store's policy

It's EMS's policy and they are apparently cool with it. If that is what they do keep their customers I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Especially if he ends up going with a more expensive model.

To OP, wear the thickest hat you need to fit under the helmet and try them on.

I don't see the problem. What you call clunky, I call versatile.

...I have a Bell helment (Variant) that has the same adjustable suspension system and I like it fine. I read your OP twice, and still don't get your problem ?

I feel like it's too large. Even when tightened down to the smallest setting it fits my head allright, but the front seems to droop and maybe slide forward a bit when I lower my head. I feel like the overall helmet is too large and too mushroom like, and if I fell, the helmet would jostle and not be the safest in an impact.

And it took you a year to realize that?

+1. I think it's a stupid policy (from the perspective of the negative pressure it puts on profitability in the market), but yep, it's their policy, and if they don't want folks using it, they shouldn't put it out there.

Anyway, if the helmet feels clunky, it is. Replace it.

I agree with Merlin, but if you're going in to get a new one, bring your wool hat so that you can get the right size.
Could always buy 2. One for warm weather (medium) and one for cool (large)?

Let's see a picture of this droopy, mushroom helmet.

They probably set their policy up to mirror REI's, but now that REI has tightened their policy up, I wonder how long before EMS follows suit?

This is probably true. And I agree with Merlin.

...if it really is flopping around, it's different from mine, which feels pretty secure on my head.
Are you certain that the suspension system is correctly fitted into the helment ? It can pop loose.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=370738

Of course, I put magic furry ears on mine, but still, they do need to fit securely.

Obviously they've made a business decision that the extra cost is worth the goodwill. They also are factoring in that the majority of people are going to deal with them in good faith, and not abuse their generous policy.

Simply because you have the ability to do something doesn't mean you should.

If people take unfair advantage of such policies two things happen: 1) EMS's costs go up, which in turn increases costs to other consumers, 2) EMS is less likely to maintain such a generous policy, and exchanges become more difficult or impossible for customers in legitimate circumstances.

There's no free lunch; Someone has to pay for the helmet, and I would suggest that someone should be the person who used it for a year.

IMO, it's not abuse if you comply with their stated terms.

Are the straps adjusted properly? The "floppy" statement makes me wonder.

Sounds like you bought the wrong size or bought one of the cheaper bell helmets that are 'one size fits all'.

Exactly.

Or, what would constitute a "non-abusive" circumstance within in the terms of the policy? How do you know Merlinxlt, that the policy wasn't, in fact, written precisely to cover a situation just like the OP finds himself in? Is it reasonable to expect every consumer to research or divine the motivations behind a return policy and evaluate whether complying with the terms of the return policy might be considered abusive, unethical, immoral, or otherwise?

And here are those terms:

"Our first priority is your complete satisfaction with your Eastern Mountain Sports purchase. If you are dissatisfied for any reason and have your original store receipt or web invoice, we will exchange or repair the item in question or provide a full refund."

It's clear that the policy is take care of customers that are dissatisfied with a product, without having to prove or debate the cause of the dissatisfaction.

It's obviously not intended for people to use a product for a year and decide they want something more aero, and lighter, and return a perfectly good helmet.

Reducing this to the absurd, can you buy one of their bikes, with the intent to use it in your goal race of the year, and then return it, never having intended to keep it?

Or can you buy a bike with Dura Ace 9790, ride it 10,000 miles, and then return it when the next generation of Dura Ace is released?

Both are allowable by their policy, but there's also an implicit belief in that policy that the majority of their customers have some moral compass, and will deal with them in good faith.

Clear intent of the policy is the customer's satisfaction.

To be entitled to a refund you have to be dissatisified. Because it's a subjective test, the indivual consumer is the arbiter of his or her satisfaction, and it doesn't get reviewed.

But it's disengenuous, and abusive, to use a product for a year, before you become dissatisfied, even though nothing about the helmet changed or failed, simply because you want something lighter or more aero.

You are essentially lying to EMS about your satisfaction. They can't and won't call you on it, but it doesn't make it right.

Most of the products they sell are backed by a lifetime warranty (usually it means 5 or 10 years depending on the product). If a zipper malfunctions on a jacket in a year, people will bring it back. Most may not as humans are inherently lazy. If something on a bike is defective, they will assess whether it was built wrong or user error and then make a judgement call. In my case, I feel that I was sold the wrong helmet, which is partly my fault as I bought it the day I bought my bike and needed one quickly, but the sales person also could have suggested other models, as they are usually very helpful and friendly. I don't know if I'll bring it back, and if I feel guilty I will not do it. It depends on the circumstance, I guess. In your case, as your car costs more than my annual salary (pre-tax), you may have no qualms about buying a new helmet. I'm not trying to scam the system, I just want something that works properly.

If you genuinely think the helmet doesn't work as it should, and that the salesperson caused that, I can see returning it. I just think it's hard to square that with a year's use.

And whether it's right or wrong doesn't depend on whether your Warren Buffet, or work at MacDonalds.

Is it still wrong if the OP appreciates the policy and continues to shop there?

Technically within bounds or not I would feel like an idiot walking in a year later "derp derp this doesn't fit". Blaming it on the salesperson at this point is a little ridiculous.