Specialized Rider Care is not responsive

[Hernan Jimenez]

This is to express my frustration with specialized.

I'm from Costa Rica and a BIG fan of specialized bikes.I have had both ebikes and Epic bikes and always trusted the brand.

Recently, I bought a very expensive Levo SL LTD 2023 from my local dealer "Bike Station". The bike is good and I have had a lot of fun with it. Unfortunately, it recently suffered a damage in the rear wheel rim and specialized is not applying warranty as per my local dealer. They offered crash replacement which still very expensive and has not arrived for weeks. When I write to Rider Care there is absolutely no response for customer in Latin America.

I deserver better treatment and should get the replacement for free and immidiately. I have bought already 4 specialized bikes from my local dealer. It's not acceptable that the brand will not support me with this situation. It's unacceptable that I get worse support ever with the most expensive bike I have bought.

 

[Dirtnvert]

JRA

 

[RustyIron]

What happened to your wheel?

 

[Dax]

Does the ‘**it happens’ wheel warranty apply in Latin America?

Specilized wheels are soft as shit, I destroyed my KSL rear wheel after about 10hrs riding. Specilized dealer laughed and told me there was no way they’d warranty it…hopefully this is better now with the new warranty

 

[James_C]

Hope fortus 30 fixes this issue.

 

[Hernan Jimenez]

Is there a way to tag specialized? It's really frustrating when they just don't care about given a response and my local dealer "Bike Station" cannot do anything to influence them to give me better support.

 

[Zimmerframe]

Is there a way to tag specialized? It's really frustrating when they just don't care about given a response and my local dealer "Bike Station" cannot do anything to influence them to give me better support.

They used to be present on the forum, but don't seem to be anymore.

You could try and contact rider care in the uk (via the website). They used to get involved in lots of international issues and help out when they could, so you never know.

 

[RustyIron]

I deserver better treatment and should get the replacement for free and immidiately.

You come off as someone who thinks he is entitled to special treatment, demanding free and immediate parts. That kind of attitude might get you ignored more often than getting helped, both by Specialized and your "Bike Station."

Can you show us anywhere Specialized's warranty policy that promises to give you free and immediate parts? I can't find in their U.S. or International warranties where they are obligated to give you free things. If you drive your truck into a brick wall, will Ford give you a new one? If your ill-behaved kid throws a baseball through your television screen, will Samsung give you a new one? None of that makes any sense.

You might want to rethink your position, and graciously accept Specialized's generous offer to sell you a new wheel at a discounted price.

 

[Hernan Jimenez]

You come off as someone who thinks he is entitled to special treatment, demanding free and immediate parts. That kind of attitude might get you ignored more often than getting helped, both by Specialized and your "Bike Station."

Can you show us anywhere Specialized's warranty policy that promises to give you free and immediate parts? I can't find in their U.S. or International warranties where they are obligated to give you free things. If you drive your truck into a brick wall, will Ford give you a new one? If your ill-behaved kid throws a baseball through your television screen, will Samsung give you a new one? None of that makes any sense.

You might want to rethink your position, and graciously accept Specialized's generous offer to sell you a new wheel at a discounted price.

If I spent ~18.000 usd in a bike and need to keep it in the shop 50% of the time due to lack of support/inventory, I'm super entitled to complain about it. Especially if Specialized is a brand that sells their support quality. Maybe we are just in a different kind of customer, but that is OK .

 

[Polar]

It's unacceptable that I get worse support ever with the most expensive bike I have bought.

Wouldn't be fair if they give better service if the bike is expensive and less if it's cheap

 

[RustyIron]

I'm super entitled

Yes, apparently you are.
It's a real shame that no one will help you, no matter how much money you spend.

 

[Hernan Jimenez]

Yes, apparently you are.
It's a real shame that no one will help you, no matter how much money you spend.

Thanks for helping, hope you're having a nice day !

 

[Ou812]

The Roval wheel warranty is separate from the bike warranty, I learned the hard way. They also don’t tell you but you have to register the wheels within 30 days of purchase, it’s not part of registering the bike. I had something similar happen and the wheel warranty was denied because the wheels were never registered. Luckily the local Spesh shop where I lived at the time took care of it for me, they rebuilt the wheel with a new rim. I just covered the labour for the wheel build.

 

[p3eps]

You come off as someone who thinks he is entitled to special treatment, demanding free and immediate parts. That kind of attitude might get you ignored more often than getting helped, both by Specialized and your "Bike Station."

My exact thoughts when I read the post.

 

[RickBullotta]

Well, I think weeks of downtime for a replacement wheel *IS* unacceptable in this day and age, no matter where you are in the world. I don't think the OP is getting a "free" replacement either - he's paying for a crash replacement. And all of us can empathise with the frustration of not having your bike rideable in the middle of peak riding season.

 

[Hernan Jimenez]

The Roval wheel warranty is separate from the bike warranty, I learned the hard way. They also don’t tell you but you have to register the wheels within 30 days of purchase, it’s not part of registering the bike. I had something similar happen and the wheel warranty was denied because the wheels were never registered. Luckily the local Spesh shop where I lived at the time took care of it for me, they rebuilt the wheel with a new rim. I just covered the labour for the wheel build.

