I suspect CRC can afford sen out annother roll for good will and not go bust
So the OP wants either a replacement or his money back but can't be bothered to send the tape back because its low value.
The length of the bar tape isn't the issue here!
I've returned stuff to CRC before and they have always refunded the postage. Just put the tape in an envelope and send it back.. job done!
You cant expect CRC to replace the part if they have no prrof it doesn't work!
Think about it from a seller's point of view. It's a £4 bit of bar tape - probably costs them £2-3 to buy, stock and ship to you. If you post it back, and they receive it, they have to match it up to the problem on their system, get a pair of road bars out of stock and ask someone to fit brake levers and try wrapping the bars. Easily half an hour to an hour's work for someone in picking, assembling and repacking the bars and levers. Employee time will be easily worth more than £10 an hour to CRC, even if paying £6 an hour.
Therefore, it's cheaper for them to just send the guy some bar tape that does fit. They've already inconvenienced the guy by screwing up his bar wrap, perhaps stopping him riding his road bike, and now they want him to mess about posting stuff so they can be 100% sure he's not a liar?
I used to work dealing with customers, some of whom did lie in order to get what they wanted. Part of the job is working out when people are lying or pushing things, but an equal part is knowing when you should give people the benefit of the doubt.
Everyone working in retail should have one fact burned into their brain - people tell twice as many people about bad service than they do about good service.
FWIW, I can recommend SJS for their service - I ordered some shifters for an old racer, it arrived without the mounting hardware. No need to send it back, they sent out a complete new shifter assembly. No third degree either.
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.
WTF are you blethering on about? CRC are selling an item that isn't fit for purpose and instead of dealing with the matter professionally they've taken the ostrich approach. This [i]should[/i] have been such a simple matter to resolve, without getting into an email 'argument' with a customer (is that ever going to come across well?) that it beggers belief CRC could **** it up to such an extent!
Rusty
Therefore, it's cheaper for them to just send the guy some bar tape that does fit.
But according to the OP the bar tape doesn't fit so sending out the new bar tape it won't fit either. There not going to send out another brand are they!
So yes they will need to check the length of the tape to prove if its to short and then go to the manufacturer. Yes its only £4 but if X number of folk bought the tape it all adds up regardless of how big a company is, and where do you draw the line?
If you're trying to stick your handlebars together with tape I'd argue that there's something wrong with your handlebars in the first place. Hope that helps.
PS: get a proper bike
(hope that helps too)
Insulating tape works. My dad used to put it on his Raleigh. Cheaper than £4 too. Everyone's a winner.
All resolved now. For completeness...
Hi Adam,
The issue is not about the cost of the item and we can sort this easily, do you want a refund or an exchange because the tape you received is going to be the same length but if you want another one sent out we can send it if you feel adding two lengths is going to resolve your issue, please let us know what it is you want and we will get back to you, but as advised the item itself is not actually faulty but get back to me with what you want and we will be in touch.
Kind Regards,
Mark
---------
Mark also kindly rang up. Offered to send me the same bar tape in replacement (fairly pointless) or a refund.
Lesson learnt, getting a refund and am going to buy it from a bike shop instead.
Suppose, just for a minute that, perhaps, just perhaps Brand X had, for some reason, sent out some bar tape that was actually shorter than it should have been. For example the tape comes off a big roll in the Brand X factory and is cut to length. The OP has got some off the end of the roll and was slightly too short as a result.
Why doesnt the OP get all of the tape he was sent, measure it and then request that CRC get a roll of the same stuff off their shelf and then measure theirs?
Im assuming that its one roll for both sides of the bars and not two separate ones for each side?
bigyinn- already did that and told CRC that the bar tape is 170cm long. Even the shortest listed on their site is 185cm.
So Mark's boss saw the thread then. Result.
Or Mark took one of the offending items from the warehouse and tried to fit it to some bars and realised what an arse he was?
Either way. Result.
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!
I'm sure they do, but with the feedback already existing and if they actually try their own product before selling it....
As for knowing about the reviews - as far as I know they moderate them all anyway, so someone there already has read the review, accepted its validity and posted it for reading. This tells me something.
So are all those who vowed never to buy from CRC ever again going to relent now ?
