Cannondale Warranty Issue. I need advice.

[BIKE ADDICT]

Hi Johan. For the hubbers, This happened at our store. Durwan, who is still assisting you with your warranty claim and even still replied to your message today at 17 30 did mention what Cannondale said and forewarded you there email. The crankset runs FSA blades and is now sent to them for warranty, but these things take time as they have to be submited to America for the claim.

Yes there was some initial cable rubbing on the blades with the front derailleur as cable stretching does happen for the 1st couple of rides and even if you do set it correctly and the streatching may cause it to do the same again especially on a new bike. Since the bike was there the last time and “98” correct we have not heard from you again. If there was any issue you could just phone Durwan, who also lives in Paarl and he would fetch the bike at your house and deliver again as you are aware. The chainrings are serverly bent, please do post pictures. We have not seen this bad of damage from “front derailleur rubbing yet”.

Nevertheless, yes the warranty does not lay with us, but we do take responsibility if a technician made an error and have insurance for this. This case very hard to understand how the blade could bend the way it did because of that. As mentioned to you today durwan would phone FSA again tomorrow to hear what they have to say and in no way have we said we are walking away. From the stores side the staff member assisting and have helped in a very professional way submitting all paperwork and photos for the claim.

We appreciate your business with us this far, and believe our handeling of the “warranty claim” has been done correctly. Durwan will be in contact with you again tomorrow as he did mention today after he receive a answer from FSA and then we can take it further to see how we can assist.

[Butterbean]

Hi Johan. For the hubbers, This happened at our store. Durwan, who is still assisting you with your warranty claim and even still replied to your message today at 17 30 did mention what Cannondale said and forewarded you there email. The crankset runs FSA blades and is now sent to them for warranty, but these things take time as they have to be submited to America for the claim.

Yes there was some initial cable rubbing on the blades with the front derailleur as cable stretching does happen for the 1st couple of rides and even if you do set it correctly and the streatching may cause it to do the same again especially on a new bike. Since the bike was there the last time and “98” correct we have not heard from you again. If there was any issue you could just phone Durwan, who also lives in Paarl and he would fetch the bike at your house and deliver again as you are aware. The chainrings are serverly bent, please do post pictures. We have not seen this bad of damage from “front derailleur rubbing yet”.

Nevertheless, yes the warranty does not lay with us, but we do take responsibility if a technician made an error and have insurance for this. This case very hard to understand how the blade could bend the way it did because of that. As mentioned to you today durwan would phone FSA again tomorrow to hear what they have to say and in no way have we said we are walking away. From the stores side the staff member assisting and have helped in a very professional way submitting all paperwork and photos for the claim.

We appreciate your business with us this far, and believe our handeling of the “warranty claim” has been done correctly. Durwan will be in contact with you again tomorrow as he did mention today after he receive a answer from FSA and then we can take it further to see how we can assist.

I think this is a great coaching point for many bike shops, and as bike addict has been a bit of a sore point for a few hubbers, it's a pity that you're garnering a bit of a reputation here...

 

However, while your responses seem very reasonable and you're probably right, you, as a shop, have failed to make sure your client feels comforted in the way you're handling his matter - even though yours handling it correctly. He's come on here because he's lost faith enough to feel he needs a second opinion, and that means your customer care level is probably lacking...

 

Again, a common issue at bike shops where people these days are laying down small fortunes.

 

In my honest opinion, and coming from a service related background, your best bet would be to understand this did come from a setup issue, and to simply replace the rings... I mean, without your margins you're not losing that much, and you can fight the warrantee without having to babysit a customer's feelings... He clearly feels he deserves more as he's repeated the fact that he's spent over 100k in the last few months... Do you really want to risk a customer like that for a couple of rings and a new chain?

 

Use it, don't use it... But you've got some reputation damage to put right...

