I should have taken more notice of the early signs.

About a year ago, I was looking to buy a new Stumpjumper so rang the LBS and enquired about an S-Works. Basically, despite it being an expensive bike and sale, they were totally unhelpful. I wanted to test a bike and then view a complete bike. They had not built up the bikes and wouldn’t do so until “we see the colour of your money”.

They never did and I went to South Downs Bikes (a greater distance from me) who did a custom build I was happy with. I am sure they made a profit and fair enough.

Anyway, after a year the bike needed a service (it has Spesh brand forks with 5 year warranty if properly maintained). I produced a document of the work required and put the bike into the original shop (stupid me) as it was closer. I was very specific about the work and requested explicitly the forks and shocks went to Specialized for hte service to maintain the warranty. I phone the shop on the day the bike was ready and was told there was a delay at Spesh and the bike would be ready a couple of days later, it was and I paid. Nothing amiss thus far.

The fork had a failure recently, I took the fork direct to Specialized in Chessington, they told me they had never had the fork in for a service as they log everything by serial number.

The fork failed again so I took in the shock as well this time as I don’t think that was properly done either.

The shop charged me for a service and the Spesh tech told me they had the another brand oil in the fork so they had done some of service themselves. I was charged as if the components had been sent off. The service was about 3 months ago so I am late to complain now.

Advice ?

????????????

The fork failed again

Don’t get a specialized…? Not great advice for you, I guess…

I think you’re saying you were charged for/wanted to have you fork/shock sent off, but they actually serviced in house?

Are Specialized refusing the warranty work? If not I think you’ll struggle to get anything out of the LBS, who could argue that they happen to charge the same as Specialized, live and learn IMO.

If Spesh won’t now cover the warraty work (unlikely I’d think!) I would tell the LBS what you’ve just said here, that you asked the fork/shock to be sent away, and they need to sort it.

I’ve now had the forks and shocks serviced by Specialized and no issues with warranty work. I’m just annoyed I paid for a return to Spech service and the LBS basically didn’t do that, charged me as if they had and then I subsequently get a (maybe avoidable) failure.

It’s annoying that at the time I trusted the shop and now feel I was ripped off. The bike is well-maintained by me anyway so the service was mostly about ensuring the warranty was kept solid, the fact they are a Specialized dealer means I am OK on this as I can prove the service was in and paid for but you have to wonder at the motive for their actions.

(it has Spesh brand forks with 5 year warranty if properly maintained)

Wow! I’m impressed!

name and shame, and never go there again. come on, you can tell us..

I’d complain to specialized myself, they are supposed to monitor and vet their dealer network and won’t behappy taht their premium products are being serviced not in accordance with their contract with the shop.

Or you could give the shop one opportunity to explain why they didn’t follow their agreed actions.

They did seem to mislead you………..Id ask for them to ensure your warranty is not void – in writing. Failing this, name and shame and move on.

Is the shop a certified spesh service centre? if there is such a thing.
If not then is out of order but not sure what you can do other than prove the service was not ‘sold’ as described.

It’s a no-brainer

LBS gave the clear impression they had sent the parts to Spesh, as requested

LBS actually serviced themselves

LBS are at fault

Give LBS the opportunity to explain, if you’re in any doubt over the warranty, and/or they dont explain themselves properly, name and shame, complain to trading standards AND spesh

what enfht said. Not too late to complain, thats way out of order.

name & shame too.

Wow, my first post that someone’s agreed with!!!! woo hooo !!!!

Careful though Jimmy you’ll be labelled a racist 😐

wwaswas is absolutely correct.
They are allowed by Spesh to sell their bikes.
If they don’t provide the level of service Spesh wants them to, then they won’t be selling Spesh bikes.
Complain to Spesh UK – you’ve already been in touch with them – take it further.

I have had great service from Specialized, prompt warranty work fixing the fork (both times!) and they have been very professional and stand by their product better than many companies I have dealt with. Partly for this, I am loyal to them as a company so it’s frustrating to get an LBS in the mix who then let the relationship sour when they should enhance it.

I didn’t complain to the shop at the time as I have used them sporadically only and didn’t like the response when I was buying the bike back in Dec 07, got the bike finally in Jan 08. I tried them again as I was trying to build a local shop relationship I could trust given the bike needed a service, the warranty issue on Specialized own-brand and the fact I was thinking I could save my own time and have them fetle the whole bike.

When I got the bike back after the service it ran fine and I had no reason to believe the forks/shock were not properly serviced. The shop might well have done the job OK anyway (they are an FSR/S-Works centre)

I really hate that they lied to me about my bike, made up tales of the return from Specialized with the service when I was happy to pay for the exact service I wanted.

I’m lucky that Specialized stand by the product and dealer network, I did let them know what had happened but in reality it would end up with my word against theirs. I won’t name and shame as I don’t need any hassle and I can’t see how I would benefit from doing that. They have lost my business of course but hardly enough to make a big difference.

They have lost my business of course but hardly enough to make a big difference.

thats the point of naming and shaming them, so that
a) shops have to act reasnobly, as you said one customer isnt a big big issue, but if one customer puts off another etc etc…………
b) no one else has to deal with shoddy service from them.

Sounds like they got caught out, so it’s safe to assume they will do it again to other unsuspecting customers unless they read you naming and shaming them on here..

Hmmm, you are a North Downs/Surrey Hills regular aren’t you ‘Count’ and don’t you live in Surrey too? There aren’t that many Specialized dealers in Surrey, off the top of my head I can name at least four if you include Evans.

There aren’t that many Specialized dealers in Surrey, off the top of my head I can name at least four if you include Evans.

See, if you don’t name and shame now, you’ll actually be libelling the other three innocent shops.

And libel awards can be quite hefty, just ask Elton John.

😉

I named and shamed on here a year or two ago. That same day I got a PM from the manager apologising and offering to make things right. Turns out the other ‘manager’ I spoke to in the shop wasn’t fully informed about what he should be doing. I then posted on here again explaining what had happened and how I was now getting great customer service.

The upshot was that I got what I was entitled to, the manager was able to inform his staff about the correct way of dealing with the issue, and I now know who I should be talking to if I’ve got any problems in that particular shop.