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The following- best bike ever, until I had a problem...basically, the relay wheel is hitting the seat tube making a deep gauge in the carbon. 3 month old warranty claim going through and now I've been told Evil won't warranty my frame..They finally admit it's a design fault and 3 internal guys said it must be my fault. They said I am riding it too aggressively even though the marketing says it's an aggressive trail bike with Strobel doing big bucks on it..! They said a 2.2 Ardent was too high profile even though the website says 2.4 max. Basically just trying to fob me off..all I have now is the Internet to make people think twice about shelling out £2400 on this frame that has a design fault...
They admit there's a design flaw related to your issue then say it's your fault?!?!?
Don't give up, keep all correspondence etc and go to trading standards, get on evil bikes twitter, Facebook etc. I'd normally say give them a chance and be nice, but it sounds like you've done that.
Best of luck.
Surely thats a design fault though?
Hearing a lot of negative things about warranty and evil bikes.
Maybe mboy could help you...
I wouldn't give up. Certainly not on a 3 month old £2400 frame/bike.
How did you pay? If credit card you might have some recourse that way.
As mentioned hit all social medias etc.
Did you pay for it on credit card? Is there anyway you can persue it through them? Sorry to hear you are being messed around by them. So many horror stories about warranty and support with Evil.
Edit posted the same time as above!
No great surprise. Evil have the worst rep in the industry.
Hope you get sorted OP
If Dave Hinde made frames.......
As others will no doubt say - your contract is with the shop, not Evil. I'd be talking to them about Trading Standards/not for for purpose etc (nicely at first) but make it clear you'll pursue formally if needed.
I feel bad for the shop selling these bikes - they're going to lose a lot of money if customers exercise their rights - I'd be expecting a full refund.
You've probably already discovered this but Evil refused a warranty claim because the unlucky owner posted something on mtbr forums, so be careful. Obviously once it's resolved to your satisfaction give em both barrels on every forum you can find.
Truly awful company by all accounts, including yours 🙁
The thing is the bike is the nuts..but I am gutted. They sent me a new shock too but it didn't help..they said " you have to realise these bikes are made by people and people make mistakes" ffs I have spent £2400 and have to swallow it???
Also, someone on here warned me about this very issue....I wish I would have listened..!
I can't believe they really said that?!? ^ 😯
It's all logged mate..also they said they will send some touch up paint...lol
This is one reply..
(Evil Bikes)
Jun 6, 14:22 MST
Damon,
I understand where you are coming from, but you must realize a few things here;
Your frame is not worthless. You are not alone with tire rub on the seat tube. Its a mountain bike. Scratches and scuffs are expected (yes I realize this is a little out of the norm). The market for used Followings is strong.
No one is trying to fob you off. Our job is to help you.
We are indeed a bike manufacturer. We do not want our bikes to have issues. Engineers are in fact human. They sometimes make mistakes.
I am doubtful I can make anything better than a crash replacement happen. I will ask around.
What a surprise, said no-one ever.
That absolutely sucks .
[i]You are not alone with tire rub on the seat tube
Engineers are in fact human. They sometimes make mistakes[/i]
=Our frames are badly designed, and badly made yet still cost £2400. But don't blame us when things go wrong- it's just how things are?!!!
[i]Your frame is not worthless
he market for used Followings is strong[/i].
Meanwhile back on planet Earth the second hand market for damaged carbon frames is still a tad slow to pick up...
Just building my Following and am running a 2.2 ardent, may have a rethink now!
Everyone raves about the bikes, trouble the warranty seems shocking! Hope you get it sorted out.
What a load of condescending shite that is from Evil!
Feel for you dude. £2400 is a big pill to swallow. Good luck.
It sounds like it's a design fault in the sense that their manufacturing tolerances are not tight enough to avoid having the rear tyre hit the seat tube on some examples - surely it can't be happening with every Following they've sold, or we'd have heard about it loads already?
Bikes are designed and manufactured by humans. Humans make mistakes. That's why bikes come with a warranty. The manufacturer has to accept that some of their profit has to be spent on replacing frames with manufacturing faults, otherwise few purchasers would risk spending so much money on a bike which may turn out to be unusable.
Occasionally products with manufacturing faults manage to sneak past my business's QC and test processes. When that happens we replace/repair them as required. It's just one of those costs of doing business. You can try to avoid supporting warranty claims but it's terrible for your brand because the word will get out, and such behaviour will cost you more in the long run (though if you've released a really disastrously problematic product - like that Evil from a few years back - you may not have the cashflow to do the right thing...)
Consumer law is on your side. Go back to the retailer and don't back down. So what if Following's are sought after secondhand? How sought after are faulty ones?! Appalling!
