So, I ordered a KHS FR2000 a few weeks ago from wheelworld. When the bike arrives, the box is utterly destroyed. Upon unpacking the bike, I see that wheelworld's packing job had a lot to be desired. The front wheel was wrecklessly jammed in the box and one of the spokes was bent on the crank arm and there were scratches all over the downtube, crank arm and rear shock. Nothing was wrapped around any part of the frame to protect it(or any of the components), and the only packaging material used was newspaper. After searching through the loose newspaper, I had no luck finding a sales invoice or any owners manuals for the bike, shock or fork, which is standard when buying a new bike. It would be nice to know how to dial in my suspension and have proof of purchase!
I call wheelworld to tell them about all the initial problems and they immediately go on the defensive, blaming UPS for everything even though the actual damage was done because the bike was packaged improperly and the front wheel was jammed into the box, and the bikes frame/components werent protected with anything.(very poor packaging!) I get sick of arguing and give up happy that they are going to send me an invoice and the requested literature on the bike. When the invoice arrives, I see that I was charged a $35 "build/packaging" fee! I called wheelworld again, and I'm told that it's standard for mailorder bike companies to charge this fee, or else the bike would come as a frame and a build kit....WHAT???? I explain that this is the third mail order bike I have purchased, and that they have always come mostly assembled, minus the pedals, stem/handlebars, grips, front brake caliper etc...
After almost an hour of arguing I finally get the manager to credit me back the bogus $35 fee. Nobody should have to endure the amount of ridicule, patronizing and just plain out crappy attitude I put up with from a MANAGER, after buying a bike!
Oh, its not over yet. After I get the bike ready to ride, I turn the compression adjustment knob and the rear romic shock BLOWS UP ! Shock oil EVERYWHERE! I called wheelworld back and not surprisingly they immediately go on the defensive again, looking for any and every way to turn things around on me so I'm the dummy responsible for the shocks failure so as they dont have to help me. I finally get them to agree to switch out the shock for me after another HOUR on the phone. I send them back the complete shock, with hardware, and what I get back is just the shock MINUS the hardware! Great....am I EVER going to get to ride this bike? So, I finally get the hardware sent to me, and everything is assembled and ready to ride.
On the first ride, the bike has obvious drive train issues and continuously ghost shifts anytime a lot of torque is placed on the crank arms while pedaling. Additionally, when I try to shift into the lowest gear in the rear(big cog) the chain hits the spokes and falls off. I tried tightening the low adjustment screw on the rear deraileur so that the cage is perfectly aligned with the gears, and also played around with the barrel adjuster and nothing works. I call wheelword back to see if I can get some follow up tech support. The sales guy I talked to was no use at all, so I ask to speak to a mechanic. The mechanic talks to me for 2 minutes and tells me he is too busy to help me. I explain to him that I just purchased a $1500 bike from his store and that I think some follow up support is justified. I asked him if there was a better time for him to help me, and he stated I should take the bike to my local bike shop! After telling him that I would prefer to at least try and fix it myself first, he states that he has to go help on the sales floor! When I reminded him that I too was a customer, and that it appeared he valued potential customers more than customers whose money they already had, his response was, "sorry sir, in-store customers, take priority over mailorder customers!!!!!! That one statement sums up wheelworlds entire service philosophy as I see it. Can you believe he said that?
I will NEVER again order ANYTHING from Wheelworld! I don't care if their prices are good. I have been buying things mail order for years now, and have never recieved such poor customer service! On the other hand, I have had EXCELLENT experiences with JensonUSA. I guess I had gotten a bit spoiled dealing with a company like Jenson who goes out of their way to assist customers before, during AND AFTER the sale. I took it for granted that the type of service I was recieving from Jenson was NOT the mail order industry standard. POOR FORM WHEELWORLD!!!
The reason for this post is to alert others out there that DO buy items mailorder. If I had read a post like this one prior to the sale, I would have saved myself time, money and frustration by looking elsewhere. I really dont want to get into the pros/cons of buying from a LBS vs. mailorder. Thanks...
I call wheelworld to tell them about all the initial problems and they immediately go on the defensive, blaming UPS for everything even though the actual damage was done because the bike was packaged improperly and the front wheel was jammed into the box, and the bikes frame/components werent protected with anything.(very poor packaging!) I get sick of arguing and give up happy that they are going to send me an invoice and the requested literature on the bike. When the invoice arrives, I see that I was charged a $35 "build/packaging" fee! I called wheelworld again, and I'm told that it's standard for mailorder bike companies to charge this fee, or else the bike would come as a frame and a build kit....WHAT???? I explain that this is the third mail order bike I have purchased, and that they have always come mostly assembled, minus the pedals, stem/handlebars, grips, front brake caliper etc...
After almost an hour of arguing I finally get the manager to credit me back the bogus $35 fee. Nobody should have to endure the amount of ridicule, patronizing and just plain out crappy attitude I put up with from a MANAGER, after buying a bike!
Oh, its not over yet. After I get the bike ready to ride, I turn the compression adjustment knob and the rear romic shock BLOWS UP ! Shock oil EVERYWHERE! I called wheelworld back and not surprisingly they immediately go on the defensive again, looking for any and every way to turn things around on me so I'm the dummy responsible for the shocks failure so as they dont have to help me. I finally get them to agree to switch out the shock for me after another HOUR on the phone. I send them back the complete shock, with hardware, and what I get back is just the shock MINUS the hardware! Great....am I EVER going to get to ride this bike? So, I finally get the hardware sent to me, and everything is assembled and ready to ride.
On the first ride, the bike has obvious drive train issues and continuously ghost shifts anytime a lot of torque is placed on the crank arms while pedaling. Additionally, when I try to shift into the lowest gear in the rear(big cog) the chain hits the spokes and falls off. I tried tightening the low adjustment screw on the rear deraileur so that the cage is perfectly aligned with the gears, and also played around with the barrel adjuster and nothing works. I call wheelword back to see if I can get some follow up tech support. The sales guy I talked to was no use at all, so I ask to speak to a mechanic. The mechanic talks to me for 2 minutes and tells me he is too busy to help me. I explain to him that I just purchased a $1500 bike from his store and that I think some follow up support is justified. I asked him if there was a better time for him to help me, and he stated I should take the bike to my local bike shop! After telling him that I would prefer to at least try and fix it myself first, he states that he has to go help on the sales floor! When I reminded him that I too was a customer, and that it appeared he valued potential customers more than customers whose money they already had, his response was, "sorry sir, in-store customers, take priority over mailorder customers!!!!!! That one statement sums up wheelworlds entire service philosophy as I see it. Can you believe he said that?
I will NEVER again order ANYTHING from Wheelworld! I don't care if their prices are good. I have been buying things mail order for years now, and have never recieved such poor customer service! On the other hand, I have had EXCELLENT experiences with JensonUSA. I guess I had gotten a bit spoiled dealing with a company like Jenson who goes out of their way to assist customers before, during AND AFTER the sale. I took it for granted that the type of service I was recieving from Jenson was NOT the mail order industry standard. POOR FORM WHEELWORLD!!!
The reason for this post is to alert others out there that DO buy items mailorder. If I had read a post like this one prior to the sale, I would have saved myself time, money and frustration by looking elsewhere. I really dont want to get into the pros/cons of buying from a LBS vs. mailorder. Thanks...