[BIKE ADDICT]

The derailleur hight on the bike is correct, the photos from the top may be misleading. After the intiial noise, the technician just adjusted the cable tension and may have tightened the crankset more or spaced it differently if there was a play issue. We ask all our clients where it is possible to come for a after sales checkup to adjust these problems if they occurr.We state again, this damage to the blade was submitted to the relevant agents and we are awaiting outcome from them 1st as conunicated today. Unfortunately we can not just replace products under warranty claims as we see fit but have to go thru the right channels. If they the experts then come back to us and say user issue or setup issue etc we will handle the situation from the decisions that was made.

Durwan has been and will be on contact with you on regards to the issue.

[cadenceblur]

Aah. So it's okay for him to have to do without his new bicycle while he waits for a warranty answer? This on a new bike? This also being a "valuable"!customer? Quite short sighted I must agree with the previous poster.. Too many issues coming from same shop as well.... Coincidence?

[Butterbean]

The derailleur hight on the bike is correct, the photos from the top may be misleading. After the intiial noise, the technician just adjusted the cable tension and may have tightened the crankset more or spaced it differently if there was a play issue. We ask all our clients where it is possible to come for a after sales checkup to adjust these problems if they occurr.We state again, this damage to the blade was submitted to the relevant agents and we are awaiting outcome from them 1st as conunicated today. Unfortunately we can not just replace products under warranty claims as we see fit but have to go thru the right channels. If they the experts then come back to us and say user issue or setup issue etc we will handle the situation from the decisions that was made.

Durwan has been and will be on contact with you on regards to the issue.

Did you just say you and your staff at the bike shop are not experts?

 

Because let's face it.

 

Either you set up the part incorrectly, or you think the customer is lying on what happened to the blade.

 

If it's scenario one, you're taking your chances to try and get a free part for your negligence. You may have insurance for these things but let's be honest, everyone avoids using insurance if possible.

 

Second scenario is you being to scared to be honest with a client and share your doubts on the cause of the part. So you're leaving it to omnico and FSA to tell him he's lying instead. Why not just be truthful?

 

Because you and every non expert know full well that the blade didn't just crumple on its own...

[BIKE ADDICT]

Hi Joss

We believe our customer has been very well comunicated with and all paperwork submitted.But also please understand from our point of view that we can not take responsibility for every warranty claim but also have to follow the correct channels as we can not make a judgement of the outcome. If something happens because of poor workmanship or a error on a technician’s side, we can take responsibiliy straight away.

You might think we can just replace the rings and dont worry about the cost but 100k of bikes from this customer has also received more than 15 000 in discounts so the margin is not at all that much. We do believe we are acting in professional and ethical way of this claim and we have not said we can or will not assist the client further but mainly stated the warranty does lay with the relevant supplier and its for them to make a judgement 1st. If we do deceide to replace the chainring out of goodwill that will be make after the warranty claim outcome has been given, in this case waiting on supplier. We have offered the client a chainring at cost it the meantime and if the claim is approved we can refund the customer.

We have had very few complaints on the hub about our store, yes in minority if you see the amount of bikes we deal on a monthly basis.

There is allot of positive reviews on our Facebook page where we are allot more active. We try to keep all our customers happy bit unfortunately as in any business that is not always possible and have to settle for the vast majority.

We are a relatively “young” bike store with “young staff” compared to the rest of the industry, and still learning how to deal with certain situations in the best possible way, but we feel we are improving on that.

If there is any issues management is not made aware of anyone can feel welcome to submit if to admin@bike-addict.co.za.

 

For now we will focus on more great prices for our customers with very low margins. Please browse our Facebook page to see all our positive customer reviews,great deals or go and have a look at our website. www.bike-addict.co.za. We are always open to negotiating and we will always try to deliver the best possible service we can. Thank you to all our customers for the loyal support for 2018 and we hope to see you back in 2019.

 

Keep well,

Bike Addict

I think this is a great coaching point for many bike shops, and as bike addict has been a bit of a sore point for a few hubbers, it's a pity that you're garnering a bit of a reputation here...

 

However, while your responses seem very reasonable and you're probably right, you, as a shop, have failed to make sure your client feels comforted in the way you're handling his matter - even though yours handling it correctly. He's come on here because he's lost faith enough to feel he needs a second opinion, and that means your customer care level is probably lacking...

