Obviously, it is frustrating to not have your bike. Doubly so if it's sitting somewhere waiting to be painted.
But, if I understand the scenario so far, Rivendell is repairing the frame for free and is having it repainted. They've also offered a replacement bike. Is that a "loaner" until it's back or full-on replacement? (In other words, a replacement means they are going to eat the cost of the repair and repaint, plus the cost of the new frame, and try to offset that by reselling your repaired/repainted frame at some future point.) That seems like a pretty fair offer, either way. It does seem like some missed communication - and I wouldn't attempt to conjecture why there were changes or delays. But, if the rub is Steve Rex or Bernie Mikkelsen - that's a pretty high class problem. Either way those are two talented frame builders. I guess it strikes me that both the person who operates the torch, and the person who is running the paint process are not Rivendell employees. And Rivendell is caught between them and you, probably trying to skate that fine line of putting pressure on the person doing the work while maintaining a much longer-term relationship with them, while keeping you happy. They have a few things at their control - the above mentioned bicycle replacement, for example - and they have no control over most of it. Now, I'm certainly not trying to get them off the hook. But, I've been in that position many times during my stint in retail and didn't always get the straight story from repair person - a lot of times you end up passing on the best information you have at the time. Sometimes it's wrong. It's hard to come to the conclusion that anyone has tried to be deceptive. Sometimes it's just as hard for them to get the info, too. Finally, maybe it's the language of your post, but have all of your communications with Rivendell been my email? I hope you did get them on the phone for most of the conversation - often it's hard to tell tone or level of frustration from text alone. Hopefully your bike will be back in your hands soon. - Jim -- 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 rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
