bargainguy

https://bicycleretailer.com/opinion-...too-shall-pass

Full support for independent bike shops in the D2C era? Actually supporting the dealer at every level instead of the squeezing the life out of them?

Sounds like a good plan. I don't have any strong preference for Giant bikes, but I like the way this guy thinks. Long-term.

wheelreason

Yeah, except it's a crock of crap. They are among the worst at supporting their dealers. We are not a Giant dealer, but have to listen to the few around here vent, and dry their tears.

CrimsonEclipse

Certainly THIS corporate overlord will support us in out time of need!

PeteHski

I know this is about Giant in the US, but when I bought my Giant Defy in 2019 the UK Giant website did at least only reference retail dealer stock. There are several local retailers I know who sell Giant and they appear to be okay with it. Trek on the other hand set up their own corporate retail outlet right next door to a long standing independent retailer that was a Trek dealer. Interestingly they are still a Trek dealer, but they can’t have been happy about it.

soyabean

I have zero sympathy for any manufacturer and retailer that delusionally thought the gravy train of covid sales would keep coming in making them rich.

Post-covid will be the era of "We need you to make money" arse kissing.

Is it great that manufacturers and distributors roll out the read carpet for shops? Yes.

Is it great that shops bend their backs for sales? Yes, if required to make money. Snob shops might take some time, but ultimately they will feel it hurting when their collection of S-works on their walls require maid dusting.

All is very much fun and entertaining as none of the above applies to I.

TiHabanero

I started out in the bike biz in 1981 and stayed in it full time and part time until 2 years ago. Worked in shops that sold Giant, Specialized, Trek, 3 Rensho, Guru, Serotta, Santana, Burley, GT, Cannondale, Framed, Scott, Jamis, Miyata, Fuji, Cycle Pro, etc, etc, etc. You get the picture.
Every shop I have worked in always bellyached about their bike suppliers not supporting them, not honoring warranties, etc. etc. etc. Please, take it with a grain of salt when some shop rat whines about the big three or the smallest three lacking in shop support, customer support or whatever support. Everyone moans and complains to those that will listen.
My experience with Giant was always exceptional right up to when I walked away from the industry for good, and my friends still in the biz pay nothing but compliments to the Giant support team. Nuff said.

wheelreason

lol

veganbikes

Giant has always been giving a massive finger to their dealers for years now they are claiming to support their dealers whoever is still dealing their crap? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHA. That is rich!

Russ Roth

Never worked in a shop that sold Giant so can't speak to them, but the quality of the service from the big companies always seemed tied to the quality of the rep and, to a slightly lesser extent, the size of the preseason orders. Back in the early 2000's, when the rep was trying to showcase the idea of becoming a Trek concept store, we could see the trajectory of what Trek was trying to pull. Now with Trek owned shops opening up across Long Island I have to wonder why any of the retailers bother to continue supporting the brand. Specialized will screw them just as badly if given the chance, but I don't know that I would spend the time selling product for a company that is actively trying to take away my customer base. An owner I know sold one of his shops to Trek during the pandemic, he talked of how he couldn't get any treks to stock his shelves but the day he handed the keys over Trek showed up with a tractor trailer loaded with boxes of bikes he needed but they wouldn't give to him due to being "out of stock." They even wrote into the buy agreement that he had to keep them as a brand for a set time at his other location, even as they were denying him the bikes they were stocking their own store with. The big brands don't care about their retailers.

Trakhak

Shop rat.

veganbikes

I don't see that as an insult as rats are great creatures.

I don't complain complain frequently about those issues but Giant was bad. I get it some people like to say that you can't complain but having worked as the Warranty manager for 5 years or so I know good and not so good support and Giant did not have it. Like TiHab I have sold a lot of different brands as well so great he has friends who love Giant. Almost all of the shops in my area have dropped Giant and not for no reason or they have been dropped by Giant.

However opinions are like rear ends everyone has them and they all stink!

TiHabanero

The last time I sold bikes, Giant specifically for this post, was 2020 and I had no complaints with their dealer service. We all know tires are a tough warranty issue simply because they are wear item. I had a customer with a Rove with broken cords in the rear tire after only a few hundred miles. Normally this is not a warranty issue since we have no idea what kind of obstacles it was ridden over. I reached out to Giant and they replaced the tire without a problem. I provided them an image of the serial number of the bike, a pic of the tire problem and a 3 days later the tire was at the shop. Keep in mind there was a real parts shortage at that time and getting anything from any supplier was tough enough, but Giant came through without hesitation.
Come to think of it, that was the only Giant warranty I had to deal with that year. I guess it comes down to dealer relationship with the company, the rep, and maybe karma?
As previously said, opinions are pretty much useless because they all stink!

wheelreason

I've never found Giant to be lacking in supporting customers, my beef is with their business practices, which consistently undermine dealers' financial and logistics well being. In their defense, they are not alone among the big brands, but some of the specifics defy belief.

TiHabanero

FWIW, an article just appeared on bicycleretailer.com, an industry rag, about the changes in the dealer retail marketplace. Found this specific info interesting.

"...Trek has trimmed its dealer base by 16%, from 1,718 in 2010 to 1,447 as of October of 2023. Specialized has added a similar percentage, 1,174 to 1,361, moving it from third place in the 2010 dealer count to its current ranking as #2. Giant dropped an insignificant 5% in thirteen years, from 1,287 to 1,118..."

Trek is dropping dealers, Specialized is adding them, and Giant is dropping them, albeit at a rate much lower than Trek. I have thoughts on this, but they are my opinion thus mean nothing without hard data. If interested to learn more go to the website and read the article titled "Vosper: Top-tem bike brands have shifted significantly since 2010".

wheelreason

BRAIN, Oh the irony...