Awesome Customer Service Appreciation Thread

Triathlon Forum
1

I’ll Start-

Shout out to both Geneva Bicycle Center in NY and Giant!

I’m only semi-skilled in wrenching. I take my bike in to GBC for tune-ups and parts replacements. They have a lot more tools and spare parts coupled with a ridiculous amount of knowledge and skill. I trust them fully with my bike and money and they have never let me down.

I bought a Giant Trinity from them back in 2006. It’s got a shit ton on miles on the bike and I’ve been thinking on replacing it lately. Having just purchased a power meter off the ST classifieds, I brought in the bike to get it installed, the bike tuned and ready for a long winter of trainer riding. They called me back the next day to mention that they had found a crack in the carbon. They had already called Giant on my behalf and started negotiating. I wasn’t very optimistic due to the age and wear/ tear.

Welp, Giant decided to warranty the frame! They sent GBC a 2014 (I believe) Giant Trinity Composite (looks like the pic below) free of charge to me. GBC used my fit coordinates and transferred over my recently purchased aero-bars (profile design), wheels, and installed my power meter. When I picked up the bike, they set-up my Garmin (unnecessary step but I let them do it anyway), and took 'er for a ride. Perfect!

Basically, I got a new bike for about $400. Thanks to both Giant and GBC.

http://i57.tinypic.com/2dv4y9g.jpg

2

Great idea. I work as an ED doc and all I ever see is complaints so when I get good service I go out of my way to thank those involved. But now I can do so publicly.

Recently I had a pretty bad bike crash. Went down at more than 30mph and sustained a broken scapula (shoulder blade). I was fortunate though as it could have been a hell of a lot worse. After my shoulder hit the concrete my head came next and the force was impressive. Fortunately, the Specialized Evade that I was wearing took the full force of the blow and I maybe sustained a very mild concussion but nothing more.

While I was recovering, I sent a note to the folks at Specialized to let them know how glad I was for the performance of their helmet. One of their R&D guys contacted me to chat about the crash and to ask some questions about my riding habits and how exactly the helmet had been hit and damaged. At the end of the conversation they offered me a replacement Evade or Prevail. I told him this wasn’t necessary but he insisted.

I have been a loyal customer to companies that provide service like this in the past but this was above and beyond the pale. Kudos to Specialized.

As an aside, I have had phenomenal tech support and service from a couple of other companies recently and wanted to give them a shout out as well:

-Jay bird
-Nest (connected thermostats)
-Sole Treadmills

Cheers

3

Emilio DeSoto

Best customer service going.

4

Jawbone. Mine broke, sent me a new one
Cycleops. Sent me a new part for my supermagneto
Cycle Therapy (LBS- Mobile, AL) great service

5

Garmin: For replacing my Garmin 910XT twice, Garmin footpod once, Garmin heartrate monitor once, and my Garmin Edge 800 once. All free of charge (except for return shipping twice).

6

Word.

Powertap upgraded my power meter, but the ZIPP wheel arrived broken. They replaced my older ZIPP wheelset with a brand new ENVE 6.7 wheelset. They were awesome to deal with.

Cervelo replaced my 2012 P2 frame b/c a crack developed in the seat post.

Hawley’s Bicycle World (in Fayetteville) transferred components to bike frame on very short notice.

7

Yurbuds. Replaced my ear buds on warranty policy. no hassle. fast shipment back to me. Will buy from this company again.

8

Emilio DeSoto

Best customer service going.

  • DeSoto - I keep hearing about how good their customer service is, but there products are so good I never have to use their C/S!!

  • SetUp Events - Had my gall bladder removed mid July. They deferred my Lake Logan Oly (Aug 2) registration to 2015.

9

Emilio DeSoto

Best customer service going.

Absolutely this. Had a minor issue with a backpack and he offered to fix the problem and took notes to make sure that future bags could hopefully fix the problem. Most retailers would blame me for using their bag incorrectly.

10

Polar
Saris
Aqua Sphere (although sorry guys I’m using the arena swedix now until you come out with a split lens version)
.

11

Kuat racks customer service is top notch. Would never hesitate to buy another product from them.

