A month ago I found that my front wheel was part of a historic worldwide recall by SRAM and was advised to go through my local dealer to get the wheel returned to the manufacturer for a rebuild with new front hub.
As the store was not the store where I bought the wheel set they were somewhat reluctant to help initially and despite being an irrelevance asked to see proof of purchase and warned that I may be expected to pay postage ( I’ve always known that to be inconsistent with recalls but let it slide just get the process sorted).
So it’s been a month, it’s bloody hot and sunny and I’d really like to ride my bike so I got a bit antsy and called up for an update “Oo yes, that has been a while, we’ll look into it for you” - then no response so I called again today having given them the week to chase only to be told that they still hadn’t heard anything.
At this point I thought I should probably take the initiative and called the sram tech centre. They advised that they only received the wheel yesterday and on average it would take another 4-6 weeks to be returned to me.
It would appear the shop have done nothing but sit on that wheel for 4 weeks... other than be bloody annoyed is there anything I can do/ should expect or do I suck it up and never darken the retailer’s door again?
Thoughts please.
Devils advocate....
Your warranty claim should have been dealt with through the retailer you got the bike from, that is who made the money on the sale that covers the chasing on the warranty (just about)
Buy another wheel and ride your bike.
no point waiting and missing out on nice weather.
You could wind them up a bit by innocently claiming SRAM haven't got it and asking to see the month-old proof of postage.
Not much else you can do apart from the never darkening, and perhaps naming and shaming bit.
Buy a dirt cheap front wheel and get riding. It's nice out.
Buy a dirt cheap front wheel and get riding.
this
/mikewsmith/- I’ve moved house, original retailer is hours away- the only thing my wheel has cost my new lbs is time as SRAM pay postage etc...
Thought about buying new wheel but then not only am I inconvenienced I’m also out of pocket... that irks me even more ...
I think I'd rather put up with a bit of irk than be without a bike for 10+ weeks...
Agreed -I’m trying to reach an irkless, swift resolution... doesn’t really seem forthcoming...
<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">Thought about buying new wheel but then not only am I inconvenienced I’m also out of pocket… that irks me even more …</span>
Well, enjoy your May and June then. Always the worst trail conditions of the year, I find.
PS You can probably sell your cheapy wheel for virtually the same as you paid for it in a couple of months time.
Valid point... hadn’t considered that bit tbf.
Have a look on the classifieds. Plenty of basic front wheels pop up on there for next to nowt all the time.
So they’ve now sent me an email saying that the wheel is on its way back as it’s fixed ( with a screen shot of an email with refs and everything) so I thought there had clearly been a mix up - called SRAM to check ref number- no, that wheel was received yesterday and has still to be sent to Portugal for a rebuild.....
****ing liars.....
So they’ve now sent me an email
the shop?
I'd be turning up tomorrow to collect your wheel then 🙂
Having said that - maybe the shop are right and SRAM have had multiple wheels off them with yours getting confused with another? I can maybe imagine a shop forgetting to send a wheel but building an email trail to support it being ready seems weird.
<span style="display: inline !important; float: none; background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 22.4px; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">So they’ve now sent me an email saying that the wheel is on its way back as it’s fixed</span>
Bizarre. Why would you compound your fib by saying that? Must be a mix-up.
Have some fun with them. Since they seem to enjoy embellishing the truth, see if you can get them to develop the lie yet further. 🙂
Yeah the image has come from the shop’s email - the reference numbers match according to SRAM who also confirmed the shop have only sent one back recently....
will give them the benefit of the doubt for a week to allow postage but I am considering calling them out on it - just didn’t want to do that while they still had my property...
It's a classic tale isn't it.
Man walks into shop.
Expects something for nothing.
Man is then disgruntled when he gets nothing.
I’m sorry - Too much to expect some honesty?
Man spends nearly two grand on a pair of wheels, expects brand representatives to uphold their end of an international recall as required by a multinational company- this isn’t a warranty, it’s a recall- there’s a difference, doesn’t matter where the product was bought or even if you’re the original owner.
And considering I’ve bought years’ worth of kit and convinced friends to spend £000s on complete bikes from them it’s not as if I’m a random tyre kicker
You could ask if they have a spare you can borrow?
Like for like? Or just a loaner?
Is your new local LBS Dave Hinde?
Sadly nowhere near as hilly... is DH still going? That’s resilience!
Your warranty claim should have been dealt with through the retailer you got the bike from, that is who made the money on the sale that covers the chasing on the warranty (just about)
Apart from the fact it isn’t a warranty claim. Also, I’m prepared to be corrected but isn’t any vendor obligated to handle a recall of a brand they retail...?
Also, I’m prepared to be corrected but isn’t any vendor obligated to handle a recall of a brand they retail…?
No, but it would be unusual for them not to as long as you were happy to pay for their time if the item wasn't purchased from them.
No shop is paid to be a "representative" of the manufacturer.
SRAM should have set up a proper recall procedure to enable any shop to handle it and be paid for their work.
is DH still going?
OT, but the shop's, (just) about still there, but apparently Dave sold it to one of the staff a couple of years ago. I'm sure whatever the deal was, it was suitably shady and probably came with a worthless post sale customer service.
Well to be fair I think that’s what Sram have done - my closest LBS just happened to be a SRAM dealer....and as you point out it’s at no cost to the shop.
Sounds like they get nothing out of it though, so it DOES cost them in time & therefore money. It’s not very professional but not that surprising that they’d prioritise paying jobs & keep forgetting about yours... the fact that they didn’t want to do it should’ve been a clue! (Just seen that you’re a regular... that does make it a bit weird of them!)
At least SRAM actually have it now so it’s getting sorted, +1 on buying a cheap wheel and getting out riding though!
Would have agreed with you except the amount set aside by sram for Postage would also more than cover the amount of time it takes to slap it in a box and give to a courier...
Go out on your mountain bike instead, much more fun!
Now coming up to 8 weeks sans front wheel having gone through several sustained bouts of sunny weather... surely there is a point where I can go “ screw this give me a new wheel”?
Personally I would do some polite nagging to that effect mate.
Nothing to add, just realised how old this post is!
Since it was, according to the shop, fixed and despatched back to them three weeks ago, it is clearly lost in the post and a replacement should be supplied ASAP.
If they are going to fib to you, make them own it properly.
PS you should have taken the earlier advice to buy a cheapy wheel and get riding, and sell it on later when your actual wheel arrives. It was scorchio out there today.
Been riding my mtb-lots of compatibility issues ( who would have thought a front wheel could cause so many problems.)
I spoke to the shop and they claimed that they spoke to SRAM who defined “completed- replaced” as “ assessed and approved for warranty” before being sent off to Portugal for rebuild. The whole process is a bit pony, the main problem is is that every link in the chain is passing the buck and I can’t get anyone to take ownership for it
think I'd be a bit unhappy after 8 weeks - maybe find the email address of someone appropriate at SRAM and formally reject the wheel as unfit for purpose as they have had opportunity to remedy but have failed to do so in a reasonable time - ask to be shipped a replacement ASAP and directly to you - fallback would be to get some guy in Portugal to do 30minutes work and then have the wheel airfreighted direct back to you
