FreeSoul

Seller has now reneged on his word and has refused to provide any compensation for both the RD and the FD and has offered only to pay for the cranks at a price of R2500. I enquired about the cost of the mechanic to which he responded, it must come out of the R2500. Also, he said if I have a problem with the above, I must contact his lawyer.

So I just got my bike back from the shop after they finally replaced the RD at my cost (seller will only give me a portion back when the broken RD is received in his care and he has looked at it). The bike has been with them since it broke on the Saturday. I had booked a setup so off I went expecting this saga to be behind me. Low and behold, during the setup, I noticed the crank length was 175cm and NOT the 172.5 as stated on the WhatsApp conversations we had. I explicitly asked about this and he confirmed. I am at a loss as to what to do now.

hahahah yeah, the thread took a turn!

It stopped working after the first KM on my ride on the Sat after shifting down to the highest gear. The sound that it was making (and not shifting) was evident of something fundamentally wrong. At this point, I dropped the bike at my Mechy and he took it apart of figure out what the problem is in oder to attempt to fix it. It was beyond repair. Also, just a note, this is a top Mechy who I have been using for years as well as my other team mates. I consider him an expert in his field.

I did take the bike for a quick spin on the day I received it to ensure saddle height, stem, drops etc was setup correctly for me. Gears worked 100% but then again, I didnt use the full range. Also, you are forgetting the FD was CRACKED (and not disclosed) before it was sent to me. I have pics to prove this sent by the seller via WhatsApp which I managed to zoom in and clean up using some specific software. It is clearly visible. My theory was that the bike was dropped / banged as something caused the crack. It makes sense that the RD could have suffered a similar impact to its internal workings, hence my concern and request for a full refund. We have agreed to some monetary value for the components (market related / second hand). Nothing available so had to fork out additional cash for a new.

https://ibb.co/P5mFDtX Attached convo. Responses are few and far between!

Not his personal bike. I have proof that he is selling bikes on behalf of many individuals.

hahahahah

Nope, no parts and wont entertain buying new. Also, NO-ONE has stock in SA, so I must wait.

Yes.

LATEST: 21/01/2021 No one has stock of the components and is refusing to purchase NEW parts anyway. He said, "second hand market value only". In his mind, it's fine for me to just wait in perpetuity. Have asked MANY times about a refund and he refuses to entertain it. So as it stands, I am R60k out and have a broken bike. Lost for words. Oh, and refuses to take my calls.

Thanks everyone for the solid advice and guidance. As it stands right now, he is sourcing replacement parts. My last message was a thumbs up but will not wait more than a few days. If this doesn't materialize, I think its fair to ask for a refund so I can look for other options as I am not prepared to wait weeks.

Yes, first thing I tried to do on the side of the road.

I am in JHB and the bike was in Cape Town. Also, I am NOT saying the dealer is a bad guy, in fact, his ratings are outstanding hence the trust I had in the sale that all would be as it seems! People make mistakes, I get it! I am happy to take the replacement parts, however, how long do I have to wait? He said he is going to source parts with the "same market value"? 1 week? 2 week? a month? Whats acceptable time to wait?

The mech opened the housing of the RD and showed me the damaged of the internal workings. Its nothing to do with shift modes etc. I have done this many times on my other bike.

No, this guy is the best in the business and extremely trusted. Remember, the FD was cracked BEFORE it was sent to me.

Do me a favour, stop making un-constructive and immature statements! This guy is a dealer so thankfully the Consumer Protection act allows for recourse. There is NO such thing as "Voetsoots" so jog on mate.

Due diligence was NOT done by seller. He would / should have seen the crack on the FD. This only tells me he did not check out the bike properly to ensure its mechanical sound! If the FD was the only issue, I would say cool, but the fact the RD is also stuffed does not bode well with my confidence.

