Cervelo R3 paint chip

des16

I returned home from my LBS with my brand new Cervelo R3 and was showing my friend the bike. He was handling it and amazingly, two pieces of paint chipped off in his hand from the seat stay. I have the two chips/places where the paint is peeling, around 1 cm in diameter. No sign of impact (as there was none), and the borders on the chips are perfected clean. My friend who runs an auto body shop says that it must be a problem with the primer or some contamination in that area. Of course that is conjecture. I have been riding and racing for decades, and have never seen anything like this happen, even when there is an impact of rocks or an actual crash. The LBS said they have never seen chipping (more like peeling) like this.The LBS contacted Cervelo and said they do not warranty paint and that they would do nothing. The LBS is very sympathetic and tells me Cervelo customer service is awful to deal with and the worst of all the brands they carry. I called Cervelo directly and the guy basically said to me I was wasting his time and that he wanted to let me know he was going to hang up on me since there was nothing to discuss. While he said that politely, I was really quite shocked by his attitude, which corroborates the assessment of the LBS that they are really awful. I asked him to have his supervisor call me. We'll see what happens. But it appears I have no recourse. Very upsetting. I have owned several Treks, a couple of which have been replace from small cracks in the carbon with no questions asked, and have also had friends with several bikes that have been replaced under warranty for various reasons. If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with this, please let me know Potential Cervelo buyer beware!

redvision

So you noticed the chips when you got home from collecting it? Or after the first ride?

If within the first 30 days of ownership you can try rejecting the bike under the consumer rights act:
https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights ... gIxM_D_BwE

With it being a paint chip though I'm not sure how successful claiming under the CRA will be as if you have ridden it I guess they could argue it was caused by a stone hitting it during the ride.
Worth a shot though.

des16

Never ridden -- 0 miles. I did not see it in the shop, and literally was just handling the bike when the paint peeled in my hands. Have all the pieces that peeled off. So, LBS is free and clear of any liability. Unfortunately I am in the US. Our consumer protection laws are about as good as our climate change policies.

redvision

des16 wrote:

Never ridden -- 0 miles. I did not see it in the shop, and literally was just handling the bike when the paint peeled in my hands. Have all the pieces that peeled off. So, LBS is free and clear of any liability. Unfortunately I am in the US. Our consumer protection laws are about as good as our climate change policies.

I'm not familiar with consumer rights in the USA but if you bought it directly through the shop I would still say the contract is with them and they have the responsibility to sort things.

Fwiw the shop doesn't sound great. If they claim cervelo have terrible customer service (which I have only heard the opposite tbh) then why are they still dealing for them??

I would push the shop for more assistance and to get a fix.

sloppyschleckonds

Thread is useless without pics

kingstonian

Shocking lack of customer service. Appreciate you telling us, what with your story plus a bunch of people telling me about cracked Cervelo frames I’m steering well clear of them.

des16

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Thread is useless without pics

I am not able to post pics as per the lack of facility on the forum for posting attachments. Sorry. I should have added that while the two large spots where the top-coat of the paint is peeling are around 1cm in diameter, there are several very small places that the paint is failing, on the top of the seat post, on the bottom of the fork, where the disk-brake is attached, etc. It's almost that even the slight perturbation or rubbing leads to paint failure near-by. It's really incredible that Cervelo is so unresponsive. I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

cornerblock

des16 wrote:

Never ridden -- 0 miles. I did not see it in the shop, and literally was just handling the bike when the paint peeled in my hands. Have all the pieces that peeled off. So, LBS is free and clear of any liability. Unfortunately I am in the US. Our consumer protection laws are about as good as our climate change policies.

Your hands? Or your friend's hands?

des16

Cornerblock wrote:

des16 wrote:

Never ridden -- 0 miles. I did not see it in the shop, and literally was just handling the bike when the paint peeled in my hands. Have all the pieces that peeled off. So, LBS is free and clear of any liability. Unfortunately I am in the US. Our consumer protection laws are about as good as our climate change policies.

Your hands? Or your friend's hands?

My apologies, I wrote "my" instead "his."

londoncommuter

des16 wrote:

I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

Why on Earth are you riding it if you're in dispute? Wouldn't it make sense to have kept it immaculate? Cervelo can now justifiably say you might have done this while riding.

sungod

des16 wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Thread is useless without pics

I am not able to post pics as per the lack of facility on the forum for posting attachments. Sorry. I should have added that while the two large spots where the top-coat of the paint is peeling are around 1cm in diameter, there are several very small places that the paint is failing, on the top of the seat post, on the bottom of the fork, where the disk-brake is attached, etc. It's almost that even the slight perturbation or rubbing leads to paint failure near-by. It's really incredible that Cervelo is so unresponsive. I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

you can post images by uploading to http://postimages.org/ then putting the link(s) in your post

btw putting a blank line between sentences would make things easier to read

londoncommuter

londoncommuter wrote:

des16 wrote:

I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

Why on Earth are you riding it if you're in dispute? Wouldn't it make sense to have kept it immaculate? Cervelo can now justifiably say you might have done this while riding.

