Desoto service rules. I'm lucky enough to live close to their office, so I can go in and talk with someone face to face. (And buy 1/2 priced seconds!)

Other really great experiences I've had:

Yaqui: Ves is a great guy to buy a bike from. Very accomodating, and he doesn't bullshit. The bikes are great, and buying from him is just a great all around experience. Again, I'm fortunate enough to be a few minutes from his shop, so I can see him in person.

Renn: Frank sent me my wheel early in time for a race. I ended up damaging my wheel and was told I needed a replacement. I sent Frank some pictures of the damage and he urged me to send the wheel in right away for a replacement. He said that he didn't care what I did, but wanted the truth as to how I got the damage I got since it was apparently the first time he had seen that. I'll add that I raced the better part of the Cali 1/2 after I sustained the damage and everything felt great. No noticable difference whatsoever (other than visually). The only potential gripe I've heard about Renn is that it seems they are a little too popular for their own good. They are very busy and therefore can't always seem to get the product out as fast as customers might like.

1upUsa: The makers of the trainer with the same name. I also need a replacement of this unit. They have a lifetime guarantee and are very, very nice to work with. My new trainer was sent to me before I sent my original back. They didn't need to wait until they received the original unit.

I was also very happy with my experience with Nimble. You can talk directly to Dave, the guy who will be building your wheel. They are very accomodating in terms of building to your specs. I had to exchange some skewers and it was a very simple procedure.



Notice a trend?? It seems that the conventional wisdom in large part holds true. If you want great customer service, steer clear of the large corporations. I've tried to contact Klein multiple times with questions and have never received so much as an automated response. The companies I listed, I've called, emailed, and been called by. In all cases I have direct access to the people who build the products and/or are the "boss" of the company.

Thanks for the info...

Im sorry to hear about Klein I had a very good experience with Klein the one time I needed to locate a replacement press in BB with different spindle and they got back to me within a couple of days... not awesome but not bad.

I had a great experience with Ironman Wetsuits. My wife bought me a wetsuit through the mail order for Christmas. Well at the end of the following season after like about 4 or 5 races the zipper pulls apart as I am trying to get out of it durring T1.

I called the mail order place and they give me a phone number to call at Ironman. I call explain to customer service and the guy says no problem. Just send me an email of what style suit and what size and I will have one in the mail today. As soon as you receive the new suit put the old suit in the addressed, stamped box I will send to you and send it back.

Well not only did I get a new suit, I got the upgrade. I sent in the Elite and they sent me a Stealth saying they were sorry for my trouble. Oh and by the way, they also sent a new running hat too. And then the CS rep sent me an email follow up to make sure that I was taken care of. I absolutely love the suit and will never buy another wetsuit other than an Ironman. They have my business bar none.

I had very good experience with trisports.com; I am a regular (once or two times a year) customer.
This spring i asked them, if I could get a Renn Disc from then. They didn't have it in their shop. But I wanted it to order from them together witha a HED H3 and other stuff to save on shipping (instead of buying my stuff in different shops).
trisports.com ordered my Renn Disc at Renn Multisport before I made my order with them. They ordered it on their risk to minimize my time waiting for the disc.
I always get great service from them.

I also experienced good customer service from De Soto Sports (Emilio himself).

Felix

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http://www.weilenmann.ch.vu

Desoto, Profile

taku,

Somewhat relevant is the old joke (10 -15 yrs ago on the tri circuit) that HED owners brag about the excellent customer service they receive; and, the Zipp owners love their wheels but are unaware of their customer service (because they never need it!). Note: This is not a knock on head - I have never heard a negative thing about them, but sometimes not needing customer service is the best compliment of them all.

I certainly echo your DeSoto comments - they are over the top!

Thanks,

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Frank Rehnelt of Renn Multisport gives the absolute best customer service in the industry. He has been proactive in his quality control, to the point of making sure I had the disc with the best glue and gluing methods. He traded in my 650c when I had the Corima Fox wheel size escapade. He has earned my undying devotion, and I will continue to trumpet his name from the mountain tops.

Zipp has been good to deal with. They have been very responsive to my needs, and did not push too hard to sell me a new disc when I had sent my very old, very ugly 1150 (with peeling decal) for inspection.

Nimble is very nice to deal with. No complaints, and I would not hesitate to order from them again, and will continue to recommend their Fly, as it is a kick ass wheel.

Once I had gotten a hold of Spinergy, I had found out that I had to see a dealer to get the axle cap for my Rev X. I just wished that I would have known about having to see the dealer before spending many days trying to contact them. This did not put me off of Spinergy products, as I would consider them again.

I had one experience with a frame builder on another continent. I don't think he is in business anymore. He had first tried to overcharge my credit card, and acted like I was trying to be dodgy. Good thing that the card I had used was a debit card (and they had declined the over charge), or I would be still paying on those bike frames. The bank had told me the real story: he tried to charge me $8000 for an $800 order. He never admitted that he was wrong, insisted it was my fault. That should have told me right there to cancel the order, but he really sounded like he knew what he was talking about. I kept getting the run around on my order, then did not do the things I had spec'd without even telling me (like a 27.2mm seat tube). I still don't have a fork for one bike and the headset I had asked for. I did make him angry when I had sent a not so nice e mail about all of the things wrong, which did not help my case (I am certain). But the run around I had gotten, coupled with the lies I were told about it shipping out had made me very angry. I restrained myself from putting this story out in public, and I am still very unsure about telling my experience, which is why I am not putting the name out for God and everyone. There is the off chance that I could finally get the fork and headset I had ordered (ha ha). The frame was a noodle, even though it fit quite well.

