Scott Bikes Appalling Customer Services

blakemulder

My Scott Bike is 6 months old and the 50t chainring wore out after just 600 miles - 600 miles of cleaning the drivechain religiously after every other ride - I emailed Scott and this is there unbelievable reply...

We are unable to comment on your chain ring problem as it is not a Scott part ,You need to contact the company whos part it is Shimano ,Sram ?


They have to be joking right? Could you imagine haing a problem with your 6 month old car and the manufacturer telling you its nothing to do with them and contact the manufacture of that part?

Never will I buy Scott again - has anyone got a story to top this?

Rigga

Have you been in touch with the bike shop or wherever you got it from?

Ber Nard

Are you trolling?

If not, why do you think Scott should be responsible for something they haven't had any hand in manufacturing?

As they have rightly pointed out, your gripe (if you have grounds and it isn't just " wear and tear") is with the manufacturer of the chainring.

Rob

nicklouse

Ber Nard wrote:

Are you trolling?

If not, why do you think Scott should be responsible for something they haven't had any hand in manufacturing?

As they have rightly pointed out, your gripe (if you have grounds and it isn't just " wear and tear") is with the manufacturer of the chainring.

Rob

But your warranty and customer right are only with the seller.

What did they say?

I you belive the bike was not fit for purpose return it sating so.

Monty Dog

IME chainrings last for thousands of miles / years - why do you suspect it's worn or are you mistaking the specially-shaped ones to aid shifting with broken or worn? Even if it is worn, it'll be excluded from any warranty.

mcp73

The vendor has ultimate responsibility for any failure of components on a bike they've sold - not the bike's manufacturer, unless of course, you purchased it directly from Scott and they are the retailer. And, as correctly stated by Scott, the chainring is not of their manufacture and not under their remit to replace (if they are not the retailer).

nferrar

Yeah pics of the 'worn' chainring please + as others have said you need to take the issue up with the place you bought it from not Scott.

MountainMonster

Bike shop, tell them. You wouldn't email Toshiba straight away to get a small part replaced when it was 6 month old and bought from PC World, it's just the same in the bike world.

Pross

Is this the ghost of Speedking?

Why would anyone go back to the bike manufacturer to complain about a worn chainring? To use the OP's own analogy it is like going back to Ford directly due to a problem with an individual component - first stop should be the dealer (bike shop). I'm not surprised they gave such a response.

slowbike

MountainMonster wrote:

Bike shop, tell them. You wouldn't email Toshiba straight away to get a small part replaced when it was 6 month old and bought from PC World, it's just the same in the bike world.

Actually - it's not far removed from that - a Toshiba Craptop had to go back (via the retailler) to Tosh because it kept hanging - Tosh messed around with it for 2 months - unable to find a fan to cool the graphics chip.
Tosh didn't manufacture that fan - but the fact that it had failed (or just wasn't there to start with) was ultimately their responsibility as they made the craptop to start with.

I don't know the situation for bikes - but I guess many come into the LBS in kit form that the LBS then put together. Thus all parts are supplied by the "manufacturer" even if the individual parts come from different suppliers to the "manufacturer" ...

The reported response from Scott's Customer Services is terrible - if that's what they said - but we don't know what they were told by the OP.

As has been previously stated the OPs correct route is to go back to the retailer as they are legally responsible for the condition of the bike at time of sale. If it is down to a part that is faulty on supply then the LBS will be able to take that up with the bike manufacturer (Scotts).

If I were manufacturing bikes with bought in parts then I would want to know when one of those parts was faulty as it might be a trend in that particular part or just a batch - eitherway, it has a negative impact on the reputation of the bike brand.

BruceG

blakemulder wrote:

Never will I buy Scott again - has anyone got a story to top this?

Yes, Have you heard the one about the Guy who only managed to ride 600 miles in 6 months, and then thought he had been such a riding animal he had worn his chain ring out!

mikeabanks

The retailer is responsible, contact whoever you bought it off.
If there is a problem then they will have to deal with it.

Monty Dog

I suspect the chainring isn't worn at all - the OP has seen the 'missing' shift teeth and thinks it's knackered

MountainMonster

Slowbike wrote:

MountainMonster wrote:

Bike shop, tell them. You wouldn't email Toshiba straight away to get a small part replaced when it was 6 month old and bought from PC World, it's just the same in the bike world.