To be a little more helpful than just moaning at you, did you know there is a thriving Cervelo forum? Loads of helpful people and employees used to "chip" in from time to time. You're much more likely to get it resolved on there.

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/5.aspx

In fact, kind of related thread on page 1:

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/16512.aspx

des16

londoncommuter wrote:

des16 wrote:

I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

Why on Earth are you riding it if you're in dispute? Wouldn't it make sense to have kept it immaculate? Cervelo can now justifiably say you might have done this while riding.

The pictures are time stamped right after I purchased the bike. Also, I unfortunately do not have another bike to ride and cannot idle this one indefinitely with the vague hope that Cervelo will be more responsive in the future.

des16

londoncommuter wrote:

londoncommuter wrote:

des16 wrote:

I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

Why on Earth are you riding it if you're in dispute? Wouldn't it make sense to have kept it immaculate? Cervelo can now justifiably say you might have done this while riding.

To be a little more helpful than just moaning at you, did you know there is a thriving Cervelo forum? Loads of helpful people and employees used to "chip" in from time to time. You're much more likely to get it resolved on there.

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/5.aspx

In fact, kind of related thread on page 1:

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/16512.aspx

Thank you for the suggestion on the Cervelo forum. I hope I am not moaning, but rather sharing information. Of course, I am unhappy about the situation, but assure you, life goes on.

londoncommuter

des16 wrote:

londoncommuter wrote:

londoncommuter wrote:

des16 wrote:

I finally put the first 40 miles on the bike today.Very nice, but, I would never purchase a Cervelo again, regardless how well it rides.

Why on Earth are you riding it if you're in dispute? Wouldn't it make sense to have kept it immaculate? Cervelo can now justifiably say you might have done this while riding.

To be a little more helpful than just moaning at you, did you know there is a thriving Cervelo forum? Loads of helpful people and employees used to "chip" in from time to time. You're much more likely to get it resolved on there.

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/5.aspx

In fact, kind of related thread on page 1:

https://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/16512.aspx

Thank you for the suggestion on the Cervelo forum. I hope I am not moaning, but rather sharing information. Of course, I am unhappy about the situation, but assure you, life goes on.

No, I was kind of apologising after moaning at you for taking the bike out. Good luck with your claim.

noodleman

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Thread is useless without pics

No it's not.

des16

Some great news. I wrote directly to the head of customer support with more detailed pictures. They agreed to replace the frame. I guess it was just a matter of reaching out to the correct person. My faith in Cervelo is restored! Thanks to all for your helpful suggestions and sympathetic hearing of my concerns.

Thigh_burn

That's very good customer service.

Out of interest which R3 did you go for, fluro or blue; disc or rim?

des16

Blue disc.

fenix

I'm pleased for your result - but anyone thinking this is very good customer service didn't read the opening post.
If it was good customer service there would not have been a post in the first place. You shouldn't have to chase like this on a fresh frame.

des16 wrote:

The LBS is very sympathetic and tells me Cervelo customer service is awful to deal with and the worst of all the brands they carry. I called Cervelo directly and the guy basically said to me I was wasting his time and that he wanted to let me know he was going to hang up on me since there was nothing to discuss.

des16

Fenix wrote:

I'm pleased for your result - but anyone thinking this is very good customer service didn't read the opening post.
If it was good customer service there would not have been a post in the first place. You shouldn't have to chase like this on a fresh frame.

des16 wrote:

The LBS is very sympathetic and tells me Cervelo customer service is awful to deal with and the worst of all the brands they carry. I called Cervelo directly and the guy basically said to me I was wasting his time and that he wanted to let me know he was going to hang up on me since there was nothing to discuss.

Fair enough to still be critical of the original treatment received. It seems that once I reached the higher levels of customer care matters got received very quickly. I wish it was not necessary to elevate the issue, but certainly pleased it turned out well. I should also add that I may assume part of the blame in as far as I did not send as many pictures as I should have. I concentrated on the two large spot where the paint was peeling/chipping. In my follow up, I presented additional evidence of all the other small places (e.g., 1- 2 mm) on the frame where the paint had failed.