Especially for Lousy Service

Follow Up to Best Cycle Experience

After the debacle of buying a bike there, last week I got a funny letter from Best Cycle. It came from the General Manager and stated how happy he was that I had bought from them and he trusted that my experience was great (this is not a quote, but my interpretation). It was a full page letter that ended with the notation that I might recieve a survey on my buying experience and if there was any reason I couldn't mark the survey as I would definitely recommend to someone else or that I would definitely buy there again, I should call him up to discuss the matter.

Monday I took him up on the offer and called him. After explaining that I couldn't mark either of those categories positively, he wanted to know why. I explained the whole story and he said that it sounded like they didn't get much of anything right. Um-hu.

Then he asked what he could do to help make ammends. I said that getting me that promised gift certificate might be a start. He asked how much I was promised and I told him, he said he would get it out to me.

I also suggested a hand-off checklist. He said there was one and he would look to see if it was filled out. After a bit more discussion on the checklist, we ended the conversation.

The funny thing is, it has been 5 days since I talked to him - there is still no gift certificate in my hand. I guess they really don't want me near their store again. Not a problem, I will go to their rival in Concord for all my business - which includes maintenance and parts.

Best Cycle Review; Hint - Worst Buying Experience

There has been a recent major problem and I have an experience to share that started on 5/11/08:

So, I was all excited when I walked into Best Cycle on that Sunday. I had spent months researching what I wanted and had spent weeks looking for a place that had it. Best Cycle had what I wanted and I was able to make a deal that satisfied me.

I picked out parts to go on the bike; saddlebags, sissy bar etc – I paid to have them put the parts on. After all the paperwork was done, I was asked when I wanted to pick it up. Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday – I wasn’t sure what would jive with my husband’s schedule (we live an hour away). Not a problem, call at least a day before I wanted to pick it up and they would have all the parts put on and the bike prepped.

I talked with my husband that night, and we agreed that Wednesday was the best day. I knew that my sales guy, Bill, was out that day, but he had already said he could get someone to cover if need be. Monday morning I got coverage for the bike and Monday afternoon I called the dealer to let them know which day I was picking the bike up on. I talked to Bill who said that wasn’t a problem and he would make sure the bike was ready. I asked him if I needed to bring an insurance rider – he said that we were all set and I didn’t need to bring anything with me.

Tuesday, Bill called me at work to see what day I was picking up the bike; Wednesday, between 5:30 and 6. Oh.

Wednesday my husband and I both left work before we normally do, met at the house and made our way to Best Cycle. After completing the last of the paperwork, giving them the insurance rider (which, it turned out WAS needed – and which I happened to have with me) and giving them my down payment, they put on a temporary tag and an inspection sticker. The Sales guy filling in for Bill told us we needed to stop and get gas soon because they only had a hand pump so it didn’t have much gas in it. I thought this was rather chintzy, all other vehicles that I or my husband had bought new vehicles (including his bike) came with full gas tanks. But, I decided not to make an issue of it.

My husband was to ride the bike from the dealer to Milford; as a relatively inexperienced rider, I didn’t want to hassle with the rush-hour traffic in Nashua/Amherst. We made it about 5 miles down the road when I realized that the bike did not have the parts installed on it. We stopped and I called the manager, Brian, and let him know that I was rather unhappy. After Brian made suggestions that were impractical for our situation, I told him I was returning the bike. On the way back, we had to put gas in it as it was cutting out on my husband.

At the dealership, Brian apparently was too chicken to come out and talk to me. Instead, I got to talk to Bill’s replacement. After many back-and-forths, we came to the agreement that they would deliver the bike Friday, after 3:30 when my husband would make a special effort to be home. Because the substitute sales guy had made the suggestion that they deliver it and leave the keys in the mailbox (NO, NO and NO!), I specifically told him that the keys were only to be handed off to my husband – not left anywhere. I also asked for some consideration for the 3.5 hours both my husband and I had wasted on the venture (not to mention the 80 mile round trip and the tank of gas we supplied the bike). He went back to Brian (still hiding in another part of the building still) and came back saying that the best they could do was to give me a $30 gift certificate. They would drop it in the mail, er, deliver it with the bike.

Thursday while at work, I got a call from the service department saying that the work was done and that I could pick it up any time. I responded that they were supposed to deliver it. “Oh, do they know that?” was the response I got. I assured him that it had been arranged the previous evening. He said he would let Sales know that the bike was ready.

