Bearing gone in a back wheel, offered to pay but they're sending a full set and a freehub. Cannae fault the customer service.
should hope so, that's what you're paying extra for!!
That's good service indeed as long as it's not failed prematurely then that's a bummer but still good service
better luck than i had with free hub bearings going after less than 500miles... they didn’t want to know, only wanted to sell me more of the same. replaced them with endura bearings. other than bearings the wheels have been good though and still going strong 2 years down the road. light and strong and setup as road tubeless
that's their model though, isn't it? High margins selling of stuff from china, percentage of the high margin just goes on replacing parts.
It's going to heat up now.😉
Can't remember the rims they rebrand, but I did read somewhere on here that Hunt use rebranded Novatech hubs. That video is great @TurnerGuy!
I don't really object to a company reselling Chinese parts, as long as they provide a decent service on top and the underlying product is OK. After all, most things we buy cost a fraction of their RRP to make; that's just business....
should hope so, that’s what you’re paying extra for!!
iirc that extra is pretty much naff all compared to buying the parts and building yourself though? (ignoring that elements of the hubs might be upgraded to Hunts spec)
OK, this isn't a dig at Hunt specifically, but lets not kid ourselves here, repairing a failed product is the bare minimum you should expect (as long as it's in warranty).
Sending you replacement components to fix/fit yourself is one thing, good customer service would be a courier collecting the wheel from you and repairing it for you, excellent customer service would be shipping you a new complete wheel and a pre-paid postage sticker to pop the old one back in the box to them at your convenience.
You wouldn't accept a replacement bearing shipped to you if one failed on your car? Washing machine? or a replacement electrical component for your TV or Laptop would you, you'd expect either a replacement item, or them to fix it for you.
I reckon you've got that the wrong way round for many people. I'd much rather have the freehub in hand to change over in a few minutes, rather than sending my wheel away for days/weeks leaving me with no bike. Agreed that the ultimate is the extra product being sent up in advance.
I’d much rather have the freehub in hand to change over in a few minutes
I was more thinking of the OP saying bearing gone in wheel and assumed a hub bearing, but either way it's making the assumption that everyone is like people here, they're not. This forum is not representative of 'most' cyclists, most of them struggle to change a tube or brake pads let alone a freehub.
Most cyclists also wont be buying mail order wheels requiring discs and cassette (plus tyres obviously) fitted. You're also assuming that if the OP had said he wasn't able to do the work then they wouldn't have put plan B in action and sorted him another way (other CS approaches by Hunt have been mentioned before).
Can’t remember the rims they rebrand, but I did read somewhere on here that Hunt use rebranded Novatech hubs. That video is great @TurnerGuy!
The vid is funny for sure but what is his point really? I can get an all-rounder cross wheelset
from Hunt for £300, plus reasonable warranty support for parts, or I can get the same thing direct from farsports for £295? I mean I get that he's cunningly pierced the veil of their business model but I think I'll take the Hunts all the same.
Perhaps people are getting ripped off at the high end, 1 or 2K road wheels, versus getting them direct from China, but there's nothing in it for everyday wheelsets.
I think he takes exception to 'catalogue companies' trying to create the illusion that they developed the products themselves.
Most cyclists also wont be buying mail order wheels requiring discs and cassette (plus tyres obviously) fitted.
I know plenty who do just that, and then get the LBS to fit them, but I was also at pains to say in my original post this wasn't a dig at Hunt specifically (although don't forget you can spec Hunt wheels on full builds from some brands).
You’re also assuming that if the OP had said he wasn’t able to do the work then they wouldn’t have put plan B in action and sorted him another way (other CS approaches by Hunt have been mentioned before).
I'm not making that assumption, I was making a general comment that "here's a new $BROKENPART for you to fit" is something that we (as in STW/cyclists) often accept and even tout as 'good' service, when in fact it's not that great at all.
I've seen that fake wheel company vid before, it's quite old now.
While it's a lovely little bit of cynical "look how easy business is" I think it glosses over quite a bit like import costs, paying tax, stock holding, insurance, registering your business, and apparently everything is "Profit" and there are zero overheads...
But yeah, OK, Hunt's model is obviously to pop a nominal mark-up on own-branded far eastern imports, but you still need to stump up, actually do it and in order to keep going for a while offer some level of CS.
You could probably find a very similar set of wheels for less via aliexpress, but the vendor ain't going to be sending replacement parts if those pack up, never mind a whole new wheel...
Of course holding complete wheels for warranty exchange is going to dig significantly more into margins than having an RTB for inspection/repair/replacement policy, but then it also earns more positive feedback, hence the OP. So they've obviously concluded that after a couple of years operating reputation for CS has value in the longer term... That's a healthy sign for Hunt IMO.
Question is, would anyone else fancy starting a wheel company right now?
Pre-Brexit with the Pound possibly heading down the shitter, uncertain import/export costs, a market already stuffed with competitors and customers well aware of the supply chain and how you're products are sourced and priced...
Personally I don't think I'd fancy it, so good luck to anyone else already trying to make a go of it.