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Help needed to find Northwave, Thule spares etc (and shocking service in CT!)


Gremlin1

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I am absolutely exasperated by the service I have (not) received in attempting to locate spares for my Northwave Aerlite MTB shoes and Thule bike carrier, ant trying to buy a Giant Trance!

 

My tale of woe starts some months ago when my Thule carrier decided to dismantle itself on a road in the Cederberg. One "click-lock" knob later and my bike was hanging behind my car! Was advised that the agents for Thule resided in Olympic Cycles so I contacted them and was told the parts were on order but that I would be contacted when they arrived in a couple of days. No calls of course but I followed up as I realized they may be busy. Then the runaround started.......no the parts were missing from the order etc but they would arrive soon. Some weeks later I again followed up. No parts. Now getting pissed off dismantling bike to travel. So I placed an actual order. Needless to say 3 months down the line still waiting for the f@$#ers to actually come up with the parts!

 

So I have a little accident and break the micro ratchet strap on my NorthWave shoes. Ok shoes cost 3k so I'm kinda keen to replace a R50 part (available on Amazon,but not to SA) so I go to Trail and Tar where they were purchased and after begging to be served they agree to contact the agents to locate spares (did ask for agent details but not forthcoming but fair enough they are running a business). Obviously it would be too much to ask to actually get a call back from a Cape Town business so a week later I decide to go to Cycle Lab to have a look at a Giant Trance (yes apparently they are the agents now) and am pleased to learn that they also sell NorthWave and they will contact the agents for the spare part. Two weeks later and I am still riding with insulation tape to keep my shoe on!

Oh and just for information CycleLab did not have a single Giant in stock but I could buy one from the catalogue!! (Jesus wept!)

 

But wait.......Google is your friend........Hullabaloo is the importer.....so a quick email ( followed by another 2 weeks later after no response) and I am settling into a winter holding pattern with taped up shoes, a non-folding bike rack and an aging 26' Silverback begging to be replaced.

 

So in order of priority I am imploring the Hubber community for suggestions as to where I can get parts for NorthWave shoes, Thule carrier spares and finally a Giant retailer that actually carries stock!!

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There is a Thule shop in Cape Town CBD as well as the Giant store in Durbanville, CWCycles also have a handy setup for Thule.

 

Northwave, a shop opened at Meerendal recently that carriers Northwave, they are actually the agents for Northwave and will be very close to Hullabaloo, give them a shout, sure they will give you the real story

 

For the Giant, chat to the Giant guys in Durbanville, very friendly and again, they will give you the full story on stock.

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Can't be that hard trying to find a giant. Toyota always have corollas in stock.

 

Google is your friend, call the guys on this list

http://www.giant-bicycles.com/en-za/dealers/search/keyword/?x=1&keyword-location=-34.1022481%2C18.475722&searchdistance=25&countryname=South+Africa&keyword-original=&showspinner=false&ne=&sw=&keyword=&type=proximity

 

Or get hold of dragons directlyhttp://www.dragons.co.za/

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Two recommendations from me... The Loading Zone in Maitland (gave me good service) and Giant Durbanville (speak to Johan - great service)

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Just order off the internet and ship in - problem solved.

 

I cant tell you how many times I have had the same story happen to me and the local LBS poodles (that I was trying to support) always have some lame dumbo excuse.

 

To be fair its often the agents (Shimano importers particularly bad in this country) who refuse to stock anything let alone what resembles spares.

 

OT: And then you get some of these posts where guys say - be careful, they could sue you for slandering them in public by posting here. #Whatabunchoftwats

 

Its amazing we manage to have a cycling industry at all.

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Contact Thule yourself. They are based in Durban, I ordered something directly from them a while ago. Got the same run around from the guys in Claremont.

 

Or go into Bridge Cycles, they have a good relationship with the Thule guys as well. They've also helped me in the past.

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Well sorry to hear about your poor experience with the previously mentioned LBS.......

 

I am sure Iwan can help you out there.

Another LBS to consider who now have a Thule shop is revolution cycles. Speak to Sterling Snr or Jnr.

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Sounds like it was a tough couple of days at the office! 

 

Had similar problems with Gaerne getting ratchet, could find a single person to help me over a 2 week period so I just tweeted the head office and they sent me one for free and another one as back up. 

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... so I just tweeted the head office and they sent me one for free and another one as back up. 

 

I don't get that. I've had similar issues (outside the cycling trade) and got better response via Twitter than calling a call centre of visiting a branch.

 

Makes no sense, but alas it works wonders!

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I don't get that. I've had similar issues (outside the cycling trade) and got better response via Twitter than calling a call centre of visiting a branch.

 

Makes no sense, but alas it works wonders!

 

Whats worse is when one department tweets another department in the same company, like sales passing it on to service.

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This is what makes the hub great! Thanks everybody for your responses and pm's. I really appreciate the suggestions and contacts. Watch this space for developments!

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I am pleased to advise that Hullaballoo has been in contact with me regarding spares for my Shoes and it seems that I will be sorted soon!! I am very pleased about this. Additionally Giant Durbanville has contacted me so as soon as I can build the courage to make the groot trek to that side of Cape Town (I live in Simons Town) I will have a look at some bikes!

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