Re: Best way to get service from Calfee?: Bikefanclub.com

The service I have received from Calfee has been exemplary. I think David took the response of "ship it and we will look" much too personally.

I've been in sales for about 30 years. I've dealt with customer service issues for that long as well. Anyone who has a similar background has learned what a customer claims and what is reality can be very different. In Dave's case I'm sure that what he said is accurate and a bike that was not as well finished as usual got out. However they would not give a definite answer until they actually saw the bike. I don't blame them. I'm sure they have been stung in the past making a promise only to get a bike back and it was not a manufacturing flaw.

I've sold books for 28 years. I'll never forget a customer that called yelling and screaming that our bindings had fallen apart and what was I going to do. Well it is my company's policy like Calfee that we have to eyeball it ourselves. I never fully understood that policy until this incident. I went to the school and she threw the books on the desk in front of me and yelled what was I going to do? I looked and the student(s) had literally broken the cover in half. Since we use a library grade binding it was fine. The only thing I could surmise was either: 1. She was just plain nuts or 2. She had absolutely no control of the kids and could not accept that on a conscious level and her mind literally made up this story to keep her sane. Either way arguing was out of the question and replacing a few books was the easier way out.

Well what does this have to do with Dave? All they said as he stated so well is "we will look at the frame and determine our course of action." They are doing nothing else more than protecting themselves from the kind of nut I encountered. Dave is not that but how would they know? I would not have known this person was off her rocker either.

I had a quality control issue with my Luna. My bike was chipping what seemed to be more than is usual. Carbon fiber is very hard to paint and paint does not stick well. Plus the frame flexes but the paint rides on top and does not. That is part of the reason why nude is popular. No carbon bike is ever going to hold paint as well as steel, aluminum or ti. Having a Kestrel I came to live with it.

I talked to Dean and he told me the same exact thing. Send it in, include a note, and mark the chips. I actually used those little band aids they put in a can that are never any good for anything. The bike was 1 and 1/2 years old at this point and I really did not expect a warranty, I was hoping but chips are chips. I thought it had an awful lot of them for a short time but I had no idea how they would react.

Calfee inspected it and agreed that it should not have chipped that much. They not only redid the bike but gave me the choice of anything I wanted. I had cabernet red which is translucent but I wanted to see the carbon more. I had it refinished in clear which requires them to take all the old paint off. This alone is I believe between 200 and 300 dollars since it is labor intensive. The easy way out for them was to same the same color or nothing instead they went way beyond and totally refinished the bike.

I was thrilled with the service then and since. The bike is gorgeous and I could not be happier.

Dave I think you should put this to bed. To continue to knock them when all they said was they wanted to see the bike is not fair to them. Colnago would have laughed at you. Colnago at the time of my bike would have said it was out of warranty by 6 months. I have a friend who just dropped Colnago from his line and picked up Calfee for the lack of warranty service. The bike would literally have to fall apart going down the road before they might listen. Part of this is the importer but still you are stuck with a bike. He had a customer on a 2+ year old C-40 that started to come apart. They offered to "fix" it for $1800. He bought a Calfee.

Had you returned it and they said it was fine I think you would have a gripe. They did not. All they wanted was how I do business they wanted to see it for themselves in person. I don't make any promises in my business until I am sure exactly where all things stand.

Although you might not think people would return a bike with one story when another was the case trust me they would. I have no doubt that people have crashed bikes and tryed to return them for similar reasons. I know you probably don't believe me but it is true. Nashbar used to be based about 2 hours from my house and I stopped whenever I was in the area which was a lot since I travel in my job. I became friends with them. You could not believe what they had returned and in what condition. Back then their return policy was essentially no questions asked and the customer was right. I saw shoes literally trashed and worn out that people said did not fit. Jerseys would be ripped and torn from a crash and people would say they arrived that way. It only took them 3 months to realize it. Right. Parts would come back trashed with the excuse they did not work right out of the box. It just went on and on.

You have to realize that not everyone is like you. Because of that a business has to protect themselves. Saying we want to inspect it ourselves is just part of that. Just because you would not take advantage of them does not mean that others would try.

I recently contacted someone about a high end ti bike for sale. He told me the one decal that had a flaw was from putting it in a bike stand. Well it is a small world and I know everyone in his shop. (He would never have thought that since I live a long way away.) In actuality he put the bike down and that is how the "flaw" happened.

Dave has complained before but never explained his reason. Others don't complain except to say Calfee can be a little hard to get. They are busy. A little patience gettng them live and I have never had a problem.

Well that is my story and my perspective. I feel badly for Dave because he gave up a great bike at a loss when I have absolutely no doubt they would have stood behind it 100%. A photo can't be trusted. All they wanted to see was the bike before any promises. I find that reasonable.

My Calfee is an absolutely awesome bike. It puts my Kestrel in another league and it is not a higher one.

Take care.

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