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Ribble - Shocking customer service

Just thought I'd post a warning of the shocking way I was treated by Ribble Cycles recently.

I purchased a Ribble Nero back in July 2010 for £!250. I have only used it for racing in sprint and standard triathlons and for a whole week going to work (when my Dawes Galaxy was off the road), no more than 500 miles in total. The bike is cleaned and maintained as I have done with all of my bikes.

I entered the Hartside Duathlon 14th October this year and after a mediocre run set off on my favourite section, the bike. About 1 mile into the race the back wheel locked up. I discovered that the frame on the one side of the rear dropouts had come apart (where the back wheel spindle is). The frame had not broke but a very small M5 bolt had dropped out. I didn't even know bike frames were held together at the back like this. The remaining bolt on the other side was not visible as it was covered by carbon fibre wrap and/or paint.

I contacted Ribble for advice and was told that I was out of my 2 year warranty and that I had not maintained the bike adequately! Luckily this happened going uphill and not down the other side of Hartside Pass where I could have been killed. All I wanted was for Ribble Cycles to have a look and attempt a repair but they said that they could not as this model had been discontinued. They even had the nerve to offer me a discount on a new frame. My argument was that the manufacturing and/or quality control process was at fault but they denied this.

I took advise from a very friendly guy at Carbon Bike Solutions in Derby who told me that there was nothing complicated involved in fixing this and explained all I needed (which basically involved buying a 50p M5 countersunk head titanium steel bolt, loctite and some araldite).

At the end of the day, why couldn't/wouldn't Ribble do this for me after parting with £1250 for my bike just over 2 years ago? Am I missing something here or does anyone else feel as aggrieved as me over this?

Comments

  • I took advise from a very friendly guy at Carbon Bike Solutions in Derby who told me that there was nothing complicated involved in fixing this and explained all I needed (which basically involved buying a 50p M5 countersunk head titanium steel bolt, loctite and some araldite).
    Great service from these chaps at CBS.... they have a superb reputation.

    As for ribble - thats poor. very poor. I have heard ( on tri talk) about poor post sales service. Maybe write a strong letter to the CEO ?

    Glad it only cos pence to fix too.
  • shadowone1shadowone1 Posts: 1,408
    I think ribble were hammered in the past in the way they advertise their bikes as well.

    To be honest, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole...
  • Dan684Dan684 Posts: 28
    Before I got my Felt I was toying with the idea of getting a custom built bike with Ribble, i rang them up for advice on spec, gears, frame size etc because out of the 3 disciplines Cycling is the one I know nothing about.

    Found them really rude and basically dis-interested in my custom. I thought "Well if they're this half-arsed before i've even paid my money imagine what they'd be like once they have it and should a problem arise"

    After reading this e-mail it seems i was right to be concerned and i'm glad I avoided them - No offence to yourself obviously - Glad you got it sorted relatively easily
  • bathtubbathtub Posts: 280
    I've had great service from Ribble and also crap service but unfortunately its always the crap you remember so I wouldnt use them again unless I was really desperate.

    I've had 2 bikes from Ribble in the past one way back in 1992/93 and also a winter bike that I brought in 2002. Each bike costing under £600. Both good bikes and greatVFM.

    +1 for Carbon Bike Solutions

    I had a gear cable guide shear off from my Planet X carbon frame, (had the bike since 2006) I contacted Planet X for advice who told me nothing could be done as its out of warranty and it could not be repaired.

    I went to see Darren at Carbon Bike Solutions as its only 8 miles away and he repaired in 10 minutes all for the price of a cup of coffee, Top Bloke.
  • I'm not sure you can really ask Ribble to do much more 2 years after you bought the bike, they even offered you a discount on a future bike which is generous.

    Ribble are not a local bike shop in my opinion they are just on on-line retailer, you could buy a bike from Wiggle for example but would you send it back there to be fixed? I would tend to use my LBS.

    Unless there is a manufacturing issue which you would normally notice soon after purchase, there is a limit to what you could expect an online retailer to fix. Please don't take this as a dig at you, its not meant to be, just a comment on online retailers

    I hope your bike is working well now, did they say the cause of the problem? Was it carbon breaking?

    Just for clarity I have a Ribble bike but only since January,

    Kind Regards
  • You reply to a thread that's nearly 6 months old for your first post !

    Call me synical but I bet you work for Ribble

    :roll:
  • willieverfinish wrote:
    You reply to a thread that's nearly 6 months old for your first post !

    Call me synical but I bet you work for Ribble

    :roll:
    Synical indeed!

    I'm afraid not, I live near Aberdeen and Ribble is Lincolnshire based! just started reading / learning more online, as I have a Ribble I was interested in other peoples experiences

    ATB
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