Hein Gericke?

I bought myself I really nice all season bike jacket from HG on the 16/02 and one of the poppers has already come away I know all zips and poppers and stuff are guaranteed for 2 years, but seeing as its only a couple of weeks old, what are the chances of getting my money back?

Originally Posted by PoRk ChOp

I bought myself I really nice all season bike jacket from HG on the 16/02 and one of the poppers has already come away I know all zips and poppers and stuff are guaranteed for 2 years, but seeing as its only a couple of weeks old, what are the chances of getting my money back?

Very good, although HG stuff is usually better than that. Try another one before you ask for your money back

Originally Posted by Jabba-the-Hutt

although HG stuff is usually better than that

Thats what I thought

What he said!


I mostly use HG gear and their quality is generally pretty good.... try taking a replacement.

There was much talk about getting a refund from HG a while back when someone from another forum was having huge problems. It ended in the MD of HG writing a post on the forum.

And oddly enough, I have a copy

The following message is posted at the request of Mr Guy Mainwaring, Joint Managing Director, Hein Gericke (UK) Ltd :

My name is Guy Mainwaring and I am joint Managing Director of Hein Gericke UK Limited. I was pleased to meet with Danny Stewart on Saturday to discuss the problems he has encountered with Hein Gericke and that we were able to bring this matter to an amicable conclusion.

I would now like to take this opportunity to publicly apologise not only to Danny but also to our army of loyal customers for having on this occasion failed you so dramatically, falling short of meeting the high standards of customer service which we have set ourselves and generally achieve.

Hein Gericke UK Limited has used a “Goodwill Policy” in conjunction with consumer statutory rights since its inception in the UK in 1991. The reason for this to give clarity and guidance to our staff to help them deal with any problem appertaining to faulty goods in a swift efficient and most importantly consistent manner. Whilst consumer law clearly defines what constitutes when and how faulty goods can be rejected, clear guidance for either the consumer or retailer as to the time frame for rejecting said goods is not so clear, it merely states that there should be a reasonable period in order to reject goods. What constitutes a reasonable period is dependant on the type of goods concerned and their intended use. Ultimately the only person who can determine what a reasonable period is would be a judge.

Our “Goodwill Policy” was designed to give clear guidance and suggested actions that were in harmony with Office of Fair Trading regulations in order to deal with a broad range of “real world” situations in a timely, consistent and indeed flexible manner, offering different alternatives for the customer in order to deal with their complaint. However, this policy is a tool and in time honoured tradition a tool is only as good as the person using it.

Having thoroughly reviewed this situation I am confident that it was not our policy that failed Danny but the way in which the policy was implemented. Danny was offered a repair to his jacket which he declined due to no loan jacket being available. He requested a replacement which was entirely his prerogative. Our policy as it currently stands allows for this request anyway and as such a replacement could and should have been offered, allowing the matter to be closed with all parties satisfied.

Here is the heart of the problem, as previously stated our policy did not let Danny down, it was the implementation of our policy at both store and Head Office level. We got it wrong twice, inconveniencing Danny our customer and badly letting ourselves down in the process and damaging our reputation in the process and this I consider to be unforgivable.

This incident has clearly highlighted an on going training need within Hein Gericke UK Limited with regard to dealing with faulty goods and customer services issues at both shop and Head Office level. These training issues will be addressed in the following manner,

1. Store manager training sessions with the sole focus of reviewing the implementation of our customer “Goodwill Policy” in a timely, flexible manner have been scheduled:

Tuesday 14 Jan – Southern area store managers.

Wednesday 15 Jan – Midlands’s area store managers.

Thursday 16 Jan – Northern area store managers and all Head Office customer
Services staff.

2. Ongoing one on one “in store” customer care training sessions conducted by Southern, Midlands and Northern area sales managers with all members of sales staff.

3. Ongoing one on one customer care training sessions conducted by myself with all Head Office customer services staff.

4. A range of quality “loan” garments to be available in all Hein Gericke stores by the end of January 2003.

5. Enhanced Customer “Goodwill Policy”, which is fully detailed below to be implemented Friday17th January 2003:

Customer Goodwill Policy.

