Kudos Not Impressed (Resolved)

[D C]

Your so wrong,I phoned up and very politely said that the handbook / tools were missing and the chain guard was damaged, at that point I was OK about it,expecting them to resolve the small problems over the phone. I was put on hold four times while the Kudos person kept going to ask questions about the problems, they were very vague with the answers, when I quoted to them that they say all bikes are delivered with handbook / instructions and toolkit, they hesitated then said oh not my bike. Why couldn't they just replace the rear part of the chain guard, its not as if it's expensive,I'm sorry but to ask for a picture to be emailed to them is a disgrace. Yes I am angry now, but I was not during the phone call,I did point out I wasn't happy with the requiring a picture,and was a bit unhappy with there after
service,wouldn't you. I will give them tomorrow to get back to me, it could be a blip,but I'm very disapointed in there lack of interest.

Not wishing to take sides here it seems to me you are unhappy about the offhand way you feel you were treated rather than about the actual problem with the bike.
You seem to have started off being thoroughly reasonable and due to undoubtedly unprofessional handling of your complaint you became angry, completely understandable.
Kudos are well thought of on this forum and seem to be a very reputable company, I'm surprised they haven't posted on this thread as it only took them 12 minutes to respond to your post asking for advice as to which bike to buy!
It sounds like you have an excellent bike there and maybe take a deep breath and let them sort out your problem as I'm sure they will.

 

[denwyn]

I don't even know if there going to replace the part, to my mind they should just send one out,they said they fitted the chain guard,so it wasn't me who broke it. Why insist on a emailed photo of the damaged part is beyond me. Sorry to upset the Kudos fan club,but I expected a better responce from them. Yes I'm angry now,but I was polite when I phoned with my questions earlier on. £ 650 may seem a trivial amount to some on here,its not to me and I expected a better response from Kudos.

 

[Cyclezee]

You can download manuals here eZee Downloads - electric bikes and conversion kits, but to quote d8veh it will be "a complete waste of time"

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I don't even know if there going to replace the part, to my mind they should just send one out,they said they fitted the chain guard,so it wasn't me who broke it. Why insist on a emailed photo of the damaged part is beyond me. Sorry to upset the Kudos fan club,but I expected a better responce from them. Yes I'm angry now,but I was polite when I phoned with my questions earlier on. £ 650 may seem a trivial amount to some on here,its not to me and I expected a better response from Kudos.

The part is a standard part, but not one thst I'd expect Kudos to carry in stock. I'd bet that it's going to have to come from China, which will take a while. No dealer stocks every part as a spare. It would push the price too high. You can't have cheap prices and that sort of support. Normally, they'd take one off another bike and order a spare with the next delivery, but this is an end of the line bike. I think this broken chainguard will be a problem for everyone. I hope I'm wrong.

 

[denwyn]

The part is a standard part, but not one thst I'd expect Kudos to carry in stock. I'd bet that it's going to have to come from China, which will take a while. No dealer stocks every part as a spare. It would push the price too high. You can't have cheap prices and that sort of support. Normally, they'd take one off
another bike and order a spare with the next delivery, but this is an end of the line bike. I think this broken chainguard will be a problem for everyone. I hope I'm wrong.

That's a bit depressing, its there problem to sort out though,wonder if this is the reason there not interested in helping. I see that the chasing guard is used on a few of there hub geared bikes,so surely they can take one of one of these. I like the look of the bike,but don't see why its up to me to repair it,which is what some on here think I should do,its not been on the road yet. So I do hope they reply to the email they requested with pictures of the damaged part,although I see a post on here saying there not good at responding to emails. I don't want to send out back,but do t see why I should accept it as it is.

 

[GaRRy]

Personally I feel you have not even given them a fair chance to fully respond. What Time did you send the photo ?. People do go home in the evening. As for why send a photo this is most likely so that they can ensure they send you the correct replacement part. By you own admission you had trouble explaining exactly what was broken and a picture will accurately confirm what you mean.

Now if in a few days they have not adequately responded I think you may have a real grievance but at the moment you are being far to harsh IMHO

 

[denwyn]

after the fourth time time i was put on hold they did grasp the problem, and understood it, but still they requested photos, i may be a bit hasty with expecting a reply, but as they wanted the photos i took a couple and sent them off around 3pm, i'm sorry but i wont wait a few days for a reply, next thing they will be telling me is i should have told them earlier. Its so simple,i see its happened before to Kudos City bike in a post in Reviews, the part is used on several of there bikes with the hub gears, take one from these and send it to me, along with the missing handbook / instructions and tools, i can then get the bike on the road, its not doing any good it just sitting in the garage. I would have been far happier if they had showed a better response over the phone, before you say anything i was polite, but i did not expect there couldn't care less attitude, all i said at the end is that i was not impressed with them at all in response to the small faults, but i did agree to send the pictures. I will give them tomorrow to respond, i somehow feel they are hoping the problem will go away, afraid Kudos it wont, unless you can sort it. I bought the bike on recommendations on here about how good they were, i feel at this moment i may have made an error in going for a Kudos bike

 

[103Alex1]

Sorry to read about your problems. Unfortunately all bikes can be fragile things in the wrong hands (that includes delivery guys and some mechanics) and I guess if the guard was fitted prior to shipping they may be looking at whether they can claw back something from the courier or insurance. May not have been fitted properly or also may not have been packed properly but neither are issues that you are responsible for. Sounds like you got a non-technical person on the phone to be honest !

