Giant Bicycles part II
My bicycle story is long and mostly uninteresting.
Previously on 'Giant Bicycles', we found that a not-very-used $1000 bicycle had broken, but that it was under warranty.
The saga continues.
Bike 'n' Hike, here in Portland, Oregon, has done a spectacular job of attempting to remedy the situation for me. They looked into my issue (bike bought in Japan, warranty not valid here), and in the end, they went the extra mile and got me a very good deal on a replacement frame for a bike of similar specifications- a good-will deal they were under no obligation to offer.
In the end, though, the frame arrived and rather than a couple hundred dollars worth of upgrade parts (to cover the ones from my old bike which would not fit on the new frame) the total was going to come to more like five hundred dollars.
So, in the eyes of the bike shop, that's $300 for the frame, $500 for the other parts = $800 for a bicycle which retails for around $1300... and that translates out to a great deal.
However, in the eyes of this here guy, that's $1000 for the bike which shouldn't have broken so easily... plus $800, or a grand total of $1800, which is MORE than a $1300 new bike.
At this point I am inclined to pitch myself on the floor and throw a fit. Possibly with hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing.
The bicycle dealer has really been five-star on this issue, but I just can't justify $800 for another damn bike which I hardly use.
However, there is one solution. I am going to Japan next year. I will take the bike with me and drop it off for repair, in person, and leave them the address to ship it home to.
Problem solved. Well, except for that 'no ridable bicycle until summer 08' part.
posted by Will Von Wizzlepig @ 11:28 PM
2 Comments:
Can you ship it to Japan for repairs on the slow boat? Or is it too expensive?
Well, there are two problems with that: I have to be there with the bicycle to prove I own it, and I have to actually get it to them.
As unhelpful as the people I bought the bike from were when I called them, I get the feeling that it'll be more of the same from whatever Giant dealer I locate and am able to communicate my issue to.
That and I would likely end up having to pay the upgrade costs just as I am here- there IS no replacement part for that bike, so the best they'd be able to do is get me the same upgrade fram and then it would be up to me to, yet again, pay to get all the parts that fit on it.
Not to mention the questionable damage- it looks like someone hit it with a hammer, and there's a piece missing- I still have no idea how it broke or why.
So, so much for the lifetime warranty.
I feel bad for the guys at Bike 'n' Hike who went out of their way to help me in ordering a frame and all that, but I told them from the start I didn't want to spend $1000. They completely disassembled my bike and THEN called me and told me it was going to be $1000, so now not only don't I have a working bike, I just have a pile of fucking parts.
Ooops. Now I am getting mad.
New subject.
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