The issue is not about the cost of the item and we can sort this easily, do you want a refund or an exchange because the tape you received is going to be the same length but if you want another one sent out we can send it if you feel adding two lengths is going to resolve your issue, please let us know what it is you want and we will get back to you, but as advised the item itself is not actually faulty but get back to me with what you want and we will be in touch.
For Gods sake man, punctuation!
so what did frank say?
I'm trying to work out how not having bar tape makes a bike impossible to ride??
No wheels, a bit of a problem.
No frame, going to be difficult.
No seat, slightly uncomfortable.
No bar tape!!!! FFS!
Im not going to the effort of sending you some useless grip tape and wait weeks for a refund or replacement (or neither). I also have to use the bike, which right now even though it doesn’t cover the hood clamp, is just about functional. Having to take it off makes my bike totally unusable.
😆 🙄
Glad you've kissed and made up.
So are all those who vowed never to buy from CRC ever again going to relent now ?
that malarky has certainly put me off using crc again. Ok, they've kind of sorted it, but I wouldn't want THAT much email exchange in order to get a replacement/an issue resolved.
don simon- ever tried holding a bare metal bar for a 70 mile ride over pot holed roads with sweaty hands? (plenty of room for double entedres there)
Sorted - Well done - They saw the light - MOve along move along - you can all go about your business 🙂
So are all those who vowed never to buy from CRC ever again going to relent now ?that malarky has certainly put me off using crc again. Ok, they've kind of sorted it, but I wouldn't want THAT much email exchange in order to get a replacement/an issue resolved.
My brother has had to deal with CRC over a cracked frame (and associated mess that made of other components). His experience has certainly put me off ever buying a high end item/high price item off them.
Sounds like it's a faff buying £4 grip tape now 🙁
Astonishingly 100th post!
ads-b - Memberdon simon- ever tried holding a bare metal bar for a 70 mile ride over pot holed roads with sweaty hands? (plenty of room for double entedres there)
Uncomfortable but not impossible! 🙄
¿Gloves? 😉
In order to try to redress the balance a bit I've always found CRC very good to deal with.
At the end of the day cheap bar tape is cheap bar tape and will never be as good as the bigger brand stuff. You pays your money...
Hmm don't thik some people on here have ridden very far on a road bike if they don't have bar tape 😯 Would you ride 70 miles on a MTB off road without grips 😉
Like I said, insulating tape. 😯
Its really simple to slove this problem.
If like me you are utterly obsessed with your hobbies/pastimes, you end up spending alot of money on products to support you hobbies, usually in one favoured shop. If they start messing you around over something that quite clearly is disputable and worth a few quid, then never shop there again (take a breath).
I spend more money on climbing gear, ropes etc, at least 3 hundred every couple of months, and if my local shop quibbled over something worth 4 quid, then I would stop shopping there and go next door.
Hit them where it hurts! It will be there loss in the long run. I hate un helpfull staff, especially in shops like bike shops who rely on loyalty and good word of mouth. Whatever happenend to the customer is always right! Wether or not you can or cant fit tape correctly and may have messed it up, is not the issue. The fact is you are a loyal customer, and they should value that. They quite clearly dont. So dont shop there again.
I have heard alot of bad press about crc on here recently, and I certainly wont shop there again.
I spend more money on climbing gear, ropes etc, at least 3 hundred every couple of months, and if my local shop quibbled over something worth 4 quid, then I would stop shopping there and go next door.
What if the shop next door was Ann Summers, or Greggs the Bakers. That wouldn't help you when falling off a massive climb. Best to travel further afield and go to another climbing shop.
Tip top tip that, for free!
Well Greggs make excellent climbing gear!
I,ve had sausage rolls from there that would make great rock bolts, they just would not break if you fell onto them from 5 meters above them.
Fair point, and you could probably get some sort of 'harness' from Ann Summers
Haha, never thought of that!
You may have hit onto an idea here, Erotic climbing harness'es! I wonder if Scarpa or Wild country might be interested?
As a side note, if you've got a complaint about a particular service or store it's best to use their trading title in full when complaining on a forum.
example: I received poor service from Chain Reaction Cycles ( http://www.chainreactioncycles.com)
Why? Forums are frequently indexed by search engines so when people search for 'Chain Reaction Cycles' there's a good chance Google will throw up results such as: 'I received poor service from [b]Chain Reaction Cycles[/b]' which is obviously not great for business.
