77midget

That is good to know, since I really like the LHT at this point. I was planning on purchasing a new ride in the spring, but the way prices are going, I might actually pull the trigger this year.

The behaviour of the manufacturer and shop in this case, while not surprising or unexpected, is sad. They could have a 'customer for life' by even extending an ounce of decent service 'post-sale', but they refuse to.

I have gotten this before from car dealers, when management has changed, and I just stopped going. and let everyone I know know. And logged a complaint to the manufacturer, and the local Chamber of Commerce.

Use the full array of 'weapons' alloted you as a consumer.

Iamkar33m

That I will... California is a VICIOUS consumer protection state. I'm surprised businesses are not bending over backwards to keep their customers satisfied as the "weapons" we have in the state of California can mean the end to most small businesses and disaster for most larger businesses.

BigPolishJimmy

I've been messing around with used bikes trying to figure out if I'm really into it all or if it's just a passing thing, well I'm pretty sure I'm into it and there will be a nice bike in my future. I gotta say that I have hesitation toward a Trek after reading this post.

Wogster

Sometimes it does take a while, figure that over the weekend they probably got 65,536 emails, of which 12,500 are for cheap viagra, 18,400 are Nigerian Princes looking to commit international bank fraud, 17,400 are other kinds of cheap drugs, 17,732 are for other kinds of gotta act now deals. This leaves the 4 emails that are actual customers trying to get through...... If you do not get a response within a week or so, then look for a phone number and try calling them.

Iamkar33m

Haha, I know what you're talking about. I am giving them till Friday before I sic the consumer watchdogs on them.

Cyclist0383

You have no case with Trek; their frame didn't fail, the RD most likely was not set up properly. I suspect at this point you've thrown around threats and burnt up all of your goodwill with Trek.

Iamkar33m

I'm not targeting Trek, i'm targeting the LBS that screwed up the RD install. And besides, I have not made any threats to Trek... just sound reasoning over the phone with the rep trying to figure out if we can come to an amicable solution. But right now my "threats" are focused toward the LBS whose wrench screwed up my $2k bike.

Cyclist0383

I hope you haven't taken an aggressive attitude with them, because honestly, you sound a bit hostile here.

Iamkar33m

I am not being overly aggressive/hostile with the LBS, just trying to get them to AT LEAST admit that it could have been their mistake as the bike malfunctioned in not even 1 week after I bought it. There had been no adjustments made to anything nor has the bike been in an accident. That narrows the fault down to one of two parties... Trek for faulty product or LBS for faulty assembly. It is just frustrating to talk to a shop that is not willing to own up to a mistake on their part.

bdinger

If a shop screwed up my $2k bike, then refused to even reason about it - immediately blaming me - I'd be pretty dang hostile too. I don't blame the OP one bit.

77midget

Agreed. Any purchase that has a catastrophic failure less than 1 week into 'acceptable use' is defective, in either material or workmanship. The OP has every right to be upset, and I rather think that his account is fairly balanced and is an honest effort to get resolution.

bdinger

+1. I try to be a pretty level headed guy these days, but I'd be pretty dang livid if I was him.

Iamkar33m

Believe me, I am LIVID... However I know no good will come if I allow this lividity to burn my bridges between me and Trek and the LBS

Pamestique 

Your beef is against the store that assembled your bike (butr you know that). You need to gather up what you got from Jax and what you get from Trek and go against the store. If you work with Trek instead of against them, they should be able to help you in your claim against the store. The Trek rep should be able to document for you, the cause of the problem. The original store owes you your expenses. I would save all the receipts and cordially provide them to the shop. No arguments, just tell them they owe you x amount and here are copies of all the receipts for their records.

Little Darwin

Isn't there some implied warrantee that the buyer can expect an authorized Trek dealer to assemble the bike properly? Or that the components that Trek chose to assemble their bike with are warranted by Trek? Or should the OP now file a claim with Shimano? Then can Shimano claim that Mr. Fujimoto's Screw Works was really the company at fault since his screw was the one that loosened, and the OP should send the faulty screw and claim form to Mr. Fujimoto?

I think that the LBS should be the one dealing with the warrantee with Trek/Shimano/Mr. Fujimoto, and not the purchaser, I know my LBS would.

I have had bike shops deal with an issue with a tire that came on a bike, another with an aerosol that had no pressure, and also a pair of shoes that had a minor issue... In no case did I have to deal with the distributor, manufacturer, or subcontractor, the bike shop did. I would have been ticked to have to deal with a manufacturer. I didn't buy from the manufacturer.

To the OP. I think based on this alone, you are making the wise choice to start using another shop.

