Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.

Our Tandem came with a small scratch in the paint. Between Co-Motion and the LBS we got my wife's shoes (retail $125) free.

I was happy. I've dinged the frame worse since then myself. It's a tool, not a jewel.

Ask for an S1 frameset for free. Who knows?!

Whenever I get a new bike, car, whatever, I take out a key and put the first scratch on it just to get it over with.

I ran into something like this recently (I should say my kid did with a mail order item). It arrived very slightly damaged. Something on the magnitude that it could have actually happened first use (this was a very tiny scuff on a dress shoe). Nothing anyone would ever notice from a normal viewing distance, (like from the height of a normal head looking down at the shoes) but was easy to see if you picked up the shoe and examined it. It definitely was not in "brand new" condition, but was not totally unacceptable. Like I said, the tiny scuff could have happened first use and would have caused absolutely no concern at that point. (my opinion - from that and some other evidence was that the shoes had been sold, tried on and returned).

So the decision was: to return it or put up with it, and how much was it worth. My kid called the mail order place, described the situation and was given a credit card credit of about 30-50% (can't remember, but it was substantial).

To OP: Compare the scratches to what will inevitably happen to the bike as you use it. Would you be really unhappy if you'd scratched it like that within, say a month of use? Or would you say, no big deal, it's normal to get dings right from the get-go.

Also, is this the sort of thing I'd see if I was just looking at your bike from a few feet away, or is it only visible if you know where it is and look closely?

Finally: are you really unhappy that there's any flaw at all?

If any of the above is true (it's not on the level of minor wear and tear that happens right from the beginning of use; it's very obvious; you're just plain unhappy) I would return it and get a new, pristine frame and don't have any apologies for it. A new bike shoud be new and perfect.

If you are not unhappy, but just don't want to pay "new price" for something with minor damage, put a price on it and either ask for a credit to your credit card, or ask for that much merchandise. To me, if it's anything more than I'd place $100 or so value to, I'd want a new frame.

You ordered a $2,500 frame and it came with a couple scratches? Shoot for a discount on future purchases like a $200-$400 discount on wheels. Otherwise return the frame and they will sell it for a slight discount. Be reasonable.

You went a little crazy on the ask. They were being very resonable IMO and you may have blown it.

You should have told them that you wanted a Cervelo s2 without scratches..:lol:

yeah i asked for the boras as a joke, i don`t think i `blew` anything...

so PBK mailed me, the customer sevice dept sent the mail with an internal mail attatched from technical services - which read `it`ll cost us 80GBP to have the frame sent back, so he can have a 150GBP voucher or 80GBP in cash, or he can send it back`.

150 is not bad but their customer service leaves a little to be desired i think - no apology and odd to attatch an internal mail. anyway i`ll take the 150 voucher i think...

hi unbelievably... that was another thing, they never said `send it back and we`ll replace it.` but yes, all i wanted was an S2 without scratches!

Seems reasonable,no?

Why should they apologize for damage that was probably caused by the shipping company? Especially when you're being a complete jackass and asking for a free set of $2500 wheels. If you wanted a bike without scratches, maybe you should have purchased from a local shop?!?

I was in this situation recently when something I bought on close out was missing a non-essential part. The options I was given was they could come pick it up and we would forget the whole deal, or they could replace it with an aftermarket part, or they would give me 15% back. I took the money back and then spent it with them.

If they had asked me to come up with my own solution, I probably would have asked for too much, because I think it's up to the vendor to make things right. I'm assuming the OP would have mentioned that the box was trashed and that a shipping claim was in order.

As mentioned above, most "how to treat the customer" rules are suspended when said customer is being a jackass.