That night, I walked in the door and found 2 messages from the service department stating that I could pick up the bike. At least one of the messages was AFTER I had talked to the service guy. I got nervous and called the dealership. All the lines were busy, so I left a message stating who I was, that I wanted to make sure they were planning to deliver the bike the next day, and please call me back. An hour and 15 minutes later, having not received a call back, I called and actually got to talk to a real live person; Bill. Now, I had been disappointed that Bill hadn’t called me and apologized for the error. He didn’t even apologize when I had him on the phone and told him who I was, he just handed me off to Brian.

I told Brian that I wanted to ensure the bike was being delivered. Yep, it was. I told him that they weren’t to deliver it early and leave the keys anywhere – the keys should be handed to my husband only. Yep, got it.

I got home Friday evening and saw the bike in the yard. Great, although there had been some hassle, I had my new bike. Until my husband told me there were no keys. WHAT? Some guy (my husband was under the impression that perhaps it was the General Sales Manager), who lives in the next town, delivered it on his way home. He got the bike off the truck and told my husband that he was really sorry for the hassles, that that is not the way Best Cycles does business. He had heard I was really upset and if there was anything he could do down the road, to give him a call (conveniently, he had no business card with him, so I wouldn’t know who to call anyway).

The guy got into his truck and was ready to leave when my husband asked about the keys. They’re in the bike. No, they aren’t. After a phone call to the shop the guy said they would have the keys to us by 6 Saturday evening. My husband said okay and told the guy that if we weren’t home, that he was to leave the keys with our neighbor across the street. He reiterated not to leave the keys in the mailbox or anywhere else.

Saturday night we left for a graduation dinner shortly before 7. No keys yet. At that point, I was so disgusted and hated the bike for putting me through this hell and was ready just to load it onto the truck and take it back to Best Cycle. I had been paying for a loan for a week (since I signed papers on the previous Sunday) and hadn’t even sat on it yet. I was trying to decide if I needed to call the cops to meet me there when I returned the bike to ensure that I got a total refund (including finance charges) because the dealer seemed unwilling or unable to fulfill the contract (which is a very nice way of saying theft by deception).

We got home late that night and much to my surprise the key was there. Unfortunately, and unsurprising considering their track record thus far the delivery guy had left the key in the front door. What part of “don’t leave the key anywhere, give it to the neighbor” did they not understand? There also wasn’t a business card so I couldn’t personally thank the guy who dropped the keys off. Nor was there a gift certificate (it didn’t come with the bike either). And last off, there was no message on the answering machine telling us the keys had been delivered, and where they were. It was pure luck that I happened to see the keys (in the dark) and that they didn’t fall thru between the boards of the porch to be lost because we didn’t know they were there.

So, thru this whole transaction, the only thing that happened as it was supposed to was that they got their money. Everything else was a headache and a hassle. Best Cycle, according to their website, has the motto “CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IS OUR #1 PRIORITY!” That is demonstrably not true. There was absolutely nothing satisfying to me in the transaction.

Every promise they made, they broke. What should have been an exciting experience (buying my first brand new bike) became a nightmare that I’m not positive is over. So much bad luck so far, what kind of luck will I have when I actually get on the bike? That is not the sort of thing you want to be thinking about when on top of two wheels!

So, some points to ponder for Best Cycle:

1. Managers should not hide when there is a problem. There is something to be said for having a sales person handle a portion of the feather-soothing, but when he has to disappear to talk to you every 2 minutes because he has no authority to promise anything, my patience is tried just a wee bit (not good when I’m already upset).
2. Communication is key! Some sort of check-off policy should be in place if a substitute has to stand in for the initial sales person. This is something that was suggested to substitute sales guy, of which he seemed to just shrug off.
3. When delivering a vehicle, make sure there is a key to go with it. This is especially critical if you have already screwed up with the customer before.
4. Do what you say. If you have a problem delivering as promised, a phone call goes a long way. If the delivery guy had called and said he was running late, fine, I would have just reiterated where he needed to leave the keys.
5. When the customer tells everyone and anyone not to leave the keys unattended – DON’T LEAVE THE FREAKING KEYS UNATTENDED! If something had happened and the keys were not to be found, the bike would have been returned and cops called. You do not want that!
6. If the key is left unattended, you might want to leave the customer a message to that effect. That way the customer knows to look for the key and not assume that they have been blown off again.
7. When the customer is in a quality field, and there are problems with the transaction (not due to customer issues), tell that person how you plan to use this experience to improve the quality of service to other customers. If I had an inkling that you were thinking of ways to keep this from happening again, I would be more kindly disposed to your dealership.
8. Regardless of who screwed up what, it would be nice if the original sales person (who is getting the commission) would call and apologize for problems experienced.
9. If you promise a gift card as a platitude to the customer, make sure the customer actually gets the gift card. As of this date, 5-22-08, no gift card has been received. Believe me, with all the problems, the only way I will ever get within 500 feet of your store again is to cash in a gift card!
10. Hey, and the customer shouldn’t have to ask for that gift card (that was never received). You should have offered something – if not after the first screw-up, after the second one anyway.

