River Rat

Got you and this is the dilemma I can't envisage sufficient traffic to justify this.

In both the the threads mentioned an attempt was made to address the issue directly with the service provider. I can attest to the Powasol one as not only I but a number of unhappy customers tried to address it with them. None more vocal than the Sabie lite bunch at the start of stage 2 where we were promised better service that day only to get a nonchalant dismissal later when nothing changed. What does interest me though is NicJ's response on the Holla thread where he welcomed the engagement and the opportunity to put things right. The question for me is how many people would have bothered to use the direct route? I suspect far fewer than those that used the opportunity to air their views on the web. So from a service providers point of view I would not receive the same amount of information if the direct route custom prevailed. As a manager I'm not sure if I'm happy with that as I would prefer to have as many inputs as possible as to how my business is performing, this provided that it is real and I guess that maybe where the problem lies. But I have seen enough evidence of people springing to the defence of the service provider if they feel the criticism is not legit.

Let me start by declaring my interest here. The company I work for has recently decided to give our website a makeover. To do this we have engaged the services of a brand consultant and obviously a web designer. The big debate is whether we should have a facebook page or not. Our company exports about 75% of what we do and we do not sell directly to the public so our feeling is there is no real value in having a facebook page. But our brand consultant and web designer are challenging our thoughts in this regard. The logic that they put forward is that as soon as you use the Internet as an advertising medium this becomes a legitimate form of communication in both directions. The choice you have is whether you wish to provide the general public a platform to raise their issues or not. When it comes to complaints our company is no different to any other in that we need to know what people think about us and the important thing here is not so much whether they are right or not but what their perception is because after all this is your brand. The most convincing argument is that while in the past word of mouth was your brand the electronic reflection of your brand is now the prevailing one. The argument goes deeper you either engage in this by using it to assess and address the perception of your brand or you let it drift in the ether (at your peril they say!). This brings me to the Hub where there have been numerous threads where Hubbers complain about their negative experiences with service providers. We have a mixed bag of responses here with some using the OP's platform to put the boot in, others defending the service provider because their own positive experience has led to some brand loyalty. However, the response that intriques me most is the one that says that you are not entitled to raise the issue on the Hub unless you personally spoken to the service provider directly. This would seem to suggest that a complaint should be dealt with offline, now this might work if everybody did this. But as my consultants tell me those customers that don't have a platform or the relative protection of the anonymity that the web provides will revert to word of mouth with others to voice their complaint. This would mean that as a business you are not only unaware of what is being said about you but you are also unable to address this directly. I am keen to hear from you what you view is.

I ride a Spes Epic Comp 29er I'm not sure if it is the same model you have in mind but I'm really enjoying it. I don't know the weight or price of the 2012 model.It handles really well once you get used to the fact that it is a 29er. The brain is also a fantastic piece of kit that ensures that you have a great allrounder that is well suited to marathon riding.

Would be if he read the thread properly and realised that there was no overnight security, in fact no security at all, you're bike was at risk from the moment it entered the pound unless you kept an eye on it. But I guess some people will continue to shoot from the hip until they shoot themselves in the foot!

@JCMeyer would you like the facts or would you like to stay in a blissful ignorance?

I look forward to seeing how you respond to this at the next race. Good Luck with your business!

Thanks Guys. More or less what I expected.

Klint you seem to be struggling to listen to your customer here. Let's try another tack, let me tell you what I want and let's see if you can deliver. 1. If I prepay, I get preference and you tell me before I pay what the expected completion time would be. I would be satisfied with 1 hour by the way. What this means for you is that you can take the number of prepaids, calculate the resources you need for this dedicated line and deliver a superior service for your best customers (after all we paid upfront). For the walk ins you take your best guess ( you should be able to use this year as a good measurement)and the walk in can judge for themselves if they are prepared to wait or not based on the length of the non dedicated line in front of them. 2. As for bike control create a number of bike pounds for say 50 - 100 bikes, simple fencing droppers and barrier tape is fine (two lines needed here for prepaids and walk ins). Give the cyclist a numbered document with the cyclists race number reflected as well when he checks his bike in(you would need to hold a copy). When the pound is full you close it off and channel the next bikes into the another pound, in this way you have better control of the first come first serve process. It would also save you moving the bikes in an attempt prevent people pushing the bikes into the front of the queue. To collect my bike I have present my copy of the chit I received when I booked my bike into the pound, you check this against your document and I sign my bike out. Done! Now Klint can you deliver? Or does this still seem unreasonable to you?

Got it, but I'm trying find out whether the gel padding works or not before she buys anything.

Thanks Thomo. Anybody else use this padding?

KlintI don't see my judgement as harsh at all. The facts are that you knew how many bikes there were as most bike washes were prepaid. You were hopelessly understaffed and resourced which equates to poor judgement on your side. Further, your security control was nowhere, anyone could have taken any bike out of the pound, simply had no system. By the way you had great control at Dusi Mfula, what changed since then? Another irritation was that your team where taking bribes to push bikes to the front of the queue, I was made this offer on day 2 and 3, possibly would have had a similar offer on the last day but simply could not be bothered with your service. In conclusion I doubt you will see my custom into the future as what construes a reasonable service in your terms is way off what would be acceptable to me.

Seems like nobody uses these maybe that's the answer.

Not wanting to answer for Bob but Sabie was great, your product was great but your service at Sabie sucked big time. Your best time for the three days to wash my bike was 2 hrs 52 minutes and worst 3hrs 45 minutes. I did not bother on the last day as I worked out that I could probably drive to Pretoria and wash it myself in the time took would take your guys. Compared to the Dusi Mfula (average 25 mins) this was not your finest hour.

This is a question directed more at the fairer sex but I would value comments from the gents as well. My wife has been contemplating buying shorts with the gel padding but she's not convinced that they are worth the higher price. Anyone had any experience with this type of padding?

Great event, we really enjoyed it! The biggest draw back was the bike wash, waiting 3 hours for your bike was simply not on and the vendor won't see my money again. But we'll be back next year for the race for sure

Stage 1 done, no rain, no falls for our team. Although I saw one rider go down at 12kms looked like a broken leg, medical team were on scene to help. Bad luck fellow rider Now for the beast called Stage 2

My wife has decided to let me ride the Lite with her

That's not complicated it's sophisticated, well my dog thinks so!

Man you roadies lead a complicated life!

I think you are talking about Fountains, Groenkloof has none of the issues you refer to but Fountains does, plus the last veld fire has damaged a couple of the wooden bridges. This is a real pity as Fountains has some great technical riding that could be lost perhaps we should be raising this with Tshwane Municipality.

Foot through the floorboard. How do you do it?

Tankman, it usually happens when she makes an emergency stop and for some reason she places her foot in front of the chainring. The part that bugs me is that she has more scars than I have and continues to ride regardless. I would be curled up on the sofa with a comforting hot choclate ages ago. Mad, that could work thanks.

My better half has a habit of bumping her calf on the chainring and this has resulted numerous small cuts. However today's adventure resulted in 11 stitches clearly something has to be done. I have thought of fitting a bashring to provide some protection but I am struggling to find one that fits a 44 tooth, any suggestions?

Jack, you're welcome as along as you stick with the roadies... unless you have beer then you can hang with the MTBikers. Okay maybe the word hang is incorrect lets use the term ride ... wait thats wrong too. Maybe ... ag never mind. Welcome anyway!