Originally Posted by
Alec E
I didn't want to hijack this thread with my complaints, but your post is rather insulting. I am not "terrified" of talking to a salesman. Certainly though, Bike Friday's process, in my experience thus far, is designed to envelop you in salesmanship.
"Eugene, Oregon" means nothing to me, nor is there any reason why it should. I do realize that the imagined charm of such an operations base is another aspect of the Bike Friday image and brand loyalty, of course.
It's really as simple as this: Their contact form asks whether or not you want to be contacted via email or telephone. This is the year 2010, by the way, and we're talking about a company with a large (and horribly, horribly disorganized) website, so they would more sensibly dispense with the latter option than the former, were they going to dispense with either. I--in my paralyzing fear of salesmen--chose the former option.
In the first response I received, there was no answer whatsoever to my simple question: which Tikit configurations have the highest gearing? (I realize many of you could easily figure this out for yourselves. I can't yet.) I soon receive, instead, a screen's worth of irrelevant marketing links, a request for a telephone number so that my needs can be discussed, and many sentences of pre-written robot-speak ("Thanks for writing. We are here to help you improve your cycling experiences, and I am certain I can help with your upcoming exciting commuting adventures.")
That is an indisputably stupid response, in my opinion. But I persevered with them. (As for my preference for email, I should think the reasons would be obvious even to a Bike Friday apostle: I want to be able to save and study any information I've requested, and I want to be able to look up any terms which are unfamiliar to me as I come across them. The mellifluous tones of salesman, beckoning me to "upcoming exciting commuting adventures," are not something I care to waste one second of my life listening to. Sorry if this shocks anyone.) I replied to this email with a lengthy one of my own in which I tried to anticipate every possible question the salesman might have for me. I gave my height, my inseam, a description of my last road bike, a description of my pedaling cadence, a description of my desired gearing, a specification of which gears on my last road bike were most often used, and descriptions of my impressions of the different folders I'd thus far ridden, which didn't at that time include a Tikit. I did not however include my telephone number.
This email, sent about two weeks ago, has never received any response. After two or three days had passed without its being answered (my first communication to them had been answered very quickly--not that I would judge them for typically replying within two or three days, but the difference led me to sense an aberration), I filled out their contact form again. I asked: which BTO Tikit configurations have the highest high gears? I added that I had asked this question once before, and received no relevant response, but rather the demand for a telephone number and the screen's worth of irrelevant links to the Bike Friday website and to YouTube videos. I was not rude, but yes, I did mention that. My idea was that a different rep might simply answer my question.
I immediately received a defensive reply from the salesman who had contacted me before. He provided more sales-speak about why he needed a telephone number, and he mentioned that the Travel Tikit would have the highest gearing. This once again failed to answer my simple question, as I had clearly asked for multiple options within the BTO Tikit lineup.
I replied that Bike Friday should remove the email option from their contact form if they were so adamant about not emailing. No response to that has been received, unsurprisingly, though in the salesman's place, I would personally have replied that discussion via email would be fine, and I might have apologized for giving any other impression. I take his silence as confirmation to the contrary.
Then I rode a Tikit, and mostly liked it. This was just a few days ago. I had two new questions. Sent them separately, late Wednesday, I believe. Have I received any response? Nope. That would be normal, I would think, with anyone else. But Bike Friday have demonstrated that they reply much more quickly when they feel like it. I do honestly believe that they're now giving me the silent treatment.
I'll give my $1500 or so to Birdy, most likely, when I'm finally ready to buy.
So yeah, long story short, I think they're jerks. Sorry!
And are people from Oregon really thought to be so terribly nice? Never been there, but I've always thought the stereotype was that they were rather self-righteous, actually.