Wogster

One thing you need to do, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. If you don't have documents, like for a phone call, keep notes, when the call was made, who you talked to, same thing for when you go somewhere, the legal world calls this evidence, and without it, you have no case, whether it's through the court, or through consumer protection laws, or even the BBB, you need to have everything documented.

Pamestique 

The OP is using another shop... This isn't a defect issue - it's a wrench issue. The frame and parts are or were perfectly OK, the shop just didn't do a very good job putting things together. I am amazed that they have been so weird about accepting responsibility. Any wrench can tell you what happen (I told my two wrench friends that the derailleur came loose and both immediately said the same thing - it wasn't tightened properly, came loose and was pulled into the spokes. It's a very common problem). Although Trek doesn't have responsiblity over poor wrenching if it's a Trek shop - they may be able to apply pressure to make sure the shop delivers a proper Trek product.

Just keep after the original shop. With a little patience they should come through but I'm sorry they were so jerky about this.

If nothing, keep all the receipts and document your efforts and take the shop to small claims court.

flip18436572

A year or more ago, I wanted a road bike. Went to multiple TREK dealers. I OWN JAMIS!!!!!

Trek dealers have treated me like crap, before I bought a bike, so I didn't buy from them.

JoeMetal

I'd just like to point out that not all Trek dealers are bad. My LBS is a Trek dealer and they are the best set of guys I think I've ever met in retail. There are multiple members on the staff there that know me by name and make sure to give me what *I* need, not what the shop needs. I have nothing but good things to say about these people.

So yeah, don't hate all Trek dealers. Some are quite good.

Carbon Unit

I have had very good experience with Rock & Road. They are the largest seller of Specialized bikes in the US so if you were to have a problem with Specialized, I think R&R would have a lot of influence over them. Your LBS probably didn't have any pull with Trek; or maybe they just didn't care.

I am not too surprised at Trek. I suspect that a lot of bike companies would try to wessel out of something if they can. That is the value of the bike shop. They can probably force the bike company to do something.

schnee

You really need to get the name of a specific person in Trek's hierarchy... like, hopefully, the district manager that deals with your LBS, combined with someone of VP level or the like within Trek.

Then, send your complaint, CC'd to everyone - including the owner of the LBS - in writing. Not an email, I mean a physical letter, signed, sent registered return receipt.

Emails lack gravitas. Paper still has major impact. Let the people who can put the screws on the LBS know, let the LBS know that they know, and let them know how dissatisfied you are.

Also, if you really want to be brutal... I read this in a book on how to complain. Tell the LBS that unless they fix your problem, you'll print up a bunch of flyers, stand outside the shop on a busy weekend and talk to everyone that goes inside to share your bad experience. One day of that and you'll cost that LBS more money than it'll take for them to fix your problem and make you go away.

Cyclist0383

I'd also be very angry, but if the OP gets angry with the person who answers the phone or email at Trek they will be much less likely to go out of their way to help him. Making threats about contacting consumer protection agencies and such seldom works to get someone on your side in a situation like this. In reality Trek would be helping out of goodwill, not obligation.

The old 'you catch more flies with honey than vinagar' bit. That's all I meant.

Neil_B

I really don't understand all the Trek bashing in the Clyde forum. They make a good bike, and they have excellent warranty service. Of course, this isn't a warranty issue, but when did that ever stop anyone from blaming a manufacturer?

Neil_B

OK, here's a story I was told by a fellow Bike Forums poster. It seems he had part of a carbon fiber frame fail on his Specialized road bike. He brought it to a Specialized dealer for service. They replaced it. It broke again. The shop refused to submit it as a warranty claim, since it was the second time the part had failed. The BF poster went back to the shop who sold him the bike. They had stopped selling Specialized a year previously. This shop, a Trek dealer, went to bat for their former customer and managed to get Specialized to resolve the problem. Guess which shop now gets this BF poster's business?

Iamkar33m

What I did last night is assembled a detailed incidence report of what happened the day the RD took a dive into the spokes. I also downloaded my cellphone bill which shows correspondences between me and the original LBS, Jax, and Trek. I also have names and notes I took when I was on the phone with all 3 parties. As soon as my frame returns from Trek I will take it to the LBS that screwed up the install and have a nice long talk with them. My intention is to get them to at least own up to the fact that it MAY have been their wrench's fault for mis-assembling the bike. If I can get that far then we should be able to reach an amicable agreement as to what's going to happen from there. Best case scenario is they refund my money for the bike, worst case scenario I leave pissed off at them sell the Madone and buy a Specialized Tarmac.