Good luck with your case, and be happy that whilst it may have cost you £4 it's already cost CRC the sale of one bike.
CP
it's already cost CRC the sale of one bike.
And some road wheels here too, went to ribble instead but that was because crc screwed up my brakes as well, even though i called to make sure they were as pictured..... They were not...
But i think its fair to say that this will be an error on marks part. He or his team leader will have a credit limit and parameters under which to use them.
The minute this started costing them money ( ie when adam sent his second mail, any inbound correspondance probably costs them £5 a time, phone calls more so.) he should have sent the tape, ended the issue.
It seems to me this is an individuals failure to understand employers business rather than a policy failure at crc
went to ribble
The subject of a startlingly unfair complaint about services standards on here as recently as last month. 🙂
CRC really need to re-hire Andy. Now there is a man who could do damage control.
Why didn't you just support your local bike shop in the first place sure they would have sorted it out
Surely people use bar tape on things other than drop bars (ie straight bars)...no where on the product description does it say that the tape is for road bikes.
Why didn't you just support your local bike shop in the first place
Not everyone has one (or a decent one at least) and even then, they may not stock the specific brand/item you want, so mail order is the easiest, quickest and often cheapest option.
Talking of which - has anyone used or know about the new'ish shop that has opened in Framwellgate Moor in Durham. Might have a look in there tomorrow anyway.
The subject of a startlingly unfair complaint about services standards on here as recently as last month.
Maybe read other positive posts about Ribble before you slag them off.
Seems mud sticks on here despite all the good posts or good service not posted we get from mail order bike services!!!
there are many different types of bars.
tri bars, cowhorns, some people only tape up to the hoods if they've got fancy aero bars. it would be fine for all of those bars...
I've not read all this... who would?
Can I be the last post on this £4 adventure, please?
no, i want to know what frank said! i feel a complaint coming on...
Talking of which - has anyone used or know about the new'ish shop that has opened in Framwellgate Moor in Durham. Might have a look in there tomorrow anyway.
No, but I wonder if it has anything to do with the person who runs the dubnortheast forum. Sure he has something to do with the shop in cowgate.
Those of you that have turned away from CRC because of this - what will you do when the shop you have turned top refuses to pander to a mad customer? it will happen. Are you really prepared to spend more somewhere else because of this?
cutting your nose off to spite your face comes to mind!
This is such a good example of a storm in a teacup and overinflated self importance from some Get over your selves FFS
I have had nothing but good service from CRC - but I do prefer my LBS I can
I love thread like this, oftern makes me piss my pants, Keyboard warriors trying to take down a bike company.
I there a store out there that has not upset a customer??
At the end of the day it serves to OP right. Buys unbranded cheap bar tape from a discount online shop and expects it to be dogs bolloxs. You should have bought some better stuff and it would have saved all this. all for £3-4.
Hey for what is worth CRC service is rubbish.
They decided to post off some sidi shoes I sent back (faulty) to the wrong address even though I gave CRC written instructions to send to another address. Eventually I got the shoes back, at cost to me of £10.
Those Irish tightwads at CRC better wise up! Their customer service is non existent - you'd get better service from anybody on ebay I reckon.
Oh yeah - the short bar tape problem is well known in roadie circles.
what will you do when the shop you have turned top refuses to pander to a mad customer?
Mad, as insane. or mad as in angry ? Why do you think someone complaining about something has an "overinflated self importance"? No-one is asking for special treatment, just a return to the excellent service of old.
I will still be happy to use them because of price and choice. I simply won't use them on the very rare occassion I must have something next day.
Sometimes when a company grows at the rate they have cash is king and customer service,what service I hear you say ,suffers or in this case is non existent.
It is a quality issue.By that I mean not fit for its intended purpose.Wether or not they have sold millions of rolls of tape to other very satisfied customers means nothing at all.
YOU are not satisfied ,the product does not need to be faulty for them to replace of refund it merely does not do as it says on the tin.
As you stated you would have no idea that it would not fit until you
attempted to fit it.
Purely in the interests of customer satisfaction they should replace or refund as per your instruction take in on the cheek and keep you as a customer. Judging by a number of comments they should listen a bit more to you and I and all the other Joe Schmoes.
Someone in the CRC sales office needs to kick Mark up the arse for being such a dick !
