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#1
08-26-2013, 10:42 PM
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Serotta Lifetime Warranty on bikes made before 5/3/2012 no longer valid
Copy Paste from an email:
"Apologies for the delayed response. Serotta has gone through some changes recently and we are in the process of restructuring. The current ownership of Serotta – which began on May 3, 2012 – has made the difficult decision not to honor the original warranty of bikes delivered before that date which were manufactured under the company's previous ownership. This was not a decision we arrived at easily. If your bike does for some reason require repair due to manufacturing or materials defect in the future, we would evaluate your bike and determine the extent of the damage. If the frame is beyond repair, we will offer you a new frame at 50% of retail price. If the frame is repairable within a reasonable scope, the repair bill would be your responsibility. If you would like to send in your frame and fork for evaluation, please write back and I will set up an RA for you and send shipping instructions. Team Serotta Serotta Cycles 41 Geyser Road Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 518.584.8100 518.261.4409 fax" Last edited by likebikes; 08-26-2013 at 11:00 PM. 
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#2
08-26-2013, 10:47 PM
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So the name bearer is gone and they have disconnected themselves from the old product? They just as well toss the Serotta name and use blue or divine.
The website still touts their heritage and lifetime warranty. Seems like a tasteless move. Last edited by thirdgenbird; 08-26-2013 at 10:54 PM.
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#3
08-26-2013, 10:53 PM
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 Doesn't make sense to me. One would speculate that the most likely people to buy a Serotta moving forward are the ones who had one in the past. Now they just went and burned a bunch of bridges with those customers. Good grief...it's like watching a car wreck in slow-motion. Tai
__________________
My bikes are 
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#4
08-26-2013, 11:03 PM
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Serotta Lifetime Warranty no longer valid
Wow!!!!!
As a new owner of a Serotta , that was built prior to the date mentioned, I am disappointed. I purchased my bike in April. It was new old stock , sitting on the wall of the shop for awhile. I love the bike, checked out the company prior to purchase, realized they weren't in great shape but the optimist in me saw the good things that could be. I don't know if I'll need the warranty, but I will not support/suggest or even promote a company that won't take care of there products, current, past, or present. Not a good start for a company trying to reinvent itself. Wayne Some people wonder if they made a difference, Marines don't have that problem. Ronald Reagan
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#5
08-26-2013, 11:08 PM
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How to win friends and influence people.
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#6
08-26-2013, 11:11 PM
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"This was not a decision we arrived at easily."
Words, a phrase, created by the devil, used by Dracula, repeated by most politicians, some corporate leaders, a few Commander in Chiefs, and brewed for free by waste management centers around the globe.
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#7
08-26-2013, 11:14 PM
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Quote:
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#8
08-26-2013, 11:24 PM
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I heard this announcement Saturday, and intentionally did not post anything about it because it arrived in a confidential email to my LBS. At any rate, we all talked about this issue and agreed this could possibly be the worst move the new owners of Serotta can make. Sure, they'll paint your old whatever frame for $600+ (http://serotta.com/is-your-old-bike-showing-its-age/), but they will no longer honor their own frames?
It's an unbelievably irresponsible business decision on Brian Case's part. The lifetime warranty is one of the reasons I bought a Serotta. What a great way to lose not just legacy customers, but new customers interested in high-end bike frames. I guess the Serotta name as one of the premier American frame builders really means nothing now.
__________________
I refuse to baby my bike...
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#10
08-26-2013, 11:43 PM
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Quote:
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#12
08-26-2013, 11:54 PM
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Because we know Brian Case at least looks at this forum, perhaps we'll find out directly from him why the "difficult decision" and "not a decision we arrived at easily" was arrived at.
__________________
©2004 The Elefantino Corp. All rights reserved.
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#13
08-26-2013, 11:56 PM
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Given how incredibly well constructed and reliable their bicycles have been over the years I find it really hard to believe they are actually losing that much money on warranty service. I'd wager there is more savings potential in the executive compensation package than there is paying the cost of the fixing "defects in materials and workmanship" on these high end bikes.
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#14
08-27-2013, 12:05 AM
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I'm genuinely surprised that people seem to be surprised by this. I thought this was very near to S.O.P. when a business changed hands. And given that Serotta is restructuring to go after very different revenue streams, it never occurred to me that they would honor decades worth of warranties. But then again, I'm a pretty cynical dude, I guess.
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#15
08-27-2013, 12:06 AM
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I can think of three reasons why they would do this:
1) To cut costs, if warranty work is having a massive effect on their current cash flow. 2) They are irrational. 3) They think their future customer base is completely different from their past customer base, and don't really care if they piss off nearly all their past customers, and they think their future customers don't care about this obvious lack of support.
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