When someone talks about quality to you, what do you think of? Are you picturing a high-end Mercedes or BMW? Do you picture a Rolex, or a classy penthouse suite? How about hand-made custom furniture or cabinetry?
This question has been a huge part of our week this week at CSM Power Bikes. You see, to us, quality means attention to detail. Workmanship and materials play a critical role in quality. But the service that you receive is equally important. The product that you buy could be from a name that you trust, but if something does go wrong, you also want that company to back up their product, and with as little inconvenience to you as possible.
Everyone knows that there can be problems even with top name manufacturers. A quick search on the Consumer Product Safety Commission website reveals pages of recalls, and some from very well known brands. It can happen to the best brands out there. But when something goes wrong, you expect a company to stand behind their product. I myself recently experienced a recall on my car, but that company made it extremely easy for the problem to be fixed. At the end of the process, I was out a few hours, but it was relatively quick and painless, as it should be.
At CSM Power Bikes, we offer repair and service to all customers. It doesn't matter where the bike was purchased, we want to help you. But sometimes, that becomes a difficult job when the brand you bought doesn't want to help us help you.
We've had several customers come to us this year with bikes that were bought on the internet. In one case, the bike was damaged in shipping. Instead of sending the customer a new bike, they sent them a part, and expected their customer to put it on the bike himself. But he wasn't familiar with how to do that, so he reached out to us. He was frustrated that he was going to have to pay someone to fix a bike he had never been able to ride, but just wanted the problem to go away. We started to do the work, only to find that the frame of the bike had been bent as well. No matter how good of a repair we did, it was not going to be perfect, and it was going to be costly. The company did not want to honor their warranty, but with our help in taking meticulous pictures and documentation, the customer was able to return his bike and get a new one.
In 2 other situations, customers bought their bikes online, rode them for just short time, and had the bikes completely stop working during their first ride. The customers were told that they would be sent replacement parts and would have to install them themselves, or pay someone to do it. We fought hard for those customers, alienating ourselves with the manufacturer in the process.
If you've been on our website before, you may notice that the brands we support are slightly different now. To us, quality includes how you treat someone when something doesn't go right. We will not have our name associated with a bad experience. So, there are some bikes that we will no longer carry and can no longer service under warranty.
Before you buy an e-bike online, or even from a dealer, we suggest reading the warranty in great detail. Make sure you understand how a company will cover a part that fails under warranty, and what parts are covered by the warranty. Also, read very carefully what is expected of you as the purchaser. If you purchase a bike online, and assemble it yourself, you may be voiding your warranty or giving that company an out. Read the fine print.
Until next week, happy riding and be safe!
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