Bad service from Evans Cycles Birmingham store

greeko3000
greeko3000 Posts: 2
edited June 2012 in Road beginners
I have just concluded a six month long issue with a brand new bike from Evans Cycles, basically they bottom bracket bearing needed changing and they couldn't be bothered.

You can read about it here:

http://tinyurl.com/c5mok3w

But I thought you guys might want to read it too.

[Admin] to save you from going to a Poor review site here is what he had to say.[/Admin]
I bought a Cannondale Caad 10 from Evans cycles in January. It took until Febuary to arrive, when I took it for a ride the bottom bracket started knocking. I arranged to take it back and have it looked at in the Birmingham store. They tightened the cranks and said it was put together badly. I took it out for a ride when I got home, it started knocking again. I took it back again. They told me that the bearings were damaged and needed replacing. I brought it home again after repairs were done and rode it. It started knocking again. I phoned up the customer relations phone line told them what happened they told me to take it back so it could be looked at again. I told them I was going to take it to an independent retailer. My local bike shop took it apart in front of me, it required a bar breaker to remove the cranks, it had been over tightened so much that there was a risk that the frame could have been damaged. The bearings and grease were original and had not been replaced. I phoned customer relations and told them what was found. After a three week wait they offered me the cost I paid to have the bearings replaced, no good will gesture for the 240 miles of travelling I had to do or the out right lies from the store manager and assistant manager about the completed work that was not done. the email I received from Evans came yesterday, almost six months since ordering the bike.

Comments

  • AndyWalker1985
    AndyWalker1985 Posts: 34
    Used Evans Birmingham for the last couple of years, but of late the service has definatly gone down hill. Had a problem with an item I purchased from them and wouldnt swap it for me as it was a manufacturing fault. Apparently it had to be sent away for testing for up to 2 weeks. Manager was useless and just seemed to want to fob me off. Would never use this store again.
  • turnerjohn
    turnerjohn Posts: 1,069
    geeezzzz thats shocking ! would a call to trading standards get you anywhere ? your badly out of pocket !
  • andyeb
    andyeb Posts: 407
    Sadly I think Evans have got too big to care - there's always another punter ready to part with cash in their direction.

    I might have "only" spent £630 quid on a road bike, but I'd still expect the tyres to be pumped up to the recommended PSI (i.e. 100, not 30). The stock pedals had also been vastly over-tightened, so when I came to swap in my SPDs I had to go back to the shop and even then the mechanic struggled to shift-em with a massive spanner.

    That said, the manager in the Guildford store was polite and helpful when I had to get a £70 Cateye light exchanged with 1 month left on the warranty. So they aren't all bad, but clearly there is a wide variation between stores.
  • jonomc4
    jonomc4 Posts: 891
    I have always had really good service from them in their London Bridge store and the bikes I have bought from them have always been very well built and taken care of.

    I have moved on a bit now and build my own bike - but I am still happy to get parts from them - but I do agree it really does depend on the store and often more importantly the assistant you go to. I have been given some really sound and balanced advice from them - even to the point of lowering their sales value, with some knowledgeable and bike mad assistants. But I do use maybe 5 or 6 different shops for my parts. The only time I had an order problem with them was when their website carried incorrect pictures - basically they delivered the wrong Sidi shoes - to compensate they upgraded the shoes to a different Sidi pair that were £70 more free of charge and matched the colour I wanted.

    You on the other hand have been treated badly and ripped off - I would call directly to their head office sales about this.
  • Herbsman
    Herbsman Posts: 2,029
    I had not-so-good service on one occasion after ordering a bike online from them and having it delivered to my workplace. It arrived with a slightly buckled front wheel and there was a kink in the front tyre. They refused to replace it and suggested that I'd hit something. In hindsight I should have used their 'deliver to store' service so I could check the bike out before buying it.

    However on another occasion I had good service; a gear cable snapped on a different bike I bought from them, and when I went to replace it I found that the lever jammed up. I googled instructions to fix this and found loads of horror stories about STI levers being irrepairable after a cable break causing a jam. I took the bike in expecting to drop it off and pick it up later, or even have to wait for a replacement lever on warranty, but they took it into the workshop straight away and un-jammed the lever, hooked the new cable I'd left in there to the derailleur, and indexed the gears.

    So it really depends which member of staff you deal with on the day. Of course you should get good service all the time, but then really, you should buy your bike from your LBS rather than from the Wetherspoons of bike shops.
    CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!
  • andyeb
    andyeb Posts: 407
    Herbsman wrote:
    ...Wetherspoons of bike shops.

    Gotta love that quote. Might have to use it myself - it's just right on so many levels.
  • ShutUpLegs
    ShutUpLegs Posts: 3,522
    To be fair, it seems about right for Evans standard of service, shocking shop and customer service
  • shouldbeinbed
    shouldbeinbed Posts: 2,660
    Very limited experience of Evans so it could have just been a bad day, but the Manchester Velodrome one had my phone number and promised to call upon delivery, but sat on an ordered part for a couple of weeks until I phoned to ask if it was there (yes) and went in to pick it up. It then took them a quarter of an hour to find it and asking me (having seen the receipt and their own computer system) several times was I sure I'd ordered it from there, what was it again, why did I think it had come in. I whiled away the time listening to a bit of a heated discussion between staff and another customer over a new bike service that they didn't agree on.

    I think I'd use them as a shop if what I wanted was there but I'd be wary on much else on that experience.
  • turnerjohn
    turnerjohn Posts: 1,069
    Similar experience to above thinking about it....ordered small part from my Rudy sunglasses, was told I'd be called when it arrived....waited 2 weeks so called...no it hadn;t turned up...waiting another 2 weeks and called and no still nothing (good job it was an emergency part!) after another 2 weeks I went into the shop...another guy checked and couldn't find it anywhere on the orders list ! He was very good and took all the details down and called Rudy there and then and ordered the part while I was there....took week and half to turn up and in the end wasn't the right part !...I gave up and went elsewhere.
    Point is one assistant very good, other not so....but the same shop (same time of the day and same level of customers etc)

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