[DHperu]

Hey Guys, well i said i would keep everyone updated upon any news of my Warantee issue on my 2009 Commencal Supreme DH (http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=232007) and today i got some awesome news from Michael Rainey, Commencal Brand Manager, my warantee passed and a new 2010 supreme dh frame is on the way from France. Props to him for getting back to my emails super fast and dealing with my case.

I talked to him on the phone and he went through the details of why my frame cracked (headtube/downtube weld), other issues 2009 frames had and how the 2010 commencal production is coming from an entirely new factory, something most of us heard about but its good to hear it from someone official. Also how the new frame has been improved, made stronger and how there hasn't been any issues at all from 2010 frames.

So i feel its in order to recognise that Commencal stepped up and gave me the warantee besides the fact that i painted my frame, which voids the warantee, and something i did without reading the warantee details and also not thinking i would crack my frame (it looked beefy haha).

All i can say is im happy that I insisted on getting my story heard with the distributor and not accept a discounted frame and would recommend the same to anyone who believes they justfully deserve a warantee from whichever brand they ride and get a negative answer at first.

 

[Beast]

... gave me the warantee besides the fact that i painted my frame, which voids the warantee, and something i did without reading the warantee details and also not thinking i would crack my frame (it looked beefy haha).

All i can say is im happy that I insisted on getting my story heard with the distributor and not accept a discounted frame and would recommend the same to anyone who believes they justfully deserve a warantee from whichever brand they ride and get a negative answer at first.

Goes to show you what negligence and some solid bitching will get you

 

[thom9719]

Goes to show you what negligence and some solid bitching will get you

Exactly.

 

[SCARY]

Pppfffftt!! Ha ha ha!!!

 

[Steve M]

Goes to show you what negligence and some solid bitching will get you

Yep, I can't think of anything more irresponsible than painting a bicycle frame with non-structural paint, clearly that is going to cause headtube failure. If you'd be so kind as to remove your hand from your genitals when you're in public that'd be just awesome.

Glad Commencal sorted you out.

 

[Kanye West]

Good to hear the factory is providing support. Bad luck with the distributor I guess.

 

[thom9719]

Yep, I can't think of anything more irresponsible than painting a bicycle frame with non-structural paint, clearly that is going to cause headtube failure. If you'd be so kind as to remove your hand from your genitals when you're in public that'd be just awesome.

Glad Commencal sorted you out.

They write the warrenty exceptions for a reason.

This would not have happened in any other industry. I don't understand why DH riders feel like they are entitled to new product everytime THEY mess something up.

Try and warrenty a moto part because it cracked after you painted it...

-KT

 

[time-bomb]

This debate is so tired

Regardless of the side of the fence you stand on, it nice to see the MFG step up and make a generous gesture like this. Good for DHperu for getting his ride sorted out and mega props for Commencal for their gracious support.

 

[Commencal-guy]

It was still your fault for painting it


Anyways the new 2010 frames have larger welds especially along the headtube, plus the bolts for the linkages on the frame are updated and a lot nicer so you don't have to worry about the bolts comming loose. Something that was known in previous years.

Also the machining on the frame is more accurate. It's easier to slide the rear axel, and turn the adjustable headtube sleeve.

 

[StyledAirtime]

you shouldn't have given out a frame.
thats bull****. now every punter who paints a frame will bitch that "Well this guy got a frame"
I painted my DH frame after 6months and understood the warranty was lost with it.
just another smug bastard on the hill who got his way by bitching a moaning.

 

[StyledAirtime]

All i can say is im happy that I insisted on getting my story heard with the distributor and not accept a discounted frame and would recommend the same to anyone who believes they justfully deserve a warantee from whichever brand they ride and get a negative answer at first.

AND THIS! What a cock! you didnt deserve anything!

 

[Kanye West]

you shouldn't have given out a frame.
thats bull****. now every punter who paints a frame will bitch that "Well this guy got a frame"
I painted my DH frame after 6months and understood the warranty was lost with it.
just another smug bastard on the hill who got his way by bitching a moaning.

This guy also had an unrelated structural failure within the warranty period.

 

[dante]

They write the warrenty exceptions for a reason.

This would not have happened in any other industry. I don't understand why DH riders feel like they are entitled to new product everytime THEY mess something up.

Try and warrenty a moto part because it cracked after you painted it...

