What would you do now?

borderboy

We recently bought my son a Commencal mini dh 24"
He has saved up £450 from Christmas his birthdays etc for the last two years and is dh mad So we splashed out the rest to buy him his dream bike.
We had a hell of a job finding this bike as only seven have been sold in the uk according to Madison the Commencal importers. We found one miles away but thought it would be worth the effort to get it.
We went through the set up manual together but then the trouble started when we tried to set the Marzocchi 55r bomber forks to sagwhilst doing this we noticed they would not compress more than halfway of the 160 mm travel they should have. Being as the shop we purchased the bike from is miles away we took it to our lbs ( Who are great). they took the forks off and sent them back to be warrantied by the uk importer for Marzocchi. They came back 10 days later, my lbs fitted them for us and we were on our way.
We arranged to try his new bike out on a local track 20 miles away so loaded the van up with bikes etc and off we went. Got to our track put all our gear on and off we went. On the first" bump" he hit there was a high pitched whistle from the bombers and then on every bump thereafter. We had to stop the noise was awful we put the bikes back in the van and went home with one very upset son and a father about to burst.
Monday, rang up the warranty people and told them what had happened they told ME to" tighten up the inner core valve and if that don't work try the two foot nuts at the bottom of the forks" I said it has just been warrantied!!! he said nothing other than to take it back to my lbs where they would have the correct tools and they would do it for me.
When I rang customer services the next day all they can do for me is "send the forks back to us again and we will have another go at fixing them". It has already cost me £15 postage A 65 mile round trip to lbs twice (drop off and Pick up). and time off work to do so.

I have no confidence in the forks or the repairs made with my son sat behind them.
Even the Boss was not willing to speak to me. (Lunch time i think)
What would you do now?

cee

I would be very upset and would phone them again and try to convince them to shell out for the shipping.

courier pickup style.

and I would want a new fork (with free upgrade??), rather than a repair.

P-Jay

Tough one... personally I'd send them back along with a break down of your costs and what/not and ask for a refund.

But if I wanted total peace of mind, I'd ask someone like TF Tuned to have a look and give a propper apraisal of what's what. But that's going to cost quite a bit.

.blitz

You could always try the Sale Of Goods Act/Trading Standards/Unfit For Purpose approach and try to get your money back.

FWIW mbr tested a Mini DH1 this month and it also blew its forks first time out.

supersonic

Did they say what was wrong first time? 80mm of sag is a hell of a lot of sag!

Tim.s

That seems to be the norm, ive had a similar experience with my Pikes. Known problem, occured on pretty much every fork made in that time bracket......live with it or get them sent back to fishers for a mere 3-4 week turnaround.

Now those that know me know that I wouldnt even ask fishers to sharpen a pencil for me let alone touch my £500 quid forks. So I splashed out to have the sorted independantly.

Have you tried phoning TF tuned? I know I often sing their praises on here but they will know exactly what needs doing and are happy to give free advice. Ive even heard of them being very charitable where schoolkids are involved. Might cost you a few quid but at least your boy will have a well sorted set of forks for a few years.

borderboy

They have offered to pick them up courier style but its is miles from my lbs and takes a long time to get there And who pays the lbs? I have limited knowledge of spanners etc and not too happy doing this on a Brand new bike my son is riding.

bomberesque

write a letter to the Madison warranty dept, copy to customer services at Commencal, the shop where you bought the bike and the boss of Madison.

Tell them (calmly) exactly what has happened, point by point with dates and state that you do not think that you should have been asked to pay for the return of forks that were supplied faulty in the first place (pretty sure you shouldn't have been actually, although perhaps this is because you went through your LBS rather than the original seller. Make the point that you don't think it's appropriate for tehm to tell you to fix the problem yourself and that you certainly don't accept that you should pay to return them again. Don't rant, just state the facts, they seem quite compelling as it is and I know that neither Madison nor Commencal (a quality company with a good rep) will want this. You don't need to threaten them (talk of fit for purpose gets everyone's backs up) and anyway, in the event that you were forced to take it further, the letter will stand you in good stead.

