Do Not Purchase. Run

DO NOT BUY THIS KAYAK. It is defective. It is a non-functional kayak. I ordered this product online and had it delivered for in-store pickup and picked it up yesterday. The manufacturer’s product page states this kayak will deliver the ultimate secure and stress-free kayaking experience… It will not. It was immediately stress inducing. I was not able to row across a small lake. I had to turn around. The adjustable Ergoform seating system does not work. It is not a seat by any definition. No matter how it is adjusted or how you are seated the seat folds back bending in half forcing the paddler to lie down flat. It was difficult to sit up leaning forward in order to paddle without sliding backwards on the seats cushion, and with no back support, to make it back to shore. I weigh 145lbs. The weight capacity of the kayak is 300lbs. I did not expect that I would be too heavy for this seat. I just thought the seat would be able to function as a seat. The Seek 100X product page states that the 3 piece Ergobar system is stable and will stay perfectly clear of the paddlers strokes. It does not. I assembled the Ergobar system and securely fastened it with a screwdriver. It popped off twice while on the water. Gently pushing down on it will easily make it pop off. One side of the bars plastic socket that lies beneath the screw to slide lock in place to secure it was malformed. The flat surface of the socket does not make flush contact with the kayak. It is arched on the inner sides so the inner sides float. This is due to the way these plastic pieces connect to the bar, it has a notch which is improperly angled. The way it hovered made me believe that the bars are left and right sided and that I may have mixed them up so I removed them and switched the sides but the result was exactly the same. The flat surface of the socket did not make flush contact with the kayak and hovered on the inner edges. The bar does not stay perfectly clear of strokes. It makes contact with the paddlers elbows and underarms frequently which is incredibly uncomfortable. It is marketed as a safety feature, but this is actually dangerous. A person could get hurt applying pressure to the bars to stabilize themselves. I have experience paddling on numerous kayaks and have kayaked hundreds of times. I have never had to turn around because I couldn’t paddle. I consider my self a good paddler. But I couldn’t paddle. It was so stressful. Pelican needs to immediately discontinue production of this product. It is dangerous. I suggest that they do not allow VR technology to assist them, and instead use experienced well paid engineers to develop their products. What became more stressful than my kayaking experience was my attempt to return this unusable kayak to Dicks Sporting Goods. I drove back to the Longmont location where the manager said I could not return a kayak once it had been on the water. Even though it’s defective? It did not matter. She suggested that I call the customer support number. The customer support specialist I spoke to said that I could attempt to return it to other locations but that she would not be able to help me. I called the Loveland location and said that I needed to return a defective kayak that I purchased online. The manager said, “We don’t care bro.”, and immediately hung up on me. I called the Thornton location and spoke to a manger. She said I could return the defective kayak so I drove to Thornton. I got there and showed her my kayak and explained the situation to the best of my ability. She said that she would have to also have her assistant manager inspect the kayak to determine if it was defective. He looked at the kayak and said it was not defective. He snapped the bars in place and said, “See they are in place.” I explained about the seat and he said, “I can’t take this kayak back just because you don’t like the seat.” I said this seat does not work. The other manager suggested that I buy a cushion from them. I didn’t want to buy a cushion for a brand new kayak. I wanted a kayak with a functional seat. I wanted a kayak that I could kayak in. Something to go from point a to point b. The assistant manager said, “I can’t resell this kayak I can’t take it back.” Of course you can’t resell a defective kayak. It’s not safe. It needs to be returned to Pelican with an explanation so that they can correct the problem and not allow kayakers to be injured by their poorly designed kayaks. I said it’s defective, it doesn’t work, it doesn’t function. He said, “does it float?” Yes it floats. That was not my expectation. Many things floating is not the only criteria to make something a boat. They said they couldn’t help me and suggested I sell it. I said that I couldn’t do that. I don’t want to scam anyone into buying something that doesn’t function and is dangerous. That feels unethical. The other manager suggested that I could throw it away. I was flabbergasted. She said, “Well this is one of our cheaper kayaks…”, the price of the kayak should not excuse it’s inability to be used. It should be able to be paddled from point a to point be with a paddle to be considered a functional kayak. They would not help me further. I left disappointed not knowing what I could do and feeling robbed. Even though it’s only $349. It still seems like a significant amount of money for me to throw away for a one time use kayak. I will never use this again. I used it for less than an hour. I do not understand the ethos of the management staff at Dicks Sporting Goods locations. None of them had any problem with rejecting my attempt to return a faulty and dangerous product. They seem afraid to disappoint their employer and afraid of being terminated for refunding a customer. For what they all consider a cheap kayak. They can’t give me $349 back. I will never shop at Dicks Sporting Goods again. I advise you to never give them your business. If you have a problem with a defective product their answer is: Tuff. Deal with it.