Blog van Stephen ......ervaring gedeeld hoe een franse fietsenmaker te werk gaat. ( koga dealer )
After an hour fishing in the harbour this morning, I cycled the few miles over to the bike shop - Ecovelo in La Rochelle - and was received with a smirk and a shrug from the assistant!
I just looked at him and he simple said "no oil, 10 days, maybe longer, don't know" and then he turned to carry on opening boxes. Now, anyone who knows me, knows I'm a very patient and very nice guy. I can keep my cool very well, but there comes a point...
I used my Google Translate then to say "so that's it, your a KOGA dealer, my bike is under warranty, and your refusing to help?" He shrugged his shoulders again. At a fraction of a second before the point of no return that he could see in my eyes, he points to the phone, then reached for it.
He talked for a little while then put the phone over to me. It was someone from his head office at HollandBikes.com She spoke English and told me that the problem is with the Rohloff hub and nothing to do the company I bought the bike from KOGA.
I told her I bought the bike just 2 months ago from KOGA as a whole bike and under warranty. Not bits of a bike, a whole bike and I want it sorting. I told her that I have 12,000 followers watching everything that is going on right now, that this cycle is also in support of a charity, and that already 2 people who have said they were interested in the KOGA are no longer interested.
She then asked me to give the phone back to the assistant so that he could take down the serial number so she could then phone the hub maker Rohloff. While I'm waiting outside talking on the phone to my dealer in Leeds, 3 assistants including the one that can speak English but wouldn't that morning or the day before, were all looking at the hub and talking to the agent from Rohloff on the phone.
The English speaking guy then told me that they have to take the back wheel off and the rear sprocket and clean it all out, because the agent from Rohloff said the noise cannot be coming from inside the hub, but from the bearings and fittings between the hub and the frame.
He said that Rohloff said I would have to pay him for the work today, then get it back from my UK agent and warranty. Then I sat outside the shop for an hour, before the English speaking guy came out and said I will have to come back for the bike later because they we're doing a bit of decorating on the front of the shop and wouldn't get around to doing any work on my bike until later!
A call a few minutes ago from my UK dealer, saying KOGA had been in contact with him to ask for the address of the Ecovelo La Rochelle bike shop so they can hurry out a tube a silencer grease, because as it happens, it appears that Rohloff are aware of this problem because it is a new part or something.
1.40pm - And I have received an email from the Product Manager of KOGA, who expressed that "I don’t believe this dealer is suitable to be a KOGA dealer". And I agree of course, as who would want a dealer like that representing their product. So the situation right now is that I call back into the shop at 4pm and see what, if anything, has happened.
I'm going for a beer
Be back shortly.
4pm - I'm here at the crummy bike shop they call Ecovelo and they have taken the wheel off as per instruction on the email they have been sent, taken off the sprocket, greased the space and thread between the sprocket and the Rohloff hub with a very stiff grease, and put it all back together again.
I have no faith in this shop as a result of their terrible attitude, and don't expect for a minute that they cleaned out all the bits before putting it back together again. Such is their attitude, I don't even expect that they have even taken anything apart before greasing. They may have, but who can say.
Time will tell if this issue has been corrected now. Rohloff say there is no way the noise is inside the hub, and can only be the sprocket area. They have admitted being aware of the noise issue and having to use a heavy grease, so the €95 I have just been charged will have to be returned to me. €95 for a large serving of bad attitude is a little on the pricey side don't you think?
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