Felt Bicycle Parts; Felt Customer Service?

Triathlon Forum
1

I have a couple of questions:

  1. Does anyone know where to get Felt bicycle parts from?

I’ve filled out their online ‘form’ but its been a couple days and no response. Not surprising as their website actually says that while they appreciate the comments they may never get back to you. Not super helpful there.

I’ve also gone too a Felt authorized dealer, but its also been a couple days and I’ve gotten no response from them either.

I mean its the simple piece back end piece of a felt specific seatpost clamp from a 2006 tri bike (s22)…

The 2010 model looks close but a little different so not sure that would work. I guess I could ask Felt, but since they might never get back to me…

  1. Does anyone else think its funny that some of the major bike manufacturers really don’t want to talk to you directly once you’ve plunked down several thousand bucks on a bike? Felt is not the only one making it hard. There are others. Take a look at your bike mfrs. website and see how easy they make it to talk to them. On the other hand they are extremely good at using social media to get their message out.

Heck, even General Motors allows you to ask them a question…

2

I think you’re probably going to have a hard time talking to folks right now as their gearing up for Interbike in 2 weeks.

I’ve had amazing experiences dealing with my LBS (Felt Dealer) and Felt directly so I’d probably chalk it up to interference from Eurobike and Interbike.

Hell, I just submitted an order form to Shimano (I work for them) for some parts and they won’t even process it until Interbike is over. So, I get to sit on my hands until the first week of October until I get to finish building up my cross bike.

3

How did you get in touch with Felt directly? I can’t find a phone number on their website (maybe I’m missing something)…

I did hit the Felt BMX facebook page and got a response back from there, but they said they worked for the BMX division and suggested I call Felt. But no number…

4

I too have noticed this about Felt’s customer service, but superdave on here is fantastic, i suggest sending him a PM as he responds quickly and is knowledgeable.

5

My friend owns a shop… he’s a Felt dealer. A customer had the front derailleur clamp snap off his new AR frame. Without even seeing the bike Felt shipped out a new frame, they had it within 48 hours and the customer was back on his bike and ready for IM Wisconsin (and VERY happy). Additionally, he has regularly gotton parts in quickly for customers from dérailleur hangers to handle bars, etc. His experience with Felt CS has been fantastic… but the shop has to do their part too. FWIW his shop is www.fullspeedmultisport.com

6

The funny thing though is that it is not just Felt. Why is it that we spend $2,000-$10,000 on a bike (A BIKE) and then have a hard time EVER finding someone at a Brand to help us… Why do we put up with it?

Slowtwitchers UNITE!

7

Fair questions and i don’t work for Felt but let’s spin a slightly different perspective on your valid inquiries:

  1. If you look at the volume of posts on this forum about Felt bicycles on all subjects related to them, then consider there are a number of popular forums, then consider there are other forums for BMX, MTB, cyclocross, road cycling, fixies, etc- now you can imagine the amont of inquiries Felt would have to field. It would be a number of hundred per day. I don’t know of a bike company that has a staff dedicated to dealing with that level of inquiries. The bike companies will (correctly so) say that is the job of the dealer, and I would agree with that.

  2. Remember that the part you are looking for is half a tenth of a century old. It’s five years old. In this industry that is a little dated. I’m not saying it is obsolete, I’m just suggesting the calnedars at a bike company right now read “Fall 2011 going on Spring 2012”. they have to operate 12-16 months over the horizon. As a result they may not be reasonably expected to maintain a deep inventory of older parts.

Now, in general these guys do a fine job- but those are a few insights to lend another perspective. We tend to live in a “right now” world, but not all industries and companies have that Zappos.com capability yet. That said, the guys at Felt burn the midnight oil and are dedicated to customer service.

8

  1. Then how about the site at minimum has an area that registered owners of the Brand’s bike could post a question and receive an answer at some point? Felt’s site literally says you may never receive a response (another big name Brand’s site doesn’t even have a way to contact them directly at all). How is this solely the job of the dealer? Going back to my automotive example- dealerships are even more connected to their brands than your average LBS and automotive manufacturers still ahve a place for customers to connect to them.

  2. I haven’t even said I expected them to have the part in stock, by the way, although there are only a handful of truly Felt specific parts on the bike and so, yes, I would expect them to keep a handful of those types of parts on hand for a “half a tenth of a century old” (five years old would be a slightly less convoluted way of saying that, by the by).

The industry I am in is extremely customer centric. The organization I work for is driven by its belief that meeting customer’s needs is as important the day (or 5 years) after they buy a product is as important as the day they bought it (otherwise why would they buy it again?)

