Dreadfull Aftersales from evans

scarabdh13

Hi there, just wanted to know if anyone had the same experience than me regardn*ing evans cycles aftersales technique....
Here is what happenned to me - Bought a Rocky Mountain Element 50 MSL a couple of weeks ago from EVans cycles in Edinburgh, but leaving in Aberdeen, I had top deal with their online after sales - AND was sorely dispappointed....
Let's make this clear : the bike is great : light responsive, well suspended and on the sale price, relatively good value for money.
The pre-sale service was also very good : got to pre-order the bike, tried it in the shop (trip down to Edinburgh), the size was not good, no worries, order the good one and get delivered for free at home in good timing.
BUT - and this is a big BUT, once you have paid the bike, you're on your own.... First ride with the bike, gentle ride to get the setup right, try out a few suspension settings - not the full-on sunday morning blast, far from it. Five miles in, in the middle of the trail, the chain snapped. Ok it can happen. Took a few pics with the phone, repair, and move on. Sent an email to evans customer services. Basically they told me that my pics were not good enough quality and that they were not a proof. It's a brand new two and a half grand bike .... The least you would expect was at least apologies and a new chain sent by post for free. I am still waiting for both.....
So go on, get the bike from Evans - but don't expect more......
Fred

cooldad

You joined a forum to complain about a snapped chain?
Some sympathy but sending pics of broken stuff to a shop and expecting free stuff would be open to serious abuse.

scarabdh13

so you find normal a chain snaps on a Bike that new....

njee20

It's not the end of the world, and its one of those things with mail order. If you'd walked into your local shop it would have made it far easier than faffing with blurry phone photos.

Have you sent them the broken chain?

felix.london

Never bought a new bike but I definitely wouldn't lose sleep over a snapped chain. Just take it in and tell them what happened. Not sure if apologies are in order. What did they do wrong?

RevellRider

scarabdh13 wrote:

so you find normal a chain snaps on a Bike that new....

Sometimes, just sometimes the joining pin on a chain can be badly joined. This isn't usually apparent when you set the bike and only becomes noticeable when you ride the bike.

As Cooldad says, sending grainy low quality camera phone photos leaves it open to abuse. Take 5 minutes to get some better photos, make sure there is good light and it's in focus so Evans can at least see the problem and maybe you'll get a better response.

Of course, I blame Wiggle

nicklouse

scarabdh13 wrote:

so you find normal a chain snaps on a Bike that new....

had them span on test rides right out of the box.

shit happens.

pnev

It's people like you that makes me hate working in a bike shop. Just pop into the store, be friendly and you'll be sorted. Why the need to get in touch with customer services with a photo, it's pathetic

MountainMonster

It just goes to show the laziness of people these days. Some people would rather bother sitting around getting pissed off about the chain, send emails off, and if they don't respond within the time they want it is straight to a forum to say the company is dreadful. TBF, these people deserve to get treated like this if they can't even bother to make the call back to the place they bought it from, just sad.

97th choice

Pnev wrote:

It's people like you that makes me hate working in a bike shop. Just pop into the store, be friendly and you'll be sorted. Why the need to get in touch with customer services with a photo, it's pathetic

Excellent point, after all it's only about a 100 mile drive, each way.

In my experience almost all these problems would be sorted a lot easier if people could remember how to use a phone, a five minutes phone conversation takes about a week by email.

benpinnick

This. Just phone them up.

cat_with_no_tail

Ranty post is ranty.

@ OP, you said Evans came back and "Basically they told me that my pics were not good enough quality and that they were not a proof."

What exactly did they say? Full emails please. Also, lets see the pics you took. I suspect we're being fed a less than complete story here.

Finally, a chain snapped, big deal, you had to use a £1 link to repair it. As pointed out above, chains can go pop at any time, it's not something Evans, or any other bike shop would have had any control over. There is nothing for them to apologize for. As for replacing the chain. Again, don't really see why they should. It's still a new chain, so 1 pin was faulty, or hadn't been pressed properly. Hardly the drama you're turning it into.

Just MTFU and ride.

The Rookie

Certainly why should they send you a second chain without you sending them the original back?

schmako

Surely this thread could have been completely avoided if you carried quick links?

Chunkers1980

Don't be silly. It'd've been their fault that it broke in a place where you need a tool to fit the link, and they didn't supply one of them. :roll:

MountainMonster

Maybe Evans should open up an after sales chain repair mobile van for these hard pressed times when your chain snaps and you won't accept anything other than a replacement chain free of charge delivered by hand by competent mechanics.

