EigerSA

It's all good.

Hillcrest now has... Maverick, CycleLab, CycleFun and a new one in Heritage market (every time I go by it seems closed though). And of course in Waterfall. But you're right, the issue is now settled and hopefully life will return to normal

I'm pretty sure everyone was thinking the big shiny sparkly one near the Pick 'n pay that was involved in a price fixing scandal, if that's what you also thought, then sorry but you would've had to have done without that magnum anyways That only leaves one of the other four bike shops! It's an awesome avatar, the full sized pic makes one weep with joy

Then complain, and complain here, start a thread, point the owner/manager to the thread and the hub... we need to all stop accepting bad service and complain!

Report back... I got a phone call early this morning from the bike shop owner; he asked if we could meet which I was happy to do. The owner was extremely apologetic, and interestingly so was the mechanic who was also there, way before opening time I might add! Essentially the mechanic reckons he tests every bike that leaves the shop, it was just bad luck on my part that I collected the bike before he had a chance to do the test ride. As for not phoning, basically no excuse, he just forgot. Lastly my complaint on attitude, well apparently that's just me. The owner and mechanic were really friendly and tried hard to make amends which I really do appreciate, and because of that, I wont be posting their details online. I will say however, that regardless of what some may think, I believe that it is my (and yours) unalienable right to expect a level of service and competence in line with the amount of money I'm paying and the services offered. I also refuse to keep quiet when the level of service that I do receive is in my opinion below par. One thing that did come out in the meet this morning, was that the bike shop owner had no idea as to what was happening until a mate of his pointed this thread out to him. If we as customers do not take the time to inform the bike shop manager/owner of our disappointments, then we can hardly expect them to change. The only question I still have left is, if I had not brought this up on a public forum, but had instead, just faxed (or emailed) my complaint, would I have got the same level of attention as now? Although some have called for the "Eiger 10 second rule" to be part and parcel of a service, I still believe it defeats the whole objective, I pay someone to perform the "mechanics 30 second" rule instead, that's the whole point of paying to have your bike serviced. One last observation to bike shop owners out there: there seems to be a lot of complaints out there about the quality of service from bike shops, and nothing moves faster than bad news, maybe make note of that and start looking to how you can increase customer loyalty by improving service, just my opinion.

last week I was phoning around getting prices on some material I needed to complete a piece of furniture I was making, I asked the guy to please put the quote in writing and fax it to me... complete silence on the other side, then he asks "you still have fax?".

lol! nah, I'm the guilty party there, I find it's too easy for people to say they never received an email whereas I think a fax is a bit harder, just my opinion there!

Ok I get it. I'm faxing a copy of this to the bike shop tomorrow. I owe him the opportunity to reply first.

you can use the letter if that's what you wanting?

you chose to focus on one aspect of my rant, the 10 second part, you chose to be sarcastic when there was no cause to be. Is it not reasonable then to expect the mechanic to have taken the bike on a test ride? I'm paying more money for that bike service than I do for my vehicle's "a" service, a test ride should be an absolute given, regardless of what type of bike shop or mechanic, that's just plain old simple common sense. How does it work in Nigeria then? Do you pay and then do their work for them, because taking the bike for a test ride is part of the service that's being paid for. Maybe it's just differently in Nigeria?

No. I don't want to check other peoples work. You've been in Nigeria to long.

if it was just that then I probably would've done just that; but it wasn't just that, it was attitude, it was the fact I didn't get a phone call when I should've, it was the fact that it cost more than I was quoted, it was the fact that at the day I paid for a service that I didn't receive and not for the first time. I am not going to accept cr@p service, I'll vote with my legs and go to another store. But I want the owner of the store to know exactly why I'm going to another store, he can call me a few choice names and go about his business the same as before or perhaps take note and make some changes, up to him.

Hillcrest...

Should I have done the repair as well to make sure? Not that it matters at all, but I wanted to get home and try get an hour's ride in, so paid, loaded and shot home. What's being an experienced cyclist got to do with it? What am I paying for if I have to test the mechanics work every time?

I was going to name and shame, but as I mentioned, owner wasn't in (again). It's one of the Durban shops. I'm going to give them a chance to respond to my letter that I'll fax in the morning, if they don't come back to me, I'll post the shop and owner name here.

