I'd pay £8, immediately, to stop receiving those emails, but my money is my own. Poor old Mark just has to sit there and take it. 🙂

Tip for dealing with small value items that are faulty or useless

Just tell them they didn't arrive & get a refund

Saves all the hassle

It's a clear cut case of not fit for purpose in my opinion. Road bar tape should be long enough to fit commonly sized road bars. The purpose of the tape is to wrap bars. The dimensions of road bars are fairly uniform – they seem to vary from 38 to 44cm wide in the whole, which is nowhere near as much variation as you get in the mountain bike world.

Assuming your bars fit in the range of what's considered normal for road bars, I can't see how CRC can refuse to take it back.

The guy's argument of "I wouldn't have bought the car" doesn't hold water – you don't have the opportunity to see the goods before purchase, and it's not reasonable to expect you to test fit bar tape. Even if you did, there's the potential for stretching and damage as you do so.

Yeh, the emails are getting a bit strong. But if I was that poor at my job I would expect to get some abuse.

The point being, if CRC don't actually list how the tape is against the desription, how would ANYONE know how much tape there was?
ads-b does have a valid point, given that the tapes i looked at on CRC, NONE of them had a length. Therefore you'd be forced to assume that they would all fit std road bars.
Out of interest ads, are your road bars std?

hmm, I understand why you're cross, but the tone of your email wouldn't make me want to rush to help you out either.
—–
your first email to CRC wouldn't have me rushing to help though.

+1

how would have you wordsmiths worded it?

bigyinn- Road bars are standard

email sent to 'Frank' at CRC who is apparently high up…..

NSFW, someone seems to have had this problem before:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pX5h9Cp-Uu8

tbh I dont think your first e-mail is polite or rude. It does not seem like it is to much to expect bar tape to actually cover the bars. Imagine buying an inner tube or tyre and finding it was too small to fit would youe cross?. Feel some sympathy for CRC as they have sold exactlyw hat Planet X give them so it is not faulty just a shoddy product and no really thei fault – perhapsprevious customers live with it as it is cheap and costs more to return but CRC should be clear about this on website. If it was down to me I would have sent you another roll for free and the pocessed your next orders very slowly next time 😉
Customer loyalty /reputationis everything and they look a biot stingy If i was CRC I would moan to planet x as well

EDIT: SORRY PLANET X your stuff is ace

Brand X, not Planet X!

Phew – Brand X/Planet X confusion avoided 😯 The lawsuit has been dropped 😉

i think half the bother here is actually us.
if you have ever worked in a bike shop you will understand just how much time is spent dealing with muppets that have fekked the thingh they have just bought and then try to pull the wool over.
not saying this is you mind ads it's just that you do tend to adopt a mindset.

Ok, where do I book my tickets for the Mark vs Adam smackdown?

at least the OP can't complain they aren't reading his emails – this is like a soap opera. I wonder what frank will say?

Since tails, asks, I'd go with the following, then post the bar-tape back and forget all about it. I've no idea whether I'd get my refund, but I wouldn't be fuming either. 🙂

Hi,

I'm afraid I am having a problem with the Brand X bar tape which I bought on [date] under reference [ ]. It is significantly too short actually to wrap my bars. After a couple of attempts I can get it as far as the hoods, but it definitely won't do a full wrap (I don't think I'm messing this up incidentally, I've done the job many times in the past). Having looked at the website again, I see that the product listing doesn't specify a length, and indeed neither do most of the bar tapes that you list. I'm afraid I assumed that it would be long enough to wrap a standard bar, and the description certainly doesn't make it clear that it wouldn't be.

Presumably you wouldn't usually give me a refund because the product has been used and can't be re-sold. Equally, it's not actually faulty. It just isn't any use to me, or to anyone else with standard sized road bars who wants to wrap them in tape. I don't want to spoil anybody's day over £4 but I do feel rather hard-done-by about this. I am going to return the tape, and I would very much appreciate a refund of what I paid and the postage I'm incurring in sending it back. Do give me a call if it would make things easier to talk on the phone. My number is [ ].

Kind regards

Adam

I wonder what frank will say?

Frankie says RELAX

@jamie my money is on mark – he has the bombers, but only a 2006 model in mint green with a 1.5" steerer. They are heavily reduced though.

2006 model in mint green with a 1.5" steerer

Chuckles. 😀

this is like a soap opera. I wonder what frank will say?

Im guessing "Paaaaaaat!"

Get a mountain bike?

or a tennis bat.

nonk:

or a tennis bat.

or a cricket racket 😉

yeah one of those aswell 😆

Did you check to see if both bar tapes were the same length?

Might just be a one off manufacturing problem/mistake?

Very poor on CRC's side imo.

Had recent problems with them too. A £2000 frame with a fault. (ok, reduced to £1500 because it was last year's model). They were very unhelpful.
Had to take the matter to the importer, then the manufacturer.
Manufacturer / importer sorted it out really well in the end, but CRC were rubbish. I'm still buying 'bits' of them but they have lost my custom for anything more involved….. not because of the problem but because of their rubbish customer service.

Used to be so good too :-/

Im guessing "Paaaaaaat!"

I'm guessing RUNAROUND NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW……………….

but maybe I'm just too old 🙂

If Mark from CRC is reading this thread….

Hey Mark,

I've recently bought 2 front lights from a super-bargain-bin section (2 pounds each) and well to be honest mate… they're only really worth 2 pounds!

