Hi
A friend is having a nightmare getting any help from either Evans Cycles or Norco over an ongoing bike warranty claim. I know Evans is part of Sports Direct so that's not ideal.
My suggestion to him is to bypass the Customer Help(?) departments and complain straight to the top.
However contact details for both Evans and Norco are thin on the Internet. Does the STW Hive Mind have any idea where they might be found? I can't even see who the UK Norco importers are. A physical address, with an actual person (CEO or something) would be really helpful. His bike hasn't been right from the get go, and just dealing with customer care drones is getting him nowhere.
As an added thought, even Norco's global contact details aren't immediately obvious, so if anyone has those to hand that would be ace.
I share your pain.
I did find an email address for Norco in Canada and sent them an email with part numbers back in March (pivot bolts). Heard nothing then out of the blue a jiffy bag with said parts arrived at my house ... last month.
Sorry but I can't now find the email I sent, but I found an address on the net.
However, I believe Tredz are now the UK distributor so worth contacting them.
i had a warranty claim for a new Norco Optic frame, which went through Evans. It took 8 months to resolve.
As mentioned, Tredz are now the UK importer. When i did my claim via Evans, i also kept in contact with Norco via the following: support@norcobicycles.zendesk.com
It was said that i could do my claim through Tredz, but it would start the process over, so would put me back to the start of the queue.
I would always get a reply directly from Norco, even if it took a few days to reply.
I would definitely speak to Tredz to see if they would take it on, as i suspect it would be easier for them to supply parts or whatever is needed, than Evans doing so.
My experience was a pretty rough ride, but the pandemic played a large part. But having had my replacement bike built up for a couple of months now, i am fully back in love with it!
EDIT: oh and dont waste your time with Evans. Their customer service is atrocious. They just ignore your specific questions, go round in circles, claim someone else needs to make a decision and generally ignore your consumer rights, even when quoting them directly. Painful... very painful.
I'd drop a POLITE email to Tredz with Norco customer service cc'd in, making sure they include any claim reference number and a clear, unemotional overview of the issue faced (nothing about "inconvenience", how he/she feels, "disappointment" or whatever, purely the technical facts of the fault and progress so far).
Explain that they understand Tredz have just taken over as UK representative of Norco but that they need help with an ongoing claim issue and detail any parts required to resolve the problem.
Then ask nicely what they can recommend as next steps to progress the warranty claim for a positive outcome.
As always, these things are a bit of a personality test so kill with kindness 👍
My Norco warranty process via Evans was grim but sorted eventually - nearly new bike with seized suspension bolts so couldn't be serviced. One season on, I had a loose main bearing pivot that I took to a local fabricator to fix with a custom bush.
FWIW, I have a spare rear end for the previous generation carbon Range.
I had no end of trouble getting a replacement derailleur hanger for my norco cross bike, Evans was hopeless, just endless excuses about new systems, shop staff tried but just weren't allowed, also Evans seemingly deliberately don't link manufacturer part no's to their own so it was stupidly hard to work out what I needed even if I could get it elsewhere. In the end I got an email back from Norco, though it took them a while, they didn't want to help and tried to refer me back to Evans. luckily they (accidentally?) gave me just enough information to be able to work out the correct part number myself.
The store have just told him that they haven't done anything because they thought Norco were handling it, and Evans "customer services" have just emailed to say it's nothing to do with their warranty department, it's for the store to sort out.
I believe Kafka's final novel "The Evans Warranty Claim" was rejected by publishers because the predicament was considered too surreal, even by his standards...
defo sounds his best bet is to contact Norco (via the email address i supplied) and get onto Tredz.
Leave Evans to hang itself as it loses another future customer. bloody eeejits!
A couple of years ago I needed a replacement hanger bolt for my Sight. Evans’s could help so I contacted Norco via Facebook and they couldn’t have been more helpful.
Late yesterday my mate got a call from the Evans Store saying the bike was ready for collection...
So they did fix it? And sorted the warranty issue? what a strange turn of events!
i hope your buddy has some happy riding!
Fingers crossed it's not in exactly the same state as it was when he dropped it there, plus a layer of dust!