In searching for a solution to this annoying TBT conundrum, does anyone know anything about THRU? Their site suggests they are exactly what TBT did, and even has copy write as of 2021 with TBT. But when I click to contact them, the page just doesn’t load.
This is what I could find:
Maurice
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Thanks!
It seems to me a good thing that they are moving forward with service to athletes; though it is all oddly vague. I understand not wanting to draw negative attention, but even the best learn from mistakes. Acknowledge the past and figure out how to make it better in the future. We have always had really good experiences with TBT and so maybe THRU will carry that service forward seeing that it is owned by the same person. Now I will have to figure out if my $400 will transfer to THRU in the new year.
It is incredibly unlikely that THRU will survive the downfall of TBT. THRU was an effort to leverage the infrastructure, expertise, and logistics of TBT to offer a “missing link” service to connect online retailers and customers, and it was/is still in the “seeking investment” phase as the parent company hit the iceberg. I doubt you’re going to see much investment capital signing up for another cruise on that ship anytime soon.
Sorry man, that $400 is just gone.
Customers also need to learn from past mistakes… before trusting a new company with your bike and $, do your due diligence; make sure they have a healthy balance sheet, pay their subcontractors, have insurance, provide some guarantees and make sure that your bike can’t serve as collateral.
Thanks!
It seems to me a good thing that they are moving forward with service to athletes; though it is all oddly vague. I understand not wanting to draw negative attention, but even the best learn from mistakes. Acknowledge the past and figure out how to make it better in the future. We have always had really good experiences with TBT and so maybe THRU will carry that service forward seeing that it is owned by the same person. Now I will have to figure out if my $400 will transfer to THRU in the new year.
You lost me at “owned by the same person”.
I’m confused. Must be missing something…
This article is from April. Didn’t THRU exist before the trouble with TBT became public…
Why would THRU make it if TBT doesn’t.
Whether THRU exists or not after TBT formally folds (if it hasn’t already), I would not trust any business run by the owners of TBT. Even considering THRU should be a moot point. 183 athletes bikes are currently being held by the shipping company that TBT did not pay with the money provided by those athletes and are potentially never to be returned to those athletes. It’s been over 3 months and there’s no progress on the athletes bikes being returned. I think there’s a high likelihood those bikes are auctioned off to recoup the shipping company’s costs. Is that a risk you’re willing to take? I certainly wouldn’t ever touch TBT or any successor company again.
** It’s been over 3 months and there’s no progress on the athletes bikes being returned. I think there’s a high likelihood those bikes are auctioned off to recoup the shipping company’s costs. ///**
There has been a ton of progress, just none that you are aware of. Of course getting the bikes back is the goal, and for all of you with a bike, or either just looking at this from the outside, you really have no idea what is happening behind the scenes.
And I would imagine that there will be no auction of bikes, the shipper would lose more in his lawyer fees than he would get. there will eventually be some solution, and those options have been and are being discussed. It’s just that what the shipper wants is probably not an option, and it will take time for them to realize that and then get to the ones that are possible. Unfortunately as time passes, they will get less money, not more, and everyone is just inconvenienced longer…Have to keep in mind that the shipper does not really live in or understand our world. He has a container load of monogramed underwear, but thinks he has gold bricks…
Why would the lawyer fees be very large; I would think they would have a blanket auction fee and that’s about it? At some point if a solution can’t be found, pretty much it will go to auction yes? That’s how pretty much any repoession type of process works right? IE- that’s how the entity that was “harmed” can atleast get back some of the money. So again if there is no white knight to save the day, at some point I would think it would go to some type of action like that.
Why would the lawyer fees be very large; I would think they would have a blanket auction fee and that’s about it?
It is 100% guaranteed that the second the shipping company attempts to sell those bikes they will face lawsuits from the actual owners of the bikes. It is very much not guaranteed that they have any legal right to sell them, and even if they were able to establish that they have this right - as Monty suggests - litigation to establish/defend this right could easily cost them more than they could sell a bunch of used tri bikes for at wholesale.
The people who own the bikes need to pay their lawyer to file the lawsuit, which could be more than the value of the bike.
That’s the part I dont agree with. If they have a legal right to auction off the bikes, I don’t understand the ligitation part, if you say they have the legal right to then recoup their loses by selling the bikes. That part makes no sense.
And if that’s all true, they’ll all just sit in the container and corrode away. So my point is more that if they are. allowed to auction the bikes, I dont agree that they’ll have large lawyer fees. If it’s gotten to that point, pretty much all options have likely been exhausted at that point.
