ComplaintsforBow Cycle & Sports

• Initial Complaint

  18/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A ********** bike and was sold to me as new with one paint chit. When I got home it was apparent that the bike crank on the right side had been damaged and that the wheels and a related sensor had been switched for an inferior version. Upon raising it with Bow Cycle I was told they would replace the crank for a new one and switch the wheels for the ones I specified as what was listed by the manufacturer to be on the bike. I took the bike in and they made a replacement. It was in the fall that I realized that they still had not replaced the wheels with the correct ones but rather with yet another inferior version. Bow Cycle used the reasoning as from Cannondale having a clause that "PLEASE NOTE THAT, BASED ON COMPONENT AVAILABILITY AND OTHER FACTORS, SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE" as why they provided the lesser wheels. At the time of the issue I had checked and the proper wheels were available. The savings by not providing the proper wheels was $*** + GST for Bow Cycle.The wheels that should have come with the bike were actually listed on the ********** website as "Highlights" of the bike. The wheels are a big part of the performance of the bike. It is reasonable to expect that a lesser replacement should have been noted to me at the time, and at the time I would have returned the bike for a full refund.

  

  Business response

  30/01/2024

  Bow Cycle & Sports feel we have been forthright in dealing with *****'s issues. As this has to do with the wheelset I will only talk to that.

  The wheelset from the bike had been swapped in-house to get another customer going and unfortunately the proper steps were not taken to correct the issue afterwards and initially the bike had the incorrect wheelset on it. When ***** brought this to our attention, we immediately fixed the issue by swapping the wheelset on his bike with one from another bike of the same model to get him the correct wheelset. 

  Moving forward to the claim that we put an inferior wheelset to what was advertised by the manufacturer. We put the wheelset on the bike that was correct as per the manufacturer. The document he has included was from before ********** (the manufacturer) corrected their website. It should be noted that this is a typo in the highlights and not repeated in the specifications. Attached is the document from the dealer's book that we receive when ordering bikes and it lists the wheelset provided to *****. We also checked other sizes of this bike we had in stock at the time and they had the same wheelset we replaced on his bike.

  To try and aid *****, we contacted ********** to see about availability of the wheelset he wanted and were told that they were only available on a higher end bike and NOT available for resale. Nor did they have any available to get anyways.

  Additionally, we provided ***** with a contact number for ********** if he wished to pursue this further. As he notes in his complaint, this was on Cannondale's website NOT Bow Cycle's.

  In October, ***** posted a ****** review trying to force Bow Cycle & Sports into getting the wheelset for him. We replied with the same information and he removed the review.

  Customer response

  30/01/2024

  There are several point I will make in response.

  First is in regards to the ****** review. I did not place the review as an attempt to force Bow Cycle to correct the issue, I posted it to warn others of the problems I have had dealing with Bow. This is the same as any other review that is posted letting others know of the experiences they have had. Mine was not positive for which I let others know nd left it in their judgement to make.

  As for ********** having said it was an error on their site. In May of 2023 when noticing the wrong wheels I asked  for the wheels that were posted on ********** site to go with the bike. When I realized that the inferior wheels were supplied in late October, ********** still listed the ********** ** ** **** *****n wheels as a "highlight". Bow Cycle did not notify me that the SL's would not be placed on the bike as was advertised by **********. ********** did not change their advertisement which means that they were misleading consumers.

  ********** and Bow Cycle then used the fine print at the bottom of their website "PLEASE NOTE THAT, BASED ON COMPONENT AVAILABILITY AND OTHER FACTORS, SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE". But there were SL wheels available at the time. ********** was advertising them on their website for sale and in stock.

  If a store advertises a price they are required to honour the advertised price. Are they not required to honour the details of what they advertise as posted for sale?

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