Temporal context:
Here in the U.S., we just wrapped up Thanksgiving Weekend. It's four days, Thursday through Sunday, when companies are shut down and people aren't working. Usually before a big holiday, you can expect workers to start winding down, and not be quite as responsive as you might otherwise expect.
The problem:
On Tuesday there was a bit of a mishap. There was a little incident that resulted in both the bike and me tumbling over the jagged rocks in a most inelegant fashion. I'll heal up and be as ruggedly handsome as ever. The handlebars, however, suffered some rather deep gouging. I was a bummer, because I REALLY like the Santa Cruz bars. They have internal routing for wires, and the bends are oval to reduce vibration.
Contact:
The first thing Wednesday morning (the day before the holiday weekend), I emailed Santa Cruz and told them that I had crashed and that my bars were damaged. Within an hour, they got back to me. They said they have a No Fault Warranty, and their only concern was getting me back on the bike. They'd need a receipt, a picture of the bike, and fifty bucks. I jumped on the offer.
Resolution:
By noon, a shipping label had been created. When I woke up Saturday morning, the new bars were sitting on the front porch.
Thoughts:
I couldn't have hoped for better service. The kids at Santa Cruz really took care of me. But this isn't the first time. A while back I had some wonky bearings in a hub that came on one of their bikes. Even though it wasn't their product, they pointed me in the right direction with the part numbers of the bearings I needed. About twelve years ago, I cracked an aluminum swingarm. Within a week, a new one was delivered to my house. Consistently good products and customer service are what keep the fans coming back.
Here in the U.S., we just wrapped up Thanksgiving Weekend. It's four days, Thursday through Sunday, when companies are shut down and people aren't working. Usually before a big holiday, you can expect workers to start winding down, and not be quite as responsive as you might otherwise expect.
The problem:
On Tuesday there was a bit of a mishap. There was a little incident that resulted in both the bike and me tumbling over the jagged rocks in a most inelegant fashion. I'll heal up and be as ruggedly handsome as ever. The handlebars, however, suffered some rather deep gouging. I was a bummer, because I REALLY like the Santa Cruz bars. They have internal routing for wires, and the bends are oval to reduce vibration.
Contact:
The first thing Wednesday morning (the day before the holiday weekend), I emailed Santa Cruz and told them that I had crashed and that my bars were damaged. Within an hour, they got back to me. They said they have a No Fault Warranty, and their only concern was getting me back on the bike. They'd need a receipt, a picture of the bike, and fifty bucks. I jumped on the offer.
Resolution:
By noon, a shipping label had been created. When I woke up Saturday morning, the new bars were sitting on the front porch.
Thoughts:
I couldn't have hoped for better service. The kids at Santa Cruz really took care of me. But this isn't the first time. A while back I had some wonky bearings in a hub that came on one of their bikes. Even though it wasn't their product, they pointed me in the right direction with the part numbers of the bearings I needed. About twelve years ago, I cracked an aluminum swingarm. Within a week, a new one was delivered to my house. Consistently good products and customer service are what keep the fans coming back.
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