All Faults

· Faulty goods returned within 90 days with a valid proof of purchase i.e. receipt or credit card statement:

Action: 1. Repair (loan garment to be offered to customer)
2. Exchange
3. Issue credit note
4. Refund

· Faulty goods returned between 90 days and 180 days with a valid proof of purchase i.e. receipt or credit card statement

Action: 1. Repair (loan garment to be offered to customer)
2. Exchange
3. Issue credit note

· Faulty goods returned between 180 days and 720 days with a valid proof of purchase i.e. receipt or credit card statement

Action: 1. Repair (loan garment to be offered to customer)
2. Exchange if a repair is impossible i.e. leaking waterproofs

(The above is a guide line, it is essential that this policy is implemented with
a flexible approach in order to bring any claim to a mutually agreeable conclusion)

In conclusion I would like to once again state that this situation should never have happened, however, it is essential that Hein Gericke learn from its mistakes in order that good can come from this. I hope that Hein Gericke have demonstrated its ability to admit that it is not always right and that it can listen to its customers in order to put things right. We understand that you the customer have choices and that we are not the only retailer of motorcycle clothing in the market. Value for money products whilst important are not the only reason customers shop with us and this is something we allowed ourselves to forget, if only for a short period. Rest assured your voices have been heard and we are grateful for the wake up call. We will improve and strive to regain our previous reputation as an honest and trustworthy organisation with UK biker’s interests very much at heart.

I look forward to meeting you under more pleasant circumstances at your annual ride out.

Yours sincerely,

Guy Mainwaring.

Joint Managing Director.

That's a pretty good reply from the MD.

Not only does he admit fault but schedules training to stop it happening again 10/10 for customer service (even if they did get it wrong at first).

sounds petty but i bought some cable ties from HG and, absurdly, they didnt work! They didnt stay done up, they didnt even bite at all! I took them back to the shop and the guy tried every combination of threading them and couldnt get them to work either! They were only £3 but he said I couldnt have a refund, and said the best he could do was a credit note! So now I have a £3 credit note from HG that has been stuck in the back of my wallet for the last 12 months!

all quite amusing, but indeed in breach of consumer law as I was legally entitled to a refund! Couldnt be arsed to get too wound up about it in the shop though as was only £3, buut it did make me worry about buying more expensive things from HG incase they came back with the same response if the item was faulty......

[Scoobs]

I've always had good service from HG Southampton and more recently from HG Portsmouth (New Store).

When I originally got my leathers, someone had zipped out the back protector from the jacket. I phoned the shop and had it next day at their expense. The zip also came a little unstitched on the trousers. Only and inch or so, but they sorted that out no questions asked.

[Spiderman]

All my current gear (except the lid) has been from HG. The jacket, gloves, trousers and boots have all been totally waterproof and fine so far with 6 months of daily use and abuse.

I've applied a bit of dubbin to the gloves a couple of times, more for the flexability than the waterproofing tbh.

The flyscrren i have on the front was also from HG and it broke recently. One of the drilled holes for the mounting bracket snapped to the edge.

I took it back and they guy there ( who is usually very helpful and friendly) was a bit weary about changing it at first, but i mentioned that as a performance part thats designed to aid aerodynamics it should be stress tested enough to not snap at such an obvious weak point.

"you know what... you're right Spidey" he said after a moments thought and off he went to get the new screen. He even came out while i was chainging them over and offered me a coffee or some food from the burger joint next door to them.

I'd ask for another jacket as they are decent quality stuff normally.
And print the above letter from the joint MD to take with you in case the guy at the till dont know about their policy. He may have not been there long enough to have had that training.

When the bottom of the straps on my Knox backpack almost ripped off the backpack recently HG Gants Hill had no problems in exchanging it and they were even good enough to keep the money I had left in it safe for me. It was only about 2 months old and looking like new so they didn't have much choice as the bottom of the straps don't even take the weight, if they did I'm sure I would know as I always do up the waist strap.

Having said that my HG trousers have a removable liner and when I went to remove it on the day that I had bought them the stitching on one side of the zip came undone. I didn't bother getting it changed as I don't use the liner, they're warm enough with jeans on underneath anyway, but it's not reassuring when you've just spent £120 for them.