Rootman

Sorry this is long: I was telling my tale of my first attempt of trying to get an ebike and was scoffed at by a few people. I know, it happens. Thought I'd bounce it off you guys to see what you think.

After a disastrous 62 mile bike ride, I got whipped by the hills and heat and had to call for pickup 6 miles from home. As much as I want to increase my riding schedule and therefore my endurance it just isn't in the cards, 50+ work hours a week and other duties just don't make it possible. I was in bad shape after the ride and it took me a full week to recover, and it affected my work as well. So, an ebike was becoming a must have.

I did my homework, there was a lot of good reviews of Trek bikes. Went in and decided to get a Trek Super Commuter 6+, the sales guy said it was the best ebike out there. Not exactly what I wanted, but it was get a good one or stop riding. It was the Monday before the Labor Day holiday and I mentioned how anxious I was to ride the entire weekend. No, problem, it would be in by Friday. Almost $4300 all in. Ouch! I felt guilty and winced in pain just thinking about the amount of money it was costing.

The week came and went and Friday after work I still had not heard anything back about it. I dropped in. He wasn't there and there was a young lady at the counter alone and she didn't seem to know much, she was already on a call to the sales guy I dealt with apologizing to him for calling him yet again that day. My bike showed up on Thursday, but he forgot to tell me that he was the only one qualified to assemble it and his days off were Thursday and Friday. So the bike was sitting there in the box yet. He promised to get on it first thing Saturday. So no riding on Saturday morning for me like I planned.

Saturday morning came and went and about 12:30 PM Saturday I get a call from him. The ebike has a big scratch or gouge on it and he doesn't feel right selling me such an expensive bike with such bad damage on it. Since it was the Labor Day weekend, this means it will be Tuesday before he can call Trek about it and order another one. He offered a refund or I could just wait to see what they said. With mixed emotions I told him I would wait. I sat on it until the next day, Sunday, and decided to go see the damage for myself. So I went in and the sales guy was there and I saw an ebike on the stand. Was that it? Nope, mine was still in the box. I made a snap decision to bail on the whole sale right then and there. He tried to convince me to take a discount to take the damaged bike, but I was wanting out. The price still nagged at me, and the whole sale just seemed to be going a direction I didn't want. So I got a refund on my debit card and left.

The 2 previous bikes I had gotten where both Giants. The Giant dealer was just 2 miles in the opposite direction of the Trek shop from my house and I had not gone in there. When I stopped into the Giant dealer last year they had NO ebikes and the only way I could get one was to order it and then I had to take it. When I went in this time they had 6 ebikes in the rack, including a 2018 Giant Explore E+ 3 which looked like my Roam, but with a motor. It was also only $2400 all in, $1900 less than the Trek. I bought it and rode it home. Been riding it for the last few weeks and loving it. Just what I wanted a larger frame bike like the Roam but with assist when I need it on the hills. The next Saturday I repeated my failed 62 mile ride and made it home 3 hours quicker than when I tried it on my regular bike - all the way home. Because of judicious use of the assist I had 29% of the battery when I hit the house. I rode 98% of the way OUT on the ride with the assist OFF.

The tale continues. After a week of waiting for my refund from the Trek dealer to post to my bank account I email him. I got en email back quickly stating simply that that it took 7-10 business days to get a refund. I waited more than another week, it had been 16 days since I bought the bike and still no refund. I wrote en email again telling him this needed to be resolved within 48 hours. The next day he wrote back telling me that his accounting department put a hold on the refund back when it was first entered because they suspected it to be fraudulent. No one bothered to check on it, or call the sales guy, or call me about it, they just let it ride. So 2 days later I finally got my refund. Sales guy never bothered to actually check on my refund after the first email, he just blew me off with the 7-10 day line.

Am I right to be miffed? After the refund posted to my account I wrote another email, not blasting him but just telling him that I didn't appreciate the way I had been treated and would be very vocal about it with anyone I talked with about it. Most people I HAVE talked about it thought I was well within my rights and they would have bailed too - and then marched in demanding a refund after a few days. 2 people thought I was unreasonable and should have just let it go and taken the bike. They were both people with retail experience and knew it was going to cause a ding on sales guy's sheet. So, what's your take?

3speed

Tamiya

gtragitt

I think you bought a better bicycle than the Trek. The Trek Dealer messed you around. You were justified in cancelling.

Tino Tino

Yeah maybe next time buy it with credit card so you don't have to deal with ********.

veganbikes

When someone takes their time and works with you and you then cancel and go buy elsewhere it is never a good thing. Granted you had some minor issues but in this modern world people can be quite impatient and we love our instant gratification and sometimes it helps to be patient. Not everyone can work every single day of the week and things can happen in shipping and if someone is willing to work with you on price than work with them. People in general just need to relax a bit and be a little more flexible. Granted the last part about the refund is a bit ridiculous but in fairness it is a lot of money to be refunding and Trek probably has a more corporate structure where things can more easily get lost higher up the chain.

I do not like Trek or Giant at all but if I had to chose based on e-bikes Trek would win over Giant any day of the week. Then again I prefer Bosch over house brand stuff or Yamaha and that is what Trek uses. I know Bosch to be reliable and easy to get service on should I ever really need it. Plus I think the Treks actually look a touch better.

linberl

So I have a million years experience as a retail manager (retired now) so my perspective comes from that and as a cyclist. Rule #1 for good customer service is underpromise and over deliver. The Trek guy should have explained at the time of purchase that (1) he had no control over the delivery to his shop since the bike was coming through UPS/Fedex or whomever and things happen, (2) that if the bike arrived on his days off, it would have to wait for him to assemble it, (3) and that he would call to notify the customer when it arrived and actually do it. The biggest fail in customer service is the lack of information communicated at the time of sale; nearly all customers are okay with caveats IF they hear about them before the situation actually arises. Second fail was when the bike had a scratch and the Trek guy didn't explain that refunds take 7-10 business days (pretty common as it clears their bank and has to then show up on your bank) and the customer had THREE options: (1) take an immediately processed refund subject to the posting period, (2) wait for him to contact Trek on the next business day to arrange a replacement, or (3) initiate the refund and find out from Trek when a new bike could be received, at which time the customer could choose to purchase again or not. As to the hang up on the refund, something sounds bogus there. If the corporate office was concerned about the refund being fraudulent, they would have contacted the shop to follow up and it would have been resolved; it would not have just been left hanging, subject to the customer pestering Trek to find out what happened. I suspect that the shop did not process the refund immediately, either through incompetence or intentionally trying to delay the hit to their books. Finally - were you justified in what you did? Absolutely. You "received" a damaged product and had zero obligation to accept it or wait for a replacement.

Ranger22

I agree with linberl. You did just fine with the cancel. That just did'nt feel right. Communication is so important when there are changes supplying on an order. Ride on now. It reduces stress.

lkoyanagi

Its your decision, you are the buyer. Its better to cancel than buy and trade back like I did. You lose money.

I ended up with my ideal ebike, a Tern eLink D7i.
Its a low end bike, heavy, but does everything I need. Had a throttle put on for take offs and uphill climbing, mainly, because I dont get tired touring, yet. Its the perfect slow speed and uphill bike like a mini beach cruiser with fat tires. Unusual, and the antithesis of a Brompton philosophy. I owned a Brompton.

Whatever bike one gets it is best to practice slow speed turns until one is an expert with all the confidence one has earned.