watch out for cajees fourways!

[kamikaze]

watch out! these guys are sharks, dont have a clue what they are doing when it comes to working on bikes, and the service is poor.

 

incident no. 1

a while ago i took a wheel to them to get trued and have the cones tightened. not only did they take about 2 days longer than promised, but the wheel came apart within days of the repairs.

the cones came loose and not long afterwards the spokes.

upon confronting them they argued that the hub had to be replaced as it was apparently damaged ( which wouldn't have happened if they tightened it in the 1st place).

i refused to buy a hub from them and ordered them to re-tighten everything. it is now months later the hub is still fine.

 

incident no. 2

the other day i went in there to browse around.

i saw a very old model LX rear derailieur and asked how much it was, thinking that seeing as it is very old and almost out-dated it might be discounted. ha ha ha! not so. they told me it was R950. i laughed at them and pointed out the fact that it was an old model. suddenly the calculators came out and magically the price dropped by R300.

i entertained it for a second but then noticed the derailieur had scratches and oil on it, almost as if it was used. i told them that it looked used, but they flat out denied it. i then inspected it closer and noticed the mounting bracket was bent and some of the screws were bent as well. i noticed more scratches and worn pulley wheels.

 

i left.

 

 

incident no. 3

after the firs two incidents i vowed never to set foot in that amateur shop ever again. with cycle lab is just around the corner and fritz pienaar just down the road, i never have to go to cajees. both shops are cheaper than cajees and their service is WAY better.

i'm building a bike, and unfortunately the above two shops didnt have the part i was looking for so out of of pure desperation i was forced to use the clowns at cajees again.

 

i reluctantly left my bike there to have a casette and chain fitted, and also to have shifter cables fitted and the gears set. they promised to have the work done by 2:30 the next day (friday). on friday, before driving out there, i phoned to make sure that the work had been done. i was surprised when they told me at 11;30 that they had not even started yet, and weren't going to either as apparently they close "for prayer" on fridays between 12 and two.

i was then promised that i could fetch it at 2:45.

 

at 2:30 i phoned again to avoid driving out there and having to wait. again, they STILL had not started on my bike yet and i was told that the mechanic was "still eating lunch". they told me that i could fetch it at 4:30.

i freaked and told them to have it done by 2:45 as i was on my way and not prepared to wait any longer.

 

i got there at 3:00 and surprise surprise.... they were not done yet!

 

after waiting around for 15 minutes they brought the bike out and told me that the front derailieur was the wrong model and that i must buy a different model in order to get it to work.

ofcourse they didnt have the cheaper model i needed, but only had the more expensive one which they would be willing sell to me.

i didnt fall for their trap, and decided to go home and fiddle with it myself. once at home i got the front derailieur to work by adjusting ONE screw....ONE srew!!!

 

whilst test riding the bike in my complex the casette came loose after 5 minutes of slow riding!!

so then i was faced with getting back in my car and driving back there again, which i then did!

 

their reaction to my complaint was extremely mediocre. no "sorry for having to drive back out here" or "may we refund the labour? seeing as YOU ended up doing the work on the derailier yourself, and the rest of the work that WE did came apart"

nothing. zip. nada. just a blank stare, as if to say - "and the problem is what???

 

poor service!!!!

 

clearly whoever works in the workshop at cajees has NO clue how to work on bikes. the sales staff are ill trained, and the management have a "couldn't care" attitude.

 

i forgot to add that the cables are routed the wrong way, but i'll do that myself as i am NOT letting those clowns touch my ride ever again!

 

this is a warning, use cajees fourways at your own peril!

 

 

 

 

[peterjohn]

I would never take my bike to them but I do like being able to haggle down the prices on all the accessories

[kamikaze]

after haggling down the price of the cassette down from R850 to R450, i still feel like i got shafted as i see other shops sell it for less still. and had i not been brazen and haggled with them i would been ripped of for sure.