Thanks for sharing your experience. Spealized should be more transparent/explicit on the warranty limitations and possible implications to customers.

 

[Hernan Jimenez]

Does the ‘**it happens’ wheel warranty apply in Latin America?

Specilized wheels are soft as shit, I destroyed my KSL rear wheel after about 10hrs riding. Specilized dealer laughed and told me there was no way they’d warranty it…hopefully this is better now with the new warranty

Unfortunately this warranty does not apply in Lantin America, which is crazy for me, a brand like specialized should be consistent with this topic.

 

[Dirtnvert]

Your lucky theyre going to give you a discount on a new one. Zero bike company warrantee rims. You hit something and it broke end of story. If theres an impact and not premature wear you screwed up, not them. In the back of bike shops JRA/just riding along is the familiar sarcastic joke. If you actually want to ride your bike why would you let it sit in a shop. Put a new rim or wheel on and go riding while you try and get this magical warrantee. I recommdnd a dt swiss wheel or rim. Of course they wont warrantee your rider errors though

 

[squeegee]

I always keep a back up for most things. Rims break, waiting around for the part is on you. You invested $18K (cough, cough), surely you have the budget for another wheel or a rebuild on another rim for the time being?? If you value your riding time, a few hundred bucks for repair or replacement is a small price to pay to keep riding while you wait on $$$pecialized.

 

[weihlac]

A warranty is "against structural defects in material or workmanship". You crashed your bike and broke the wheel. You are asking for a crash replacement, which is NOT a warranty claim. You do not have a valid warranty claim. If Spec cannot provide you with a replacement as soon as you wish, you should buy another wheel and use the replacement as a backup. It looks like you will need several.

 

[e-rico]

I understand your frustration but if your rim broke due to a rock/root strike then that’s on you. You are mad a specialized but what’s your dealer doing for you? If you paid $18k then they made $5-6k off of you. Maybe they should be taking care of you? If Specialized will sell you the rim for cost then your dealer should rebuild it for free (especially if you’ve bought 4 high end bikes there).

 

[RustyIron]

If you paid $18k then they made $5-6k off of you. Maybe they should be taking care of you?

Maybe I've told this story before, but I'm old, and old guys tend to do that. About 10-15 years ago, my friend brought over her Specialized that she bought used. The bike was about four years old. It had a crack in the swingarm. I went to the shop around the corner, who I sometimes use for small parts. The owner contacted Specialized and got a replacement swingarm.

My friend and her husband now rely on that shop for almost everything. I bought a bike from him in January. A decade ago, he did me a solid. He's been reaping the benefits ever since. I used this philosophy myself: Give your customers some freebies, which sometimes don't even cost you anything, and they'll remember it. Hold their feet to the fire, and they'll never forget.

 

[Downhillr]

Your lucky theyre going to give you a discount on a new one. Zero bike company warrantee rims. You hit something and it broke end of story. If theres an impact and not premature wear you screwed up, not them. In the back of bike shops JRA/just riding along is the familiar sarcastic joke. If you actually want to ride your bike why would you let it sit in a shop. Put a new rim or wheel on and go riding while you try and get this magical warrantee. I recommdnd a dt swiss wheel or rim. Of course they wont warrantee your rider errors though

 

[Downhillr]

Maybe I've told this story before, but I'm old, and old guys tend to do that. About 10-15 years ago, my friend brought over her Specialized that she bought used. The bike was about four years old. It had a crack in the swingarm. I went to the shop around the corner, who I sometimes use for small parts. The owner contacted Specialized and got a replacement swingarm.

My friend and her husband now rely on that shop for almost everything. I bought a bike from him in January. A decade ago, he did me a solid. He's been reaping the benefits ever since. I used this philosophy myself: Give your customers some freebies, which sometimes don't even cost you anything, and they'll remember it. Hold their feet to the fire, and they'll never forget.

Wrong on your statement…

 

[RustyIron]

Wrong on your statement…

Yeah... probably.
Sorry.
I'll get it right next time.

 

[Downhillr]

Yeah... probably.
Sorry.
I'll get it right next time.

Lol, my bad, sorry dude… meant to put that in my post with Reserve warranty

 

[cozzy]

Yeah can't knock reserve warranty. Had 2 replacements so far within 2 days of logging the claim.
Original 30|30, then the V2 and now the 30|HD Which hopefully is stronger.

 

[sethimus]

View attachment 141480

last time i wanted to buy one the swiss importer didn‘t had any wheels in stock and couldn‘t tell me when he got stock again. tells you alot about the quality of said warranty

 

[Dirtnvert]

View attachment 141480

Yes there are a few carbon wheel companies with a pricepoint that gives you a lifetime warrantee. Do they do that with their aluminium rims? Maybe they do. How many bike companies spec resrve rims on their bikes?

 

[Downhillr]

Yes there are a few carbon wheel companies with a pricepoint that gives you a lifetime warrantee. Do they do that with their aluminium rims? Maybe they do. How many bike companies spec resrve rims on their bikes?

Since Reserve is Santa Cruz own brand wheel, I doubt other companies are spec’ing them. (Kinda like BMW spec’ing Mercedes wheels)