Stop being such a pikey and get some decent cinelli tape like normal people do.
If you bought a condom, and it was to short. Would you go back to the shop and ask for a refund becuase its "not fit for purpose". Bollox it is fit for purpose just not for you. There are plenty of items that taken out of their packaging and used are not returnable.
Why did the OP not just wrap the tape without removing the sticking taping bit. Realise its to short and just send it back? I think its more a case that because it has been stuck to the bars it becomes used.
The tape would fit some bars just not the majority.
"not fit for purpose" is a phrase that is thrown about to much these days.
At the end of the day i really don't care and wonder why i bother typing some times. i just kind of have too. I do research into stuff I buy and where i buy them from.
Looks like another case of rudeness gets you nowhere!
CRC is an absolute wonder of an internet shop its a shame they have to deal with people like the OP.
Rock on CRC.
If it doesnt fit/work/look like it should, make an effort to re-package and return as per the terms.
Not great service in this instance but everybody makes mistakes, even LBSs. I've always found CRC service to be excellent and in the interests of redressing the balance see below my recent email chain.
Hi Stewart,
Sorry to hear about the missing hanger from your recent order. I can confirm that we are sending it out to you now.
I trust this helps and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
Kind Regards,
Simon
Simon Hunter Warranty Advisor
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher
Frame has arrived with appropriate fork/headset as you say but without a rear derailleur hanger that attaches to the dropouts
Order No is 4180111 - please can you send another (hanger not frame!). I prefer not to have to return the frame for such a small item, especially as it is now with my LBS for building up.
Many thanks
Stewart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Stewart,
Just heard back from our frame location and this frame comes supplied with the Principia Weave Fork and a suitable headset.
Kind Regards,
Christopher
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi
Can you confirm which fork this frame comes with. The description
mentions an Ellipse Project fork and also an Evolution fork?
Also does the frame come with the appropriate headset and if not, what
headset do you recommend?
Many Thanks
I've maligned them recently in the past but today's order was processed and sent in about an hour. Blimey!
Why did the OP not just wrap the tape without removing the sticking taping bit.
What possible reason would the OP have had to do that? It's bar tape FFS, it's designed to wrap around curly bars of standard length and more often than not has 'extra' built in to accommodate varying bar lengths and shapes. This was too short, therefore not fit for purpose. There is no argument and as far as I am concerned the OP wasn't rude.
The CRC guy however, has probably added several zeros onto a £4 'dispute' in lost future revenue by his total ineptitude in dealing with a simple quality issue.
A dummy run, And why not?
Would have saved a shit load of hassle
Depends on the packaging. Last bar tape I bought took 5 minutes hacking with a kitchen knife just to get it out of the bloody packet, so returning in the original packaging would have presented a slight problem.
Ive had bad service from CRC and very good service! refunded £188...
Although my stiffee at xmas had 2x bent hangers one after the other.
I will still buy as they are cheap! YOU get what you pay for.
Have you unravelled the other side to check they are both the same? Maybe it was a previously returned item? Brand-X stuff is utter shit, but it's not necessarily CRC's fault...
Crc are playing hard for £4. At Charlie the Bikemonger we avoid crappy products because they are more trouble than they are worth. Crc have made £1 and then paid a guy £2 to upset a customer. Just does not add up.
Get some nice cinelli or salsa tape from me.
I phoned CRC today after a Fat Pig reducer headset (for one of their half price mmbop frames) arrived without a crown race. After a brief discussion over whether the crown race should have been included with the headset or not, they put said crown race in first class post free of charge today. Good service.
[i]After a brief discussion over whether the crown race should have been included with the headset or not[/i]
Whaa? why would it not be included?
How come a dispute over a £4 roll of tape that has finally been settled to the customer's satisfaction has dragged on for 4 pages, while my dispute with the dodgy used car salesman attitude staff at Leisure Lakes over the soles coming unglued on a pair of Northwave shoes fizzled out on the first page ?
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/north-wave-lizzard-shoes-sole-coming-unglued-warranty-or-fair-wear-tear
Seatclamp and post ordered thursday at 1530 after knackering the last one. New ones arrive at 0930 the next morning. Quite remarkable. When you consider it was in a tiny village south of Aberystwyth that takes 3 weeks to get to if there aren't muppets in caravans all over the road then it makes it amazing in my eyes!
