Cyclelab letting me down.... what now?

[Rhodent]

It is with a heavy heart that I even start this thread.... but I am really hoping that it prompts a bit of service delivery and has a happy ending for all involved... and it really is my last resort!

I have been an avid cycle lab supporter for close on 20 years... Every bike that I have purchased has been from them... current standing being 3 road bikes, 4 mountain bikes and 1 E-MTB. But this latest purchase has been very likely the worst customer service I have received from ANY service provider.

Details as follows...

I moved up to the north west province of Zambia earlier this year - our initial plan had been the UK, and we had sold all our bikes to help fund this idea, when this very happy alternative arose. And this place is cycling (Particularly MTB) manna from heaven. In the middle of no where, we have free, unlimited access to well maintained, amazing trails both on the local golf estate and in the surrounding game reserves.... Needless to say I had to get bikes ASAP. 

Given that there is limited availability in Zambia, this meant importing from SA - enter cyclelab.First enquiries made on 6th September, took a few follow up emails to prompt some response (Admittedly my emails were going to spam so I cut them some slack), but the basis of the order was as follows:

1 x Silverback Stride Expert

1 x Titan E-1 

1 x Ryder Dual pedals for the Silverback

1 x Ryder MTB Shoes

Tubeless conversions on both bikes

To their credit, cycle lab offered to do the conversions for free (Even though I was happy to pay).

 

Fast forward a few weeks, and the bikes arrive, along with the extras. E-Bike tyres are flat, with sealant leaking - no big deal, means I can see the conversion was done. So I dont think twice about the Silverback.

But then the issues start....

1. Box for pedals had been previously opened, and resealed. Clips for the shoes were missing, and box contained two RIGHT pedals. So there goes the idea of riding with cleats for a while. I let Cyclelab know right away. At this stage I mentioned that all else was great.

2. Head out for the first ride on the Silverback - Constant scraping sound. Check the brakes - rotors are bent. Great. 

3. After doing what I can to get the rotors straight enough to not feel like I am riding with brakes on all the time, I start to get more out of the bike. Until the 1st puncture (Bear in mind I hadnt checked the silverback, just taken it for granted as the Titan conversion was done). Lo and behold, tubes in both silverback tyres. No conversion done.

 

Needless to say I then lost it. But this is where it gets really annoying....

ANY communications I send to Cyclelab requires constant follow up. 2,3,4 emails before I get a response. When I did get a response, the manager I spoke to was great and promised to sort issues out - including sending all the materials needed for the conversions, replacement rotors, and as I was choosing not to replace the pedals we agreed to a credit on the pedals, I would fill my basket with some other goods and pay any difference, and they would send to me.

NOW I MUST ADMIT THAT I AM NOT INNOCENT -  There were some delays on my side, I was rather loathe to pay the exorbitant courier fees to send the pedals back, so waited until a colleage travelled down south, and sent the pedals with them for delivery in SA. 

That said, I then had an unexpected trip to SA come up - so immediately contacted cyclelab to let them know I would be in JHB, and if they could arrange everything, let me pay the difference, and get the goods to me in JHB - it would save huge amounts of time, and more importantly - would save them the duties and courier costs to send the items to me in Zambia.

I had one response saying they would arrange...and then radio silence. I have not had confirmation that they recieved the pedals (Other than the proof that they were sent from my colleague), I have not had a credit for them, or invoice for whats outstanding once taking into account the additional purchases, they never got anything to me in JHB so missed that chance before I came back here, and not they do not respond to whatsapps or emails in which I am basically begging to just get this sorted.

Their online manager was online on whatsapp 5 minutes ago - the last four messages I have sent have not been read. Strong ignoring game.

I just want to ride my bike, with no hassles, without worrying about flats, without scraping breaks... its been over 3 months since I ordered these bikes, and while I have been riding, I am yet to fully enjoy a ride....

I am completely at a loss for what to do next in this case... I am really starting to consider the possibility that cyclelab couldnt give a damn about some chop in the north of Zambia, and will just cut their losses ( or mine in this case)

[mecheng89]

Very sad to hear. Customer service is out the windows these days. 

[Me rida my bicycle]

A lot of these online "mega" stores just don't give a 💩. They will get back to you to a certain point and then just slowly disappear and hope you give up after sometime. 

[Kom]

a bit of a non helpful tangeant to the OP, but i relevant, a colleague in Nairobi was looking for a bike and ran into glue for help with shipping when he was down here on a business trip.

Its amazing to me how most travellers dont know they have a sporting equipment allowance - my colleague now knows and with great ease just took a boxed bike back with him to be built by his LBS in nairobi. (and recently took the bike with him to NYC).

My point? 1 - online/remote ordering can let you down 2 - retail is far from dead 3 - if you want something done properly, go micro manage the sh*t out of it at the store until the get it right (more often these days than not).