Lesson #1: don't do business with someone you can't travel to see on an airplane in less than four hours. It would be very expensive to go kick his ass. But if I ever go to his home country, he's in big trouble. Also, never do business where it can be nearly impossible (without large amounts of money) to enforce laws of ethical business conduct. But then again, make sure you can travel easily to kick their ass if things go badly.

Lesson #2: Should have called Ves Mandaric in the first place.

DeSoto--quickly replaced a fairly new pair of shorts that came apart at a seam

Cervelo--new seatpost head and Gerard has patiently answered all my questions in the past

Ironman Wetsuits--no problem with either of my wetsuits, but they took a very long time in fitting me and making sure I bought the correct size and knew how to put it on correctly. They also invited us to tea in Wellington last year when we came through the area, but we were behind schedule and didn't make it.

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clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com

Colorado Cyclist.

I bought a Douglas bicycle from them, an aluminum one with carbon rear chain and seat stays. In less than a month one of the chain stays separated from the drop out.

I returned the frame and expressed my displeasure and hesitation with trying another of the same frame since it only had a two year warranty and it failed in a month.

They bumped me up to their top of the line titanium Douglas frame with a five year warranty. No hassle, no questions, just got me going again very fast.

Trisports.com

From getting me hard-to-find GPush in time for IMFL to handling returns/exchanges with other vendors to making things "right" no matter what the problem, Debbie and Seton are the best. As long as I know what I want, they are the only place I need to call.

Later

Gotta agree about Trisports.com!

Excellent customer service, competitive pricing and nice folks who really know their business. Both Seton & Debbie are active triathletes and it shows!

G

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It's a little like wrestling a gorilla.........you don't stop when you're tired.........you stop when the gorilla is tired.

Polar.

QR - had the right arm seam on my wetsuit completely unravel at an April sprint race ,2 years and 2 months after I bought it with a 2 year warranty and no receipt in sight. I forgot to get it fixed as soon as I got home and then remembered the weekend before a 1/2 IM when I was leaving on Thursday. My overnight UPS shipped on Saturday didn't get there until Tuesday. They got it fixed, as well as patching every other nick on the suit and back out the door, overnighted Wednesday morning. No charge, everything under warranty.

Cervelo - had the old style seatpost head strip out. Sent an e-mail to Cervelo who said they would send a handful of replacements to the LBS. I told the LBS they were coming because of the e-mail I sent and I needed one. LBS says they never came, Cervelo says they sent them, given the reaction of the people when I asked them I suspect the LBS handed them all out to other people and/or they got put on in-stock bikes already in the shop. I had a race coming up and sent another e-mail to Cervelo and told them of the situation, they sent one directly to me so I wouldn't have to worry about the LBS snagging my seatpost head again.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.

Elite Bicycles

1) Free Service at their corporate headquarters/shop for all Elite owners

2) Free Service at Ironman for all Elite riders

3) Hand written thank you cards

4) Hand written X-Mass card

5) Re-fitting with new shoes/pedals a year after the sale

6) Always available to answer questions

7) Honest appreciation of their customers.

I may be at a bit of an advantage because I live in the Philadelphia area however, I have met other Elite owners at races that live far away and are just as happy.

And they make the fastest bike I have ever ridden!!!!!

TRUST

DeSoto, in general. Emilio DeSoto, in particular.

Bob Sigerson

TAKU- The mail order experience you described reminds me of a bad experience I had with NYTRO....I won't take the space here to go into details, but I have not and will not order from them again.

On the other end of the spectrum, Inside Out Sports went out of their way to help me on several occasions with excellent customer service.

Aqua Sphere - I had a pair of Kaimen Goggles break; They replaced my goggles w/ new ones strictly on my word that the goggles were less than a year old (the warranty period). That's how to do business.

Softride - quick responses to all of my pre-purchase questions, after which I received unsolicited follow up calls and emails checking on my purchase.

Titanflex - I don't own one, but the owner was quick to respond to all of my question about his bike. Super easy to deal with.

orca-tore trisuit along stitch, replaced with out any problem

rudy project-hinge on frame broke. sent me a new frame fedex

elite bicycles-loaned me a pair of LEW race wheels for IM wis, owner has check with me multiple times concerning the fit and feel of product. might be biased, since i'm in philly but i don't know what other owner is that hands on with a anonymous age grouper.

Best:

1. De Soto - Emilio personally called me to take care of a brand new pair of shorts that were ripped by a gel during the SD marathon. Nytro (where I bought them) was equally cool about the return.

2. Trek factory stores in SD. Normally do not do mail order but I saw an ad for a great deal on shoes and the guy FedExed me the shoes after asking me a bunch of questions to make sure the fit was right.

3. Steve Larsen's wheel works; Davis, CA. Want personal attention from a very down to Earth triathlete that knows bike fitting? Oh yeah he also is the most reasonably priced person out there.

Worst:

1. Spinergy - No customer service reps; they dump all thier problems on thier dealers. Damaged wheel - too bad.

2. Rolf - Replacement parts?? - sorry we don't make them anymore - call a Shimano dealer or Bontrager.