IRO - Bad customer service?
 

So, last Wed. I bought a parts package (Drivetrain/etc package v.3) from the IRO web site. I've heard nothing but good things about them - not just their products, but their customer service/the owner/ the way they do business. I have been watching my email for any kind of shipping information but have received none - I have the invoice from the day I purchased it but nothing else.

I've emailed IRO twice, once through an email given along with my receipt email 3 days ago, and another through their website "contact us" tab. I haven't received a response yet for either email.

Anybody know if IRO has a rep for not responding? I understand being busy, and I understand if they may be out of stock or something (although the drop-down menu had multiple quantities available for purchase so I don't think they were?), but seriously, do I have to pay long distance to call these guys for an answer? A entire week with no response or update is kind of annoying.

find someone with a cell phone? most calling plans have free long-distance.

Yeah, sometimes they can be hard to get a hold of. Try calling during their listed office hours, that's really your best bet. Tony's kind of lax on emails sometimes, he's a busy man.

Sounds like a plan.

It seems like it might be really hit and miss with them and emails. I have always had my emails returned to me within a day. Your best bet is to call, I have called them as well and they were just as helpful on the phone.

Good to know, thanks =].

I still haven't heard back from 2 emails sent over a month ago. I'm thinking they must not be all that good with computers.

I hear they have one but don't turn it on much.

I wrote them 4 emails with NO response. Im dissapointed in them. I tried calling them as well today and they didn't pick up to my multiple calls. Im leaning towards the Kilo TT Pro now instead of my once longed for Mark V

they've been great to me. emails returned within a few days. answered during business hours (eastern time).

i've never had any problems with Tony & Co, even through e-mail. he always got back to me quickly. seems strange.

^they pick and choose who they like. they read this board and have their favorite posters.

Awesome conspiracy theory.

</one of "them">

Not very good business practice though, each time they don't reply to an email they are risking losing $600+ of business.

Seriously, if that's the case (picking and choosing who to answer based on one online forum. Lawl.), and it's apparent, I'll be calling for a refund. In any case, I highly doubt a business like IRO would do crap like that. My guess is he's either really busy and short staffed (I have no clue how many people he's got running it).

Either way, minus points for IRO, IMO.

Honestly, you're a drop in the bucket and I don't think they really care about missing out on one sale. There are only so many hours in the day and if they can't get to you then they'll have to just get to the guy before you. That's coming from me, not from them, btw. For what it's worth, every time I've needed to get in touch I just call. If it's busy in the morning I try again in the afternoon and get one of them. Done.

I have no argument with your phone call statement, but seriously man, IRO is a business. A business generally likes customers to be happy, and responding to emails within 7 days is not difficult. If you're a professional business with a website proclaiming the joy of riding and customer service, it only seems logical to me to tend to the people who are buying your goods.

I think there are priorities at any business and answering general customer emails isn't at the top of the list. Sure, it's not something to disregard but when you're busy ... you're busy (and remember that this is literally the peak of the bike buying season). The priority is customers waiting for product and dealing with retailers in a similar situation (but on a much larger scale).

Hypothetical time: I get 20 emails per day about my products and only get a chance to answer 15 of them between everything else I'm doing. The next day there's another 20 ... well I forget about the 5 I missed and get on with things. If it's an important point, you shouldn't rely on a single email. That is universal in any situation.

Totally, I agree that there are only so many hours in a day and if you have a small business (Is IRO really that small, though?), I can imagine it would be hard to find time to respond to every email.

However, right next to their "contact us" submission ticket their site says "Drop us a line, we listen". I've sent two to different emails, and it's been a week after purchasing my goods and I have heard nothing about them being shipped. I'm not a customer inquiring about geometry or potential future buys, I'm a customer who's already paid and waiting for stuff that is totally up in the air.

And seriously if I ran my own business even if I couldn't answer 5 of the 20 emails while I was at work I'd answer the other 5 once I got home since it really doesn't take that long. All I'm asking for is a "Sorry, we're out of stock and should ship your order by _____." Or "Oh, your order got lost in the paper work, we'll get right on it." Not asking for much considering Tony has my money and I have nothing :P.

I just don't understand how you can take the time to post complains on some random web forum but not call them up. And yes, they're that small. Oh well.

Cause, like you've already said, there's only so many hours in the day and I work the whole time they're open :P. I will indeed call them when time allows, but my point still stands that this is bad customer service. Plain and simple.

IRO is run by a guy and his wife. That's it. I know in the past they have had problems with their e-mail where they were getting all of their messages. Maybe the same thing is happening again.

But while we are on the subject, let me tell you a story. Back in 2005 I bought an IRO. This was back when they were still living in Staten Island so I told them I would pick up the bike from them. I got on the ferry and made my way to Staten Island, only to discover that the bus I had planned on taking didn't run on the weekends.
I called Tony up to ask him which bus to take. He told me to just wait at the ferry, and 15 minutes later he shows up in his van with my bike in the back. He takes it out and I notice that it's missing a front brake, which I had asked for. "Not a problem!" he said, and I got in the van with him and he took me back to his house where he installed the brake in his backyard, and then drove me back to the ferry.

My IRO is pretty beaten up now and I'll need to replace it soon. And you can bet your ass that I will be replacing it with another IRO.

the real shame here is that this thread will be indexed by Google and come up anytime someone searches for IRO now. regardless of priorities or company size, IRO's failure to get back to this customer is now going to cost them more than that one sale, even if they do eventually satisfy this guy.

Well that's pretty sweet. Glad to hear that =]. I came here to ask about others' experiences with their customer service cause I really didn't know much about the company (and was obviously frustrated). After hearing this I feel more confident all is well and I'll get my stuff soon enough :P.

They absolutely care about every single sale. If they don't, then they won't have much of a future with their business. There is no excuse not to answer inquiries from buyers, and yes, this thread is going to pop up whenever someone does a search on IRO.

One of the things I like about living in Japan is that customer service is taken seriously. Salespeople are extremely polite, customer's items are handled with extreme care, and delievered exactly when promised, not an hour early, and not an hour late.

IRO would not last 6 months here.