Marida Waranty Issue

[Ant J Allen]

Afternoon all,

 

So I want to share an experience I am still going through with my bike. I bought a Marida TFS 500 in March this year, love the bike, and subsequently got my wife a HFS 1000 to ride on. I know my bike is an entry level bike, and have every intention of upgrading in time to come. The problem is that recently while riding, the lockout mechanism popped out of the shock. I send it to Dunkeld cycles where I bought the bike, as its a warranty claim. After waiting 2.5 weeks (till after the 94.7 MTB challenge) to get my bike back, I took it for the first ride this Sunday to go and support the roadies on the 94.7. On the ride to where I was going to support from (1.5km from home) I hopped off a pavement onto the tar, and the same thing happened again. So bike is back to Dunkeld cycles. I took it in this morning and was angry, but refrained from being the typical customer, and HOPED they would see the irritation in my problem, and try get it resolved a bit faster this time round. I called this afternoon to see what Cape Town has said about my problem. They have done nothing with the problem as yet......looks like ill be using my wife's bike for a lot longer.

 

I called a friend who has been riding for quite some time, and his view was that if my bike was not worth R50 000, Dunkeld don't take me seriously, if this is the case, why do they sell entry level bikes? Has anyone else had a problem with shock lockout mechanisms popping out? How do I get this resolved, and NO upgrading the shock now is not an option.

[Pieterg]

Sad,Your money was good

[Tjokkits]

is your issue with Merida or Dunkeld Cycling though? years ago i had issues with the seatpost on my Merida, dealt directly with Derrick at Merida and got sorted

[pauloc]

I take it you were dealing with the same people that helped out the first time so they'd have the full context?

 

Also, it always helps to explain the urgency to make sure the shop knows they need to speed things up. This doesn't need to involve opening a can of whipass - just explain the predicament and your frustration. If you don't say anything, then they assume it can just follow the normal process.

[Ant J Allen]

Yeah it is sad.

 

I will be getting a better bike, but not till I have got lots of use out of the bike I bought. Its great bike, and I enjoy riding it so see no reason to get a new one just yet.

 

If only Dunkeld would help resolve the issue better than they have done so far.

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

They should be able to sort you out with a warranty replacement. The problem might be in that the agent for the shock itself is trying to slow things down for some reason. Ask who it has been sent to, and then phone them up every day until something has been done about it. Failing that, approach Dunkeld themselves and demand a loan bike, seeing as yours is in for warranty repairs and they don't seem to be holding up their end of the bargain. YOu might not get a loan bike, but then again, you'll never know if you don't try.

[Ant J Allen]

is your issue with Merida or Dunkeld Cycling though?

 

My issue is with Dunkeld. I have been trying to speak to Derrick, he's not answering his phone, sure he is a busy man.

 

I have explained the urgency, and they were very apologetic, and said it was embarrassed, but why then have they not done anything all day on it this time round. the bike was there at 8:30am.

Edited November 21, 2011 by Ant J Allen

[RiderX]

When I bought my TFS 500 about 5 years ago it came with a Suntour XCM fork, works ok for a year or so then the lockout stops working. So if yours also has a suntour maybe its a common problem with those forks. There are worse entry level forks than the XCM but its still not a very good fork.

 

The Merida frame is really excellent though, its quite strong while not heavy at all. If you want to replace the fork then try and replace it with a decent RockShox Tora or better its going to make a world of difference to your ride. Btw its Merida not Marida.

[Sewanee]

I have always had superb service from Dunkeld Cycles and have never even bought a bike from their shop, so in my opinion, the R50 000 story does not hold water.

 

I think that the issue is not a merida warranty matter, but a shock manufacturer issue as it has previously been sent to Cape Town. The Merida agents are based in Johannesburg and that is what makes me think that it is a Fox or Rockshox issue as their agents are based in Cape Town.

 

I think that you should give Dunkeld a chance, remembering that today is the first day after one of the largest races in the country and I am sure that they were extremely busy.

 

I am sure that either Marc, Jacques or Merlyn would lend a sympathetic ear to your problem if it was raised with them direcly.

 

Hope that you get sorted soon and can enjoy the trail.

[Ant J Allen]

So Sewanee you were right. They have just called to say that they have a loan shock for me to use till the Rock Shock gets sorted.

 

You are also right that it is not a MERIDA issue but rather a Rock Shock issue.

[Jigghead]

Not sure on this one, I bought a TFS300 from Cyclelab and after about 6 months and around 3500km's when the bike went in for a service, the shock had some problems, turns out it was full of water.

 

It was sent off to Suntour (In Cape Town) who said they could not repair it and I'd need a new shock. I asked for the same model to be put on the bike and prepared myself to pay for it. When the bike was ready, I was told that I would only be charged the cost of transporting the old shock to and from Cape Town and the replacement, whcih was the model up from the original was not going to be charged for. So it cost me R200.

 

Not sure if it was Cyclelab or Suntour that made it so easy and quick (about a week) but either way I managed to go through the whole process with relative ease.