The bit that fits into the handlebars is too small for my awesome bike and therefor isnt fit for purpose… I could mount the light at a weird angle but this would clash with my other light… plus the light was only 2pounds so I've decided to give it to my girlfriend who knows nothing about cycling other than what i tell her.

I know that if you've spent time reading this you're probably thinking "what the f*** is this guy on about, is he complaining or what?!" and the answer is: nahhh i'm not complaining, its a 2pound front light! The batteries it came with are probably worth more than 2pounds and worse case scenario I could rig up the lights with some kind of sensor to scare the neighbours cat, or throw the batteries at the neighbours cat… everyones a winner*.

Hope you dont get in too much trouble dude with this whole bar-tape mess and it's all sorted out with everyone getting what they want (new bar tape for Adam, a tasty slice of cake for you and a healthy profit at the end of the year for your boss).

Regards,
Phil

*everyone's a winner except the bloody cat.

P.S Send me some free stuff, you know you want to 😉

Could be worse.
Could have been an £85 pair of Northwave shoes from Leisure Lakes.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/north-wave-lizzard-shoes-sole-coming-unglued-warranty-or-fair-wear-tear

i'm sure Frank at CRC has chuff all else to do other than read your emails.

i think you should maybe give it a rest and chalk it up to experience. people like you who complain and stamp their feet at the slightest little thing really grind my gears. if your lucky you may get someone fired or in a lot of trouble over a £4 roll of tape – which is nice. should have bought something decent in the first place – or, as you said, read the reviews that mention the length. proper internet buying fail.

Get a BMX? They have proper grips.

I initially agreed with the OP. But now I am with CRC. It depends how you fit the product, so maybe a photo of you trying to fit it would have been helpful and/or measurements of your old bar tape.

CRC are not really at fault imo, as they said they have had no problems before. They could quite easily say that you are fitting it wrong!

Asking them to send out new bar tape without you sending the old stuff back is just stupid! The tape could be fine for all CRC know and you could just be pulling a fast one! Plus it wouldn't cost £4 to send it back! You should have worded the forst mail saying you think there may be a problem, and are returning it for them to have a look at, not demanding a replacement!

CRC are correct imo. I also think his emails are fine, clearly states the point that technically the bar tape is not faulty so they can't really replace it. They might have replaced it on a good will gesture but again I think you would have to send it back. If you had sent it back for them to look at I suspect you would have easily got a refund.

On another note – £4 for bar tape, must be thinner than paper! Prefer the the nice gel tape myself.

What bar tape are you getting instead?

I rate this Pro Bar Tape (Note: from Wiggle, might even get some Haribo with it!)

For what it is worth, I blacklisted CRC some time ago. Dispatch times were getting slow and no confidence in customer services. Having said that, Wiggle does seem to be slowing down a little bit as well.

Plenty of good ebay shops around though.

I don't think your emails were out of order, CRC are clearly in the wrong here. Internet Forums result in a lot of bad publicity, but people also take the time to mention good customer service as well. Had this been resolved quickly, CRC could have earned themselves a lot of (public) brownie points

argyle can you send me £4 and I will send you something utterly useless in return?
The price is no the rea issue whethe rhe spends £4 or £40 it should still do what it isdesigned to do. Granted £40 should look bettr and last longer etc but they should still cover the **** bars whatever the price

It's bar tape. Get over yourself. And technically CRC are right. If you bought trousers that were too short then it'd be your own fault. I suspect that the length is actually fine for a lot of people who just want their tape to end past the bend. It's bar tape. Get over yourself. And technically CRC are right. If you bought trousers that were too short then it'd be your own fault. I suspect that the length is actually fine for a lot of people who just want their tape to end past the bend.

CRC are not right, they are selling a product as road bar tape that does not fit standard road bars. Your trouser analogy doesn't work, if you catalogue ordered a set of trousers and they arrived with one leg missing you'd complain. The length should suit the majority of bars, and have a note saying it doesn't fit longer bars, or give a specific length. Otherwise they're selling a product that isn't fit.

CRC are not really at fault imo, as they said they have had no problems before. They could quite easily say that you are fitting it wrong!

They have had problems before (someone left feedback to point it out!). Unless he's trying to wrap his stem too I struggle to see how he could be messing it up!

people like you who complain and stamp their feet at the slightest little thing really grind my gears.

Eh? CRC are in the business of selling bike parts. Doesn't matter if it's a £4 part or a £40 part, it should do the job. As far as I can see, the OP doesn't want anyone sacked – he just wants some bar tape that works!

junkyard – I will send you some bike part as long as you tell me the stuff I already sent you is faulty with no proof. If a company worked like this it would be bankrupt!

You cant expect CRC to replace the part if they have no prrof it doesn't work!

Great thread Bradders, hope you get this resolved!
Hoj

Coffeking – Yes I see your point but they will get people trying it on all the time, just like folk that put forks on back to front, not everyone is installing parts correctly however simple to most folk they seem!

Not saying OP is like that, sure its legit. How many items are on CRC? I would doubt they have read all the reviews, would take days, as CRC have said the person never actually contacted them to say there was a fault so really in there eyes there was no fault.

Now they can persue it

You cant expect CRC to replace the part if they have no prrof it doesn't work!

They could get another roll and a pair of handlebars off the shelf and try it themselves.

A better analogy would be a selling a chain that wasn't long enough.

Mountain bike chain – £5

Take it out of the packet and fit and find out it's not long enough.

Nothing wrong with the product? and you now used it.