Actually - it's not far removed from that - a Toshiba Craptop had to go back (via the retailler) to Tosh because it kept hanging - Tosh messed around with it for 2 months - unable to find a fan to cool the graphics chip.
Tosh didn't manufacture that fan - but the fact that it had failed (or just wasn't there to start with) was ultimately their responsibility as they made the craptop to start with.

I don't know the situation for bikes - but I guess many come into the LBS in kit form that the LBS then put together. Thus all parts are supplied by the "manufacturer" even if the individual parts come from different suppliers to the "manufacturer" ...

The reported response from Scott's Customer Services is terrible - if that's what they said - but we don't know what they were told by the OP.

As has been previously stated the OPs correct route is to go back to the retailer as they are legally responsible for the condition of the bike at time of sale. If it is down to a part that is faulty on supply then the LBS will be able to take that up with the bike manufacturer (Scotts).

If I were manufacturing bikes with bought in parts then I would want to know when one of those parts was faulty as it might be a trend in that particular part or just a batch - eitherway, it has a negative impact on the reputation of the bike brand.

Warranty work comes under manufacturer rights yes, however he is not pursuing the proper avenue to use his warranty, Most likely the supplier will have a replacement part in stock, and can deal with warranties on the spot. Contacting the manufacturer straight away is not the way to go about it, and I see nothing wrong with the response from Scott.

slowbike

MountainMonster wrote:

and I see nothing wrong with the response from Scott.

We are unable to comment on your chain ring problem as it is not a Scott part ,You need to contact the company whos part it is Shimano ,Sram ?

If it was an after fit part then fair enough - but if it came with the bike from new (which I believe to be the case) then this advice would be incorrect at best and is very unhelpful.

y33stu

Oh dear. I feel another SpeedKing type classic coming on here....... *gets popcorn, sits back*.

Bozman

If it's not an after market part then surely it's down to the point of purchase.
As for a chainring being worn after 6mths, my mate bought a Giant TCR in October and his Tiagra 50t is shafted, the chainring is made of tinfoil.

Herbsman

Bozman wrote:

If it's not an after market part then surely it's down to the point of purchase.
As for a chainring being worn after 6mths, my mate bought a Giant TCR in October and his Tiagra 50t is shafted, the chainring is made of tinfoil.

Strange. I've had a Tiagra 50t on since July 2009, done about 15,000 miles in all kinds of weather on it, hardly ever cleaned the drivetrain and it's fine

Bozman

Herbsman wrote:

Bozman wrote:

If it's not an after market part then surely it's down to the point of purchase.
As for a chainring being worn after 6mths, my mate bought a Giant TCR in October and his Tiagra 50t is shafted, the chainring is made of tinfoil.

Strange. I've had a Tiagra 50t on since July 2009, done about 15,000 miles in all kinds of weather on it, hardly ever cleaned the drivetrain and it's fine

Surprised me because I've never really had an issue with Shimano's durability in near-on twenty yrs. The bike was used all winter, but when I did some work on it for him I couldn't believe the condition of the 50t chainring, the teeth were well worn. I ran a bike for some 30000 miles with the same 105 53t chainring and that was in better condition.

DF33

SpeedKing, is that you...?

Frank the tank

Monty Dog wrote:

I suspect the chainring isn't worn at all - the OP has seen the 'missing' shift teeth and thinks it's knackered

Think you have to be right.

The lack of response from the OP would suggest either this or "trolling".

DavidJB

BruceG wrote:

blakemulder wrote:

Never will I buy Scott again - has anyone got a story to top this?

Yes, Have you heard the one about the Guy who only managed to ride 600 miles in 6 months, and then thought he had been such a riding animal he had worn his chain ring out!

andy_wrx

I bought my wife a Scott Speedster, then after about 18months I noticed some cracks on the headtube.

I'd bought it over t'interweb, so I emailed pictures to the shop.

Within just days they said Scott were happy to accept it as a warranty issue, so I sent them the bike, they rebuilt with a new frame, back to me within 2 weeks

Happy with Scott here...

blakemulder

Just to clear up a few points...

