Poor service CWC

[Edition 507]

Eventually a sales person approaches and i ask about the availability of the flux 2. He proceeds to inform me that the flux s is in fact the flux 2. I've obviously done my research and know that the flux s is not the flux 2 and that there are definite differences between the two.

 

 

Oh for flux sake, I'm sure the 's' model will be just fine!

[Wannabe]

Now that I think about it, I do have a complaint about my visit to CWC yesterday. 

 

I asked if I could demo some Latex Tubes, and they did not allow me to. That's it, the last straw, I'll never buy anything from them ever again.

Sorry Oom Chris, not even your friendly handshake will let me return to your shop. 

[hagar]

Nope that's not it im the skinny cycling build.

 

Maybe he thought i couldn't afford the trainer.

 

Going to visit the other well known store in malmesbury tomorrow. Hoping to find better service there. They will probably get my money if they'll allow me to demo. Leaning towards the kickr core.

i found that a review from DC rainmaker helps me decide and then a purchase from chain reaction saved me 7k on my bushido and i was told that on training equipment there are no import duties only vat 

[thisismyotherbike]

Oh for flux sake, I'm sure the 's' model will be just fine!

 

It is a great trainer yes, but the S is +-16% cheaper than the 2.  Main spec differences are max power (2000w vs 1500w), max simulated gradient (16% vs 10%, I think this is the most significant) and flywheel weight.  Not to mention the blue detailing 

 

Frankly the price they have the Flux S listed at is the Flux 2 price.  You would have to be smoking your socks to take that over a Kickr Core.

 

At the appropriate price (+-R10-R11.5k) the Flux S is the superior purchase I think.  At the +-R13-14k level the Flux 2 SHOULD be trading at the there is simply no contest as the Kickr Core walks it.

 

Trying to sell the S as "practically as good as the 2" is fine if you sell the S at the appropriate price.  R15k for the S is nuts.  In fact it's too pricey for the 2.

[racingheart]

Good day, I’m sorry to read about your ordeal with regards to wanting a demo unit before you buy. Elite offers demo units of the direto direct drive interactive power meter trainer, you welcome to test it in the comfort of your home and one of the sales reps will set it up and give you some information about the product. Contact Nsquared distribution 0217090522, or myself 0829221146, Brandon

[Robbie Stewart]

So, I just waltzed in to CWC due to wanting a light to lessen my chance of being hit by a cell-imbued driver. I got some good service after uuhm-ing and aahing between brands, and together with my pink Tygerberg MTB card, some nice discount to boot.

So, it's not ALL doom and gloom. 

I am just being factually honest from my own experience, and cannot comment on other people's experiences.

[ChrisF]

So, I just waltzed in to CWC due to wanting a light to lessen my chance of being hit by a cell-imbued driver. I got some good service after uuhm-ing and aahing between brands, and together with my pink Tygerberg MTB card, some nice discount to boot.

 

So, it's not ALL doom and gloom. 

 

I am just being factually honest from my own experience, and cannot comment on other people's experiences.

 

ag nee man Robbie ....

 

sure your post is factually correct .... but this is a complaints thread, absolutely no compliments allowed here ...

[83kctr]

I'll add my 2c aswell. I Try and avoid them as much as possible. Workshop and Sales service is poor. I'll still buy online from them when it's on sale but I end up spending more these days on product and services at freewheel cycology because their service is just a millions times better

[Sbloomer]

My opinion, this isn't just CWC.  Pretty much every bike establishment I have been in is like that, except for Lyne.  But CWC and the one in Searle Street must rate as the worst.

[Red Bird]

Try being female - it's as if you don't even exist. Given up on them and a few other northern suburbs bikeshops for that reason.

The worst is when they give you the baby talk assuming you don’t understand anything about a bike.

[Mamil]

If I try being female could I become world champ....

 

[quote name="dannygirl" post="3457365"

 

 

Try being female - it's as if you don't even exist. Given up on them and a few other northern suburbs bikeshops for that reason.

[Kranswurm]

The worst is when they give you the baby talk assuming you don’t understand anything about a bike.

Ha ha

My mom used to do that if a cripple or someone with a physical deformity came to the door begging.

[Bbbbbbbb]

I had really bad service from 4ways cycle lab.

Took 6 days for my service.

Was told a list of replacement items before even 2 min ( some internal parts)

 

My complaint was on

Bad service , phone dropped in my ear, bike taking 6 days

 

Questionable ethics

Told to replace parts before even attempting to properly look at it, after making a ruckus was sent photos of my parts ( apparently)

 

Lodged complaints with head office and with scott on bad service and quality of product.