[Steady Spin]

Email Andrew McLean. 

andrew@cyclelab.co.za (From herehttps://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/109788-cycle-lab-bad-customer-service/page/5/#comment-1527282)

 

This will get you the attention you need. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Steady Spin

[warick_wrx]

When I have had issues with them before a quick complaint on Hello Peter seemed to have sorted the problem out rather quickly. Looks like Andrew reads the comments on that platdform regularly. However emailing him directly would probably get an even faster response.

[RobertWhitehead]

9 hours ago, Rhodent said:

Snip

 

If you are still in SA I will fix the issues mentioned free of charge. I can't take it when incompetent people hide within the four walls of a shop. Take ownership of the issue at hand and see it through. 

Edited December 21, 2022 by RobertWhitehead
Skarramoesh

[MORNE]

19 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

If you are still in SA I will fix the issues mentioned free of charge. I can't take it when incompetent people hide within the four walls of a shop. Take ownership of the issue at hand and see it through. 

The worst part is…these sound like relatively minor things…things you could almost help someone over the phone with to fix🤷‍♂️

Edited December 21, 2022 by MORNE

[Rhodent]

42 minutes ago, RobertWhitehead said:

If you are still in SA I will fix the issues mentioned free of charge. I can't take it when incompetent people hide within the four walls of a shop. Take ownership of the issue at hand and see it through. 

Much appreciated.... if this post doesnt prompt a response I may ask you to step in... unfortunately I am back in Zambia

[Rhodent]

9 hours ago, Steady Spin said:

Email Andrew McLean. 

andrew@cyclelab.co.za (From herehttps://forum.bikehub.co.za/topic/109788-cycle-lab-bad-customer-service/page/5/#comment-1527282)

 

This will get you the attention you need. 

 

1 hour ago, warick_wrx said:

When I have had issues with them before a quick complaint on Hello Peter seemed to have sorted the problem out rather quickly. Looks like Andrew reads the comments on that platdform regularly. However emailing him directly would probably get an even faster response.

I have purposely avoided both these routes (And Bikehub for that matter) until now, as I really hoped they would step up.... for the same reason I havent mentioned the branch involved, or the individuals that have been 'helping' me...

I posted late last night, I will give them this morning then resort to plan B... man I hate having to go the Hello Peter route - feels so petty. Will likely just email Andrew....

[Rhodent]

9 hours ago, Kom said:

a bit of a non helpful tangeant to the OP, but i relevant, a colleague in Nairobi was looking for a bike and ran into glue for help with shipping when he was down here on a business trip.

Its amazing to me how most travellers dont know they have a sporting equipment allowance - my colleague now knows and with great ease just took a boxed bike back with him to be built by his LBS in nairobi. (and recently took the bike with him to NYC).

My point? 1 - online/remote ordering can let you down 2 - retail is far from dead 3 - if you want something done properly, go micro manage the sh*t out of it at the store until the get it right (more often these days than not).

If I had known this would happen (And had I known that I would be going down to SA again - at the time it was not on the cards at all) then I would totally have gone this route...

Ordering remotely was my only option.... courier and duties hurt, but not as much as the disappointment of what I received....

[M L]

10 hours ago, mecheng89 said:

Very sad to hear. Customer service is out the windows these days. 

But we do get much better prices than most LBSs - it’s a trade off.

 

[ChrisF]

16 minutes ago, M L said:

But we do get much better prices than most LBSs - it’s a trade off.

 

 

Uhmmmmm .... sorry, discount rates on some products does not justify poor customer service.

 

 

It IS nice to walk through CWC and the CL .... nice range.  But more often than not there is zero service.

[dave303e]

If you are shipping and already working in USD you may as well order direct from overseas to be honest. Last time I organized a bike for a Zambian it was cheaper that way. Think it is 25% import duty only.

Hope you come right. Also I am guessing Solwezi? Make sure you get to 1 Zambia and the Mulungushi race as well...

[Rhodent]

2 hours ago, dave303e said:

If you are shipping and already working in USD you may as well order direct from overseas to be honest. Last time I organized a bike for a Zambian it was cheaper that way. Think it is 25% import duty only.

Hope you come right. Also I am guessing Solwezi? Make sure you get to 1 Zambia and the Mulungushi race as well...

Thanks - Solwezi is correct. The 1Zambia race is definitely on the cards in the  near future!

[Rhodent]

Right - Happy ending as hoped.

Email sent to Andrew kicked the ball into motion, and everything that is outstanding is being rapidly cleared up and sent to me.

I must stress that the biggest issue here was communication - in hindsight there was evidently work going on in the background, but without this being communicated to me it obviously felt like nothing was happening (particularly with messages not being responded to). Not having the ability to just walk into the shop and query makes things much worse as well.

Anyway - alls well that ends well. I am waiting for my invoice to pay the surplus amount, and for the courier to arrive in a few days.

Well done CycleLab for turning this around....