Can quite understand your concern after the telephone response that you could wind up in a nasty wrangle with a firm showing signs of dedicating more effort to sales than after-sales service because you clearly lost confidence in the company based on their responses to your issues. So the natural response is to expect the worst and prepare to guard against being wrong-footed in everything you do. I get annoyed when people are off-hand and disinterested too but unfortunately it's so widespread nowadays as to be more of an expectation than a surprise. It may have been down to whoever you were dealing with on the day though rather than the norm for the firm.

As to e-mailing pics of damage in transit that's pretty normal nowadays. Especially if there may potentially be claims between supplier and courier over picking up the tab for replacement parts or costs of rectification. Kudos are a high volume low margin company so being cynical (or maybe commercially realistic) are unlikely to be keen to absorb return costs and likely to want to ensure they protect as much of their margin as they can. All I'll say is that if there are warranty issues, even on expensive bikes often pics get requested as part of the process for sorting out problems if you can't take the bike back physically. It's the downside of not living down the road from your dealer which many of us just have to work with. Whatever you pay for a bike if things go wrong getting them rectified can (and does) take time if the supplier is involved. Frustrating when you've shelled out a load of dosh for something you want use of but in the end it's largely down to luck of the draw.

Chainguards getting damaged can be a real pain. My LBS managed to crack my Agattu chainguard fixing on the 1st tuning service by over-tightening a bolt very soon after buying the £2.5k-odd bike and 50cycles didn't carry the part. It took well over 6 weeks (and about £35) for them to get hold of a replacement via Derby Cycles. I didn't spot the problem until it fell off whilst riding shortly after getting it back so wound up wearing the costs. Spent far more time grovelling in the dark supergluing it back together in supermarket car parks than anyone would want to in the depths of Winter.

It's gutting when things happen to a brand new bike before you've even ridden it but can be almost as gutting when things happen to a nearly-new bike. Main thing is to work out if you want to keep the bike or not and then get it put in order ASAP. The 1st "scratch" is always the worst ! You've done your part and ball is in their court now. I hope you get your problem fixed soon and get out to enjoy your new bike. Don't worry if you need to do anything to the bike just ask on here if not sure and people will help.

It can be a pain uploading pics etc. and a manual is a nice thing to have - to give comfort you're doing things right - but in truth they are often of very limited practical help nowadays. Just a shame they led you to expect something which then turned out not to be provided for your bike. It's having expectations raised and then not fulfilled which seems to be the underlying issue there. Again a valid concern and hopefully something Kudos will take on board and realize customers get disappointed by. The fact some people don't care (and it's easy to be glib when you've dealt with things before) doesn't make it wrong to think expectations shouldn't be raised if there's no intention of fulfilling them. Kalkhoff manuals don't come with bikes either - but you can download relevant content. When I printed one off I realized why ... they're about an inch thick and even then some model variant stuff isn't covered. It's one extreme to the other

Sleep on it and give it some time. If you're not sorted by the weekend send the bike back and have another go with something you fancy instead .

 

[denwyn]

I agree with a lot you have said,the bike was well packed though,no damage to the box at all. It looked to me like it may not have been fitted properly in the first place,I doubt there would be claims etc against the courier as the broke piece of chain guard must only be a few ponds in cost. Yes the bike looks good,battery is all charged but I'm not using it till I get a replacement part and answers.no doubt if I did use it I would have even more problems should I wish a refund. As it is now I h will wait to see if I get a response from Kudos this morning, if I don't then I can see no other option but to ask for a full refund under sale of goods law. I did pm the Kudos person who posts on here a lot, explaining my problem, am a bit surprised he's been so quiet over this,could be he's on leave I suppose, anyway after sleeping on it I'm still a little annoyed at there customer service,maybe not so angry,but I do have this nagging feeling there not going to be very helpful, and I will end up demanding a full refund. I hope not. Yes I suppose I could do some sort of lash up repair on the bike,but why should I, all I want is them to send out a replacement part,failing that take the bike back.

 

[johnc461165]

Well denwyn after reading your posts all I can say is......I would hate to knock your pint over.

 

[Waspy]

Denwyn,

Try not to let emotion cloud your judgement.

You are getting a cracking bike for the money, I assume you got the sale price?

Give them a chance to replace the part, if you return it in a huff because they don't reply quickly enough or you don't like their people skills you will only end up spending a lot more on a comparable bike.

Disappointment is hard to take but try to be patient and focus on the money you are saving.

 

[denwyn]

Well denwyn after reading your posts all I can say is......I would hate to knock your pint over.

Yeah me to.... I have read all my posts re this again and OK I probably did over react a bit. Still not amused by Kudos customer service though. Some of the replies on here have been helpful,. There seem to be a lot who are part of the Kudos fan club though,and don't like what I say,I respect that. This episode has spoiled my first experience with the electric bike,I was so looking forward to it, now I,m no longer sure.