 

Again, a common issue at bike shops where people these days are laying down small fortunes.

 

In my honest opinion, and coming from a service related background, your best bet would be to understand this did come from a setup issue, and to simply replace the rings... I mean, without your margins you're not losing that much, and you can fight the warrantee without having to babysit a customer's feelings... He clearly feels he deserves more as he's repeated the fact that he's spent over 100k in the last few months... Do you really want to risk a customer like that for a couple of rings and a new chain?

 

Use it, don't use it... But you've got some reputation damage to put right...

[BIKE ADDICT]

We will rather leave this discussion with our client directly. Unfortunately we will no longer entertain any hub forums, even if what the client says is true or false. Cannondale’s reaponse was as follows and note what they are saying to workmanship:

 

Hi Ederies,

 

I have looked at the pictures provided. The damage to the chainring are not consistent with the type of failure associated with a defect in workmanship or material.

 

It is most likely as a result of some external force or impact, and would not be covered by the Cannondale warrantee. Please see warrantee terms below;

 

https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/WarrantyInfo

 

Roubaix world is the agent locally should you require a replacement part.

 

http://roubaixworld.co.za/contact

 

Kind regards

[Butterbean]

We will rather leave this discussion with our client directly. Unfortunately we will no longer entertain any hub forums, even if what the client says is true or false. Cannondale’s reaponse was as follows and note what they are saying to workmanship:

 

Hi Ederies,

 

I have looked at the pictures provided. The damage to the chainring are not consistent with the type of failure associated with a defect in workmanship or material.

 

It is most likely as a result of some external force or impact, and would not be covered by the Cannondale warrantee. Please see warrantee terms below;

 

https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/WarrantyInfo

 

Roubaix world is the agent locally should you require a replacement part.

 

http://roubaixworld.co.za/contact

 

Kind regards

Yeah good luck with that business approach. You just ensured that I won't ever be buying from your business in future. Over a chainring.

[Madone69]

if you waiting for the warranty issues to be resolved,your client is left stranded with a R100k door stopper. 

at least install a second hand crankset to keep your client  going till the warranty is sorted....in any case you probably looking at late January next year.

[Jackson123]

We will rather leave this discussion with our client directly. Unfortunately we will no longer entertain any hub forums, even if what the client says is true or false. Cannondale’s reaponse was as follows and note what they are saying to workmanship:

 

Hi Ederies,

 

I have looked at the pictures provided. The damage to the chainring are not consistent with the type of failure associated with a defect in workmanship or material.

 

It is most likely as a result of some external force or impact, and would not be covered by the Cannondale warrantee. Please see warrantee terms below;

 

https://www.cannondale.com/en/USA/WarrantyInfo

 

Roubaix world is the agent locally should you require a replacement part.

 

http://roubaixworld.co.za/contact

 

Kind regards

Personally, after you treated a client like this and with this kind of attitude, I will never buy anything from Bike Addict again.

[Falco]

Hi Ederies,

 

I have looked at the pictures provided. The damage to the chainring are not consistent with the type of failure associated with a defect in workmanship or material.

 

It is most likely as a result of some external force or impact, and would not be covered by the Cannondale warrantee. Please see warrantee terms below;

 

 

This.

 

I call BS on the incorrect adjustment story. Chain rubbing is one thing, impact damage is another. No amount of chain rub would bend a ring like that.

 

The OP needs to put on his big girl panties and accept responsibility for what has gone wrong. That damage was not caused by Cannondale or bike shop setup..

[Meezo]

I also not to take Bike Addict side, that does not look like an adjustment issue or alignment issue.

 

Looks like it was smashed by something or against something.

[Edereese]

BS or NOT... OP clearly states that he did not shift all the way down, so the bike could have been damaged before purchased or damaged during transit. Either way, fixing the issue vs losing a client, I say fix the issue. Even agree to go fifty fifty.. Surely the store could have found better solution to this.

[Escapee..]

I was siding with Bike addict on their initial responses in this thread.

