Cycle Brakes dot com...

[Fugu]

I've ordered stuff from Cyclebrakes for years. Rotors, pads, brake line kits, lots of stuff. Usually very good experience. I ordered Galfer lines for my GS last week. Paid for Express mail, well the lines arrived and they did not fit properly.

 

Of the 5 lines in the kit, one was too short and had the wrong end, and one had the wrong end.

 

I called cyclebrakes, who promptly called me back and dished me to Galfer's tech guy, Robert, who I emailed photos to and spent an hour on the phone with...

 

Galfer is going to fix the lines and fix their specs. They are stumped as to why with prior sales of this kit they have no complaints- pointing at a possible BMW mid production run change of brake line config, but it's clear the hose ends at the front calipers ought not be 90 degree bends for my GS. They are 40 degree or so.

 

Anyhow, as this was moving towards resolved, I said great, please expedite the corrected lines to me.... Well Galfer won't pay to do it and neither will Cycle brakes.

 

Feh.

 

Dammit- so close. I was willing to chalk this up to BMW changing stuff on some bikes as they sometimes do- check date code for which alternator belt, etc, but now I'm annoyed at having to pay for expedited shipping (Galfer would pay regular, but not fast shipping) on top of all the time I spent on this.

 

Galfer wanted me to send them pics for their website for a "how to" - they said they'd give me credit for them- Woo F-ing hoo. Not gonna happen now.

 

Oh well this is minor, just annoying.

 

By the way, last time I bought brake lines for a GS I had a similar dustup because somebody's specs were trash. I wonder if there are lots of bikes out there with brake lines of the wrong configuration just getting by?

 

 

[Danny caddyshack Noonan]

Your overal experience is surprising. I got a discount on a carb kit for an English car and promised to do a write up and evaluation on the installation. I did but, the write up included how jacked up the choke cable was...requiring hot knife opening, disassembly, modification and reassembly. Still got a discount though.

There's no such thing as a free lunch! And, they want one from you.

[Fugu]

Well, Amanda in customer service at Galfer just called me and let me know she just made it to the post office with the new hoses. She's been great to deal with. Decision to not pay fast shipping was not hers, it was above her.

 

Fingers crossed...

 

 

[RedMac]

You know.. I don't see it here. They are more than willing to replace the lines for you and pay the shipping cost (I'm assuming this based on your post) but they just won't pay for overnight shipping...

 

meh...

 

Compared to some companies I've dealt with it seems like they are doing pretty well. I mean you stated they promptly called you back, they got the Glafer guy on the horn for you. All in all, a hell of a lot better than some customer service issues I've been involved with. I wish more companies were that responsive.

 

Where the original ones shipped overnight? You may have a *bit* of a complaint there if they were and you paid for the expedited shipping. If not, complaining that they won't ship expedited seems kinda petty to me..

 

I'm just sayin...

[Fugu]

Yeah the originals were shipped overnight on my dime as stated- I paid for express mail. You're correct in that it's small- but what a weird place to put your foot down.

 

It's annoying their specs are off and after helping them fix it I still get to pay for shipping.

 

Their attitudes- Robert after he saw photos showing the screwup and Amanda running to the post office sure help. Robert initially said "send them all back" which would have sucked- bike with no brake lines and none on order. I had to talk him into fixing rather than going back to the drawing board.

 

Id have liked cyclebrakes to have gone to bat for me on shipping but if they arrive tomorrow and fit properly it's all good. I'm not taking more of my time to make them pretty photos though.