BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Multi-franchise owner Graham Platt of Cycling 2000 in Burton on Trent had a gripe with Raleighs handling of the InSync forks safety check he said IBDs werent consulted before customers were told they should take their faulty InSync forks to participating retailers for a safety check but was impressed with the speed his complaint was answered. Within days of sending a letter to Raleighs new MD, Philip Darnton, Platt got a letter back from Darnton explaining Raleighs position. Platt also got a long telephone call from David Macarthur, Raleighs marketing supremo.
I was impressed with the way my complaint was handled, Platt told BikeBiz, although he still feels Raleigh missed a trick or two by helping out the low-end cycle suppliers and getting Raleigh stockists to carry out the safety check on all the brands which used the faulty InSync forks.
Raleigh should have left them to stew in their own juices. These companies are parasites, giving nothing to the quality-end of the industry. Raleigh, through their good dealers, could have made manufacturers realise that its best to deal with suppliers who put something back into the industry. Many of the parasite brands dont put money into the Sustrans levy or do any form of marketing other than offer cut-throat prices.
Raleighs David Macarthur told BikeBiz that Graham Platts complaint was the only one received on the InSync safety check:
When we make a mistake, which sometime happens, we dont just get one complaint we get a thousand. There has been no dealer outcry on the InSync issue. On the contrary, I think people realise we acted for the good of the industry on this one. Customers with bikes from low-end brands, who may have bought them from mail-order catalogues, have been sent to quality retailers. There would have been a potential
18 000 InSync owners going into Raleigh stockists, and they could have been browsing for accessories whilst waiting for their bikes to be checked. Retailers got £3.00 per safety check for a job that took just a few minutes and got footfall at a normally very slack time of year.