 

Was basically told sorry you feel that way but we and our guys are right.

 

Scott guy gave me a 20 min phone call where i was constantly compared to pros who have to do full service almost monthly....

 

Cycle lab H.o didn’t even bother to phone me, just 3 emails. And then used my strava km as baseline on a 9 month old bike. Thats after telling them i have ridding different bikes and the 2800 - all watt bikes sessions and trainer sessions prob = around 1800 or 1900 probly in the region of less that 1800 on actual bike. That showed them that on ave i ride outside twice a week, regardless of distance or conditions road or mud...

 

Then checked that against the cycle lab records and promptly decided i have never done any maintenance on my bike because it is not on their record.

 

Closed by saying oh you say you wont buy from us again, ok sorry you feel that way but sure we respect that.

 

I will not recommend cycle lab to any one! They just don’t care. Not at store not at head office

[no calves]

Why is it that it boils down to the BUYER having to BEG the SHOP to take its money. These days i walk into a shop and pay extra to stand in the workshop and help work on my bike, thats just to make sure whoever works on my bike is as OCD as i am. Before i go in to buy a part of whatever i have done my research.. dont try and persuade me otherwise, I WANT WHAT I WANT so STFU and order me what i want and take my money FFS.

[Eddy Gordo]

I had really bad service from 4ways cycle lab.

Took 6 days for my service.

Was told a list of replacement items before even 2 min ( some internal parts)

 

My complaint was on

Bad service , phone dropped in my ear, bike taking 6 days

 

Questionable ethics

Told to replace parts before even attempting to properly look at it, after making a ruckus was sent photos of my parts ( apparently)

 

Lodged complaints with head office and with scott on bad service and quality of product.

 

Was basically told sorry you feel that way but we and our guys are right.

 

Scott guy gave me a 20 min phone call where i was constantly compared to pros who have to do full service almost monthly....

 

Cycle lab H.o didn’t even bother to phone me, just 3 emails. And then used my strava km as baseline on a 9 month old bike. Thats after telling them i have ridding different bikes and the 2800 - all watt bikes sessions and trainer sessions prob = around 1800 or 1900 probly in the region of less that 1800 on actual bike. That showed them that on ave i ride outside twice a week, regardless of distance or conditions road or mud...

 

Then checked that against the cycle lab records and promptly decided i have never done any maintenance on my bike because it is not on their record.

 

Closed by saying oh you say you wont buy from us again, ok sorry you feel that way but sure we respect that.

 

I will not recommend cycle lab to any one! They just don’t care. Not at store not at head office

I was looking for some road shoes last year. I sent them an email and it took cycl3 lab about 4 weeks to reply. I was not in a rush in any case and was still looking around at options. Non the less if email is a means of contact then it should be checked at least daily

[SeanBadenhorst]

I had really bad service from 4ways cycle lab.

Took 6 days for my service.

Was told a list of replacement items before even 2 min ( some internal parts)

 

My complaint was on

Bad service , phone dropped in my ear, bike taking 6 days

 

Questionable ethics

Told to replace parts before even attempting to properly look at it, after making a ruckus was sent photos of my parts ( apparently)

 

Lodged complaints with head office and with scott on bad service and quality of product.

 

Was basically told sorry you feel that way but we and our guys are right.

 

Scott guy gave me a 20 min phone call where i was constantly compared to pros who have to do full service almost monthly....

 

Cycle lab H.o didn’t even bother to phone me, just 3 emails. And then used my strava km as baseline on a 9 month old bike. Thats after telling them i have ridding different bikes and the 2800 - all watt bikes sessions and trainer sessions prob = around 1800 or 1900 probly in the region of less that 1800 on actual bike. That showed them that on ave i ride outside twice a week, regardless of distance or conditions road or mud...

 

Then checked that against the cycle lab records and promptly decided i have never done any maintenance on my bike because it is not on their record.

 

Closed by saying oh you say you wont buy from us again, ok sorry you feel that way but sure we respect that.

 

I will not recommend cycle lab to any one! They just don’t care. Not at store not at head office

 

Hi Jacques. Posting my email to you here for perspective: Following your detailed complaint relating to ‘bad service and shocking attitude’ from Cycle Lab and SCOTT and having spoken to all staff involved, I have the following response:

 

You booked in your bike just after 11h00 on Sunday 27 January asking for a major service and for it to be ready for collection the next day, Monday 28 January. It’s very unusual for us to agree to a next-day collection for a major service, but in cases where the customer specifically requests this, we try to make an exception, as we did for you.