It's an effort to pen the letter, but can often yield results. To give you an idea, TV companies figure that for everyone who writes them a letter of complaint, there are 30,000 who are unhappy but didn't write. I think they will get the message and if not, it's just a stamp.

I hope this gets settled to your and your son's satisfaction and that you can have confidence on the bike after.

robmanic1

Have you checked out the website and adjusted the air pressure accordingly?


http://www.marzocchi.com/Template/detailSPAForksMTB.asp?IDFolder=208&IDOggetto=56478&LN=UK&Sito=usa-mtb

As super says, 80mm is a tremendous amount of sag, especially as your boy probably doesn't weigh a great deal. If you have already checked out the site, please accept my apologies for pointing out the bleeding obvious.

If all else fails I think your only option is to return them again and try to push them for some compensation towards carriage costs.

borderboy

Sorry for my punctuation/grammer it was ment to say
whilst setting the sag we noticed that they would only travel half way.

Thanks bomberesque I rang madison and they said it was a windwave warranty issue which I can totally understand.
unfortunatly that doesn't help us.

Bungalow Bill

I know it will be hassle but you need to take it back to place of purcahse, armed with:-

1] A whole face of angry (no swearing)

2] Consumer Hotline phonenumber

3] A baseball bat (optional)

When you get there give them hell and don't leave untill either they have the police remove you (last resort) or you get at least a free replacement and hopefully an upgrade.

At the end of the day the hassle you have had with this I'd be on a new set of forks now, your money and they sold you a deffective product whihc is clearly screwed up.

Consumer Hotline shakes most places up and those that don't tend to get a bit wairy of a letter to local papers ect ect.

Bill.

The Northern Monkey

Zocchi 55's strike again

Get em swapped out....

borderboy

Thanks for that BB
I rang trading standards and they have given me a load of advice part of which is as you say take it back to place of purchase. That is a pain because it means two journeys from Wales to Stoke one to drop off then one to pick up. I asked would they send a brand new set out being as they had made a hash of the repair so that they could be fitted while i wait (one trip) but Windwave refused.

I am trying to find the address of commencal Not Madison the uk importer just to let them know how poorly we are being treated here in blighty by Marzocchi/windwave.

The worst bit is my son,s persistant question when can I ride my bike dad?

Chaz.Harding

Bungalow Bill wrote:

I know it will be hassle but you need to take it back to place of purcahse, armed with:-

3] A baseball bat (optional)

Hmmm... You won't need the baseball bat - you'll have your dead forks in your hand!!

Anyway, as bigbenj pointed out, the later Marzocchi's have a reputation of being very Italian. Lik e the sports cars - pretty, but not really very usefull in the real world. Shame.

Hope you and your son can go out and hit some DH's after the forks are sorted!

Keep us updated on your moves and what the bike shop does. Could be interesting me thinks!

The Northern Monkey

Thing is, if they say "we'll replace the forks with new 55's", tell them thats not what you want.

Ask to have them replaced by a similar standard and spec fork, as you've already had problems and you don't think they're up to the job that they were made for.

If they say no, mention that you've been in contact with trading standards.

Chaz.Harding

bigbenj_08, again, well said! What are you, some fountain of broken-product knowlege today??

The Northern Monkey

bigchazrocks wrote:

bigbenj_08, again, well said! What are you, some fountain of broken-product knowlege today??

Haha... its probably because i'm up before 12, got a presentation in a few hours so i'm in clever mode

Bungalow Bill

Well now you have the trading standards advice the shop will be a lot more helpfull I gurantee that.

As far as two trips go, I would not be settling for anything less than a full replacement IMO. As such that is only one trip hope you can get this sorted soon get your lad back out on the trails!!!

Let me know how you get on and could you pass on the details of the bike shop / company I am adding it to my list of places to aviod.

Chaz.Harding

I wouldn't say you have to avoid the shop. It's not their fault that the fork was faulty. When they sent it back, it's not their fault the servicing company didn't do it properly...!

