Evans/BMC Warranty
Comments
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lol yep.0
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Balint @ Evans Cycles wrote:Dear mjl1982,
First of all, I’m sorry to hear that your original BMC frame has failed and then the replacement was of a different colour that didn’t match your existing components.
The reason for notifying you that there were replacement bikes available was that we didn’t think at the time that the frame would arrive in time for your event. As it turned up faster than usual, we decided to build up the bike with the new frame and the original components, so you could participate in your ride.
As far as I know, the bar tape has been replaced free of charge already and you have been offered replacement callipers and saddle by the store two weeks ago. You seem to have doubts about the validity of this offer so this will be confirmed in writing later today by Rachael.
Hope this helps to rectify the situation.
Kind regards,
Balint @ Evans Cycles
Thank you for your response.
Firstly you are right, I was offered a matching saddle & callipers to colour code the bike from the assistant manager at the cut store. When I rang up numerous times the next day I couldn’t get hold of the assistant manager as he was on leave nor could I seem to get hold of anyone after that, like so many times with the cut, I never seem to get a return call which I expected.
Now after trying numerous times during the day, I received an e mail from Rachael the day after the assistant manager offered the saddle & callipers…
From Rachael, Customer Services:
‘’Evans Cycles will always endeavour to resolve matters to the customer’s satisfaction, and I understand that the staff at this branch are no exception and have offered very good service. In this instance, I can confirm that Evans Cycles will not replace the calipers and saddle free of charge. Firstly, I would like to point out that the saddle and calipers are not faulty and do not fall within the remit of the warranty claim. They are fully functioning, and do not require replacement. I would like to point out at this juncture that the bar tape was replaced free of charge, as a gesture of good will. In addition and most pertinently, I hope on reflection you will appreciate that you have infact received exceptionally good service from the staff at the Waterloo Cut branch, particularly in relation to your wheels.’’
‘’Please be advised that on this occasion Mr James xxxx and the management team at the Waterloo Cut branch would be pleased to offer you a discount of 10% off of the cost of a new saddle.’’0 -
mjl1982 wrote:Balint @ Evans Cycles wrote:Dear mjl1982,
First of all, I’m sorry to hear that your original BMC frame has failed and then the replacement was of a different colour that didn’t match your existing components.
The reason for notifying you that there were replacement bikes available was that we didn’t think at the time that the frame would arrive in time for your event. As it turned up faster than usual, we decided to build up the bike with the new frame and the original components, so you could participate in your ride.
As far as I know, the bar tape has been replaced free of charge already and you have been offered replacement callipers and saddle by the store two weeks ago. You seem to have doubts about the validity of this offer so this will be confirmed in writing later today by Rachael.
Hope this helps to rectify the situation.
Kind regards,
Balint @ Evans Cycles
Thank you for your response.
Firstly you are right, I was offered a matching saddle & callipers to colour code the bike from the assistant manager at the cut store. When I rang up numerous times the next day I couldn’t get hold of the assistant manager as he was on leave nor could I seem to get hold of anyone after that, like so many times with the cut, I never seem to get a return call which I expected.
Now after trying numerous times during the day, I received an e mail from Rachael the day after the assistant manager offered the saddle & callipers…
From Rachael, Customer Services:
‘’Evans Cycles will always endeavour to resolve matters to the customer’s satisfaction, and I understand that the staff at this branch are no exception and have offered very good service. In this instance, I can confirm that Evans Cycles will not replace the calipers and saddle free of charge. Firstly, I would like to point out that the saddle and calipers are not faulty and do not fall within the remit of the warranty claim. They are fully functioning, and do not require replacement. I would like to point out at this juncture that the bar tape was replaced free of charge, as a gesture of good will. In addition and most pertinently, I hope on reflection you will appreciate that you have infact received exceptionally good service from the staff at the Waterloo Cut branch, particularly in relation to your wheels.’’
‘’Please be advised that on this occasion Mr James xxxx and the management team at the Waterloo Cut branch would be pleased to offer you a discount of 10% off of the cost of a new saddle.’’
Oops, bad day for Rachael.0 -
Very
Evans certainly not showering themselves with glory.0 -
I hadn't noticed it was being "confirmed" by the same person who told him to go forth and multiply!0
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Right, so Thursday 25th is when I was offered the change of saddle & callipers, Rachael sent me e mail on the 26th stating that Evans will not replace which I requested. I immediately replied to this and haven’t heard a thing until today.
‘’Dear xxxxx,
Thank you for your email.
I note that despite the offer to resolve this, you have escalated this to Mr Wilkinson, the Chief Executive Officer (26th August 2011, 17.10) and latterly, to the Customer Service Manager, notifying Evans Cycles of an intention to take legal action and that you are now seeking additional recompense (dated 6th Sept 2011)
Please be advised that no one has contacted you to withdraw the offer that the store made to you directly, as you say, on 25th August 2011. Initially, all further responses were on hold pending your acceptance or rejection of the store’s offer. A black saddle and silver calipers are ready to fit at the store. The staff at the store understood that you were to contact them to arrange fitting of the parts.