The people who own the bikes need to pay their lawyer to file the lawsuit, which could be more than the value of the bike.
Dude… we’re talking about a couple of containers full of tri bikes being shipped overseas for an event. You’d be hard pressed to engineer a population more likely to include a high percentage of attorneys within it.
(and my understanding is that litigation from this side is already well underway, as one might expect).
In most cases I would imagine this would go to small claims courts. And I would imagine at least 3 dozen or more of the folks are actually lawyers, are married to one, or have one in the family. As fredly stated, the suits have already begun, and I believe some of them will be class action ones too.
And to Brooks, it really doesnt matter if the shipper feels or actually(probably not) has ownership of the bikes. He is still getting sued and will have to defend those suits. And no doubt the suits will come from all over the place too, as the folks who own the bike are spread out, and the bikes have been stored in different states along the way…
It will be a nightmare for the shipper if he try to sell the bikes. And it will not be profitable or practical in any shape or form. How would be ship the bikes in an auction anyway? The bikes that were not well suited to be taken apart in the first place, thus the Tri bike transport.
/\ - what Monty said 
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While some of what you say is true, the bike owners who you say have dozen of lawyers also have to want to sue and think they’ll want to win (IE is it worth lawyering up over a $4k bike that will now cost you what $4k just to get “your” bike back?). I assume they are lawyering up now to just figure out the legality of all of this, not even worrying about who can or can’t “auction” off the bikes. So I think your crazy if you don’t think these bikes will go to auction as a last resort with the amount of fee that is being dealt here. But we can agree to disagree, all good.
So you forgot to add 1 thing- It’s going to be a pain in the ass and expensive for the bike owners to also have to now lawyer up to get their bikes back. So it’s not just an expensive on the shippers side, the guys who yall are admitting are lawyering up are also going to incur huge fees that eventually they’ll have to decide if it’s truly worth it or not. That’s where I think the last resort of an auction will win out imo if no white knight pays off the huge tariff fee to free the bikes. So I don’t necessarily agree with your assessment. But cool to disagree.
There are hundreds of auctions all across the country that are done on a daily basis that would easily sell the bike complete built or imcomplete built.
The bigger issue imo isn’t the lawyer fees that you think the sellers would have to deal with. It would be the very likely low value they would get on said auctioned bikes. But again I think that’s a last resort to recoup money, well beyond the “you’ll get sued” phase.
So you forgot to add 1 thing- It’s going to be a pain in the ass and expensive for the bike owners to also have to now lawyer up to get their bikes back//
No Brooks, I didnt forget it. You do know what “Class action” means. And why plaintiffs would choose this route??
Not sure why you are so determined to hold onto this auction thing, I give it about a 5% chance of happening. But of course I know a lot more than you do about this behind the scenes, so there is that…(-;
I’ll bet you $100 it eventually goes to auction. Since you know everything that’ll be an easy bet for you to win and know the outcome right?
You down for that?
I’m only determined because the chances of them winning or a white knight to drop in and pay off the large tarrif is likely gone. And the worst part is that by the time this is all solved, the chances of the bikes being a filty mess after sitting in a storage container for likely year + time frame…no one wins likely. So yeah it sucks for all parties here.
So it’ll be a nightmare for EVERYONE involved.
Again I think the auction route is the last resort and likely done by the sellers knowing they can do that. They are already getting sued now right so, they’ll eventually know what they can and can’t do with the bikes correct? The shipping company certainly doesn’t want to take it to auction cus they;'ll get pennies on the dollar for the bikes, they want someone to pay them the fee they are owed, end of story. They don’t want to do anything but get paid back.
I’ve known smart lawyers who make a lot of money who would agree with you, its not worth their time, file an insurance claim and move on.
I’ve been across the table from dumb lawyers who waste a lot of money coming to that realization after bizarrely imagining there would be some kind of big payout and damages.
We sometimes forget that stupid emotional people can also become lawyers… I’m surprised at some of the things I’ve heard these types say/do.
It’s bizarre but in my experience the lawyers who have billed 600-1500/hour always seem to be the most level headed and ethical. Which I guess makes sense when you have as much money as they do, you are 1. Good with money and 2. Not going to do something stupid to risk breaking the law etc.
Now…which group of lawyers is a triathlete who flies around the world doing age group races I wonder… I sadly imagine it’s the type with poor judgment, hah!