I have 3 bikes - a "bad weather" bike plus two others (including the S40) that I use only in good weather - which explains why the Scott has only done 600 miles. I couldn't work out why the drive train was so noisy - so first, checked chain for wear - thats comfortably within 0.75%. Next, I swapped out the original cassette for a 12-25 as the original was too wide. Still this annoying noise from the drivetrain - In desperation I purchased a new 50t chainring and low and behold the noise stopped...

The dealer I purchased from is quite some distance from me and was it was going to cost more in petrol and time to return the bike than the £20 it cost to replace the chainring - bottom line is Scott customer services stink - If you bought a laptop and the hard drive failed would the manufacturer tell you to contact seagate in order to resolve a fault and it was nothing to do with them? Sorry guys I think thats poor customer service.

snoopsmydogg

blakemulder wrote:

The dealer I purchased from is quite some distance from me and was it was going to cost more in petrol and time to return the bike than the £20 it cost to replace the chainring - bottom line is Scott customer services stink - If you bought a laptop and the hard drive failed would the manufacturer tell you to contact seagate in order to resolve a fault and it was nothing to do with them? Sorry guys I think thats poor customer service.

I wouldnt contact the manufacturer, I would contact the company I bought it from first.

schlepcycling

blakemulder wrote:

If you bought a laptop and the hard drive failed would the manufacturer tell you to contact seagate in order to resolve a fault and it was nothing to do with them? Sorry guys I think thats poor customer service.

Wrong, the manufacturer should tell you to contact whoever you bought it from. Your contract is with the seller, it is up to them to resolve your issue with whatever has gone wrong even though they may end up getting something replaced or repaired by the manufacturer. In this case you have a worn chainring which as other people have already pointed out wasn't manufactured by Scott so why would you expect them to replace it. What you seem to be misunderstanding is that even if the chainring had been manufactured by Scott your first point of call is the seller and they would probably replace the chainring for you and then sort out the warranty claim directly with Scott. You need to familiarise yourself with the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and specifically the bit 'Who to complain to' http://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/sale-of-goods/understanding-the-sale-of-goods-act/your-rights/

Grill

blakemulder wrote:

If you bought a laptop and the hard drive failed would the manufacturer tell you to contact seagate in order to resolve a fault and it was nothing to do with them? Sorry guys I think thats poor customer service.

You have a very skewed perception of the retail industry. When you buy a product from an authorized retailer you're trusting the retailer in question to provide after sales support for said product unless another arrangement has been made (such as a third party warranty). This is called first line support. When the shop has an issue they cannot solve they raise the issue with the manufacturer or distributor (as not many companies are large enough to distribute in all regions). This is called second line support. The retail outlets have relationships and agreements with the manufacturer/distributor that allow them preferred support access as without the shops these companies wouldn't sell anything. As the customer your relationship is with the shop, not the manufacturer.

To give an example; if something on your BMW breaks then you take it to the dealer to have it looked at. The dealer is an independent entity that is not owned by BMW. If the issue is covered under warranty then the dealer will claim back their cost from BMW, if it's not covered then you pay the dealer. If you think something should be covered that isn't then the dealer can escalate the issue to BMW on your behalf and then a representive from BMW can see the issue firsthand and make a decision which will then be carried out by the dealer. You can't drive your 7 series to the BMW factory in Munich and expect to have to repaired.

Your laptop argument actually illustrates my point. Let's take Dell. Dell manufactures the laptop using third party components and sells it to you DIRECT. By using a direct distribution model they take responsibility for support of all associated items, but if the hard drive is the issue then they contact Seagate on your behalf. Dell sold it to you, Dell sorts it out. Had you bought the bike from Scott direct (not an option as they don't do direct sales) then they would be responsible for the first line support.

bails87

You know who I blame?


....

giant_man

of course we do, mate ...

Monty Dog

Wiggle? (there, I said it, what happens now?)

rdt

Monty Dog wrote:

Wiggle? (there, I said it, what happens now?)

If you pointlessly contact the manufacturer of something allegedly faulty because you live too far away from the not-so-LBS you bought it from, the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 state that Speedking must personally collect it from you and take it to Wiggle who'll in turn exchange it for your choice of either one bag of Haribo or one Imperial ton of bananas to be delivered to you by Bhima via the Cat & Fiddle.