Concerned BMC owner - JHB

[Owen]

BMC has had a turbulent journey in the past in SA. Lost a lot of money. Good luck in the future Herman.

[Bitsy]

Hello guys,

 

I emailed BMC when I heard the news on the HUB. They forwarded the email to Herman. Below is my email to BMC and the subsequent response from Herman. 

 

My email: I own a BMC and am in love with the brand ever since I purchased it. I am therefore very disappointed by the recent decision to withdraw your distribution licenses from our local bike stores here in South Africa, Gauteng.

Swiss Cycles has been critical in promotion of the brand in recent years and one of the reasons that I made my way to the brand. I have noticed that abloc is the listed on your site but they webpage is still under construction- very disheartening.
Is your strategy still to push the brand locally in RSA.
A concerned BMC RSA fan.

 

 

Response: Thank you for your enquiry.

Yes, BMC's strategy is still to push the BMC brand locally as stated in our recent joint press release.

 

" BMC will remain responsible for all warranties in respect of its products, and Abloc will handle all warranty queries in future. Abloc’s website will contain full particulars in this regard. All other queries relating to BMC products can be sent to support@abloc.co.za . BMC and Abloc remain committed to supporting its existing BMC customers in the South African market and will look to further grow the BMC brand in future. "

 

Abloc's website will be going live within days.

 

The closure of Swiss Cycles is a loss for all, as they did promote BMC actively. However, unfortunately the store's closure was not within BMC's/Abloc's control or decision. Please note that no distribution licenses were revoked from any of our BMC dealers.(BMC SA was the sole holder of the only distributor license for BMC in South Africa). The dealers of BMC SA were only appointed as authorised BMC dealers, and these agreements terminated effectively with the closure of BMC SA as the distributor on 30 September. Kindly note that Alboc did approach Swiss Cycles to discuss and consider for their store to continue with BMC going forward. Unfortunately, due to the new ownership of Swiss Cycles, its financial state and viability as well as various other external factors we were not able to come to agreeable terms.

 

Please let me know if you have any further questions or concerns that I can assist with.

 

Kind regards, 

 

Herman Bekker

Managing Director

 

[simondougall]

Hi all

 

I received a rather welcoming and pleasant phone call from Herman. 

Herman offered to meet me for a coffee, we decided that a phone call would suffice. 

 

Herman introduced himself and offered to give me the context/history of events as he feels there has been some unfair misrepresentation/interpretation. 

 

He assured me that as BMC riders we are welcome to call him directly for any parts/warranty issues. His new website will be able to handle all the queries and will be up and running shortly. 

 

He confirmed that BMC do not have any local bike shops signed up for sales/support - for now....

 

If you need a part, you can order it through him and he will courier it to you and or your LBS.

 

Wishing him all the success with his new venture. 

 

Hi Guys

 

I have just tried to process a warranty claim with Herman due to Swiss Cycles closure last week. 

 

I own an TE01 mountain bike and have done so for 18 months. One of the two rear bolts holding the MTT in place has snapped off, in half inside the carbon frame. rendering the bike pretty much a write off.

 

My thoughts are such that this should not happen to a bike of this caliber after just 18 months of ownership.

 

Herman has been unwilling to share with me the submission to BMC as well as their initial correspondence back now repudiating the warranty claim. Surely as a consumer i have the right to know what was said and what BMC's thoughts are? 

 

I also thought that Herman would be trying his best to fight FOR my case and assist in doing everything he can to get this warranty claim passed. His take on the situation is that he has sent the photo's and they (BMC) have come back and said they are not replacing the frame. He has done what is expected!!! For someone in customer service this is a poor show.

 

Coming from a family of professional and semi-professional triathletes who all rode BMC. i can assure you that this will be the end of the road.

 

Any suggestions for me??

[Patchelicious]

Hi Guys

 

I have just tried to process a warranty claim with Herman due to Swiss Cycles closure last week. 

 

I own an TE01 mountain bike and have done so for 18 months. One of the two rear bolts holding the MTT in place has snapped off, in half inside the carbon frame. rendering the bike pretty much a write off.

 

My thoughts are such that this should not happen to a bike of this caliber after just 18 months of ownership.

 

Herman has been unwilling to share with me the submission to BMC as well as their initial correspondence back now repudiating the warranty claim. Surely as a consumer i have the right to know what was said and what BMC's thoughts are? 

 

I also thought that Herman would be trying his best to fight FOR my case and assist in doing everything he can to get this warranty claim passed. His take on the situation is that he has sent the photo's and they (BMC) have come back and said they are not replacing the frame. He has done what is expected!!! For someone in customer service this is a poor show.

 

Coming from a family of professional and semi-professional triathletes who all rode BMC. i can assure you that this will be the end of the road.

 

Any suggestions for me??

 

Yes, perhaps before you threaten to move your entire family off of BMC, rather first try and deal with it more diplomatically. Social media tantrums and threats are so last year.