I brought my bike in for a simple repair, something even I with my limited mechanical expertise could have taken care of. I chose to bring it into your shop since this is a service that you offer, a service for which you charge, a service for which I am prepared to pay for. With this in mind I'd like to bring up the following. 1. The attitude of your sales and service staff is poor. This may be because they are barely out of high school and probably view this job as nothing more than a minor hurdle in getting to the weekend, it may also be that you're too cheap to pay for training - though considering how much I was charged for the repair, paying your staff poorly shouldn't be an issue. It may also be because you never seem to be in the store and your staff then do as they please; it's probably a combination of the above. Regardless of the reasons, I want you to know that I will never step foot into your store again, NEVER! I do not take kindly to a high school brat lecturing me on how to ride a bike, and where and when I can ride a bike, I've been riding bikes since before he was born and I seem to have managed just fine so far; note that friendly advice I can handle and even take to heart, but being lectured pisses me off a bit. Your staff are the front line to your business, perhaps you should spend a little time with them. 2. When I ask to be called if the damage is more than I believe and so may a) cost considerably more and B) take longer to repair, then for goodness sake PHONE ME! If you can repair a bike, then picking up a phone and pressing some digits shouldn't be a problem for you! All that's going to happen now is that I'm going to tell you to reverse the repair at your cost, and I'm never going to set foot in your store again. On a similar note, if you tell me you'll get the bike back to me by the end of the day, than that is what I expect; don't drop your lip because I'm now demanding my bike, you're the one who said it would be ready!!!!! Perhaps if you'd phoned like I told you to.... 3. When you repair a bike/toaster/car/small stick, it's best you check your work before sending it out to the customer. The whole reason I'm writing this now is because I just spent the last 35min repairing the repair that you "claim" to have made - are you kidding me!? WTF were you thinking when you handed the bike over to me saying all fixed? A 10 second ride in the parking lot would've alerted you to the fact that something is wrong! 4. Just an observation: I may not be the biggest spender in your store, but I do spend; at some stage in the very near future I was even planning on dropping another R14 000,00 on that build you have in the window. Notice the use of the term "was", it's not going to happen now. I have no idea what your GP is on that bike, fact is you're not going to get it out of me. I'm pretty sure that repair work brings in a fair amount of money that contributes to that huge rental you pay; well not from me it wont, and I promise you if I have my way, it wont be coming from a number of my mates either. Lastly, in this day and age with the advent of online stores like CRC and CW Cyles, I find it inconceivable that you'd allow your customer service to degenerate to such a degree, since quite honestly customer service is the only reason anyone would have any need to enter a store for! There are 3 cycle store in my area alone, there are also two private mechanics advertising their services; guess which store wont be receiving my hard earned cash, yup... yours. Your Ex-Customer

I've been commuting to work 3 times a week for two years, it's a 36km round trip that takes me along a busy school route and through a town center with never-ending roadworks going on. In all this time I have had not one incident with taxi's, it's the mommies with cell phones attached to their ears in their 4x4 and the retirees who shouldn't be on the roads anymore that have given me all the scares! On the whole I find the taxi's are the one's that look out for me by giving me space when they pass, or let me into traffic and stuff like that.

almost forgot to weigh in - 107,4kg for me please

thanks, cannot wait to get it to the beach! I'm thinking I'm even going to ride the Tour Durban and Amashova on her... I'm totally stoked

Found in a sorry state, totally abused and neglected. Spent about 6 months removing rust, taking off seized bolts and nuts, arguing with the chromers, fighting with the powder-coaters... but eventually she's fit and ready for her first public appearance... behold my new baby... Literally tightened the last nut 10 minutes ago so captured these shots on a not-so-flattering Nokia E5, plan on better photo's at a later stage.

another sad day, thoughts and prayers with the family

1. He bought an item that was second hand (and stated as such by the seller), sight unseen and on receipt of the item he chose not to inspect it (which is a bit silly) and ensure that the item delivered was the same as the item he expected. 2. The buyer then sold the item on, the sale of which took some 3 weeks (which incidentally gave the buyer ample time to inspect the goods at his leisure). How do you prove that the damage wasn't made by the 3rd party or even the courier/postage service to the 3rd party? I'm really sorry but the buyer here is 100% at fault. Who really buys anything (especially 2nd hand stuff) without inspecting it? How could you even sell it on without checking it? I buy anything (especially bike related!)and I'm all over for hours! If I'm not mistaken the courts will test by means of "reasonable man", would another reasonable person in the same circumstance follow the same course... I very much doubt you got a case bud. As for the bit where the seller posted the wrong information, well mistakes happen (whether intentionally or not) and the buyer would've picked that up immediately he opened the parcel. Lessons here are simple, if you're buying anything 2nd hand (or even new for that matter), for goodness sake check your purchase! Good luck.

There's not much you can do about the crack I don't think. The seller could very easily have claimed the crack occurred while they were in your possession, and you couldn't prove otherwise. As for the the wrong type wheels, if she advertised the wheels as being a specific type and on receipt they were of a different type, then you should've asked for your money back right away. The real problem lies in the fact that you didn't immediately ask for your money back, she could argue that by not immediately contacting her and asking for your money back, you implicitly accepted what was given - going to be really hard for you to prove otherwise, especially if you sold them on to someone else. I really hope you come right, speak to your legal advisor and report back, would be interesting to see how this goes. Personally I think the seller should just give you at least part of your money back.

The tour in the end I thought was pretty good considering. Today's stage I thought was boring as hell for the most part, why didn't they ride into Cape Town or at least closer to Cape Town. The only thing I heard Arne say about Paarl was that it was the 2nd biggest industrial area in the Cape? Hopefully next year they'll have sorted out the camera issues and we'll get to watch every day on tv instead of just highlightes.