David
I did say on another thread that due to workload I shall not be posting much over the next few days.
However since I am still at work at 20h30 and due to the fact that you seem intent on criticizing me, I feel compelled to reply.
Firstly, I do not feel that Woosh has given you dreadful service.
The bike was purchased under the Cycle to Work scheme for another rider, not you. However, it appears that it is you who is riding the bike and not the other rider. It would have been interesting to know what the other rider's reactions to the bike were. You complained about a scratch on the bike on receipt but more importantly that over the following few weeks the gears made a crunching sound when changed on a hill. If many customers had had the same problem we would have agreed that there could be an issue but the fact is that not a single person has complained to me about this apart from you , and I have doubts about Kudos Dave's insistence that 'countless people' complained to him at his Redbridge event earlier in the year. He has yet to substantiate this. You have also seen for yourself on this forum that most people do not seem to think that there is an issue with changing the gears on this model.
We received the bike back today. It is possible that something else accounts for the problems that you had - for example, damage during its initial transit to you which resulted in physical damage to the bike's hardware such as the chain, derailleur or free wheel. We have not had time to inspect the bike yet but if a problem like this becomes apparent I will certainly let you know and I shall be completely truthful about it.
We then offered to upgrade your bike for you at a very modest sum - yes, in view of all the costs we had incurred - to a Big Bear LS. As far as I am aware, apart from some vibrations through the handlebar headset that you mentioned, this bike seems to be performing well for you and you are happy with it. I can supply copy emails from you to substantiate this if necessary.
I do not see therefore how Woosh can be accused of bad service on this particular point. .
So if I understand correctly, the bad service relates either to the technical support that you received when you were unable to change the gears or to the Parcelforce service which relates to the collection of the Santana CD following delivery of your Big Bear LS upgrade. The technical support appertaining to the gear changes has already been documented. The fact remains that no other customer, out of nearly 2000 crank drive bikes delivered by us to date, has complained about this problem except for you and Kudos Dave's 'very nice couple whose names I don't know' (quote).
As I said, however, your problem may lie elsewhere.
Now, lets move on to the collection of the Santana CD bike..
We have spent the past 5 years using 3 couriers: Citylink, Interlink and Parcelforce. All three have a delivery success rate of the due date of around 95%. Of the three, Citylink and Parcelforce rates for delivery were (and still are) £19 plus VAT for a 2 day working service, whilst Interlink's are £23 plus VAT for an overnight (next business day) delivery.
For damage during transit the statistics are roughly as follows: interlink , 20% of items damaged, Citylink and Parcelforce 5% items damaged. No bike has ever been written off with a courier. The damage incurred has been minor, such as a broken light, cracked chain guard or broken rear carrier. We have decided that overall Parcelforce is the best courier at the moment. The reason for this is that we receive an excellent, prompt collection service here with a large van daily at 4pm - without fail - and 95% of items arrive safely with 2 working days. Parcelforce do not use a conveyor belt for our bikes, whilst Interlink apparently do and incur far more damage.
Collections by many couriers are dealt with differently and incur more costs. I do not understand why exactly this happens but if I find out, I will let you know. To get a collection via Interlink is £35 plus VAT. It arrives overnight but with the inherent high risk of damage due to the use of conveyor belts. A Parcelforce collection costs £27 but the goods rarely get damaged due to the fact that a conveyor belt is not used.
When the order was initially placed by you you gave me instructions for the courier on how he could find your house. There was evidently some difficulty with this or you would not have needed to give them to me.
These instructions were printed on a label by me and affixed to the carton by me. When I arranged collection from you I did not have the means to issue similar instructions. I cannot for example print a label for you and this would be pointless because there would be no need - by that time, the courier would have found you and collected the bike. So I have to issue instructions on the Parcelforce booking website and the number of characters allowing me to do this are limited - I think around 16 letters or so. I can hardly put that your house is the last building before such and such a place on the booking form for collection - there is insufficient space - but I can do so when sending the goods because I can physically affix labels to the carton.
Parcelforce did not collect from you on the due date. Not good. I quite agree. When I complained to the manager at your local depot, he said that the usual driver was on holiday and that an agency driver had had to be used. This driver could not find your house. In the absence of a street name and in the absence of specific directions for collection due to the system, he simply could not find you. He tried the following day and again could not find you. He may not have been bright, he may have been foreign ....I do not know. But he could not find you. He tried.
I then tried to get hold of you twice by email with no luck and finally rang you to arrange collection on 29th July. I called the manager at the local Parcelforce depot on the day I booked the collection to make sure it would happen. I then called on the morning of 29th July and again they confirmed that it would happen.
You did not call me to say that the collection did not happen 29th July.
You say that the item was taken from a cellar? Could you please tell me more? I have never heard of such a thing. Was the cellar locked? Did you leave instructions that it could be collected from there? Presumably not. This obviously is quite serious and I will take it up with Parcelforce and let you know what they say.
In spite of this, I still maintain that I have no control over couriers and I would think that any sensible, intelligent person would understand this.
And as I said to you recently, a 100% guaranteed delivery / collection service would cost a great deal more with DHL or TNT. Would you have been willing to pay some £80 to £90 for this? I asked you and said that if you were, perhaps other customers would agree and we could then offer this as an option. You didn't reply. Could you do so now?
I recently sent a bike to Parcelforce in Belfast. The customer came up from southern Ireland by train to collect the bike in a box. The Parcelforce staff not only took the bike out of its box but finished assembling it, checked it, kept the carton to throw away with their main rubbish and then accompanied him to the station because he wasn't sure how to get there on his new bike. The customer is very happy with us...and very happy with Parcelforce.
This thread promises to be an extremely boring one. I pity anyone who wants to read it in its entirety, but you forced me to write it. .
Evenin' all.
Hatti
