Evans Cycles-good quality customer service

swissj

I know i'm gonna get shot down for writing this, but I just want to make you aware that if you are gonna consider buying a bike from a big franchise, you won't go far wrong by puting your faith in Evans at the Xscape, Milton Keynes.

Let me explain. Last week I took delivery of a Felt AR4. I was slightly limited by choice of where to get it from in my area, but after using Evans for bits and bobs in the past, I thought I'd give them a try.

Although I dealt with numerous members of staff, some experienced, some not, I was well looked after. But it gets better.......

The day after taking delivery I noticed some damage to the frame by the rear derailleur hanger. I phoned them up to tell them and they promised to call me back shortly once they had called Felt.

The call came back and I was told to take it straight back. There were no questions asked and they were very apologetic. Following this, I was told they would get me a new one and knowing how thin on the ground they are, I prepared myself for the long wait........

The long wait didn't come. They kept me informed with what was going on and told me they had one in the company unsold and got it for me, before they had even returned the other bike.

Needless to say, in under a week of reporting the problem, I have my new bike and it is truly awesome. Dare I say, £2400 well spent? I think so and I wouldn't hesitate to use Evans again.

So to close, all I have to say is my LBS is great, but that doesn't mean that the big franchises are rubbish at looking after you. They may not need your money as much as your LBS and may be a bit more impersonal because of their size, but quality customer care is still possible.

And yes, there are those who will say they sold me a dud bike but the way I look at it, its how you fix the problem thats important.

Escargot

+1 for Evans MK.

I got my Commencal MTB from there via my works Ride2Work scheme and whilst some of the staff are your typical snotty, 'aint bovered' teenager, some of them are just into their mountain/road biking and want to work in a bike shop where they can offer their advice.

They had mine boxed but put it together so that I could collect within an hour (on a Saturday afternoon) and even changed the pedals straight after I bought some Shimano SPD's. Overall the gears have been set up fine and the hydraulics work perfectly too. Maybe they could have taken measurements and set the rest of it up for me but I don't have a problem with getting the allen keys out and having a tweak myself.

I do appreciate the whole LBS thing and ultimately I'll be going to one of them when I buy my new Bianchi (Twenty3c in Stony Stratford is a lovely LBS incidentally) but can't really fault my experience with Evans.

Having said that Phil Corley's down the road is another top LBS but I just prefer Twenty3c.

swissj

Good to hear from another good experience and I have to agree that I think Evans could really earn themselves some Brownie points by offering free measuring up to get the bike set up just so.

Which is exactly what Phil Corley already offer as no doubt you are aware. (Otherwise £30 if you don't buy from them)

larfingravy

Would it be more to do with FELT as the manufacturer as opposed to Evans the supplier?
FELT are probably the ones helping you here I suspect and Evans are able to reflect that through to you.

guilliano

I know a couple of the staff at Evans MK pretty well (Fred and Chris) and I know they do look after their customers. They are 2 of the better staff there for sure and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend someone to them if my shop couldn't help.

swissj

Fair point regarding Felt, but I must say that having worked in sales myself for 13 years, my point of contact was Evans and they did everything they could to ensure I was dealt with expeditiously.

Too often in the past I have seen my (ex) colleagues sit on information and deal with problems when they could be bothered.

ForumNewbie

We were in Evans in Castleford a couple of weeks ago and were disgusted to hear one of the staff trying to pressurise a middle-aged lady into buying a mountain bike he was showing her. It was clear from the questions she was asking that she was a total beginner to cycling, and my wife overheard him putting her on the spot by saying "Well, are you going to take this one or not?". At which point we left with my wife saying that we are never going to a bike a bike from Evans.

Carlos13

Evans in Canary Wharf are excellent. I've never bought a bike from them but every member of staff I've spoken to has been very enthusiastic and not pushy at all. I buy a lot of bits from them, clothing etc though. I phoned up one day to ask if they sold cable ties, "No, but we'll give you some" was the reply. Cost them next to nothing, but ensured that I'll keep going back.

Mothyman

i went to MK Evans 1month ago when my friend collected his Pinnacle carbon bike - altho I was a hanger-on and a beginner (havent bought my first road bike yet) the fella who dealt with us allowed me lots of time and spent about 90mins in all - knowing I had no chance of buying there and then.. certainly helped to keep me enthused.
well done MK Evans

paul_or

I would concur with the opinions here. I bought a Felt Q520 MTB from them a couple of months ago and was very impressed with the service, given that it was a 'big name' bike shop. It doesn't come close to my local specialist shop (Life Cycle UK) but it is encouraging to see people who know what they are talking about and who put the customer first.

HOWEVER I went into the Kingston branch recently and was looking at bib shorts, and had the opposite experience. A lad served me who frankly couldn't have been less interested, and I gave up in the end was it was less trouble. I did buy a couple of bits (some nice retro string back gloves as it happens), but when I came to the till, there was one guy already dealing with another customer, and four others stood outside the doorway talking, and completely ignoring the till. The guy had to shout at these disinterested teenagers to make somebody come and serve me.

So full Marks to MK, but null points to Kingston!

spasypaddy

I work at Evans in Fenchurch Street and its good to hear compliments being made about my colleagues!

Gazzaputt

Bought 2 bikes from Evans online and both times very pleased with their service.

john_reeve41

I went to Evans @ MK over the weekend to try out a couple of their Road Bikes. They happily setup a couple of bikes for me to test ride and spent quite a bit of time with me. I spent most of my time with a young chap, called Rob I think. He was happy to spend the time with me to help me pick the right bike.

Perhaps not the most knowledgeable out there - but no worse than my LBS - and overall very good customer service.

rpmk

Agree with the view of Evans MK ... bought a Specialized Stumperjumper from them and they couldn't have been more helpful (especially as they don't stock Specialized at the store and several of them came and admired the bike when it arrived). When I was doing some work in Manchester I popped into the Evans there, and was allowed to wander through the bikes for 15 minutes being studiously ignored.

Have to say that I agree with Escargot about Twenty3c in Stony Stratford - superb bike shop. This and Epic Cycles (out beyond Worcester) are the friendliest shops I've ever been into (I'm just glad one is 1 mile from home!). Phil Corleys, on the other hand, I've always found somewhat snooty if you are not a "racing snake" and quite intimidating as a result.

Just shows that no matter what stuff you stock or what chain you're from, without decent staff you're not going to win over customers, and why I'm now loyal to my 2 local - and 1 not so local - stores!

Philby

Had pretty good service from Evans in Bristol when I (reluctantly) bought my 1st road bike from them rather than an LBS.

Wanted to buy from an LBS but only Evans had the breadth of stock and availabilty plus a huge discount off 2008 models.