Originally Posted by
noglider
A colleague just dropped by his bikesdirect.com bike for repair. He said he tries to contact the company, because the repair might be covered by warranty. No answer.
Please buy a bike at a bike shop, not over the internet. You get what you pay for, and less, when you buy something over the net that ought to be backed by a breathing human being.
Cheap shot. Bikesdirect ably fills a specific niche -- cut rate price on old, proven, white label manufactured frames and common spec component bikes with next to no service for folks that know exactly what they want and don't need any of hand holding. And you get exactly what you paid (and didn't pay) for.
"Might be covered by warranty" - probably baloney. The frames come with some explicit and specific (i.e. limited) warranty. Anything else beyond the initial delivered and undamaged? Talk to Shimano / Ritchey / SRAM etc. Not part of the deal.
"No answer" -- not my experience. I've found them to be VERY responsive for the rare specific issues I've had within scope of the basic transaction.
I've gotten more service at a LBS and been glad to pay for it. I've also gotten screwed royally. You don't always get what you pay for. You need to know what you want and be sure you're getting it, sometimes that's service, sometimes it isn't. I'm glad I have a choice of going high touch when I want it and low markup when I don't.