FormerBMX'er

UPDATE 5-7-09

Just wanted say that Mike sent me a pair of locking skewers complimentary. I must say I was suprised to find a package from Oddsandendos when I got home. He was even cool enough to provide torque specifications. It really is a shame things went down the way they did because I did enjoy dealing with him. Hopefully he'll get things ironed out down the road.

-BMX


***Mild Vent***

I really do like Mike, but he's terrible when it comes to communication; as I've heard but never experienced. I've sourced parts from him in the past for two builds and I've never had a problem.

I gave him the spec of another wheel build via email asking him to confirm if he had everything he needed. I was ready to order, but he never responded. A week later I decided to source the parts from various vendors, but I wanted Serenity Hubs.

I still couldn't get in contact with Mike, so I ordered the hubs through his website...that was 10 days ago. I refuse to believe it takes 10 days for a package from Florida to reach Boston. Even if they are still in transit, a shipping update would suffice; I've called Mike numerous times this week. I've left a message or two, but now I just hang-up.

Seeing I already ordered my rims and spokes from another vendor, but hubs from Mike I'm locked in. As of today I still can't get in contact with Mike so I guess I'll have to ride it out, though I think I'm done with him...nice guy or not.

-BMX

DrPete 

Did you try calling and speaking to him before you slammed him over the internet?

Dubbayoo

Well, it's not like he responded with a shipping notice before GETTING slammed on the internet.

mattm

sometimes vendors need a good online slamming.

word of mouth can ignite business, or make it fizzle - the choice is up to the company.

Sawtooth

Nashbar is more like 14 days for me now. IMO, since he never responded to your email specs, you are not locked into that...but anything you "ordered" via his website is basically a contract. That's how I see it anyway.

I expect answers to emails like the wheelspec before considering the deal done....
On the other hand, when I pull the trigger by hitting "submit" on a website order" I expect no response other than an order confirmation or something.

Waves77

MG is well known for not responding to email. Call him and leave a voicemail, or keep trying to get him on the line...

kwrides

I called him 5 times trying to buy wheels about 2 years ago. He never replied to my voicemail. I prefer to do business with people who actually want my money.

Nachoman

What's a phone?

DrPete 

True enough. But I get the sense that Mike's business is hardly a large operation, and something as simple as a family emergency can derail things.

Dealing with a small-scale shop is different from ordering from Performance, for better or for worse.

Apus^2

I had no troubles with him when I bought a set--I still use them as my back up wheels for crits and rr and training.

Grasschopper

I have to say I was disapointed with his service recently too. I heard he had good pricing on Sapim spokes so I emailed him about buying some...then I called and left a message...he never did get back to me and so I ordered them from wheelbuilder.com.

I bought a set of wheels from him several years ago and they were great...I would have bought more from him but I can't even get a hold of him to place an order...and what happened to the web site...when he changed it, it actually got much worse...and that is saying something because it wasn't very good to begin with.

winders

Small shops and Sole Proprietorships need to do customer service better than the big companies. Otherwise, what's the point? Effective communication is the number one factor for high quality customer service. If you publish an email address, you had better answer your email. If you have a phone, you had better answer it or at least return calls promptly.

I am in the market for wheels and this thread has eliminated one possible vendor.

S-

FormerBMX'er

What do you think Pete?...I ride with a few Doctors, they're smart people.

I'd hardly call what I've written a slam, I'm just expressing my experience. Imagine the delay if everyone went MIA during a business transactions. The guy has my money and I don't even know if the product has shipped. Exactly how does that make me a satisfied customer? why would I do future business?

Poor customer service is the very reason why sites like ResellerRatings even exists. As I've said I like Mike; he's very knowledgeable and easy to deal once you make contact. He just needs to get his stuff in order.

DrPete 

I agree that it's frustrating, but it's the nature of the beast in some ways. I also will confess that I don't tend to do a lot of business with folks I can't reach by phone.

I get where you're coming from, though. I just think that a call to give Mike a chance to make it right would be in order.

FormerBMX'er

Agreed....next time I speak with him I'll probe a bit to see what the deal is. I'm just kicking myself for not ordering when I had him on the phone 3 weeks ago; I just wasn't sure of the order.

Cyclcist4879

I have a set of Mike's wheels. They have been great over the last 4 years or so. But the communication is not great.

As far as picking up the phone - IMO if you are going to have a website and take orders - you should maintain it, answer emails, etc. If you can't - don't take the orders- and ask that people call to order.

urbanknight

I have never ordered from him, but I was planning on it about a year ago. I kept an eye on his website while on the fence over spoke count and rim depth, but during that time I noticed that his site had been under construction for a long time. It got me concerned that if he can't get something important like his website done in a timely manner, what's my order going to be like? I found another source for my parts, but my CFO has restricted spending at the moment. That's another story.

Since I never ordered, I can't truly comment on his performance, but if he gets wind of this, I hope he realizes how seemingly little things can put off potential customers. I'm taking a wild guess that he is just so successful that he's not hurting for new business, though.

His website still looks the same as it did almost a full year ago.

fetad

I tried ordering a few rims and spokes from Mike this year, but it never happened. I used the phone exclusively for communication as previous threads suggested. He's local for me so that was a bonus, but after two months of waiting for some rims to come in and him not returning my phone call I went online.

No invoice or money was ever exchanged. It was a very casual agreement. It was disappointing considering I got such a good vibe from him over the phone. After I called him up a couple days after the rims were due for delivery, He knew my order just from my voice alone. I think he was overbooked on wheel builds, which I thought I was bypassing by ordering just the parts and building them myself.

I won't write him off though. He has good prices and is within 5 miles of my house. I'll him give him another shot on a different wheel build.

GPB

Had the same problem with a different builder (Eric) for some specs/prices and nothing. In the end, I didn't give a damn. Who knows...maybe the email got smacked by a spam filter or whatever. I didn't bother calling or doing a follow-up. That said, I went with Sean @ Soul and his communication is absolutely top-notch. Also, props to Keith @ Williams and RonRuff @ WhiteMountainWheels for excellent communication as well. FWIW.

ok_commuter

This is about your wife's co-worker who only spent $80 on her bike, isn't it?

Tell your wife that a totally lame wannabe roadie stopped in an LBS on Tuesday to kill a few minutes before meeting a friend at a nearby restaurant and spent more than that on a pair of gloves, a pair of socks and two cone wrenches.

And he feels like he got a pretty good deal. I wouldn't even trade the Castelli socks for a Huffy.

urbanknight

Heh, but we should avoid bringing my lame threads into other people's legitimate threads.

As a serious response, I've been planning to build these wheels since my last pair were on their last leg. I eventually bought the hubs, but bad financial news hit before I bought the rims and spokes. Now I'm sitting on Forte Titans until the economy turns around or the Titans fall apart. Not sure which will happen first.
Either way, I realized that Kinlin or IRD make the rim I want, so I don't need to go through MG.

FormerBMX'er

Today is 4-30-2009, my order was placed 4-20-2009. I just received an email stating my payment was refunded, so nothing ever shipped...very disappointing.

Personally, I'll need to find someone more reliable to deal with going forward. I was hoping to have these wheels built-up for a race this weekend...ugh


-BMX

urbanknight

What was the reason for refunding instead of shipping?

motorcade

Thread Hijack...great service, great product:

www.likinbikin.com


look em up!

JeffS

Then he should remove it, along with that busted website. It's embarrassing.