UK customer service

[Seeker]

Perhaps this should be in "gripe of the day".

I am toying with the idea of fitting fork cartridges to my AL7 and I try to buy British when available. The only cartridges I have found so far are Ohlins and K-tech. I wrote to K-Tech since they seem to be a UK company and asked them if they have anything for my SV and they said:

"Currently we do not have a listing for this fitment. I am pretty sure we could make our 20IDS or 25IDS to fit these forks we just need a pair of forks to measure."

I'm a hopeless salesman but in this situation I would have said:
"We don't know where you live but if you're willing to allow us to measure your bike, we're prepared to offer a discount and free fitting".

They didn't ask so I didn't offer and I'll buy Ohlins if I go ahead. If I make an inquiry it means I have some interest in a product which is a potential sale. Maybe they don't need the business, maybe they are just bad at selling but I find this lackadaisical attitude frustrating.

I’m not entirely sure I understand what the company might have done wrong here. Have you already been offered a discount by Ohlins and so expected the same from the UK company? If not then it seems that the company has responded fairly, so I’m not really sure why you would have expected a discount.

Have I missed something?


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[SV650rules]

Being as the SV is such a popular bike for suspension upgrades I am surprised K-Tech hadn't already done work on this, maybe they don't need the work ! Maybe you got the apprentice.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Othen

I’m not entirely sure I understand what the company might have done wrong here.

they haven't done anything "wrong", but I'm a potential customer, they have a product that might fit if adjusted yet they chose to let me walk away. This kind of apathy irritates me. People notice when a company goes the extra mile but they also notice when a company can't be bothered.
This company couldn't be bothered, bearing in mind that the Ohlins inserts cost between £500 and £600, I am assuming the K-Tech would be similar.

They do make inserts for earlier SV models and the person that answered the email was in sales.

Originally Posted by Seeker

they haven't done anything "wrong", but I'm a potential customer, they have a product that might fit if adjusted yet they chose to let me walk away. This kind of apathy irritates me. People notice when a company goes the extra mile but they also notice when a company can't be bothered.
This company couldn't be bothered, bearing in mind that the Ohlins inserts cost between £500 and £600, I am assuming the K-Tech would be similar.

They do make inserts for earlier SV models and the person that answered the email was in sales.

Wouldn’t it be worth taking your bike to the factory to have the forks measured as I don’t think that would cost anything? The parts may well be a lot less than £500 to £600 (I’m not sure what the insert parts are for, I’ll google it in a moment and do some research), and you would be doing both the company and other SV riders who might be interested in the product a favour?
I’m not sure about people expecting discounts; if it is a good product and is what you need then paying the sticker price sounds reasonable (which does not mean you shouldn’t shop around first).
Unless you have already been offered a discount by the Ohlins dealer (in which case tell the British manufacturer and he may well match it), I don’t think the above would be an unreasonable thing to do.
Good fortune.


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[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Othen

Wouldn’t it be worth taking your bike to the factory to have the forks measured as I don’t think that would cost anything?

ok, forget the discounts, maybe that's confusing the issue. The first part of your comment is exactly what K-Tech should have suggested imho. Had they asked me to take my bike to be measured I would have agreed but they didn't, instead they said they have something that might fit but what am I supposed to do with that information? Buy the part and pray only to find out it doesn't fit and have them refuse to refund the money because it's been used? The message I received implied to me that they weren't interested, the SV market is small and not worth the time and effort perhaps? Who knows, who cares - obviously they don't, so why should I?

"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression". I thought all salesmen knew this mantra, obviously not at K-Tech.

Maybe I'm tainted with having worked in the US for 20 years but if a salesman got a whiff of interest from you they bent over backwards to try and accommodate what you wanted.

Originally Posted by Seeker

ok, forget the discounts, maybe that's confusing the issue. The first part of your comment is exactly what K-Tech should have suggested imho. Had they asked me to take my bike to be measured I would have agreed but they didn't, instead they said they have something that might fit but what am I supposed to do with that information? Buy the part and pray only to find out it doesn't fit and have them refuse to refund the money because it's been used? The message I received implied to me that they weren't interested, the SV market is small and not worth the time and effort perhaps? Who knows, who cares - obviously they don't, so why should I?



"You never get a second chance to make a good first impression". I thought all salesmen knew this mantra, obviously not at K-Tech.



Maybe I'm tainted with having worked in the US for 20 years but if a salesman got a whiff of interest from you they bent over backwards to try and accommodate what you wanted.

I think I must have misunderstood something here, it seemed to me that when the company said:

"Currently we do not have a listing for this fitment. I am pretty sure we could make our 20IDS or 25IDS to fit these forks we just need a pair of forks to measure."

It was looking for a set of forks to measure (i.e. yours) and would adjust one of its products to suit (either the 20IDS or 25IDS model) - and when I re-read that, it still seems to be what it says. If the company is indeed offering to measure your forks so it can develop a product to fit then that would be a perfectly good deal, if on the other hand it is only offering to sell you a standard part so you can have a go yourself than I’d agree with you. Have I misunderstood the situation?

I’d tend to agree with you about customer service in the USA (I lived in Va for 3 years, and it was always very good), but I’d add the USA (and to a lesser extent Canada) was the only place I have found like that. I lived all over the world during my working career and would say that all of Europe is exactly the same as the UK, all of Africa and Central America are far worse, as is Asia (although I never lived in China or Japan).

Good fortune.




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[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Othen

"Currently we do not have a listing for this fitment. I am pretty sure we could make our 20IDS or 25IDS to fit these forks we just need a pair of forks to measure."

Then it is a question of semantics.

The above quote expresses a wistful need for a set of forks to measure. I would have expected something along the lines of: "Could we measure your forks?" if that was what they wanted.

I'll shop elsewhere, no worries.

Originally Posted by Seeker

Then it is a question of semantics.



The above quote expresses a wistful need for a set of forks to measure. I would have expected something along the lines of: "Could we measure your forks?" if that was what they wanted.



I'll shop elsewhere, no worries.

... maybe you are right, you have seen the whole exchange. I might well have read their comment as asking to measure your bike for the parts, but I concede the company could have been more proactive.

If you are not happy with the service then it is of course your prerogative to shop elsewhere - that is exactly why customer service is so good in the USA (and it is a larger market so there would be 10 competitors vying for your hard earned dollars, not two).


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[yokohama]

Have you considered Maxton?
They are British and did fork upgrades for the old SV although I don't know if they've moved forward onto the new model.