I Take Back the Nice Things I Said About Evans

meanredspider

After many painful and frustrating calls and emails with the muppets at Garmin, they finally confirmed that there was currently nothing to be done to fix the issues I was having with my Garmin Varia front light.

I phoned Evans customer services who said that, if Garmin had confirmed there was a fault, return the item to Evans for a refund. At this point I'd had it less than a month.

This I did. After hearing nothing for a week, I contacted Evans who asked me to confirm the issues. I did this and then heard nothing. Chased again and they said they'd sent the light to Garmin for testing! I explained that I'd already had Garmin tell me it was a fault that couldn't be fixed (not to mention the faulty mount) and that I wasn't sure if Garmin even had the detail of what they were looking for.

Frustrated with them as I'm not sure I've ever had a retailer do this before on such a new item.

dhope

meanredspider wrote:

After many painful and frustrating calls and emails with the muppets at Garmin, they finally confirmed that there was currently nothing to be done to fix the issues I was having with my Garmin Varia front light.

I phoned Evans customer services who said that, if Garmin had confirmed there was a fault, return the item to Evans for a refund. At this point I'd had it less than a month.

This I did. After hearing nothing for a week, I contacted Evans who asked me to confirm the issues. I did this and then heard nothing. Chased again and they said they'd sent the light to Garmin for testing! I explained that I'd already had Garmin tell me it was a fault that couldn't be fixed (not to mention the faulty mount) and that I wasn't sure if Garmin even had the detail of what they were looking for.

Frustrated with them as I'm not sure I've ever had a retailer do this before on such a new item.

Can you ask them for a refund in lieu of them getting it back from Garmin.

Scenario A - it's broken and not fit for purpose. You're entitled to a refund
Scenario B - it's working fine. You bought it online and you get 30 days to change your mind
Scenario C - it's working fine. You bought it in store. Evans offer a 90 day refund policy

Doesn't seem worth their time arguing

meanredspider

Yup - I've raised a complaint with their management office.

It wouldn't be so bad but I bought it with the goodwill voucher they gave me for sending me two faulty bikes. This feels a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.

meanredspider

They finally came back to me today and agreed to refund me in the form of a voucher but only after Garmin (again) agreed to the warranty claim.

How to lose customer goodwill in one easy step.

Given I needed to top the original voucher up to buy the lights, I'm tempted to be a PITA and ask for my cash element back.

magibob

I don't know the specifics of this case, but in general, gotta say, I used to work for a major electrical retailer and nearly half the stuff that came back, "faulty" was in fact perfectly OK, just the customer hadn't read the instructions. Of the ones that were faulty, a decent size percentage had been misused.

Like I say, I don't know this case, and of course, the above leaves a good number of items that were faulty, but you can't blame a shop for having a general, "We'll get it checked before we refund £150.00," policy.

Andy,

(Slightly playing Devils Apricot. )

meanredspider

I have worked for consumer electronics manufacturing companies for the last 11 years and we certainly get back returned product without issues - especially from US and UK retailers where returns are much easier. That said, I'd already had it diagnosed by Garmin as faulty and been told by Evans as a result to return it for refund so then to have them ignore that is pretty irritating.

I have asked them to refund the cash portion of my payment - after a week, I've not so much as had an answer.

bikes`n`guns

It`s Evans, nuff said.

luv2ride

Just for balance, took my Arkose singlespeed in yesterday for a potential warranty job, as the OE Samox BB had seized after only 3 months and not a lot of muddy miles. Didn't book it in as had resigned myself to having to leave it with them for a few days anyway, and also needed advice on best replacement BB to get (road or MTB flavour).

Arrived as doors opened, and greeted by a friendly staff member who proceeded to tell me that they'd be unlikely to replace the OE part as not stocked separately. He then said they'd replace with an upgraded Shimano external BB FOC, and would get it done that day. When I called to pick it up they'd stuck a Shimano XT unit on it, and had also sorted out the rattly front brake lever I'd just mentioned to the guy in passing. Top work and great service at the Bristol branch!

meanredspider

The Bristol branch people were friendly when I had to return my second Jamis