Well there you have have it, a lesson learned. All's good in the Riv universe, just goes to show how great a company Riv is. I just got a thank you letter from Riv thanking me for my purchase, what company these days does that? Not many. No company is perfect and the ones that strive to do the right thing by its customers is a company to be valued. As much as the negative reviewer felt slighted he decided to stew as Grant states and then write a nasty review rather then be reasonable and simply let Riv staff know of his frustration. He may have encountered the frequent companies that shine you on, its easy to think your not valued as a customer but I chose these days to be kind and let time inform me of a company's ethic and then I have a choice to do business or not! I will continue to do business with Grant and the Riv staff because they are a value added company.
Hugh Sunland, Ca On Monday, February 11, 2013 12:13:12 PM UTC-8, Jim Thill - Hiawatha Cyclery wrote: > > I think Tim M nails it with Grant's accessibility and visibility as the > face of his company - that face can easily become a target in this > polarized world. Most of us like that personal side, and are inclined to > cut 'em some slack if something runs late or the part spec changes slightly > over time (most of us wouldn't happily accept such delays or changes from a > faceless mega-corporation). Do most Trek riders or even Surly riders know > the name of the person/people who run/s those companies and/or design/s the > bikes? Probably not. > > Leslie B also makes a great point that some people expect a lot of > hullabaloo out of the Riv experience. After all, being able to dictate the > complete component spec (to a point) to your bike company appeals to a > certain type of person, who may also be the type of person who doesn't > easily shrug off unexpected changes and delays. I'd bet that Riv has a much > higher proportion of customers who have a preferred spoke brand than, say, > Trek does. > > On Monday, February 11, 2013 10:17:25 AM UTC-6, Leslie wrote: >> >> On Sunday, February 10, 2013 5:46:14 PM UTC-5, Jim Thill - Hiawatha >> Cyclery wrote: >>> >>> The dude may well be semi-justified. After nearly 10 years as a happy >>> Riv customer, I'd be lying if I said that delays on frame orders are >>> uncommon. Most of us realize that "it happens" and give Riv the benefit of >>> the doubt. I'd also be lying if I said that Riv was batting 1.000 with >>> returned calls and emails. In fact, if I really want to communicate with >>> Riv, I've learned to email, then call, and, if needed, follow-up with >>> another email or call. As a person who deals with fairly high call/email >>> volume, I get it, and it's ok with me. So the guy's frame is later than >>> estimated by perhaps months. He calls or emails once or twice or thrice >>> and, for whatever reason, the ball gets dropped, and his concerns are never >>> addressed to his satisfaction. Obviously there are at least two sides to >>> every story, but I don't necessarily think that this review tells a tale >>> that is too far out of ordinary. >> >> >> >> My Bombadil frame took awhile. I originally ordered it via layaway, but >> just before I called to make my final pay-off, the diaga-version came >> out. So, when I called to pay it off, I asked if I could switch from a >> 2TT to the diaga-version. They said no problem, but, Keven wasn't in at >> the moment, and they wanted to double-check w/ him before they guaranteed >> anything. Later that day, Keven called me, wanting to make it clear: the >> new frames had *no* ETA... given their complexity (awaiting new lugs, that >> then went to W'ford for the main build, then shipped to Mark N for the >> stays to be added), he was *exceptionally* clear about it not being a >> couple of months before it arrived. I was fine w/ that. He gave me a >> ballpark timeframe, with no guarantees, and, yeah, it was a couple of >> months after that before it actually arrived. But, that was okay, they >> were upfront about it. They emailed me pics of the frame as soon as it got >> back from the painters, before they shipped it to me. It was really good >> communication, but, good things take time. >> >> When I first paid off the frame, I momentarily talked to Rich about a >> wheelset for it, and at that time, I said I wanted 650b Dyads in 36h. He >> said, sure, no problem, will have it ready for you when the frame is. >> But, it was about a year later before I actually got the frame. When we >> were in the run-up to the frame shipping to me, I got back w/ Rich in >> regards to the wheelset. Have to admit, at that point, he'd made how many >> different wheelsets? So, could I honestly expect him to remember that I >> had chatted for a minute about 'em a year earlier? No, so, we chatted >> again to spec 'em out, and, discovered that he didn't have 36h Dyads in >> 650b; there was a batch of 32h that were mislabeled. Went w/ Synergy, all >> was well; but, no, it wasn't what I had been envisioning for the previous >> year. >> >> If I was OCD, though, I could see that someone might have been "Oh my >> gosh, it's been 3 weeks, two days, and 27 minutes, why hasn't UPS picked it >> up from RBW yet?!?!". "Why do I have to have a Synergy instead of a >> Dyad?!" " But, it's a good bike, a good wheelset. >> >> I guess, RBW is catering to a, a group of folks that care about bike >> nuances, who, therefore, may be a bit OCD about things.... if we didn't >> care so much, we all might just walk in to the LBS and grab whatever Trek >> or C'dale is on the showroom floor, and ride it as-is. But, we care about >> which frame (a Sam versus a Hilsen), the color (blue or rootbeer), the bars >> (m'tache or Albas or Noodles or what), twine or not, cork, shellac, 7sp vs >> 8 sp (9sp too, but not 10sp),.... we're 'selective'. Because of that, >> we almost feel like, dealing w/ RBW, it should arrive via red-carpet and >> horns. >> >> So, if you have someone who has THAT expectation, and it didn't hit those >> milestones as quickly, well, they go off. I could see a younger me >> becoming hot-headed over 'perceived slights'. But, the end result, I got >> a great bike, I knew it'd take awhile, there was no need to get upset. I >> just needed to be patient. If someone wasn't ever taught to be patient, >> is used to instant gratification, well.... >> >> Anywho... >> >> >> >> > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
