Recent issue with Evans and my bike

[Uzair]

After looking at another thread about another member having a good experience with the customer service with Evans, I thought I should start a new thread in order to gain some advice with a recent issue I've been having. I've had very good experiences with the Evans staff 98% of the time too. They're friendly and knowledgable and you can just go in and talk to them about bikes. Unfortunately, I got a stage 1 service from Evans last month, and after this some problems occurred. I booked it into the Waterloo Cut store, and the bike was sent off to the Central London workshop. Since I collected the bike, I noticed it was significantly harder to ride, and also the chain kept making some sort of jump noise. The chain problem was happening incessantly a couple of weeks ago in Richmond Park, so I took it to the mechanic there, and he said the bike just needs some adjusting. I took it to the Evans in Wimbledon on Saturday who didn't do anything about the chain problem, however when they spun the rear wheel, noticed that it barely moved compared to the front wheel. A free mechanic saw that the rear disc brake pads were actually rubbing against the disc brake due to incorrect alignment. The sales assistant who was helping me out said that the alignment isn't perfect and if I did want it perfect I would have to book in a service... This really angered me. He also said the Wimbledon mechanics were "really good". I thought here, 'That's fine, I appreciate that, but the Central London workshop are the guys who I would have expected highly of'.Now, after discovering the thing with the rear disc brake, I tweeted some angry stuff, and Evans replied telling me to email the details to their community manager email address, which I did.At the end of the email I also mentioned that just because I am 16 does not mean I should not be taken seriously, which has been the case a couple of times in stores. They still have not replied to my email, but when they do, I will be very interested to know what they will say. Can someone offer any information on what I should actually try to do though?Uzair

 

[gaz]

Sounds semi familiar to something i did.
I had my bike in for a service at evans and they broke some spoke nuts on my front wheel. Was not impressed so i tweeted them and straight away I got a DM asking me to contact them on a specific e-mail.
They just sorted out a time for me to meet the manager at the store and get it sorted FOC.
That is probably what they will organise for you to do.

I doubt it's because of your age, you probably just had a bad experience from a trainee mechanic. From experience they are good at sorting out these sort of things.

 

[scouserinlondon]

I've had issues three times with Evans now. In their defence head office have always resvolved things. But on balance I will never buy another bike from them again. At store level they're too inconsistent. I also had an issue with the mechanics. They want £40 to diagnose a problem on a new bike bought from them only 5 months ago. Don't think so!

 

[Uzair]

Gaz, what you said would happened has indeed happened. Manager of Evans Waterloo Cut emailed me this morning.

 

[Muddy Ground]

I wouldn't dick about with store managers; just send a letter recorded delivery to the company secretary stating what happened and what you want doing about it. Takes as long to do as an e-mail [or post on a forum] but usually gets results pronto. Be polite but firm.

Evans are just a company like any other, so whatever strategy you adopt regarding rectification should reflect that. Don't be swayed by forum members views. Evans get a lot of stick, but that's most likely because they're just bigger than everybody so nobody cuts them any slack. At least with the big companies a consumer has the option of removing any personal agendas from the equation.


PIJ

 

[Uzair]

I am taking the bike to Waterloo Cut this evening. The manager was very nice and said it's my choice whether to bring in the bike to them or not however he just wants to make sure the bike is okay. He is also offering me a free stage one service in the future

 

[gaz]

I wouldn't dick about with store managers; just send a letter recorded delivery to the company secretary stating what happened and what you want doing about it. Takes as long to do as an e-mail [or post on a forum] but usually gets results pronto. Be polite but firm.

Evans are just a company like any other, so whatever strategy you adopt regarding rectification should reflect that. Don't be swayed by forum members views. Evans get a lot of stick, but that's most likely because they're just bigger than everybody so nobody cuts them any slack. At least with the big companies a consumer has the option of removing any personal agendas from the equation.


PIJ

I've done both ways and it gets the same results in the same amount of time.