 

Wynand, who was attending to you and who is one of our most experienced workshop staff members, quickly discovered, through his experience, that your bike’s drivetrain was worn to the point that it would require replacement in order to function efficiently. This can be seen by an experienced eye (wear on the chainring and cassette teeth as well as elongation/sag of the chain) as well as with confirmation of the chain-measuring tool. He also noticed it would need new bearings based on the creaking noise it made when pressure was placed on the pedal while the bike was stationary.

 

You said the bike was rather new (you purchased it from Cycle Lab Fourways on 13 March 2018 – approximately nine months prior to your bringing it in for its first service with us). As you will have been recommended by the Cycle Lab salesperson when you bought the bike (this is a compulsory part of our bike sales process), you should bring the bike in for a free check/tune-up after 6 weeks, which it appears you didn’t do. We sent you a SMS with a voucher code when you paid for the bike that allows you to redeem this 6-week tune-up. We have no record of your bike being brought to our workshop prior to your late January 2019 visit.

 

Had you brought your bike in for its free six-week check-up/tune, you would have been recommended to have a minor service done three months later. At that minor service, we can normally detect a pattern of wear and would then make a recommendation on when you should consider the first major service, or a subsequent minor service. This usually depends on how much you ride per week. Based on your Strava account history, you ride on average twice a week outdoors and in 2018 you rode at total of 125 hours. I know this includes indoor training and the outdoor rides weren’t all on the SCOTT Spark, but it does indicate you ride outdoors regularly, which is quite normal in South Africa (and obviously encouraged!).

 

Your bike was returned to your home by Deane, our workshop manager, after hours on the Monday (28 January). It had been stripped, checked and reassembled without any work taking place because you wanted the bike to be returned that day. He presented you with photographs of your worn/rusted pivots, bearings and drivetrain. You say you don’t know for sure that these were your parts. It’s not in our interests to show you anyone else’s bike’s parts. We do this because it’s visual confirmation of our mechanics’ assessment. We also returned your bike’s old/worn/rusted parts after the major service was done. It’s not in our interest to give you anything other than your bike’s parts, the external ones of which should be recognisable. It’s common practice at all bicycle store workshops to do this.

 

Because you asked for SCOTT to give their opinion, this meant contacting the SCOTT technical guy, Johan, the following day, Monday 28 January (he doesn’t work on weekends). He was in Cape Town on business and couldn’t take our store’s call right away. He called you on the Wednesday, 30 January. He agreed to giving you a discount on a new pivot kit.

 

You mention that you’re a weekend rider and not a serious racer. This has no effect on the wear and tear of moving parts on a bicycle. What does have an effect is the regular maintenance (or lack thereof) of these parts, which is why we (and other bike shops) recommend at least two minor and one major service a year if you ride regularly. As you probably know, riding in wet or muddy conditions can accelerate wear on moving parts, especially your drivetrain, pivots and bearings.

 

Deane collected your bike to do the Major Service and then delivered at your home afterwards. This is not a normal offering for customers. He went out of his way here.

 

Regarding Wynand putting the phone down on you: he said you became abusive and he didn’t feel it was warranted. Instead of getting emotional and defending himself, he decided to rather end the call. He asked Deane to call you rather.

 

The chainring: Yes, they made the error of replacing it with the incorrect one and needed to order the one you wanted. This was our fault for which we apologised.

 

Jacques, it’s important that you are aware that Cycle Lab is a very customer-centric business. We go the extra mile for our customers. It’s not in our interests to treat customers badly or replace parts that don’t require replacement. We employ humans, who do make mistakes at times, but we always apologise where it’s warranted and try to ensure our customers are happy.

 

Where we might not have met your expectations, there was a good reason (as explained above). What I would like to point out is that had you brought your bike in for it’s 6-week check/tune-up, this is unlikely to have become the issue it has. To ride a bike for nine months before taking it for any kind of service is quite a lengthy period, but not necessarily excessive (depends how much it’s been ridden and in what conditions).

To expect any mainstream bike shop to complete a Major Service in one day is also a bit of a push. As I said we can do this if there are no complications and we have the capacity. But your request to bring SCOTT into the picture added a complication which was unfortunate.

 

I have tried to cover everything in this response. If I have missed anything, please let me know. I have also been as objective as possible, trying to see the situation from your perspective and our perspective. I can see you are a keen, committed bicycle rider and runner, which is fantastic. I know you said you will never buy another SCOTT or return to Cycle Lab again, which is obviously unfortunate. We hope you’ll change your mind, but respect your decision either way. 

 

Sean Badenhorst, MoreCycle Marketing Manager