When bike parts break "just riding along," I contact manufacturers and ask for replacement parts. Nine times out of ten, companies send me replacements along with profuse apologies, sometimes with freebies.
Over the years, I have cultivated my persuasive writing skills. I follow a proven pattern when seeking replacements, listed in chronological order:
1. Bring the broken item into a friendly LBS. Ask them to pursue the manufacturer. Often the quest ends here.
2. In simple cases I may call the manufacturer, but usually I skip straight to step three. Remember to be polite and consiliatory. Use the strategies listed in three, only verbally.
3. Write a professional, polite business letter that: first tells the company how much you like their product (seriously stroke their ego), states your history with the product and with the company in question (tell Look how many sets of Look pedals you have bought), outlines the issue/failure, states the steps already taken (LBS, phone call), states why you think that you should get a new -----, discusses the inconvience that you have experienced (If you walked 15 miles in your carbon road shoes, make sure you mention it), states what will happen if the company refuses to satisfy you (you will never buy their product again and will talk trash about it at every opportunity) and lastly thank them for their consideration. Remember to be firm but very polite.
3. The letter should provide a deadline for hearing from them concerning the matter; I usually give them 2 weeks. Assure the company that you will refrain from talking about the issue until after the deadline has passed.
4. After the deadline passes without satisfaction, use your Twitter, Facebook, blog whatever internet tools you have to roast the company in question. Many of the bigger companies have people who monitor what people on the internet are saying about them. See the comments on my Knog post for an example. There have been rumors of dissatisfied customers getting turned away by customer service only to be contacted and conpensated after they posted on thier twitter/facebook.
5. If you get no justice, DON'T BUY THAT GARBAGE EVER AGAIN!
6. If you get justice, you should give the company some props: Facebook, Blog, Twitter, whatever. Don't forget this step, it is an implicit part of the bargain.
My usual strategy when contacting bicycle companies to request a remedy is to convince them that whether they agree that the I am justified in demanding a replacement or not, that they should provide a replacement because if they don't I will make it uncomfortable for them. Ultimately, it is less expensive to accomadate me than to cross me. I break it down into simple math, without the numbers.
It is a subtle craft. I perfected this art in fighting parking tickets. When disputing a $40 parking ticket, your only job is to make it cost more than $40 for the city to recover the cost of the ticket. When this is the case, they will drop the ticket even if you are in the wrong (unless you get a bureaucrat with a chip on their shoulder). If you don't make it difficult for them, they will deny your dispute, even if you are correct, because they's rather be wrong and get the money than do the right thing and forgo the income.
Call it blackmail, call it underhanded, call it a dark art. But when you consider the prices that we pay for components, frames and clothing, I feel like we should be able to rely on our gear to function properly for a reasonable period of time. When things break under normal use, you have been ripped off and you are within your rights to ask for justice. Of course there are economics running in the other direction too. If you are worth $40 an hour, it makes no sense spending more than half an hour trying to collect $20 worth remedy. If you are well paid, write off the small stuff. If you are starving student or unemployed...
21 hours ago