-KT

I'm calling BS on this. Your car warranty can not be voided (by law) if the modification is not responsible for the part failure. It's in place to stop this exact thing, car dealerships denying a warranty on something just because you made a completely unrelated modification to something else. Assuming DHPeru didn't do anything stupid like sandblast his frame (which could have caused it to weaken), Commencal should have warrantied it immediately. Especially since it failed at a known weak spot on that frame...

 

[dropmachine]

THANK YOU DANTE for proving that common sense is still around.

For those of you whining that he shouldn't have gotten a warranty because of a COMPLETELY UNRELATED paintjob, lets see how much you like getting a valid warranty claim denied because you were wearing the wrong color shorts.

 

[Steve M]

I'm calling BS on this. Your car warranty can not be voided (by law) if the modification is not responsible for the part failure. It's in place to stop this exact thing, car dealerships denying a warranty on something just because you made a completely unrelated modification to something else. Assuming DHPeru didn't do anything stupid like sandblast his frame (which could have caused it to weaken), Commencal should have warrantied it immediately. Especially since it failed at a known weak spot on that frame...

Hell yes.

If the modification is unrelated to the mode of failure then you'd be a dodgy, sh*t company to not warranty it.

 

[DirtyMike]

Wow so much hate..... Personally when I was in the first thread I was suprised that the warranty was an issue in the frist place.... Specially seeing it was a known problem bordering on full recall. Yes, he could have been told to eff off, BUT... he wasnt. he went through the process of talking to the Mfg direct, and they realized that it is better to make a happy custoemr who May decide to tell people about it, over making a pissed off customer who WILL tell someone about it.



Anyone who thinks this doesnt happen in other industries.... needs to go work retail for awhile. On the retail side of things...... Consumers get their ass;s kissed..... ALOT..... Speccy does it, Trek does it, Giant does it..... Why would anyone expect that Commencal not do the same?

 

[WBC]

problem bordering on full recall.

Norco had only a small handful of failures and they still recalled their frames. I never knew anyone that broke a Norco that didn't stack it into a tree at 40, and I know way, way more people on those bikes, and who have been riding them for years, than I do Commencals (like to the power of 10).

I know Norco has a much, much lower marginal cost on their frames vs Commencal, but asking for a warranty on a known issue should never be a problem.

 

[DirtyMike]

Soooo, you and I agree on the matter then??? Just making sure, because that was pretty much a repeat of what I listed... I was just pissed about people telling him he doesnt deserve a frame..... Mainly I think they are jealous

 

[DHperu]

I didn't really want to keep commenting but there was a bit of hate coming from some people! tough crowd...
everyone's entitled to their opinion and in the end it really doesn't matter, i got what i was looking for, if i believed that i didn't deserve the warranty i seriously wouldn't have insisted, i'm getting my new frame and i'm psyched! i'll post up pics when i get the frame which should be in about a month, hopefully less!

 

[John@UKMB]

i'm getting my new frame and i'm psyched! i'll post up pics when i get the frame which should be in about a month, hopefully less!

What colour are you going to paint it this time?

 

[bohorec]

Nice to see Commencal taking care of their customers.

Ignore haters, they are just jealous, haha

 

[DHperu]

What colour are you going to paint it this time?

I know i want Fucsia but not sure if tiger o leopard print hahaha

 

[toodles]

I know i want Fucsia but not sure if tiger o leopard print hahaha

A quick way to get the paint off is to sandblast it, then acid dip it, then burn whats left of the paint off with a blowtorch. If you're anodising it and want a textured finish, I'd suggest towing the frame behind a truck for a few kilometres.

 

[thom9719]

THANK YOU DANTE for proving that common sense is still around.

For those of you whining that he shouldn't have gotten a warranty because of a COMPLETELY UNRELATED paintjob, lets see how much you like getting a valid warranty claim denied because you were wearing the wrong color shorts.

No, The manufacture states in their warrenty coverage, that painting the frame voids the warrenty, end of story. The guy got a new frame against the warrenty by bitching and moaning instead of accepting responsibility for his actions.

-KT

 

[dropmachine]

The manufacturer also knows that the headtube cracking is a KNOWN DEFECT, and the paint job (although against the warranty) had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Now, had he drilled out his linkage, sandblasted the frame or something else that would clearly be linked to causing structural damage, then I'd agree. But as is, putting a coat of paint over the existing paint did nothing, and he deserves a warranty based on the damage being a known problem.

 

[spocomptonrider]

No, The manufacture states in their warrenty coverage, that painting the frame voids the warrenty, end of story. The guy got a new frame against the warrenty by bitching and moaning instead of accepting responsibility for his actions.

