On Friday, June 19, my wife Marianne and I picked up our brand-new Eddyline Whisper CL Tandem Kayak (serial # EDY09710K920) from REI in Roseville, Minnesota. The REI employees at the store removed the sleeve from the kayak but did not remove the light foam cushions that were taped to each end of the kayak. We transported the kayak home on our new Thule kayak car rack and placed it in a wall-mounted Suspenz Deluxe Boat Rack in our garage. I later removed the light foam cushions from the bow and stern but did not inspect what was underneath them. On Sunday morning, June 21 we placed the kayak on the Thule car rack to take it out on its maiden voyage. My wife immediately pointed out that the keel of the boat had a very large gouge, in the bow section. I have attached two photos of this damage. The Carbonlite material seems to have been smashed with something very hard, creating a large and deep gouge and causing the material to migrate outwards from the gouge. It almost looks like the kayak was dropped onto a sharp piece of black metal, judging by the black streaking around the gouge. My wife and I have been waiting and saving a long time to purchase a kayak, and we were very excited to purchase a tandem kayak that is the best of the best. This kayak is intended to provide us much joy for the rest of our years. However, we are disappointed that we purchased, at full price ($2,999), a damaged kayak that was not inspected by REI staff after shipment. Per REI’s Return Policy, we would like to exchange this kayak for one of the same model that is not damaged. Please let me know who I should contact at REI Roseville to begin this exchange process. Thank you. ... View more