Zipp/SRAM warranty failed me? Or am I expecting too much?

Triathlon Forum
1

I was just denied a warranty by SRAM/Zipp on my Zipp SLC2 carbon handlebars. :frowning:

What happened was that while unwrapping old cinelli cork bartape from them, the outside layer of carbon finish ripped right off with the bartape! Never, ever crashed or dropped or hit these bars on anything. So I wasn’t sure if it was just cosmetic or if it was structural, but looked like delamination pictures. And tapping it with a penny produced that dull sound which I read is supposed to indicate structurally unsafe carbon.

I bought the bars from a authorized Zipp dealer in Wisconsin through the internet (the shop was and still is listed on Zipp’s site as a authorized dealer). But since the shop is in a far away state, I decided to do the warranty through a local dealer. My LBS sent the bars to Zipp. Zipp responded by saying I needed to provide a proof of purchase. I supplied a screen pic of the Paypal receipt. And I was then initially told by the LBS that Zipp said they would warranty the bars as soon as they have one to send. After a week or two and no bars, I asked my LBS to find out what the hold up was.

Turns out, Zipp decided to suspend the warranty work order and just sent the delaminated bars back to my LBS. The accompanying fax basically said that based on the price paid ($104.50) that the bars must be grey market and said grey market items are not covered under warranty.

My feeling is that the bars left their warehouse as a Zipp part free of defect. They were sent to one of their authorized dealers. And I purchased them. Why am I being punished because I bought them for a cheap price? Maybe they were mispriced…maybe the store was liquidating…maybe it was a sale…or maybe the shop was just going against Zipp’s dealer pricing structure. I honestly have no clue. But I still feel like they should honor their warranty if they care about their customers and believe in their product. I mean…it’s not like their warranty has a stipulation that if a Zipp product is sold below a certain price that it is not eligible for warranty even if it’s purchased as new from a authorized dealer with proof of purchase.

Just venting. I sent SRAM an email asking them to reconsider their warranty denial. We’ll see what happens.

2

you might do better if you can email the store you bought it from and ask them for some sort of proof of purchase , then get back to zipp.

3

you might do better if you can email the store you bought it from and ask them for some sort of proof of purchase , then get back to zipp.

doing that right now to see if that will help!

4

From your description, sounds like you have a good case - Zipp should honor their warranty. Continue to be persistent, pleasant, and professional and hopefully they will come through.

(Perhaps there’s an issue with Zipp’s online dealer. If so, it’s between to two of them - you should not be penalized or caught in the middle.)

5

From your description, sounds like you have a good case - Zipp should honor their warranty. Continue to be persistent, pleasant, and professional and hopefully they will come through.

(Perhaps there’s an issue with Zipp’s online dealer. If so, it’s between to two of them - you should not be penalized or caught in the middle.)

Yeah, I sent a pretty pleasant appeal to Zipp. Also contacted the original retailer. And then subsequently contacted Zipp again to let them know I have reached out to the original retailer. If I don’t hear anything back by later this week, I’ll call Zipp.

6

from what i heard, even though Zipp & Sram are owned by the entity (or is it that Zipp is owned by Sram), the Sram people are a lot nicer to deal with.

7

from what i heard, even though Zipp & Sram are owned by the entity (or is it that Zipp is owned by Sram), the Sram people are a lot nicer to deal with.

interesting! for some reason I thought their customer service departments were the same people. i’m no sure why I thought that. good to know.

8

When did you purchase the bar? Within the two year limit on the warranty policy?

9

Zipp is one of those companies that’s pretty tight on their pricing. For instance, they don’t typically allow for sites like trisports to allow use of 15% off type discounts on Zipp products.

But more to your question, that’s not something you should be concerned with. If the Zipp dealer is breaking some kind of agreement with Zipp, you haven’t done anything wrong. I would say they should replace and scold the dealer.

10

When did you purchase the bar? Within the two year limit on the warranty policy?

Yup! It was purchased in October of 2011.

Some progress has been reached. The original dealer replied and reiterated that they are a full authorized Zipp dealer (just as they are listed on Zipp’s site) and that all their Zipp products have full Zipp warranty. I asked them what we have to do to overturn the warranty denial. Awaiting reply. Also, a contact at Zipp has replied to me and says he will bring my issue to the attention of their product manager.

11

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/2013/03/disappointed-in-sram-and-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/2013/03/zipp-warranty-conclusion.html

12

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

13

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

Nope, I mean buyer beware of buying Zipp. Read my whole experience. Compare my experience with Zipp compared to other cycling companies.

Read my posts I linked…the bars were purchased through Wheel & Sprocket of Appleton, WI…one of Zipp’s larger accounts, and listed on their site as a authorized dealer. Wheel & Sprocket convinced Zipp to cough up some bars. And they did even though they didn’t want to.