I must say therefore that we are also confused.
The offer remains and both myself and the staff at the store are surprised that you have not accepted it. (Infact, on a personal note and before it was clear that you intended to escalate this matter, I was wondering whether you had had a change of mind and decided the white calipers looked better after all!)
I would be pleased therefore if you would clarify your chosen course of action since it is now unclear.
Should you wish to change the parts on your bicycle please telephone the store, on 020 7928 4785, in order to book your bicycle in for the work.
I look forward to your reply.’’0 -
Well, my advice is put the confusion over whether the offer still stood or was withdrawn behind you, book your bike in, get your matching parts, be nice and friendly to the people at the store, draw a line under the whole episode and get out and ride your bike. I don' think it'll help at this stage to continue to air this in public.
This is from someone who was very indignant on your behalf if you remember.0 -
+1
Just get the bike sorted and forget the whole thing before anyone else gets upset.0 -
merak wrote:Well, my advice is put the confusion over whether the offer still stood or was withdrawn behind you, book your bike in, get your matching parts, be nice and friendly to the people at the store, draw a line under the whole episode and get out and ride your bike. I don' think it'll help at this stage to continue to air this in public.
This is from someone who was very indignant on your behalf if you remember.
This is my intention. If this is the case then I will draw a line under the matter.
As I said though, it didnt need to come to this.... just a shame that it has.
Anyway, thank you all for your help and advice on the matter.
MJL0 -
If you think this is bad, 9 months ago, I bought a TeamMachine SL01 from Evans Cycles. Two weeks ago, after being laid up over the winter, the rear derrailieur snapped off, and was pulled round taking a massive chunk out of the inside of the seat stay - £3k+ of bike that I absolutely hammered my budget for is now a write-off. I contacted
Evans to organise a replacement under the warrant, but they maintain that the hanger is designed to break "when placed under stress ... so that the frame does not snap instead"; the issue here is that the bike has done only covered its 1000th mile while on the ride when the break occurred, and the part was not under anything other than normal stress, having given way whilst on a flat section of road whilst out on a ride with some club mates.
Evans have dumped the blame on BMC, saying that since the guys in Switzerland won't cover it, then neither will they. My problem is, since the bike was bought as a complete item, if one part fails leading to further damage to other parts, then the package should be made good, no? I would expect this to be the case if I bought a car, fridge, computer or anything else made with parts from third party suppliers, so do not see why this should be any different. I've seen BMC's warranty, and accept their stance, but since the package came from Evans, I think it's up to them to sort this out, and find their attitude disgraceful, blaming BMC and using that as an excuse to shirk their responsibilities.
Has anyone else since had any other issues with Evans and warranties, not necessarily in relation to BMCs? Am definitely going to take this further, so would interested to hear anyone else's experience...0 -
My experience is that it depends which branch you go to - my local is staffed by semi-trained baboons, Reading is full of wonderful people who can't do enough to help.
An alternative that I did is to bypass the branch and go straight to the warranty dept at Head Office in Gatwick. You'll find their contact details on the website. It's quicker and you may be bypassing local branch targets etc (dunno how their financial model works tbh) so could get a more amenable response. I did - that was on a replacement frame too (BMC).0 -
Thanks CiB - live miles away from their nearest physical shop and eventually bought mine online, though, so am already dealing direct with the head office warranty team. They (Warranty Team and their manager) have flat out refused, so I've emailed BMC to see what their take is on Evans' responsibilities with regard to their brand - can't imagine they'd be too happy about being blamed because Evans don't want to pick up the tab... Did yours get sorted then?0
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@ Nikdavy, this is what's known in the trade as a JRA or Just Riding Along. Rear mech hangers rarely snap of their own volition - usually as a consequence of previous crash/impact on the rear mech or a poorly maintained / adjusted drivetrain. I suspect that they are somewhat sceptical of your explanation of how/why the incident occurred, hence their reluctance to deal with the issue or perhaps your expectations are too high? If every bike shop did free repairs on JRAs, they'd be out of business pretty quick.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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Ok, so let's go back to the car analogy. If you were Just Driving Along and a faulty part caused a wheel to fall off and you crashed at 60 or 70mph, that'd be OK, yeah? If I'd ridden the bike into a tree or repeatedly hit the rear mech with a hammer, that'd be different, but 1000 miles of normal riding? Suspect Shimano wouldn't say it's standard for their part to fail under those conditions - perhaps I should ask them...0
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Sorry, don't mean to sound antagonistic, and not having a go, but this is an expensive bike and I've been overly protective of it, so know it's been properly maintained and would have noticed if anything was amiss - you can usually feel when something's wrong even if you can't see it...0