[Pure Savage]

Yes, perhaps before you threaten to move your entire family off of BMC, rather first try and deal with it more diplomatically. Social media tantrums and threats are so last year.

But its his first post!

[Christofison]

Hi Guys

 

I have just tried to process a warranty claim with Herman due to Swiss Cycles closure last week. 

 

I own an TE01 mountain bike and have done so for 18 months. One of the two rear bolts holding the MTT in place has snapped off, in half inside the carbon frame. rendering the bike pretty much a write off.

 

My thoughts are such that this should not happen to a bike of this caliber after just 18 months of ownership.

 

Herman has been unwilling to share with me the submission to BMC as well as their initial correspondence back now repudiating the warranty claim. Surely as a consumer i have the right to know what was said and what BMC's thoughts are? 

 

I also thought that Herman would be trying his best to fight FOR my case and assist in doing everything he can to get this warranty claim passed. His take on the situation is that he has sent the photo's and they (BMC) have come back and said they are not replacing the frame. He has done what is expected!!! For someone in customer service this is a poor show.

 

Coming from a family of professional and semi-professional triathletes who all rode BMC. i can assure you that this will be the end of the road.

 

Any suggestions for me??

 

That's not a very good start for one of Abloc's first warranties processed.

 

It's quite strange that he is not willing to share his correspondance with BMC Switzerland or the response on the warranty claim. It makes you wander if the claim was even submitted to the Swiss in the first place.

[simondougall]

Yes, perhaps before you threaten to move your entire family off of BMC, rather first try and deal with it more diplomatically. Social media tantrums and threats are so last year.

They have already left!

This is  not a tantrum it is a request for input or help?

[Eddy Gordo]

consumer protector will help you out

[Skinnyone]

Perhaps a way of looking at it is that a broken bolt is not necessarily a manufacturing fault (covered in the warranty) but a maintenance issue (or lack thereof) which is not covered by warranty...perhaps the bolt was over OR under tightened causing it to break? 

 

Has every avenue been explored to remove the remainder of the bolt? I am sure with a set of easy outs and generous application of WD40 or the like, the piece left in the frame would come out...

[Eugene]

consumer protector will help you out

Nope. It's been more than 6 months since purchase.

[Christofison]

Perhaps a way of looking at it is that a broken bolt is not necessarily a manufacturing fault (covered in the warranty) but a maintenance issue (or lack thereof) which is not covered by warranty...perhaps the bolt was over OR under tightened causing it to break? 

 

Has every avenue been explored to remove the remainder of the bolt? I am sure with a set of easy outs and generous application of WD40 or the like, the piece left in the frame would come out...

 

I saw the bike after this happened. The bolt is not broken. It's more like the sleeve that the bolt screws into has come loose from the inside of the carbon seatstay. Definitely a warranty issue.

[Pikey]

Surely he should disclose Bmc's response . When I recently broke a Carbon wheel the dealer who dealt with my claim showed me cape cycles & sram usa's response .

[SwissVan]

They have already left!

This is not a tantrum it is a request for input or help?

Please post a picture of the snapped bolt in MTT

I’m trying to figure out what this is

 

Maybe the claim was rejected because they think the bolt was over tightened.

 

I do agree it would be “reassuring” to see this in writing from BMC HQ

[Bitsy]

contact BMC directly and let them know about the service you received from their local representation. Lets measure how they respond to RSA fans.

 

https://www.bmc-switzerland.com/int-en/support/contact/contact-customer-service/

[Eddy Gordo]

Reminds me of my warranty claim with Kona a few years ago. Cant remember the bike shop that used to be the agents before Diald. They brushed me off, then Kona international did the same. Last time I will ever buy a kona, luckily the bike was insured.

 

Hope the op gets sorted out.

[love2fly]

Hey guys

 

Sorry I'm only replying on this feed now but its been a bit hectic with closing shop etc.

It was not BMC Switzerland or Herman Bekker that was involved with us closing down but more the economic times and we couldn't see a way of digging out of the hole we were in.

 

In a last effort to keep the business going and bring on an investor we met with Herman to discuss his new business proposal. The offer he was suggesting was a 9% commission on bikes sales. Unfortunately that just means we would not be able to make enough to pay the bills.

 

We approached Herman to re-look at the model as for my investor to put money into the business to keep it afloat we would need a more decent incentive then the potential for a 9% commission. We suggested that he would need Swiss Cycles as a partner going forward and we were keen to keep pushing the brand.

 

Unfortunately he felt that it was too late to look into changing his new model and so we decided then it was time to call it quits and close down the shop.

 

I still love the brand and hope BMC can still grow in SA - but guess time will tell.

 

To all you currently riding BMC keep it up its a great brand!

 

Cheers

Justin

Hi Justin

Sad, sad news.

It was always a great pleasure to deal with yourself and Nicole.

Always great to have a good chat and a nicer couple you would struggle to find.

I hope you guys chase a new rainbow very soon!

Cheers

Torsten