 

[johnc461165]

Relax it's a minor hiccup don't let trivia spoil what will be a great experience, when I got my new ebike the front light glass was cracked but within a few days I got a new front lamp off Alien and all was well.

 

[timidtom]

Yeah me to.... I have read all my posts re this again and OK I probably did over react a bit. Still not amused by Kudos customer service though. Some of the replies on here have been helpful,. There seem to be a lot who are part of the Kudos fan club though,and don't like what I say,I respect that. This episode has spoiled my first experience with the electric bike,I was so looking forward to it, now I,m no longer sure.

If you really want the joy of 'customer service - (how not to provide it!) try the Co-op Bank on a bad day/month - we've been locked out of the charity a/c for 3 weeks now. I'd lost my wallet which had the GOES debit card in & requested a new card - still struggling to obtain a new card!
I treasure the Co-op Bank because, like Mrs Thatcher, it provides more than enough reason to exercise my patience ...
Tom
Eat cake, e-bike, and grow happy!
PS - you probably don't have to eat the bike?

 

[denwyn]

Phone call from Kudos this morning, apology for my customer service experience, promise to put replacement part of chain guard in post today. With the handbook, it does seem there is not one for the bike, they did say the handbooks were very basic and may look into improving in future. Feeling a little more positive now, will wait for part to arrive, fit and test out the bike. The bike looks good to me, seems i got the wrong guy on the day i phoned them. Thanks Kudos for phoning me. Hoping its an end to it all now.

 

[denwyn]

Funny that as i bank online with Smile which is part of the Co-Op bank and there excellent. for me the worst customer service i have ever had was Sky, not for the TV we never had that just the internet. difficulty in understanding them, so slow,after much trouble i switched to Plusnet, who are no problem at all, Sky gave me my MAC code and acknowledged we were leaving, but continued to take payments for the internet from our bank account for two months, i stopped it and then had letters saying we were over due on our payments, took almost 4 months to sort out with them...It seems to me that there is a huge problem in this country with customer service all round. Kudos have by the look of it come good, and it was probably a small blip. The person i spoke to today was helpful, and knew what he was talking about.

 

[jazper53]

Sorry to hear of your experiences with Kudos, it can be frustrating when the bike is damaged either via transit or other means, and the apparent less than helpful after sales service. I have owned a Kudos for over 16 months and have been very pleased with my purchase from the very first day of delivery to present. I hope you can get past these minor difficulties and get the part(s) required to get up and running, and start to enjoy the fun of e-biking, all the best for the future.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Yeah me to.... There seem to be a lot who are part of the Kudos fan club though,and don't like what I say,I respect that.

As far as I can see, most people on this forum have a fairly balanced perspective. Kudos started about three years ago, and since then, many forum members have bought their bikes. I can't remember anybody else ever complaining about Kudos, so this sort of problem doesn't compute. Therefore, some people are wondering on which side does the problem lie. It would be unfair to say that it was on your side, of course, but when things don't add up, people are looking for an explanation. It's natural.

I was talking with a dealer recently, who sounded close to breakdown because of all the quality problems he was getting with the bikes that he sells. A lot of the problems are electrical and difficult to diagnose. The last thing he needs is to have customers demanding their rights when he's trying to sort out difficult problems. As I said before, when things go wrong, everybody loses. It doesn't mater which bike you buy, they all get problems.

Personally, I think that your expectations are too high. I think that if you'd had no response for a few days, I'd be more on your side, but we're talking about effectively a few hours. I'm going to bet that it'll all be sorted out by the end of the day. It took you weeks to decide which bike to buy. Another day won't hurt.

It's much easier to take a balanced view when you're not involved, of course.

 

[Geebee]

Requesting a photo of the part is always a good idea, there maybe different guards over the model run, different colours.
And having worked in a repair industry I have often had customers describe faults and broken parts only to arrive and find it doesn't match what I interpereted from the phone call.

 

[Kudoscycles]

Denwyn, I am 1500 miles away from the uk at the moment. Your problem was bought to my attention 9.30 last night,this is the first opportunity I have had Internet access.
Kudos and it's parent company,namely Rally Design,makes customer service a priority,we PDI these bikes as thoroughly as possible and please trust me that we spot many minor problems from the Chinese that are sorted before you receive your bike. Unfortunately there is no such thing as a reliable courier,some are better than others but it's all down to the care of the individual courier handler.
It makes no difference to me whether you pay £650 for your bike or £3000,you have a right to expect the joy of receiving a perfect product and anything which spoils the fun of having a brand new product is a shame,for that I apologise.
I hope that my general manager has sorted your problem by now.
I can only say that the Kudos City bike and it's sister bike Liberty are just so relaxing bikes to ride,every time I ride a Kudos City bike I find myself humming the tune 'those lazy hazy crazy days of summer',it sort of fits the relax style of riding this bike.
Hope this opening blip does not spoil your long term enjoyment of the City bike.
KudosDave