Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  03/07/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  About a year ago this cycle store did dangerous work rebuilding a new back wheel for my bike. When the work was done improperly and wrong, the spoke started break after the first week. They charge me 270 dollars and then claimed I was riding my bike to hard. Kept fixing individual spokes at my expense and blaming my riding. I proceeded to ***************** where they discovered this cycle store had used too lite weight of a rim and the spokes were backwards. Cycle Alaska kept blaming me and now has banned me from any repairs forever. All of this after they endangered me and my daughter who rides a third wheel behind my bike. They even lied about the bike rim weight and claimed it was heavier then it truly was. This was a scary experience and a money rip off as I had to pay to have the back wheel rebuilt with a proper rim. The manager and all staff pushed me out of the store and locked the door for writing a honest review. Told me I was not welcome to their services :( being rude

  Customer response

  03/07/2022

  Basically Alaska cycles does dangerous repairs and didnt care. Told me they werent sure if it would happen again. Then had me repay 4 times for spokes breaking on a hub back wheel upgrade. Brand new and breaking spokes is unheard of. Then the head mechanic said she wasnt bike mechanic to meet my safety needs?They laced the spokes backwards and used a very lite rim that made the riding unsafe. Then when I ask for a heavier rim and showed them the rim brand and model they lied and said the rim was heavier. Got it on my phone answering message.so I wrote an honest review on ****** and they have boycotted me from any service. We have very few bike shops here in ****** so they just turn you away and blame the customer . My main reason for the complaint is that this is unsafe and unjust to take peoples money with no work quality. To blame me is unacceptable.

  Customer response

  03/08/2022

  First off would like a refund of the back wheel rebuild minus the rim and spokes which they let me walk away with. So about 170 dollars and an apology for blaming me for their faulty installation. Also feel its unfair to boycott me for asking for a safe back wheel. Thats all that needed. 

  Business response

  03/31/2022

  We built a wheel for the customer in January of 2020 and mistakenly laced the spokes incorrectly. As a result the spokes started to break. We told the customer that we would correct the problem and order the spokes to do so. We were not going to charge him for the relacing the wheel or for the new spokes. In the intervening time more spokes broke and we replaced them to keep the bike on the road. We sourced the rim from one of our main suppliers and based on the wheel requirements we ordered the rim they recommended. While waiting for the spokes to arrive and installing them the customer became more abusive in person and on the phone even though we were replacing spokes and told him we would not be charged for the relacing the wheel. The customer behavior became more confrontational and was verbally abusive to our staff. As a result we made the hard decision that we would not be able to satisfy his needs. Regarding the current situation, we try very hard at our business, with every customer interaction, to meet their needs or exceed them. However as a result of our previous and most recent interactions with the customer, we felt we would not be able to adequately meet their needs. We asked the customer to leave politely after he picked up his bike but he raised his voice and started to accuse our staff again. He did leave but then returned twice yelling at the staff. We made the decision at that point to lock the doors. 

  My wife and I have owned a number a business over the past 40 years and have denied service to a customer 4 times including the current situation. There is point when you cannot satisfy a customer and/or they are abusive where it is appropriate to break the relationships. It is interesting to note that another bike shop in town has broken their relationship with the customer for similar reasons.

  Customer response

  04/04/2022

   
  Complaint: 16842118
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  First overall Alaska cycles couldnt tell me what was wrong with the wheel rebuild. It was the other bike shop that pointed out the wrong lacing of the spokes. Alaska cycles just kept replacing broken spokes. So I called the internal gear hub manufacturer and they told me that the rim needed to be 550gram plus. That is when I went to Alaska cycles and they lied about the rim weight which was around 400 grams. Never was I rude to this bike shop! My personality is very personable but Alaska cycles mechanic ***** would say stuff likeI will get to it when I get to it Never did they offer to replace the rim unless I sourced a heavier rim. They didnt have a source ***** said for a heavy weight rim. The whole time this bike shop blamed my hard riding and to be easy on it? Why dont I get my 170 dollars labor back if the bike wheel was laced wrong? That was dangerous to my health and safety. Claiming I came in yelling is not true. They told me I wasnt welcome because they couldnt live up to my safety standards? What kind of answer is that? *** the owner repeatedly said I was rude and talking over him when I was not. Alaska cycle hung up on me about half a dozen times over the course of this dysfunctional rebuild. They said we would talk outside and locked me out!Please dont let them blame the customer for a faulty rebuild.
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

  Business response

  04/12/2022

  Unfortunately, I disagree with ************************** regarding several of his comments.
  
  About the rim and spoke issue of January 2020, we admit that we had made a mistake when we laced the wheel. We did not lie about the rim weight and were relying on the specs recommended by one of our suppliers. We ordered the spokes, but in the interim, ************************** was very rude and belligerent both in person and on the phone. We did offer to replace the spokes and lace the rim at no charge. As he became more confrontational and verbally abusive to our staff, we concluded that we needed to sever the relationship.
  Regarding the current situation of March 2022, we declined to service his bike for two reasons. Firstly it was due to how he had treated the shop and our staff in the past. Secondly, we contacted the Bike Doctor to ask why ************************** had had a falling out with them and it was due to the same issues we had experienced with him. When he came by for the bike, he was abusive to our staff again. I asked him to leave the shop. He continued to yell at our staff. He left once and came back in yelling again. At that point, I locked the doors to deny him entry. He later called me on the phone to talk about the issue. It was challenging to talk to him, and he talked over me on numerous occasions. After about a 30 minute conversation, I terminated the call because he would constantly interrupt me, and it was hard to communicate with him.
  We are not blaming ************************ for a faulty build. We admit we laced the wheel incorrectly and were going to rebuild it when the spokes arrived at no cost to him. We terminated our relationship with him due to his consistently abusive behavior. Im happy to refund the $170.00 ************************ is requesting if he will provide a mailing address.

  **********************************
  Co-Owner
  Cycle Alaska

  Customer response

  04/16/2022

   
  Complaint: 16842118
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  

   First my behaviour was never rude I had my friend there at the bike shop when we were locked out after being told to talk outside. We never entered the bike shop twice thats isnt reality. Being Italian flipped off by ***** is rude and why I told him that the rebuild was a failure nothing more. Never did I swear or say any profanity. 
  secondly,

  Alaska cycles never told me the lacing spoke problem and I never talked to *** about the rebuild. ***** just flat repaired the spokes multiple times and my wife was there to see that as well. So why the lying? 
  

  thirdly, 

  I got along well with ******************* until they broke something they werent suppose to work on? 
  They replace *************** so how am I to blame? Rude not true at all. Incompetent clearly.

  fourthly, 

  thank you for refund offer we give them the address next week to send check. 
  dont blame faulty work on being rude please its insulting to my and my daughters safety.

   

  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************************

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