Deliverance

Yesterday morning we got on the road early, in our quest for a refrigerator. Our first stop was Sears. Although there are other places we could get appliances at, our experience has been that their prices are the same as other stores (okay, L*wes and HD may be cheaper, but I've never been able to compare the same brands/models and they have crap for selection unless you want to special order).

The roads were surprisingly light on traffic. The parking lots of eateries and malls were jammed though. After trying to find someplace for breakfast, we gave up and decided shopping for a fridge on an empty stomach was not as bad as shopping for groceries on an empty stomach.

So, we went in and found the appliance department, which was devoid of people. I had been telling WS the reason no one is holding sales on fridges is because no one buys a fridge for Christmas. He didn't believe me until he saw the dearth of people at the fridge/freezer section compared to everywhere else.

We looked at fridges for a while without anyone bothering us. Then, it was like we started a fad - 3 sets of people decided fridges were what they wanted to look at (not seriously, but somehow when we shop for anything, we managed to draw others after us like moths to a flame. It's like they think we know where the good stuff is - seriously, we can jam an aisle full of people and leave the rest of the store empty - strange but true).

After about 5 minutes the 3 sets of people went away, and the salesman finally decided we might be serious buyers and asked if we needed help. After asking about additional sizes for two basic models (no ice makers, no nothing besides shelves and a light), I asked if either one would be available that day, explaining that we had been without a fridge since Wednesday. No, they were in the warehouse. Okay, could either be delivered tomorrow (which would be Saturday)? I would buy one as long as it could be delivered then. After checking, he informed us that either one could be delivered in that time frame. 

Beauteous! I picked one and told him I wanted it delivered on Saturday and the old fridge picked up. No problem. After the transaction was complete, he told us to wait by the phone between 6 and 9 PM for a call to schedule delivery.

We waited, and waited and waited. You know that even things that seem to go smoothly somehow get messed up for us right?

So, at 9:05 PM, I called the Sears fridge department and told my story to a sales associate. He gave me the number to Deliveries. After interacting with an automated system, I found that we were scheduled for a Sunday delivery. This is not good.

I called the Sales Associate back and informed him that the only reason I bought the fridge is because I was assured that it could be delivered on Saturday. After some checking, he found that the original Salesman had input Sunday as the delivery date.

"We are living out of coolers, and have been since Wednesday. I need someone to find a way to undo his mistake and get me that fridge tomorrow.

After some hemming and hawing, he decided I needed to talk to a manager. Upon the transfer, I spoke to a woman and told her the story from the beginning. She broke in and said, "I need to transfer you to a Associate in Appliances."

"No - don't send me there, he just sent me to you!"

She finally figured out that she needed to get me to a manager. After a couple of minutes, another lady got on the phone. I started telling her the story and she interrupted with, "I need to transfer you to a Associate in Appliances."

"No, I've already spoken to the Appliance Associate, and I was supposed to talk to a manager, are you a manager?"

Turns out she was a manager - only for clothing. She listened to the rest of my story though, and finally got me in contact with "Don".

I told him the story (I was getting quite good at it by this time). He took down my name and number and promised to call right back.

Wonder of wonders, about 5 minutes later he did call back. Unfortunately, it wasn't with the news that I wanted. They can't deliver on Saturday because it is in the warehouse and they don't deliver on Saturdays - but apparently they deliver on Sundays (I'm not sure I buy that, but can't prove otherwise). After reiterating that the only reason I bought the fridge at Sears was that I was promised that it could be delivered on Saturday, Don told me he would have the original Salesman call me in the morning and offer me a rebate.

Unfortunately they have me in a tight spot. I could cancel the refrigerator, but I'm sure I couldn't get it from anywhere else any faster, so I guess I will have to live with it. We'll see if the Associate calls with a rebate - if not, Don is getting another phone call.

Guess we'll be sitting by the phone between 6 and 9 tonight for scheduling delivery tomorrow.