MegaTom

The fact remains... they came from an authorized retailer. Whether that retailer breaks their contract with Zipp is between the retailer and Zipp and absolutely has nothing to do with the end customer. Zipp should of course repair or replace in accordance with their warranty, and then censure the retailer or whatever it is they do.

gregf83 

That seems unlikely. The OP doesn't seem to have an issue trashing Zipp, yet he wants to protect the identity of a shady ebay retailer. Like I said before it smells fishy.

Do you also expect Zipp to warranty stolen goods?

WhyFi

Damn, no one makes money off of you, do they? Let's hope you buy a lot of inner tubes from these shops.

rangerdavid

yeah, you're effed

BoSoxYacht

I find this very surprising.

As much as I slam SRAM for being crap that I will never put on one of my bikes, they always stand behind the crap they sell.

Somehting must be missing in this story.

James1:17

where did the op say he bought from ebay?

bt

karma

Brian Ratliff

What's this about that saying, something about how if something is too good to be true?

I suggest you redirect your anger towards the original dealer and get them to support your case with the manufacturer. If you bought them from eBay, I think you are probably screwed.

teamtrinity

This was not through eBay but was through the retailers website. And they are 100% a Zipp retailer. I have contacted the retailer regarding the warranty denial. I assure you this is no lie. But ultimately, it doesn't matter what you believe. Zipp has all the info they need. And I have sent them a followup email. And if I don't hear form the, I'll call them later this week.

My personal feeling as a consumer is that a company should stand behind their product. Cervelo warrantied a cracked P2 frame for me through a different retailer than who I bought from without even proof of purchase. Look did the same. Profile Designs did the same. Reynolds offered to do the same but ultimately my wheels did not require a warranty. Their focus was customer service and they believed in their product. It seems Zipp's focus is bottom line money and/or they don't have the same confidence in their product.

It's like this. It's black Friday. You go to Best Buy and get that tv at 50% off of retail. The screen dies. You call Samsung about a warranty. They say show me a receipt. You send the receipt. And Samsung tells you that you bought it for too cheap...so they won't honor the warranty. I doubt you'd be a big fan of Samsung.

teamtrinity

Whats wrong with buying this on close out or model end deals? They want to get rid of sock...I'm looking to buy a bike. My Look, Blue, Soma, All-City, BH, Gaulzetti, Van Dessel were all bought at full price. My Motobecane was bought used. A third of the parts on my bike are full retail, another third on discount, probably another third used. What's the big deal?

teamtrinity

Guarantee nothing missing on my end. I have no effing clue what's going on with Zipp or the retailer. But my feeling is that should be between them.

teamtrinity

I contacted the retailer after someone suggested I do so in this thread. Hoping to hear back. And I sent an appeal to Zipp/SRAM to reconsider the warranty denial with all the facts and contact info. And I have subsequently told them I have attempted to contact the original retailer. I'll followup with a phone call to Zipp later this week if I don't hear anything back.

teamtrinity

Karma? I don't feel I did anything wrong or egregious.

Bob Dopolina 

Smell test failed.

Considering the fact that the LBS sold you the bars at less than half of their cost and considering the nature of the failure something is just not right.

This doesn't mean that you, as a consumer, should get hosed in the deal but, if you do, I would reconsider who it is that is doing the hosing.

I have no doubt that once Zipp saw the pricing that alarm bells wrang and they put the binders on any warranty. Even if you are denied they should, at the very least, offer an explanation.

I suspect that there are a few more details yet to be revealed.

bt

denial

teamtrinity

Yeah, in the fax explanation it was no more than "price of $104 for slc2 handlebar. this part is grey market and is not supported under warranty." keep in mind they initially approved warranty after examining the bars and changed their minds after seeing how much the retailer sold it for. and then they labeled it "grey market", which I've been told means that the part is a genuine zipp part but was not sold in a authorized manner. ok...I sorta get that. but as a end user, I don't know what is or is not a authorized manner. my assumption was that since it came from a authorized retailer, they would behave in a authorized manner. and if the retailer is not following zipp's rules, I feel like the patrons of the shop shouldn't be the ones to get the short end of the stick...because they're just trusting that zipp has made trustworthy, sensible business relationships with the right stores and that their rep for the area is making sure everything is done right. and if the shop does something wrong, zipp should cut ties with the shop or otherwise charge them for their unauthorized selling practices but still honor the warranties of their products. but...I think maybe I've gotten used to way too outstanding a customer service by companies like Look, Cervelo, and Profile Designs.

bt

all this whining over a hundred bucks???

Bob Dopolina 

The problem with grey market is twofold. First, products may skirt QC controls that a brand has in place. Second, it hurts dealers who obtain their products through proper chanels.

To my knowledge NO BRAND will warranty grey market goods.

This brings me back to my original point. The problem here isn't with Zipp but most likely with the LBS (if what you're aging as accurate)

teamtrinity

basically, yeah. i don't even need the bars. i got so sick of waiting for the bars, i put different bars on the bike. but mostly...i'm just shocked at zipp's handling of this. but that's because my frame of reference have been Look, Cervelo, and Profile Designs...none of which cared where their product was bought and did not need me to provide any proof of purchase. so yeah...this whole whining rant is over a mere $104 because i'm still in shock at zipp's customer service relative to my other experiences with bike companies. i'm still in shock actually. i just assumed zipp would be amazing.

teamtrinity

I feel like the problem is two fold. If the retail shop in question is not following Zipp's rules...well, then they should be. But on the other hand, Zipp should stand by their product and not allow the customer to get screwed because their dealer is not acting right or because their rep for the area is not able to properly take care of their region.

Bob Dopolina 

Again, if it's really a grey market product NO BRAND would warranty it and the blame should not be placed on the brand but on those selling grey market goods.

teamtrinity

Ok, that's fair. However, as far as my LBS was told and from what we can tell from SRAM's faxed work order history, the only criteria they used to determine the product was grey market was price (because they did not see it as a grey market good on examination). Is that a fair way to do it? I don't know. Doesn't seem like it. Also...I mean...what typically happens if someone buys a grey market good from a authorized retailer? And again...Zipp's peers in the cycling industry practice a much more customer service centered approach to warranties. Does that matter to Zipp? At this time, it doesn't seem like that's a concern.

gregf83 

Think about it from Zipp's perspective. It's very likely they didn't get any money for these bars. They came out of some factory in China. Why should Zipp provide a warranty for something they didn't sell? The fact that it has their brand on it is irrelevant if they didn't sell it.

Caveat emptor - next time you buy something for 1/3 of retail assume it's stolen or unauthorized and doesn't include a warranty.

rebel1916

I understand you are in the biz, but, man, if someone buys from an authorized retailer, no matter what price they pay, the manufacturer needs to make that right and than hash it out with their (apparently shady) authorized retailer. The consumer can't be expected to bear the brunt of that. Again, it was bought from an authorized retailer. That really oughta trump all.

Stickyrunner01

Keep in mind, from my experience... the MOMENT they sold you the bars (that were not a closeout model) at lower than MAP or any price agreed upon by the dealer and vendor, the LBS's "Authorized Retailer" status is suspended. Therefore any product sold at lower than dealer agreed upon pricing does not offer a warranty.