[pastapouch]

YOU DON'T TAKE YOUR BIKE TO CAJEES. And no matter what the price, you don't buy from them either. They don't do anything for cycling.

[Ikonic]

Always support people you can trust

[swartpiet]

I totally agree guys. And its not just the one in Fourways, the new one in Centurion is just as useless. I went there to get a price on a rock shox SID world cup xx fork. The sales guy that helped me (if you can call it help) didnt know what a SID XX fork is and at first told that they dont have something like that. I told him bull #$%. And asked for the manager. He then took me to the guy behind the counter and this dude knew at least what it was. He then phoned for a price. Then told me R3500, which I knew could not be right for SID World cup XX and I told him its impossible. He phoned again, and then told he's sorry the price is R9900.

 

I feel that if you a salesman you should know everything about the stuff you sell.

 

This was enough to keep me away from that store forever.

[flex]

I only ever use Cajees when I know exactly what I want, and call them to haggle the price down to the cheapest level I can get it to. I would never, ever ask them for advice and I certainly wouldn't ever have any work done on my bikes there.

 

In fairness to them, I just don't think they are equipped to deal with knowledgeable cyclists and feel that their stores are more targeted towards the fun riders and newbies out there. Not that this makes giving poor advice and poorer service acceptable.

[Tjokkits]

i am with Flex here. if you know what you want and you know your prices you can get a deal, but even if I buy a bike from them i wont even let them assemble it, i take it somewhere else, simple

[Mudsimus]

You kept on returning after every bad experience? I bet you'll go again and then start another thread.

[Joe Low]

i am with Flex here. if you know what you want and you know your prices you can get a deal, but even if I buy a bike from them i wont even let them assemble it, i take it somewhere else, simple

 

+1 There's nothing wrong with Cajees as long as you know what you are dealing with. Prices are always very negotiable and servicing bikes is not their thing.

[Guest Big H]

Kamikaze...... I am sure in that posh shopping suburb of Fourway there are chemists...... try and buy a bottle of pills for stupidity..... or even better try and get some pills that will teach you to learn out of your own ignorance AND stupidity. Jy lyk soos die tipe wat na 'n slangpark toe sal gaan en AANDRING om die mamba te soen!!!!!!!!!

[Mojoman]

The problem with Cajees is that if you don't ask, you don't get! I went (Princess Crossing) to buy some pedals the other day, was quoted R480, I asked if that was the right price, suddenly the pedals were R350!! I had to buy a tyre a few months back (I use Cajees as my final, last, totally no other choice option!) and they wanted R400, when I asked if that was the best price, it became R200! While you may be able to get a good deal here and there, I feel it is deceptive selling to have items so heavily inflated. As mentioned you seriously need to know what you want and do not let the clowns get anywhere near your bike with tools! But to be fair, the 'other' Cajees in Krugersdorp have never been anything but great to me and the guys try their best to help, even going as far as lending me some tools to do some work on my bike so I did not have to buy the wrong tool (and they know I live 30 odd km away and hate wasting time and petrol). There is also a motor car spares shop in Krugersdump that has the same idea of marking spares up beyond belief and then when you question the price it becomes a lot, lot lower, but if you didn't question the price you would pay the full amount.

[Bat-ass]

What i dont understand is, guys have enough time to sit on the hub and complain, but no time to learn to work on our own bike?? there is only one solution to these threads.... work on your own bike!!! it actually easy, just slowly build up your tool box...

[kamikaze]

if hard pressed to work on my bike i am more than confident to do so, in fact i reckon i could do it way better than most shops, but not everyone has time to work on their own bike. that's half the reason why bike shops and workshops exist.

 

big h....ja boet. read the first post, i went there as a last resort.

[HowellingWulf]

YOU DON'T TAKE YOUR BIKE GO TO CAJEES. And no matter what the price, you don't buy from them either. They don't do anything for cycling.

There, I fixed it.

[firewolf]

there r a couple of bike shops in cape town that I will never spend money in.