IMO a company that provides support for its luxury product entirely through a local dealer network that varies dramatically in quality is an industry that does not truly value its consumer and is not doing “a fine job.” Your standards are too low.

And frankly I think the consumers of this luxury product need to realize that they deserve better treatment. But if they don’t, then that’s okay. That’s them. Not me.

Me of the World UNITE!

9

Thanks Milkman Dan. I emailed the site you mentioned and already received a very nice reponse back, taking up my question with Felt. Now that was GREAT customer service from someone who gets it!

10

I have a couple of questions:

  1. Does anyone know where to get Felt bicycle parts from?

I’ve filled out their online ‘form’ but its been a couple days and no response. Not surprising as their website actually says that while they appreciate the comments they may never get back to you. Not super helpful there.

I’ve also gone too a Felt authorized dealer, but its also been a couple days and I’ve gotten no response from them either.

I mean its the simple piece back end piece of a felt specific seatpost clamp from a 2006 tri bike (s22)…

The 2010 model looks close but a little different so not sure that would work. I guess I could ask Felt, but since they might never get back to me…

  1. Does anyone else think its funny that some of the major bike manufacturers really don’t want to talk to you directly once you’ve plunked down several thousand bucks on a bike? Felt is not the only one making it hard. There are others. Take a look at your bike mfrs. website and see how easy they make it to talk to them. On the other hand they are extremely good at using social media to get their message out.

Heck, even General Motors allows you to ask them a question…

I’m sorry you didn’t get a reply from our info@feltbicycles address yet. We should be able to get you the seatpost clamp you need for your S22. You’ll need a Felt dealer to get the part ordered for you. I think we do our best here at Felt to be accessible. I agree that it is not acceptable to “never get back to you” from any company regarding their customer service.

Our 2011 S22 uses the same seatpost clamp as the 2006 S22 does, it also matches up with the 2007 DA and B2 pretty well.

I’ve tried to do what I can to provide help and answer questions here and a dozen other forums but as Tom mentioned, we are a small group. Multitasking is an understatement. While I feel we are all part of the “marketing” group and we are all in the “customer service” group, there are other responsibilities whose time requirements ebb and flow throughout the year. There are times that all 500-700 emails get an answer every day, and times that it takes a day or two or 4.

I list my email address here, and if you’d like I’d be happy to share my phone number as well. In this case, your local Felt dealer needs to place the order for the part you need so we can get it shipped out to you. If you need help making that happen or if you have any other questions, I am at your sevice.

Thank you for your business,

-SD

Dave Koesel
ROAD Brand Manager
Felt Bicycles
12 Chrysler
Irvine, CA 92618
(949) 268-4464 – office
(866) 433-5887 ext. 4464 toll free
(949) 452-9055 – fax
www.feltbicycles.com
Skype: d_koesel

11

Thanks SuperDave. I forwarded the info on the clamp to the Felt dealer Milkman recommended so hopefully he can come up with something for me.

12

WHen I ordered a new stem for my DA, I experienced none of the issues you mentioned. They shipped it out lickety split. Glad to see that you’re getting what you need now though!

I love Felt!

13

Hi guys, first post here. Just wanted to jump in quickly and say that Dave was SUPER friendly and helpful when I called him about a tiny issue with a new AR1 that I just bought last week.

Thanks Dave!

Sy

14

Hi folks. I’m looking for a front fork for a 2016 felt AI16. I have contacted a few local felt dealers and no luck. Don’t really want to buy a new bike because I can’t get a fork. I have emailed felt and they told me to contact local dealer which I did. He was asking for part number which I can’t find online. I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.

15

I’ve not worked there in nearly a decade but when I struggle to get adequate customer service I generally message every employee on LinkedIn at whatever company I need.

They were acquired by https://www.pierermobility.com/en/

Unlikely you’ll find the exact fork with correct cosmetic treatment but certainly a functionally correct fork would be available.

I do recall dozens of frames and forks getting run thru the band saw rather than get moved shorty after the buyout from Rossignol.

I was lucky enough to get a seatpost clamp for my 2012 era Tk1 from their customer service team so not all hope is lost.

Good luck.
SD

16

Thanks a million. Is there any way to get the part number?

17

I think it’s FE-FK022-3k but those were made by ADK in Huizhou, China and that factory doesn’t exist anymore. No idea what happened to the tooling and if the “new Felt” would retool for an old part no longer sold.

18

Thanks a million for the help.I really appreciate it.