 

Yes maybe they did lack in customer service by not giving more feedback to the customer (as in a daily phone call or mail or message) but I can 100% understand the warranty process issue and it takes time to get this sorted out.

 

When you see that the warranty avenue is not going to work you really should make a call and decide if he/she is a valuable customer or not (all of them are if you are wondering).

 

Perhaps you are too "young" to understand this.

 

I know you also said you wont engage on any hub forums from now on. If you do decide to engage, try to do a spell check. It just looks professional...

[JohanDiv]

Hi Johan. For the hubbers, This happened at our store. Durwan, who is still assisting you with your warranty claim and even still replied to your message today at 17 30 did mention what Cannondale said and forewarded you there email. The crankset runs FSA blades and is now sent to them for warranty, but these things take time as they have to be submited to America for the claim.

Yes there was some initial cable rubbing on the blades with the front derailleur as cable stretching does happen for the 1st couple of rides and even if you do set it correctly and the streatching may cause it to do the same again especially on a new bike. Since the bike was there the last time and “98” correct we have not heard from you again. If there was any issue you could just phone Durwan, who also lives in Paarl and he would fetch the bike at your house and deliver again as you are aware. The chainrings are serverly bent, please do post pictures. We have not seen this bad of damage from “front derailleur rubbing yet”.

Nevertheless, yes the warranty does not lay with us, but we do take responsibility if a technician made an error and have insurance for this. This case very hard to understand how the blade could bend the way it did because of that. As mentioned to you today durwan would phone FSA again tomorrow to hear what they have to say and in no way have we said we are walking away. From the stores side the staff member assisting and have helped in a very professional way submitting all paperwork and photos for the claim.

We appreciate your business with us this far, and believe our handeling of the “warranty claim” has been done correctly. Durwan will be in contact with you again tomorrow as he did mention today after he receive a answer from FSA and then we can take it further to see how we can assist.

 

Hi BikeAddict,

 

Thanks for your reply.

I was deliberately trying to avoid naming your store. As you can see, tempers tend to flare up on the hub as soon as a bikeshop name is mentioned. 

I was genuinely only posting here to get the advice/point of view of the fellow hubbers, and sort out the matter between us. The last thing I was aiming to do was "name and shame".

 

But seeing that this is where we are now:

 

1) You claim to have been professionally communicating. Maybe that is true between you and Omnico and FSA, but not with me. Durwan has NOT forwarded any mails of Omnico to me. In fact, I have not received a single email or update from your side on this matter. You have had my bike since 27 November, and not once did you tell my or explain to me the process that was being followed. If I didn't send a whatsapp to Durwan yesterday, would I even have heard back from you yet? I'm going on holiday on Thursday, and I'm still without my bike. Does it really take 3 weeks for Omnico/FSA to inspect PHOTOS(not the actual bike) and make a decision?

I can understand that it was Black Friday and you had to work through that backlog, but even that has been almost three weeks ago. The first mention of FSA also only came at 20:30 last night when Durwan whatsapped me, just before you made this post. He said that he is only going to start talking to FSA today.

 

2) The "initial cable rubbing on the blades" was most definitely NOT from cable stretching of a new bike. This is not the first, second, third or even fourth bike I've owned. Never was this type of rubbing a issue. I agree that cable stretching happens and you adjust it with the first service, but it happens over a few rides, not 3km in on your first ride and the horrific sound it made. From the start that was the issue. Cable stretching also doesn't explain the wobbly crank action when pedaling down with the right foot. 

 

3) I cannot post pictures as you ask, because my bike is still with you. You have not seen this bad damage from "front derailleur rubbing yet"? Maybe front derailleur rubbing was not the actual issue then, maybe the crank isn't running straight and true? Maybe that's the wobbly action I informed you of. Seems like you keep trying to find a downstream solution to a upstream problem when I kept bringing it back.