Bikes are designed and manufactured by humans. Humans make mistakes. That's why bikes come with a warranty. The manufacturer has to accept that some of their profit has to be spent on replacing frames with manufacturing faults, otherwise few purchasers would risk spending so much money on a bike which may turn out to be unusable
Well said
Reminds me of the shitty response I got from Transition when the paint fell of my Bandit, good luck. Finally got sorted with the UK distributor. Like said earlier your contract is with the seller as I was advised, take some legal advice, I was emailed privately from the forum by a legal eagle whose advice was invaluable and resolved the problem with me receiving a brand new frame.
The manufacturer has admitted there is a fault. Take that to the shop and get your money back.
How anyone can sell them in good conscious I don't know. That's shocking.
The have been shady for years, never paid Cam Zink a penny, always walking away from issues.
I assume you bought through a dealer! Take it up with them.
I'd be putting daily photos on their Facebook and Twitter feeds with the responses to your emails.
[i]Just building my Following and am running a 2.2 ardent, may have a rethink now![/i]
If you take all the air out of the shock, does the wheel hit the tube - if so, get a long shock and/or one with less travel?
What does the shop say?
I'm still confused why anyone would've risked buying an Evil in the first place. They have literally the worst warranty rep ever !!
At least On One / Planet X are cheap!
Bought in the UK? Fobbed off by the importer?
How did you pay for it? Finance or credit card? If either of these ask to speak to their legal dept. Explain you used their credit facility to buy a product that has a major design flaw and you feel not fit for purpose. I had an issue on a car bought on finance (cars majorly different to finance companies?) And it was swiftly rejected/accepted.
Gather up all their marketing/ads etc as evidence. Start being very firm but not rude.
I wouldn't buy anything from Evil. At least when Commencal had a crack issue first owners were sorted out. It still damaged their reputation for a while didn't it? With Evils attitude they are destroying their brand IMO.
What an absolute nightmare. I'm amazed they are even still in business quite frankly, they have such a horrific reputation and clearly seem not to care. Even if the best bike ever, I'd never touch anything from them because of this attitude towards people! It's disgraceful.
Paid on a card through a shop who I know so could be tricky for them..this is defo over as far as I'm concerned as I haven't heard from them in over a week..I want to make one thing clear, i really wanted to support them as I heard the bike was good and the warrant was better..I have nothing but good things to say about Santa Cruz and wish I would have bought the Hightower..
30 posts about evil and no mboy? what is the world coming too.
Card- credit or debit?
Incidental about the shop. £2400 is a heinous amount of money to pay. Would you trust the thing not to fail on a tricky trail or far from the car in 12months time? Credit card = speak to them ASAP. Not the shop. Explain about the correspondence etc. Including the shop in the chain just leads to delays, dragging feet, miscommunication etc. Just keep them in the loop.
He will need to speak with the shop as the credit card company will ask you for feedback from the retailer. If it were me I would go into the shop and talk it through with them. Sure you may not want to upset them but £2400 is enough money (in my opinion) to fall out over. Anyway hopefully it won't come to that. Explain the situation and show them the correspondence! Explain to them that you need an answer within x number of days else you will be referring the transaction to the credit card company directly. I hope you get a positive outcome, I would be devastated if it were me!
Once I got my money back I would plaster the correspondence over social media so others were aware how shocking evils support has been.
Isn't this a B- frame*? Probs really only designed for a 1.8
*the new '+'
so could be tricky for them
They added their percentage on top. Time for them to earn it.
never even heard of these guys
Upto this point what has the shop done in your corner OP?
If they've referred you to Evil, stood back I wouldn't waste time. When it comes to warranty I've been polite but kept it short and moved it along quickly. 3-4 Forks and (thankfully) only one frame.
Sounds like they're trying to imply it's just wear to the paint, can you stick some photos up?
Wouldn't touch an Evil product with a bargepole
I've worked in small LBSs so naturally sympathise with them but they must surely have done some research before taking Evil on as a brand so only have themselves to blame if they've not factored in such warranty claims. It's up to them to chase Evil for their money back or to ensure their margin is large enough to take it on the chin.
mboy is in Italy at a product launch.
There's more to this I reckon - never heard such passive language from someone who just effectively lost £2.4k! With those type of responses from the manufacturer, your cc company will refund you for sure. They've left the lbs with no choice IMO.
As scotroutes says, those email replies are great for you, they make it quite clear where the blame lies.
Just checking you did fit the right sized wheels 😉
Reminds me of a mate who had a twisted intense frame. Intense reckoned that it was within tolerence, then they asked what the tolerence was, er, well, er, well OK