Who import Mavic to SA and what do they "add"?

[straatvark]

ok, to start the year on this note is

 

The final straw in the Camels back was when I spoted the Mavic "unauthorized dealer warning" add in Bicycling a week ago and by now I'm hopefully a bit less pissed off & less sarcastic.

 

I'm waiting now for two months for a small part that i ordered trough my "authorized" LBS when it broke in my Mavic rear hub. Mavic SA are unable to get the "thingy" to the LBS (I do have part numbers etc) 

 

The story orginally was that they just got the Mavic agency in SA, could i please give them some slack for an interrim period. Nice guy mr Straatvark - "sure man, will use my old wheel"

 

I even phoned the Mavic SA "office" myself at some stage in December to do a follow up after I started to mistrust my LBS who gave me the number to phone. But the LBS were right - the guy that answered could not tell me when my part whould arrive: "maybe another week, please call then" He did not even ask trough what LBS my order came - surely there must be a list of who ordered what and in what stage the prcessing of the order are?

 

So what should i do now? (and in the future) Wait more? Wait the same amount off time if something break again, or ask a buddy in the UK to drop the tiny part in a envelope and mail it to me?

 

Similar trend was when my LBS were unable to source a Shimano XT freewheel hub from Shimano SA in a two week period because they did not had stock. In the middle of winter - i would say that is peak MTB season. WDF? I end up "strip my moer", put the old one back on and keep on riding untill no more, only noice...

 

Isnt there laws that enfource stock levels that must be carried for a number of years?

 

On the other hand, Attie Slabbert from Token just mailed me set of bearings for a headset from China/Taiwan - how is that for looking after the people that use your products?

 

Can someone from Mavic please PM me to sort this out or give me permission to source from "host of other sources"? Maybe i can give my wheel a ride without missing a full quater of a year.

 

Regards

[Willehond]

Yip Mavic importers, if you want to hold a gun to our heads to buy from you, you better ramp up your service!

 

Maybe the bad service is the reason we saw so many SL wheelsets on the Hub market last year? 

[Tjokkits]

its coolheat, same blokes that bring in shimano.  when i saw that advert i also wondered what do they add that bridges the couple of thousand rand between a CWC version for instance and the "legal" ones, right now i cant see the logic

[Johan Bornman]

Reduce your woes by sticking to standard products. Wheels that require special nipples, spokes, freehubs and the like should be avoided. You ideally want something that can be sourced from multiple sources and repaired by any competent mechanic.

 

Standard wheels use standard spokes, nipples, rims and hubs that can be had from any source.

 

You don't need an agent's permission to source things you need from alternate sources. Get it from overseas and be done with it.

 

I heard last week that the Mavic agency went from Coolheat to Dragons Sports in Cape Town. Perhaps a bike shop owner can confirm that for us.

 

Either way, never let theats of "illegal products" scare you off. There is no such thing as an illegal product unless it is an unlicensed firearm or drugs. No local distributor owns any intellectual property from any of the cycling manufacturers and anyone can import, sell, repair (or not) any product.

 

 

Johan Bornman2008-01-01 14:03:13

[Willehond]

EDIT: I've just seen JB's post above mine.  Must have been composing at the same time...

 

 

Looks like you want to talk to Tyson:

 

Meet the team:
Jade (Shimano & DT Swiss Technical), Tyson (Mavic & Cateye Technical), Colin (PRO &  Look technical), Jackson, Greg, Jaco, Corrie, Charlie, Jan (sales team) Stephen (the boss), Nicola (marketing), Richard (warehouse), Sean (Tacx & warehouse) 

 
From left to right: Tyson, Nicola, Stephen, Jade, Myles (Bicycling), Sean, Corrie (seated) 

Willehond2008-01-01 23:23:07

[GIRR]

I know the guys from Coolheat, they are dependent on the manufacturers overseas for stock and do try to do what they can.  I had to wait 8 months for a shimano wheel replacement which was not Coolheats fault.

[Cruxpearl]

Coolheat is no longer the agents for Mavic in South Africa

[changepassword]

tyson sent me to hell last year when i had a HUGE problem with the freehub on my MAVIC CROSSLAN.

 

between them, the cannondale importers - cape cycle systems - and the 'friendly' bike shop - i was shouted at, sworn at and to say treated poorly would be a gross understatement

 

i had a near fatal crash because of the issue

[Willehond]

 

Coolheat is no longer the agents for Mavic in South Africa

 

So who is?

[Jaco Steyn]

I heard last week that the Mavic agency went from Coolheat to Dragons Sports in Cape Town. Perhaps a bike shop owner can confirm that for us. 

 

This is true according to the Mavic website. I have just checked. steynja2008-01-01 14:38:58

[Danger Dassie]

Complain to Mavic Europe if the problem lies here.

 

I had a similar problem a few years back concerning the Giro Switchblade helmet I ordered.

Had a range of excuses from the local agents, when I contacted the responsible distributorsoverseas (Giro Ireland) who contradicted half the excuses.

 

Then I had the local agents insulting and kaking on me. Long story short, I got the lid but only after a protracted process. Laughable... 

[ewep]

Why are you guys moaning?  Isn't that what you would expect from "service" in SA?  F*&$ the customer, as long as I make my HUGE cut all is ok.

[Jamm]

What I found very interesting was the comment on what you could be buying if you used an unauthorised 3rd Party - Something about "B" grade products.

 

Now how would a "B" grade product find its way onto the market if Mavic controls production, serial numbers, distribution etc. Does the QA allow "B" grade products to roll off the production line destined for the consumer?  Perhaps things are'nt as controlled as they pretend, which is why all the unoffical movement of products take place. 

 

The ad must surely be directed at places like CWC, to appease the new local distributor, Dragons. 

 

Anyway, would rather go for Eastons or Fulcrums when it comes to wheels. 

[oclv110]

 Have  been  waiting for a front skewer that is faulty on a brand new Ksyrium SL. Sorry out of stock.That has been now for two months.I am busy putting an order together and will import it.

Same story with Omnico.I ordered a new Easton EC90  slX bar from my local bike shop.I have been waiting for about a month now. They have given me tracking no's on two ocasions and confirmed that it will definately be here on the 19 th of December.When I phoned they informed me that they were out of stock and don't know when they will have again.Why couldn't they just say that right from the start.Guess what ? Bars will also be imported.I feel very sorry for the LBS that have to deal with this crap.

[AndreZA]

Dragon Sports, the Giant agent, is the new agent.

 

 

[Ox_Wagon]

On B grade items, I was looking at buy in a set of American Classic AM420 wheels so I checked Road bike Review.  There was a bunch of people having problems with these wheel sets which seamed to originate from a third party that bought hubs and rims from AM then build up by them and sold as the real deal.  <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

BUT with that type of service I will go with Mr Bornman advice and stick to standard components that you can get from different sources.  I usually check that if a suspension frame or hubs uses sealed bearings that it is standard sizes so that you can get them from any Bearingman etc.  Not like me that had to buy a new Campy hub to get new cones and bearings for my current wheel.