-KT

But that simply is the way of things unfortunately. From a retail perspective it a case like this is not the exception, but the norm. Think about it this way, dude comes to Commencal and says, blah blah blah my frame cracked blah blah blah I painted it blah blah blah it was a known fault.

The Commencal does what nearly any company would try to do, sell him another one. You painted it, you voided the warranty. But on closer inspection the frame cracked in a known location and the paint was laid over the factory paint. Commencal can then either stick to its guns or make the customer happy. They chose to do the latter, whether or not he deserved it is irrelevant. What is relevant is that someone in a situation similar may now feel that its his god given right to have his warranty honored (which in some cases it obviously isn't) and threads like this only perpetuate that so I see where you are coming from.

In short this guy lucked out and Commencal did arguably the right thing in getting him a new one, hopefully instead of serving to show how far you can push companies and still get them to honor warranties this thread shows people; either keep ur frames stock or say good bye to ur warranty.

 

[IH8Rice]

I'm calling BS on this. Your car warranty can not be voided (by law) if the modification is not responsible for the part failure. It's in place to stop this exact thing, car dealerships denying a warranty on something just because you made a completely unrelated modification to something else. Assuming DHPeru didn't do anything stupid like sandblast his frame (which could have caused it to weaken), Commencal should have warrantied it immediately. Especially since it failed at a known weak spot on that frame...

/thread.

the Consumer Bill of Rights rightly protects you with this same issue

 

[DirtyMike]

For anyone still arguing that commencal did the wrong thing.... Was it wrong three years ago when trek warrantied a Carbon fiber frame that had crushed seat and chainstays... a result of being closed in a trunck of a car????? Guess what.... No way in hell was that something that should have been warranty.... But hey trek gave teh customer a new frame...... Now compare this what is a complete negligence situation, to what is a known failure....... Commencal did the right thing in the retail world, I am sorry if anyone feels different about that, they kept the customer happy, in retail that is everything. If you dont agree, you either have not managed retail.... or your one of those guys that "Used" to own your own business and just cant figure out why it failed.


Good ro bad, word of mouth on how your company treats its customers is your best, and your worst advertisement. Sometimes in retail its about making the customer just shut up and stop telling people you treated them like ****.

You may be completly correct in telling your customer to piss off on a warranty, or a return..... You have to weight telling them no against the ptoential poor advertisement.

This is nothing that is just with bikes, this is retail in general. Its about getting good word of mouth, and getting the customer to come back again for more of your product.

 

[demo 9]

^ full of win

 

[Shenzi]

Just bought a new Meta 5.5

 

[scottishmark]

For anyone still arguing that commencal did the wrong thing.... Was it wrong three years ago when trek warrantied a Carbon fiber frame that had crushed seat and chainstays... a result of being closed in a trunck of a car????? Guess what.... No way in hell was that something that should have been warranty....

somehow i think trek will consider that a goodwill gesture rather than a warranty

 

[captainpolution]

pppfffftt!! Ha ha ha!!!

 

[bizutch]

So much WIN in this thread. I might as well spew venom too.

My only beef is it got to the internet before it got to the manufacturer, but that's well documented over the years. Moving on to pic threads now.

 

[dante]

So much WIN in this thread. I might as well spew venom too.

My only beef is it got to the internet before it got to the manufacturer, but that's well documented over the years. Moving on to pic threads now.

I could be wrong, but I believe that it only came out on the internet after the importer declined to warranty it.

 

[NoUseForAName]

Norco had only a small handful of failures and they still recalled their frames.

I think you mean lots of frame failures.

I never knew anyone that broke a Norco that didn't stack it into a tree at 40,

Lucky for you. I broke one, and i'm not even an aggressive rider. The recall happened for a good reason.

I know Norco has a much, much lower marginal cost on their frames vs Commencal,

Wait, what?

 

[bizutch]

I could be wrong, but I believe that it only came out on the internet after the importer declined to warranty it.

Possibly. "But" it only took the very first post to point out the proper solution:

Maybe if you pull this thread, and email Commencal and explain your case they could help you out? Or maybe try through a different supplier (if there is one).

Yet, he caused a 9 page ruckus. Just saying. Not spraying I promise.

 

[DHperu]

Frame is a few days away from arriving at the shop!

 

[Eastern States Cup]

Frame is a few days away from arriving at the shop!

Ship it right away to FTW, have Frank weld his magic and it'll last forever.

 

[bizutch]

Frame is a few days away from arriving at the shop!

Now you just gotta pray they built and packaged the frame to withstand UPS delivery methods.