I would like some constructive feedback on the following bike sale and subsequent events that transpired. I am not including names as I am only looking for opinions on what the correct course of corrective action should be by the seller. Apologies for the length but wanted as much context and truth as possible. Contact seller via WhatsApp on the 08/01/2021 asking about an ad I saw for a road bike. The seller has multiple bikes on advertise as well as a solid history of sales. He is more than likely a dealer of sorts. The bike was R60k and was advertised as absolute mint. Bit of negotiating and requesting more pics happened through the course of the day. Seller was unwilling to budge on price so I paid full asking as well as R600 shipping to JHB. Payment done on the 09/01/2021. Bike was boxed and sent on the 11/01/2021. Bike arrived at my premise on the 13/01/2021. Unpacked bike that was meticulously protected which I was stoked about. Went about putting seat post in place, re-attaching cockpit and slapping on some pedals. Bike looked great, so I plugged in the Di2 to charge and waited in anticipation for Saturday’s roll. Saturday arrived, grabbed the bike and headed out to the cradle to meet my team for its maiden voyage. Rode up the first rise (1km) then started shifting to biggest great for decent. Heard a weird grinding sound coming from the RD. Stopped too check what’s going on as I have never heard this sound before (I have a TT bike with the same Di2). At this point in time, I start fiddling with the shifters, but no matter what I do, It's stuck in the same gear and the grinding sound continues. I check the front FD in case something is off and causing the issue. To my surprise I notice a crack on the side of the motor mechanism. Ride over for the day so I pack up and head home. I message seller on the way home (15/01/2021) stating what I have observed on the FD and that the RD is stuck. I am obviously pretty pissed off that the FD is cracked as this wasn’t brought to my attention during the sale. Get home, plug Di2 it into e-tube to try and triage the RD issues. No luck. Give up and wait for Monday to take bike to LBS. Seller phones me and says he will source a new FD to replace the cracked one. Not ideal, but ok, I am willing to take that. Take bike to LBS 18/01/2021 and ask for help with the RD. He calls me a hour later stating the RD is completely shot and the damage is more than likely due to an impact. Obviously not great news and I am starting to getting pretty worked up. Contact seller again informing him of the report from the LBS. His response is “it's very strange, the bike was ridden before it got boxed and the gears were working perfect”. He said he needs to reach out to someone else who I assume was the person he is dealing on behalf off. A few minutes later I get a call from this individual. Never dealt with him at all but regardless, I explain the last few days events. He seems ok and hangs up. At this point, I have lost faith in the bike and seller as my gut is telling me it’s been involved in a crash of sort’s. I politely inform seller of my opinion and request a full refund. I tell him my LBS will box the bike and send back and he can get the new parts and re-advertise when happy. I get the following message back “Hi, there's nothing wrong with the bike and everything was working when I boxed the bike. We learned now that the Front and Rear Derailleur is not working and are willing to replace that for you with like for like parts or we are willing to pay secondhand market value of what you claimed to me damaged and then just send us back the damaged parts please.” Not response I was looking for, however, I ask how long this will take as I am not prepared to wait weeks. This was yesterday at 13:23 pm. No response. While I wait, I go have a look at all the additional pics he sent me via WhatsApp as he kept insinuating the bike was 100% when he boxed it. I find a pic of the FD and upon zooming in, you can clearly see the crack. I send a series of pics to him proving the crack was done pre send. This was at 15:33. No response. I ping him again at 18:22 asking if he saw the about. Still, no response. I would like a full refund but it seems he isn't too keen on that option which I think is a little unfair. Thanks LATEST: 21/01/2021 None has stock of the components and is refusing to purchase NEW parts anyway. He said, "second hand market value only". In his mind, it's fine for me to just wait in perpetuity. Have asked MANY times about a refund and he refuses to entertain it. So as it stands, I am R60k out and have a broken bike. Lost for words. Oh, and refuses to take my calls. LATEST: 02/02/2012 So I just got my bike back from the shop after they finally replaced the RD at my cost (seller will only give me a portion back when the broken RD is received in his care and he has looked at it). The bike has been with them since it broke on the Saturday. I had booked a setup so off I went expecting this saga to be behind me. Low and behold, during the setup, I noticed the crank length was 175cm and NOT the 172.5 as stated on the WhatsApp conversations we had. I explicitly asked about this and he confirmed. What the actual fark! LATEST: 03/02/2020 Seller has now reneged on his word and has refused to provide any compensation for both the RD and the FD and has offered only to pay for the cranks at a price of R2500. I enquired about the cost of the mechanic to which he responded, it must come out of the R2500. Also, he said if I have a problem with the above, I must contact his lawyer. LATEST: 04/02/2020 Seller has refused to budge. As it stands: He refuses to give me a compensation for either the RD or the FD even though I sent the original RD back. The agreement as per WhattsApp was that he would pay me as soon as the RD arrived. He has since changed his mind. He will only give me money for the Crank once he receives the current one back (sound familiar?) This means I have to again take it to my LBS to get someone to remove the crank so it can be sent. I them have to hope he pays me so I can find a replacement then take it back to the LBS for for fitting. I am done with his crap. Below are his details: Name: Rikus Smit - Based in Durbanville Western Cape. Profile Link: https://bikehub.co.za/classifieds/profile/140968 FB: https://www.facebook.com/rikus.smit.3

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Best place in Cape Town to do a 20min FTP test?