However, if they are being dicks about a replaement, maybe avoid. But you have to give them a chance!!

borderboy

bigbenj_08
Thanks for that I offered the new 55,s for the old UNREPAIRED one,s as an olive branch to Windwave just to get something sorted for my son's sake but they refused.
The most annoying bit is the chap I spoke to said "I will get my boss to ring you back but when the phone rang guess what it wasn't "THE BOSS" he was unavaialable
He is probably fighting off the thousands of angry marzocchi customers.

The Northern Monkey

If it was me, and this is just my opinion... I wouldn't be touching zocchi 55's with a barge pole (oooo's gorra barge pole!!).
I get the LBS to take it up with windwave, get a refund on the forks and get a different brand such as the RS Domain 318's.

I'm SO glad that I got advised to stay away from the 55's when i posted about forks on here. I've had my Domains for a while now and they've been nothing but perfect (sorry to rub it in ).

borderboy

bigbenj_08
Thats made me feel much better just before i go to work thanks for that ha ha

The Northern Monkey

sorry fella
Just figured it'd be better to say that sooner than later lol.

junglist_matty

Marzocchi 55's are totally rubbish forks, expect nothing less than them to cause you problems, avoid them at all costs, a total waste of money and a totally rubbish unreliable fork.

Most people I know and people I've come across whilst out riding who are running 55's just moan about how rubbish they are, about how many times they've been sent for repairs under warrenty etc.... someone even wanted to swap their almost new 55's for my Z150's (from 2004!)

Its ashame really because Marzocchi forks were always so reliable and bombproof!l

The Northern Monkey

junglist_matty
Well there goes my attempt at letting him down slowly

But you have a good point.

bomberesque

borderboy wrote:

I am trying to find the address of commencal Not Madison the uk importer just to let them know how poorly we are being treated here in blighty by Marzocchi/windwave.

COMMENCAL Bicycles
BP 36-La Massana
Princiat d'Andorra
Phone: +376 73 74 75
Fax: +376 73 74 90
Informations
info@commencal.com
Aftersales
sav@commencal.com
Foreign customers
export@commencal.com
Press relations
presse@commencal.com

website; http://www.commencal.com/news/index_en.htm

borderboy

bomberesque
Thanks for the adress i will get a quil and some parchment straight away

cee

junglist_matty wrote:

Its ashame really because Marzocchi forks were always so reliable and bombproof!l

Too True....

I have a set of '01 Junior T's and they are still sweet as.

borderboy

Update
wrote a letter to Commencal (Andora) and Windwave yesterday.
I told Commencal that I was very disapointed with the aftersales at Marzocchi/Windwave
They said they like to get feed back on such things but no mention of any help (not too surprised at that)
I emailed Windwave telling them politely what I thought of there product and repairs and that I wan't a full refund. No reply as yet (boss out to lunch again perhaps)
Feeling peeved so I took your advice guys rang TF Tuned to get there opinion. They were very very helpful. Gave me good advice on a replacement should I get a refund.
(also said rock shox have reduced there prices by I think he said 25% )
Still want blood so rang the bike shop where I bought the bike from and told them the whole story. The owner of the shop was fantastic he is getting us a new set of rock shock pikes and will fit them if we take the bike back

If only I had listened to you all sooner!!!( I will from now on honest)
Will let you know when the pikes are fitted and what they are like!!! I am more excited than my son now.
Thanks for all your suggestions on what you would do they have been very helpful.
Borderboy

borderboy

Hi guys

My blood pressure is back to normal,
Took the Bike back to those lovely commencal dealers in fenton stoke on trent and they have fitted the new set of Rockshox 454 pikes and put a new set of head set sealed bearings, serviced the bike too at no extra cost and they are great. What a difference a quality set of forks make.
I will never buy a Marzocchi product again.
After sending another letter to Windwave "The Boss" has emailed me asuring me he will personally attend to the forks when" You send them back". Its just a pitty he did't do that the first time they tried to mend them.

Thanks again to Swinnerton cycles they have made my son very happy (and his Father)

Chaz.Harding

Good stuff. It's nice to hear of a winning story after all the bad stuff that people go on about!

Hope your son (and you!!) enjoy the rides!