Wheel & Sprocket, Inc.

Review: I recently purchased a bike frame from one of wheel and sprocket's sister companies called "eighthinch bikes" on [redacted]. So the seller and the manufacturer of the frame is essentially the same business. The frame listed as a 59cm frame on the [redacted] listing. The picture on the same listing was actually the 50cm frame and the one I thought I would be receiving. To this day the company still fraudulently represents the listings on [redacted] and has yet to offer a direct response to any of my attempts to get the frame swapped for the one that they displayed on the auction that I won. I have a picture of the listing and proof that they fraudulently represented the frame that was sent. If this issue is not resolved my only recourse will be small claims court.Desired Settlement: I want the frame that was pictured on the listing that I won. I know it's past the [redacted] return period, but the bike itself has been together about 20 days and quite frankly the 59cm with the 170mm head tube is terrible.

Business

Response:

Hello,

I've attached a PDF of the email correspondence between [redacted] and Wheel & Sprocket for reference.

To be brief, here is a summary of the major points:

Between on June 11, June 27 and July 11 of 2013, [redacted] made three purchases from our online stores, a frame and rims on [redacted], and a crankset on [redacted]. All three orders were fulfilled and delivered successfully.

On Friday, September 27 around 9:30pm (more than two months after his purchases), [redacted] initiated a series of emails outlining his issues. On Sunday, September 29 around 9:30am, we responded to his emails with the intent to resolve all of his concerns. Though his issues were all over the board in terms of content ranging from product quality issues to online listing issues to customer service issues, we assured him that it was our strict intent to deal with each issue in a positive manner.

Ultimately, we settled on a resolution that he would return all the products he purchased for a full refund. We believe we acted in good faith throughout the correspondence and quite frankly gave [redacted] every benefit of the doubt. Throughout the process, we honored each aspect of our stated policies. He had issues with the product quality, and we are honoring the warranty, as would be the case with any quality claim. In regards to our customer service staff ignoring him, we cannot find any record of such. The first contact we have logged from [redacted] was on that Friday night September 27. I believe a reasoned response on Sunday morning (0 business days later) was perfectly acceptable. When asked for additional details as to how our customer service team failed him, he was unable to produce any detail. He has also refused several requests to talk on the phone to resolve any issues he had.

It is my belief that [redacted] was frustrated with the product he had willingly purchased and then unfortunately reacted in the way he did. It is strange that his messages were so virulent and aggressive in tone and language, especially coming out of the blue. By threatening to 'go-public' and report our business through all available channels (including Revdex.com), it is my belief he was attempting to force his way into a resolution. Perhaps because other [redacted] sellers have quaestionable business and service practices, he felt the need to come out swinging. Fortunately for [redacted], Wheel & Sprocket has been in business for 40 years we have very customer-focused policies that are fair to everyone. Our company's core value is 'to be more than fair' , so it was not going to be difficult for us to help [redacted].

We handled this situation as best we could, giving [redacted] the benefit of the doubt and conducting ourselves professionally and responding to his emails in a very timely manner. We believe that offering to take back non-resellable product beyond our stated returns period for a full refund is more than fair; at this point I'm not sure what else we can do for him. We followed our standards for service and afforded [redacted] the same attention and care as any other customer; we did not treat him differently because of the threats he made. Despite reaching a timely and satisfactory resolution, it is disappointing that he felt the need to register a complaint to the Revdex.com.

Feel free to contact us for any other information.

Thanks,

Consumer

Response:

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]

I would like to see in the near future that Wheel and Sprocket takes the incorrect pictures off of the [redacted] listings in general.

As of this response the listing still stands with the incorrect pictures, as do the listings in other sizes and colors with the exception of the 50cm frame.

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and In regards to the issues that personally effect me I find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Others might not feel the same way in the future if the incorrect picture continues to represent the incorrect auction.