Canyon disappointment

blobbi

I ordered a Canyon Grail in May and it arrived last week. I was very excited, as you can imagine, and opened the box with baited breath.

When I pulled the bike out, the frame had marks down one side over the decals. There were what looked like rub marks from the cabling at the front of the frame and the rear derailleur also had marks on it. My assumption is that this is from transit, however, In all honesty it looked like a seconds bike.

I contacted Canyon hoping for some resolution. Unfortunately the response time is around 72 hours and when I did get a response it wasn’t what I was hoping for. The tried to palm me off with £50 or said I can have a refund and go to the back of the queue for a replacement which I would need to order myself online. That’s January 2021. I was really hoping they would share my frustrations and replace the frame so I was “100% satisfied and could get on the road as quickly as possible” (their words not mine.)

I appreciate it’s a mail order company. I have bought from Ribble and Planet X previously, and had a damaged bike from one of them, but it was swiftly sorted out at the time. I also appreciate the damage is cosmetic, maybe I’m being precious. But I’m really saddened that they just don’t give a s*£t. I had high hopes but I guess that the demand for bikes at present means that a few unhappy customers here or there just doesn’t mater.

I’m not sure if anyone else has had a similar experience with them. Reviews are generally very good, which factored into my decision making, but not in my own case.

Winge over. Just think before you buy from them.....

akh

Family member recently took delivery of one of their hard tail mountain bikes, don't know the actual model name.

There was an obvious chip in the paintwork on the downtube, down to the bare metal. Can't see it having happened in transit, the box it came in was huge and robust looking. There was no obvious penetration of the box. They'd been waiting a long time for the bike and as it will likely get some chips in use, they just took the offer and kept it. I believe their off was similar to yours.

Canyon were also cr@p to deal with when I bought my Ultimate AL SLX frameset off them in about 2015. Won't bother with them again.

blobbi

Thanks, it makes me feel like I’m not a complete outlier.

arlowood

As you've already hinted it's a full-on sellers market out there. Your bike may have been damaged in transit but it could equally have been a customer return or an ex-display bike from one of the showrooms they have around Europe.

In the current climate, when people are scrambling for any stock that is available anywhere, I can't help feeling that Canyon are just shrugging their shoulders and sucking up the negative PR from a few customers because they know there is a much larger tranche of customers who will be happy.

Those like the OP may avoid Canyon in the future as a result of their experience but they will be outweighed but seemingly satisfied customers

webboo

If you take the refund and reorder, will you have to pay next years 2021 prices.

zest28

Well.
1. It is Caynon, you get what you pay for. Don't expect the same kind of service from the big brands were you pay more.
2. The demand for bikes has exploded, so there is a shortage. I walked with a big bag of money into the bicylce store, but I couldn't buy the bike that I wanted as the expected delivery date is 2021.

MTB_Roadtripper

Ah man that is annoying. In normal circumstances you'd perhaps be in a position to f**k them off and find something else.

I had issues with a direct seller and was able to do that as an LBS had a bike I wanted in stock and it was a blessing in disguise in the end. Worth checking around in a 50-100miles radius, see whats about.

imposter2.0

blobbi said:

But I’m really saddened that they just don’t give a s*£t. I had high hopes but I guess that the demand for bikes at present means that a few unhappy customers here or there just doesn’t mater.

^^ Basically this. That was my impression of their service when I bought from them last year. No issue with the bike when it finally arrived, it's a great bike and still is. But their response to the delays - or more specifically their complete indifference to any concerns I raised - was just appalling. Probably the worst service I've ever received from any company. I guess most of their sales complete without issue. But they seem completely unequipped - and uninterested - when it all goes wrong.

yellowv2

From the posts I have read online since Canyon surfaced as a bike manufacturer I personally wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.
It seems to me they couldn't care less about customer service or satisfaction. There philosophy appears to one of just pile em high sell em cheap, sell enough cheap enough and service and reputation doesn't matter anyway.
I'm afraid these days in life generally all the vast majority of people care about is how little they can pay for something, whether that means they pay the true worth of something or not.
I think the prices of bikes generally seem to have gone through the roof over the past few years, when the opposite should really be true. Nearly all are being produced by the same factories in the Far East/China and the big name brands are just marketing machines making huge profits, which it seems customers are willing to support. Especially with the modern trend of changing bikes every few years, not wanting to forgo the latest colour scheme or supposed technical advancement. As some do with cars.
It won't be long before schemes to pay a monthly amount for three years then pay the difference or change to the new version and keep paying, like car manufacuteres now do, are commonplace.

ibr17xvii

Just to balance things slightly I bought a bike from them in 2018.

When it arrived the front mech was all over the place & clearly hadn't been banged in transit as the bike was extremely well packed (as you'd expect when they make you pay £30+ for the box but that's another story........).

Not confident with front mechs so took it to my LBS who sorted it & gave me a receipt which I emailed to Canyon & they refunded me. Service couldn't have been better.

Appreciate the world is a different place now but that's no excuse for poor customer service. TBH though irrespective of COVID19 Canyon's service always has been a bit 50/50.

I've been fortunate with them as have others but there are equally as many who've had a poor experience. I guess that's the "risk" with direct sales companies.

imposter2.0

ibr17xvii said:

I've been fortunate with them as have others but there are equally as many who've had a poor experience. I guess that's the "risk" with direct sales companies.

As above. There aren't any 'half-measures' with Canyon. You either have a 'great' experience - or you have the 'worst ever'. There doesn't seem to be anything in between...

roadrunner20

zest28 said:

Well.
1. It is Caynon, you get what you pay for. Don't expect the same kind of service from the big brands were you pay more.
.

Sorry not sorry but that's bullocks.

It isn't peacocks high Street or topman.

When people paying over a grand for a bike, that's still a lot of money, anyone who thinks otherwise is clearly out of touch with reality.

On a personal note I've bought 3 bikes from them and the service has been a journey to say the least, to sum up.

2012, fantastic service, great aftercare.

2014 great service, aftercare good.

2018, average service (although testing day staff were brilliant)
Aftercare god awful.

Sadly I judge canyon on my last sale and given I've probably spent a lot on their bikes and they won't send a replacement brake rotor which was damaged in transit. That's me, I'm out.

Shame the company completely lost touch with customers. Myself and many from club no longer sing praises due to such poor aftercare.

junglist_matty

Have a 2012 ultimate AL - which when I bought it, was in stock and delivery was a couple of weeks from order. Since that era, the popularity of canyon has gone through the roof, it's impossible to go anywhere and not see one these days so they must be doing something right.

Luckily for me I've never had to deal with their after sales department but it's not good enoug from what I've read. Hence for my new bike bought earlier this year I went with giant, the bike was in stock and they have retailers all over the country if I ever need to use after sales.

brundonbianchi

Canyon are renowned for being a bit hit and miss. If you get a good one, lovely. If you don’t, god help you.

blobbi

So, to follow up on this. They did eventually give me a refund........but for the cost minus 1p. Very bizarre. Can't be arsed to chase a penny, just felt like they wanted to give a good jab of the elbow in the ribs as a goodbye gift.

brundonbianchi

blobbi said:

So, to follow up on this. They did eventually give me a refund........but for the cost minus 1p. Very bizarre. Can't be arsed to chase a penny, just felt like they wanted to give a good jab of the elbow in the ribs as a goodbye gift.

Hence the reason I won’t deal with them. It might be just a penny, but those pennies add up.