And again…my experience with Zipp’s customer service blows chunks compared to Cervelo, Look, Profile Designs, and Reynolds.

14

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

to be fair, the price paid is of no relevance. If the product is sold with a warranty, and the product fails in a covered way, then the process starts and depending on the wording of the warranty, the product gets replaced or repaired as applicable. If the terms of the warranty aren’t upheld, then the buyer has a legitimate entitlement to be annoyed.

That said, it’s best to remember that there are 3 sides to every story. 1. Your side. 2. My side 3. The truth. :slight_smile:

15

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

Nope, I mean buyer beware of buying Zipp. Read my whole experience. Compare my experience with Zipp compared to other cycling companies.

Read my posts I linked…the bars were purchased through Wheel & Sprocket of Appleton, WI…one of Zipp’s larger accounts, and listed on their site as a authorized dealer. Wheel & Sprocket convinced Zipp to cough up some bars. And they did even though they didn’t want to.

And again…my experience with Zipp’s customer service blows chunks compared to Cervelo, Look, Profile Designs, and Reynolds.You’ve had experience buying Cervelos for 1/3 of MSRP?

Personally, I would have zero qualms buying a Zipp product as I think they’ve established themselves as a quality company building quality product.

Your negative experience and efforts to tarnish Zipp’s reputation wouldn’t affect my buying decision. But feel free to keep trying :slight_smile:

16

the colors on your website gave me a headache.

17

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

What does the purchase price have to do with the warranty? When tribuys.com went out of business, everything in their store was 50%. If I bought something at a discount, is it fair for the manufacturer to not honor their warranty? Heck, what if I just got a 5% discount? Should I be treated differently than someone who paid full price?

18

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

Nope, I mean buyer beware of buying Zipp. Read my whole experience. Compare my experience with Zipp compared to other cycling companies.

Read my posts I linked…the bars were purchased through Wheel & Sprocket of Appleton, WI…one of Zipp’s larger accounts, and listed on their site as a authorized dealer. Wheel & Sprocket convinced Zipp to cough up some bars. And they did even though they didn’t want to.

And again…my experience with Zipp’s customer service blows chunks compared to Cervelo, Look, Profile Designs, and Reynolds.You’ve had experience buying Cervelos for 1/3 of MSRP?

Personally, I would have zero qualms buying a Zipp product as I think they’ve established themselves as a quality company building quality product.

Your negative experience and efforts to tarnish Zipp’s reputation wouldn’t affect my buying decision. But feel free to keep trying :slight_smile:

have i had experience buying my cervelo at 1/3 retail? nope. but when i had to warranty my P2 frame…you know what Cervelo did? they didn’t care what store i initiated a warranty from, they didn’t ask for a receipt, and they never knew or cared how much i paid for it. in fact, they sent a new frame even before the local bike shop sent the damaged frame to Cervelo just based on the bike shops description of the damage. all done in the span of one week.

same experience with Profile Designs and Look…and while I didn’t do a warranty through Reynolds, their customer service indicated they’d stand by their product regardless of receipt or where bought.

the reason i started to document my zipp experience was because i was shocked at how difficult zipp makes the customer service experience. why was i shocked? because of my frame of reference. Cervelo, Look, Profile Designs and Reynolds were great. because of my previous experiences, i expected zipp would be no different. wrong. just thought others should know. i guess the question is…does Zipp customer service suck balls compared to other companies? or are Cervelo, Look, Profile Designs, and Reynolds just way better than other companies? not sure.

and i’m not knocking zipp’s products. i’ve bought their 303’s, 404’s, rear disc, a couple stems, and four handlebars. the delaminted slc2 was the first issue i’ve had. the products have been largely great. i’m just disappointed in their customer service.

also…why should it matter how much i paid? like the previous poster stated…should everyone receive different levels of customer service and warranty based on what percent of retail they paid? and shouldn’t a buyer feel safe buying from an authorized dealer listed on Zipp’s site?

19

Zipp finally replaced my bars, but it was like pulling teeth. Awful customer service experience for me. Buyer beware.

You can read the whole story here:

Part 1: http://www.slowvelo.com/...d-zipp-customer.html

Part 2: http://www.slowvelo.com/...anty-conclusion.htmlYou mean buyer beware when purchasing Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP. Fair enough.

What does the purchase price have to do with the warranty? When tribuys.com went out of business, everything in their store was 50%. If I bought something at a discount, is it fair for the manufacturer to not honor their warranty? Heck, what if I just got a 5% discount? Should I be treated differently than someone who paid full price?I don’t know that he was treated any differently. He took his bars back to the shop he bought them from and received new bars. I don’t see any issue with customer service.

I would just be suspicious when buying Zipp products for 1/3 of MSRP given the history of fake and grey market Zipps.

20

I feel like you are being intentionally obstinate because you want to be a contrarian on this issue for some reason. Read his blog - Zipp does not seem to be easy to deal with in this case.