Litespeed Ultimate Final Chapter 3/9/06
At least I hope it is.
On 3/3/06 I called UBC to find out if they had an update. Essentially the "where is my frame" conversation. Carlos informed me that he had spoken to Litepseed and that the frame was - at earliest - going to be manufactured on 3/30/06.
I called Matt Conto at Litepseed to confirm this detail. I was informed Matt no longer works there. His replacement said he could not help me without an RA# (return authorization number). Since I did not have the number handy, I kindly asked him to ask around for a moment, that surely someone would recall my saga. He infromed me he WOULD NOT do that, and if I were to call back, don't forget my RA #.
At this point, I gave up. God does not want me to ride a Litespeed.
Litespeed did not want to help, or else they would have made the frame 6 weeks ago as promised. Competitive Cyclist said they were no longer a dealer so they could not help. UBC had done nothing but help me, however I did not buy the bike from them so they had little leverage.
My options:
#1 wait and see if the frame would ever be made. Since I ordered it in August of 2005, I assumed not.
#2 call Mastercard and see if they could give me options.
Love or hate the credit card companies, option #2 was the best one I could come up with. WOW! Mastercard came through big time. I told them my story. That took about 15 minutes. They said, don't worry, that I would be refunded my money. The plan, should it have gone this way was for me to be refunded my $$$, Competitive Cyclist would have recived a chargeback, then they would need to fight with Litespeed. At this point, this appeared to be my only recourse.
BEFORE I sent all of the forms to MC, I called Competitive Cyclist and told them my plight. They were on the ball and asked if I could wait until Monday March 6th before going through with Mastercard. I agreed. On Monday AM, Brendan "The Owner" from Competitive Cyclist called back and asked for the story. (insert another 15 minutes here). He asked that I get him the tracking numbers to prove Litespeed had the frame, the RA# (which I have now since memorized) and he would refund my purchase EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE NO LONGER A DEALER! Wow! Needles to say +100 for Brendan and his company!
3/8/06 I recieved a call from Chris Brown of Litespeed. He wanted to know if there was anything they could do to make me reconsider. He said they thought they could get me a frame in 2 weeks (ROFLMAO). I said sadly that it was over. I was not going to ride a litespeed in my lifetime. To Chris's credit, he was VERY profesional, and assured me this was a one time "fall thorugh the cracks" issue. We had a freindly conversation, and said goodbye.
So ladies and gentleman of BF. I do not own a Litespeed. I have grown to really like my Caad8 (now named "Spanky"). It's lite, fast, stiff, plus it has good karma.
I REALLY REALLY HOPE I do not need to add to this story. Keep subscribed if I do.
Final thoughts:
#1. University Bicycle Center in Tampa Florida ROCKS! Carlos and the guys get MUCHO points for offering great customer service on a bike they did not sell. If you are in this area and need a bike, they are the guys to get it from.
#2 Competitve Cyclist and Brendan are good guys. They did what they could. Granted the chargeback scenario should not have gotten to that point, but when it did, they were there to help, plus Brendan seems to be a real cool guy. During one conversation he said he would be going out to lunch and a quick ride, as if he pulled a bike from his lunchbox or something. I admire that kind of passion!
#3 Mastercard. Love em or hate em, you have a problem with a large purchase, they are THERE to help. Use a major credit card on bike purchases. Just pay the damn thing off before you get hit with a 20% finance charge!
#4 I am not going to say Litespeed is a bad company. Think of all of the experiences you might of had where your company really screwed up a customers/clients order and it "slipped thorugh the cracks". All of the above is just my experience. Yours will probabaly be very different.
#5 lastly - ALWAYS BUY THE BIKE ON THE FLOOR! No more of this ordering frames for me! "60-63cm. You got one in stock? I'm comming over!"
Good luck everyone, and thanks for the support!