12

11 August 2014

Mr. Wilfried Baatz, President
RacerMate, Inc.
3016 N. Blakeley Street
Seattle, WA 98105

Dear Mr. Baatz,

I am writing to compliment your Customer/Technical Support Manager, Mr. Roger Moore. Too often company executives only hear negative feedback on their employees; I feel it is equally important to share the positive experiences that make your customers feel valued and supported.

In January of this year, someone posted on Slowtwitch a question about their Computrainer. Roger replied, and asked if the writer had contacted your Technical Support department. That raised my hackles a bit, because I had contacted your Technical Support Department, three times, with less than stellar results. I don’t believe in airing dirty laundry in public, so I wrote a private email to Mr. Moore, outlining my less-than-customer-satisfaction experience with the department. I have enclosed a copy of my email with this letter. I believe this is the salient sentence: “The Computrainer is now banned from his computer, and I have a $1200 piece of crap sitting in a corner of our exercise room.”

Within two hours, Mr. Moore responded to my email. He apologized for the experience I had with his team, and that it left me with such a negative impression. To me, these were the key sentences: “For that I am truly sorry. But you have me now.”

Indeed I did! Mr. Moore then proceeded to request extensive information regarding my system, including photos of various components, to troubleshoot the problem. He offered to send me replacement parts/cables, pay for any repairs necessary, and provide the new RacerMate One software, all at no cost. After sending the requested data, Mr. Moore identified that the Sewell USB Adapter I had was the culprit. He asked for more data on my husband’s computer system, but my husband and I decided to purchase a new desktop system just for the Computrainer. Mr. Moore sent us a detailed email outlining the various requirements (operating system, RAM, video card, etc.) that we should look for. My husband researched computers, and we sent Mr. Moore details on four possible systems. He immediately replied with his thoughts on which system would be optimal for the Computrainer. I have pages and pages of emails between Mr. Moore and myself as he worked with us to get our Computrainer up and running again, and in an extremely timely manner. I have been using it without any problems since February, and believe that it contributed to my PRs in both the half-ironman and ironman distance this season.

I am so appreciative that Mr. Moore was able to take a negative customer experience, and turn it around so that I am now a satisfied Computrainer user. There are not many employees who would take the initiative that Mr. Moore did to guarantee service recovery. You are fortunate to have him working for your company, and I hope you will express my gratitude to him personally. He’s a keeper!

Sincerely,

Sharon Peachey Sheremeta, Sc.D.

cc: Mr. Roger Moore

Enclosure

13

Props to Rotorua 1/2 RD (Hookisie)

My son was hit by a truck just 2 weeks before the event. I emailed him to say my son wouldn’t be coming. He immediately said his entry would be transferred to next year. He also asked if I wanted my entry transferred so we could still race together! I declined as I still wanted to race, so did both years. Solo, then raced against my son the following year.

14

Yurbuds and trainer road never dissapoint
.

15

Specialized. I rode my base model Venge for two seasons and the bottom bracket started to wallow out. They sent me an S-Works frame instead.

16

Here are some of my favorites:

Brands
Saris/Powertap = Can’t say how many times they’ve helped me out and I never got charged. I’ve been with them since 2006.

Light & Motion = Resolves issues and is very helpful

Cannondale = No issues through my local LBS on recalls and warranty issues

Specialized = I know they have their lovers/haters, but have never had issues getting things replaced when they were broken (eg, shoes)

Retailers
A Road Bike 4U = Local shop in Irvine, CA. Not cheap, but great customer service. One of the places you don’t mind spending your money.

Johnny Sprockets = Local shop in Chicago, IL. Not one of the main ones, but they love bikes. It’s also one of those shops where if you drop off a 6-pack on Friday, you get supreme service from the wrenches.

Competitive Cyclist = Always willing to work stuff out

Price Point = Bike nuts and have had great service every time I call

17

Stages.

Sent in a help ticket for a busted battery cover at 11:15 PDT on a Sunday. Two hours later, I received an email asking for my address, telling me that two would be sent to me. I replied with my address, then on Monday got a shipping confirmation. New covers arrived on Wednesday. Done deal!

18

Garmin - They replaced my 910 twice, the second time it was well out of warranty; I have nothing but great things to say about them and will buy a 920 next.

Thanks Garmin!

Larry