Northwind

On the one hand, it'll cost you £3 or thereabouts to fix with a quicklink. On the other... Why would they prevaricate over £3?

At the end of the day Evans are Tesco for bikes so I wouldn't expect the best but they could have done better here.

cat_with_no_tail

Northwind wrote:

On the one hand, it'll cost you £3 or thereabouts to fix with a quicklink. On the other... Why would they prevaricate over £3?

At the end of the day Evans are Tesco for bikes so I wouldn't expect the best but they could have done better here.

Not sure how you come to that conclusion tbh.

OP has not told us what Evans said, only his interpretation of what they said. He's also not provided the initial email he sent to them, nor the pics.

For all we know, it went like this:
he's sent them a grainy, low res pic, of what could either be a drivetrain, or possibly a snake eating a badger, or some twigs, and said "omfg u guyz suk innit, I iz wanting new bike coz dis wun iz crap innit!"
They've come back and said, please send us the chain, or pop it into your local branch and we'll look into it for you.

OR

He's sent them a very clear, 10mp picture that clearly shows a broken pin, and asked very politely if they would see their way to maybe sending him a split link and they've responded with "LOL, NOOBZ!!!111one"

I'm no fan of Evans, I think their prices are meh at best, and the fact they want a fiver to deliver to the IOM when it's just sent regular Royal Mail is poor. But I somehow suspect the reality in this case is somewhat closer to scenario A.

Northwind

Pic is a nonissue tbh, £3 (RRP) to keep a customer who's bought a brand new bike onside is a trivial investment whether there was a good photo, bad photo or no photo.

97th choice

Pics or stfu

MountainMonster

But north wind, he could just be telling us his side of the story, leaving out key bits such as how he dealt with them. Never just hear one side of the story, as it is just one side. I could say for a fact if I got an email with crappy pictures saying "gimme dis ennit" without even really providing proof there is a problem, I wouldn't sort anything for free either.

boristhespie

Northwind is actually got the right idea. For virtually no money Evans could have easily kept a customer (even a demanding one) happy. It's good for business and easy.

Those who say return to shop have no idea of the geography.

Really a 2.5 grand bike is not an insignificant purchase. If you bought a new car and the fan belt went, then you'd take it back to get a new one if it happened just after bought. If I bought a 5 quid t-shirt from Asda and it bust open at the stitching, yeah I could sew it up but just bought? I'd take it back. Yes Evans can't help problems like this, but that's their problem. If we weren't so accepting then maybe thing may get better. Funny how in the US this would be a non question. They know service.

supersonic

They have to draw a line though. They have every right to be able to examine a defective product, and if the pictures are not good enough then they cannot do that. If every purchase was subject to the retailer giving away stuff unquestioned then prices throughout would be higher.

njee20

And I'd expect that if he went in they'd sort it there and then. Like I said, it's a problem of mail ordering. Suck it up.

MountainMonster

boristhespie wrote:

Northwind is actually got the right idea. For virtually no money Evans could have easily kept a customer (even a demanding one) happy. It's good for business and easy.

Those who say return to shop have no idea of the geography.

Really a 2.5 grand bike is not an insignificant purchase. If you bought a new car and the fan belt went, then you'd take it back to get a new one if it happened just after bought. If I bought a 5 quid t-shirt from Asda and it bust open at the stitching, yeah I could sew it up but just bought? I'd take it back. Yes Evans can't help problems like this, but that's their problem. If we weren't so accepting then maybe thing may get better. Funny how in the US this would be a non question. They know service.

You say those of us who say return it have no ideas of the geography, then say you would take it back straight back.he hasn't done those, he has done the least amount of effort, and expected the best outcome. You have contradicted yourself.

jayson

I cant comment on the OP but my experience with evans has been positive. I brought my remedy from them and a few weeks later after much fettling to get the gears to work properly i returned it to them, the rear mech was faulty and was replaced with no questions other than 'would i mind a medium cage because they were out of the long cage'.

Ive been more than happy with the service i've had with evans regarding my bike and a hundred other smaller parts from cables to pedals and seats ive purchased.

It does pay to go into the store and speak to the staff in my experience.

daveaasmith

Refer to rule #5

Chunkers1980

I would if I knew where to refer?

daveaasmith

http://www.velominati.com/the-rules

cooldad

Chunkers1980 wrote:

I would if I knew where to refer?

Don't worry, they are for walkers.

Chunkers1980

Ah, yes, that one inparticular helps when walking.