I've had dealings with Mark after my Niteflux packed in just before its warranty ended. Lets say he didn't want to cave in and refund straight away and why should they, it was Niteflux who were responsible and CRC who were getting shafted. Anyways, I got a refund in the end. I think that either by design or personality, they have a CS that won't shell out immediately. Only the more determined customers will get what they want. Sadly this doesn't always weed out the genuine cases from the phoney time wasters.
How come a dispute over a £4 roll of tape that has finally been settled to the customer's satisfaction has dragged on for 4 pages
because a hissy fit over nothing is entertaining, whereas you have a solid, rational complaint, and thus is very boring.
I bought some of that tape a few days ago for the metal armrests of a chair
luckily it was just the right length; maybe they should remarket it
This thread is a classic case of why we need our LBS's. I use mine all the time. On the main I get a lot of things cheaper than CRC etc. too.
As I buy all my stuff at the LBS I get a discount and excellent service from Marshalls in Welwyn. They often have to order me stuff they dont stock but it arrives easily as quick as CRC, and if the stuff is no good they sort it out for me too...
Here's a good experience... but I didn't buy cheap bar tape.
http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/chain-reaction-cycle-customer-service
i hate agreeing with TJ, but i do. If you bought bar tape from my lbs and then tried to fit it, they would not take it back. They would not sell you £4 bar tape tho
get what you pay for.
but if we are slating suppliers, i bought a bearing set from BETD which was missing two of the main pivot bearings - two emails, no response.
sourced the bearings locally, will never recommend betd again!
I find this very strange.
Last year I ordered some discs and adaptors to upgrade my Magura Louises from CRC. As they were the same price I went for a 210mm front disc, not knowing that that size only fits earlier Julies.
I didn't discover this until I'd bolted the disc on. So I emailed CRC about it, sounding suitably apologetic and they said as long as the disc and adaptor was unused (It was, just fitted with old bolts, not the ones supplied) they would change them. So I took them off, cleaned them and stapled the packets up carefully. A couple of days later the correct one was sent out to me. No problemo!
I've also sent stuff back to CRC under warranty:
For a leaky 3l Camelbak bladder I recieved a whole new Camelbak Scudo and my postage refunded!
And last month, for a broken, 4-5 year old Park Tools track pump that cost £25 in a sale, I recieved a top of the line Park Tools workshop quality track pump selling for £55!!!!!!
Am I doing something wrong? 😕
PP - not being rude enough in emails i guess
I don't use either of my LBS now.
Both are rude, both only care about customers spending lots of money, both have no interest in my repeat returns for little bits and pieces, which may end up in buying a bike, but not from either of those shops.
I much prefer the faceless internet business now
I've still never had any issue with CRC. Placed an order for a new tyre on Wednesday evening, free delivery, received this morning.
I have, however, lost all the details they sent me after paying for the CRC Ruthin in september, so I'm hoping they'll re-send for free.
A lot of people on here really seem to misunderstand how the Sale of Goods Act works.
Two things that apply here:
Problems are the retailers responsibility. They can take it up with the supplier, but the contract is between customer and retailer.
Goods should be fit for purpose. It doesn't matter if they're the cheapest item in the range, they should be able to do the job they're sold for.
This episode makes me wonder what CRC are thinking. As Charlie says, it's not worth your while to sell rubbish. The law is designed to protect the customer from substandard goods, so a retailer doesn't have a leg to stand on if they sell them.
i've not read more then a couple of the whinges but why aren't you taking this up with brand-x? if i owned CRC that's what i would tell you to do.
jamesca - read the post above yours. It is CRCs issue. Nowt to do with brand x
Brand-X [b]IS[/b] CRC isn't it?
What a boring thread. I was hoping for some dramatic outcome... All that bother over the cost of a pint a sarnie.
Who gives a sh*t?
Oh give it up already !!!
foxyrider - Member
Oh give it up already !!!
Nah - lets see how long we can keep this thread going for !
My view is that the value of the item shouldn't matter at all - either it does the job as advertised or it doesn't.
If you order a pair of trousers and receive 3/4 lengths you would be a bit upset right ?
to be honest it does the job fine, just not for the OP.
I'm still impressed that 4 quid has caused so much debate.
God knows what happens if it was 10 pounds. Does the whole of STW boycott the internet?
Ive just had great service from them.