 

4) You never said you were walking away, I said, I was thinking of walking away. But sure doesn't sound like your willing to come to the table. Offering me a new chainring at normal price. Then me asking if you are willing to reconsider in the light of me being a loyal customer spending a small fortune at your store the last few months. Then you offer a ring at cost price. That's not coming to the table in my opinion. Somebody has to pay for the chainring, and it's not going to be me. I have always been more than happy to pay for parts when I know it's my fault etc. I have spend thousands on parts at your shop. I won't be making a fuss about a simple chainring if I knew for a fact that I didn't misuse it. It is simply just not right to pedal a bike that is 300km old and a chainring folds in under you. Now it sounds that you are trying to make me out as a liar with all this back and forth with Omnico and FSA? You can ask Durwan, he knows me from Kroff Cycle days. I look after my bikes. I could honestly not be to bothered about a few hundred rands for a new chainring, but the way you are handling this situation has been eye opening and is now a matter of principle to me. What if this was my shock of R15k giving problems?

 

From the sound of it, I'm not having my bike back before I leave on holiday Thursday?

[Edereese]

Hi BikeAddict,

 

Thanks for your reply.

I was deliberately trying to avoid naming your store. As you can see, tempers tend to flare up on the hub as soon as a bikeshop name is mentioned. 

I was genuinely only posting here to get the advice/point of view of the fellow hubbers, and sort out the matter between us. The last thing I was aiming to do was "name and shame".

 

But seeing that this is where we are now:

 

1) You claim to have been professionally communicating. Maybe that is true between you and Omnico and FSA, but not with me. Durwan has NOT forwarded any mails of Omnico to me. In fact, I have not received a single email or update from your side on this matter. You have had my bike since 27 November, and not once did you tell my or explain to me the process that was being followed. If I didn't send a whatsapp to Durwan yesterday, would I even have heard back from you yet? I'm going on holiday on Thursday, and I'm still without my bike. Does it really take 3 weeks for Omnico/FSA to inspect PHOTOS(not the actual bike) and make a decision?

I can understand that it was Black Friday and you had to work through that backlog, but even that has been almost three weeks ago. The first mention of FSA also only came at 20:30 last night when Durwan whatsapped me, just before you made this post. He said that he is only going to start talking to FSA today.

 

2) The "initial cable rubbing on the blades" was most definitely NOT from cable stretching of a new bike. This is not the first, second, third or even fourth bike I've owned. Never was this type of rubbing a issue. I agree that cable stretching happens and you adjust it with the first service, but it happens over a few rides, not 3km in on your first ride and the horrific sound it made. From the start that was the issue. Cable stretching also doesn't explain the wobbly crank action when pedaling down with the right foot. 

 

3) I cannot post pictures as you ask, because my bike is still with you. You have not seen this bad damage from "front derailleur rubbing yet"? Maybe front derailleur rubbing was not the actual issue then, maybe the crank isn't running straight and true? Maybe that's the wobbly action I informed you of. Seems like you keep trying to find a downstream solution to a upstream problem when I kept bringing it back.

 

4) You never said you were walking away, I said, I was thinking of walking away. But sure doesn't sound like your willing to come to the table. Offering me a new chainring at normal price. Then me asking if you are willing to reconsider in the light of me being a loyal customer spending a small fortune at your store the last few months. Then you offer a ring at cost price. That's not coming to the table in my opinion. Somebody has to pay for the chainring, and it's not going to be me. I have always been more than happy to pay for parts when I know it's my fault etc. I have spend thousands on parts at your shop. I won't be making a fuss about a simple chainring if I knew for a fact that I didn't misuse it. It is simply just not right to pedal a bike that is 300km old and a chainring folds in under you. Now it sounds that you are trying to make me out as a liar with all this back and forth with Omnico and FSA? You can ask Durwan, he knows me from Kroff Cycle days. I look after my bikes. I could honestly not be to bothered about a few hundred rands for a new chainring, but the way you are handling this situation has been eye opening and is now a matter of principle to me. What if this was my shock of R15k giving problems?

 

From the sound of it, I'm not having my bike back before I leave on holiday Thursday?

Fetch your bike, take it to a different store, buy new ring and get it fitted. Don't let a few hundred rand ruin your holiday. Your post opened a few eyes on the hub, take that as a win. Me personally, I will never support bike addict, even if the item is for free.