Recalls are really bad

[CNY rider]

I just popped off my Ritchey non-drive side crank to send it in.

I realized, on some subconscious level at first, that I would never be buying anything from Ritchey again.

There's just too much choice out there, with too many companies making quality product, to go back to a company that burns you with something substandard.

Anyone think that's too harsh?

[Richard]

Well, there are no more car brands for you, then, are there?

[J.Greene]

I
Anyone think that's too harsh?

Yes I do,

I think they have earned the benefit of the doubt.

JG

[Blue Jays]

RitcheyLogic advised you of a potential problem and are replacing the component free-of-charge? Sweet.

[shinomaster]

I just popped off my Ritchey non-drive side crank to send it in.

I realized, on some subconscious level at first, that I would never be buying anything from Ritchey again.

There's just too much choice out there, with too many companies making quality product, to go back to a company that burns you with something substandard.

Anyone think that's too harsh?


I'm sending mine back too. I don't see how I'm getting burned?

[CNY rider]

RitcheyLogic advised you of a potential problem and are replacing the component free-of-charge? Sweet.

I don't see what's sweet about it.
It's not free; I paid for it.
I get the inconvenience of removal, mailing, and waiting for a replacement.
What's so sweet?

[GregL]

I too had a crank arm covered under the recall. I e-mailed them for a Return Authorization number, got a very polite and fast response, and shipped the crank arm the next day (Tuesday, 22 January). They received my crank arm on the 24th, shipped another to me on the 25th, and it arrived at my house on the 30th. To me, this is exceptional customer service. I like their product and they stood behind it. I am even more likely to purchase their products in the future.

Regards,
Greg

[shinomaster]

I don't see what's sweet about it.
It's not free; I paid for it.
I get the inconvenience of removal, mailing, and waiting for a replacement.
What's so sweet?

It's better than it breaking and you falling on your face knocking out all of your teeth? Things get recalled. It happens to things like toxic baby toys, bad stems, cars, and left crank arms. Be thankful we live in a time where things get recalled at all.

[Pete Serotta]

Taking it off, being without the bike, and if not mechanical having to take it to the shop (or spokes) is an annoyance, It is better than not recalling but I agree it is not the best situation.

Please keep in mind this is CNY opinion and lets not flame him.


Granted, the turnaround does seem fast and it is MUCH faster than anything CAMPY does (and I still buy campy.)

Recalls also limit the Mft from some liabilities (so they are not necessarily doing it for solely the customer.

I don't see what's sweet about it.
It's not free; I paid for it.
I get the inconvenience of removal, mailing, and waiting for a replacement.
What's so sweet?

[avalonracing]

I too had a crank arm covered under the recall. I e-mailed them for a Return Authorization number, got a very polite and fast response, and shipped the crank arm the next day (Tuesday, 22 January). They received my crank arm on the 24th, shipped another to me on the 25th, and it arrived at my house on the 30th.


It would be cooler if they sent you the arm and had you send send back the old one (they could charge you for the new one if you didn't send the old one back within a week).
Then again, the whole point of a recall is to get people off the product as soon as possible so I guess having you send it back first is okay.

[regularguy412]

I just popped off my Ritchey non-drive side crank to send it in.

I realized, on some subconscious level at first, that I would never be buying anything from Ritchey again.

There's just too much choice out there, with too many companies making quality product, to go back to a company that burns you with something substandard.

Anyone think that's too harsh?

I don't think it's all that harsh. I've already had my first and last bad experience with Ritchey Pro Peloton pedals. I was lucky not to have sustained serious injury when the right pedal platform came OFF the spindle in the middle of an intersection. The pedals had exactly 1/10 of a mile on them. Yes. You read it right .1 mile. As I now peruse the Ritchey website, it appears that they have redesigned the Pro Peloton pedals. The originals were made such that the platform was press-fit onto the pedal spindle , with no other visible means of making it secure - save the crimp on the inside next to the threaded portion. It now looks like the spindle goes all the way through the pedal body and is secured by a lock nut on the outboard side. However, I'm still wary of Ritchey-branded products. Performance Bike did give me a full refund. I'm just glad I was around to be able to receive it.

Mike in AR

[Steve Hampsten]

Most of what Ritchey sells is pretty good.

These cranks were junk and never should have seen the light of day. I threw a pair away because of a different problem: it's bad design and a crappy manufacturing process.

imho

[Geoff]

I too have to send mine back, but mine is currently hanging on the bench so no big deal.

Just curious, how many have this as an original part? Dont you have a replacement to use in the mean time? I think they are a standup company and will get more of my money in the future.

G

[justinf]

cny,
How would(do) you run your business if you determined that a product was flawed? I think Ritchey did the right thing.

[shinomaster]

I have to admit it's something of a pain in the arse because the crank is on my cross/commuter bike, so I'll have to ride my Cannonball to work for a few days. It's not what I want either, but I really have no choice, other than to buy a new set of cranks and spend over $150.

[jimcav]

That is strictly opinion.
things fail, i had ritchey protocol wheels, recall on rear hub, they did it fast, returned the wheels with a new tire as a bonus.

i think they have excellent service and a pretty good record of catching things early as far as design flaws go.

if someone has the data on failure rates by company per # products, etc i could change my mind, but I have used their bars and stems for years with no issues.

anyway, the other answer is yes you are correct, lots of choices. but if you only buy based on no recalls, or no poor designs, you might be left with some ugly choices.

jim

[Cdub]

It is annoying. I do have to say, that type of customer service is great.

FSA had similar problems and handled it great.

LOOk, a week ago fixed a problem for me. My KEO carbon lost a rivet, sent them back and they replaced with no problem. Sweet new pedals!!

It all depends how you look at it. Now you get something new. :banana:

Perhaps your LBS has some sort of loner for you?!

Good luck

[Blue Jays]

"...better than it breaking and you falling on your face knocking out all of your teeth? Things get recalled. It happens to things like toxic baby toys, bad stems, cars, and left crank arms. Be thankful we live in a time where things get recalled at all..."+1
The component believed to be defective is being removed from the bicycle and replaced before a problem is even evident yet.
That's pretty darn good customer service in a comparatively tiny segment of a smallish industry.

[roman meal]

atmo has had them on most of his team's cross bikes with some exceptions for rider preferences. He has em on his own bike, and they were never snapping him or anyone else on the team off into oblivion. afaik.

Glad to see Ritchey is responding, and they were very nice to me accepting my left arm, and shipping out one with a little more meat on it.

Isn't most of what we buy likely to break? I have problems with a company that won't accept the fact that some (or all) of the things they make are flawed, or defective. But I don't see the Ritchey product as flawed, just too light for general applications.

I might not be as generous if one of them sent me on my arse already, but hiding or denying defective merchandise is not the same as recalling something that doesn't hold up well, or stand the test of time.

[CNY rider]

I'm glad to hear that there's a rapid turnaround.
That maybe makes me a little less crabby about the whole thing.
But how hard is it to properly design and manufacture a set of cranks?

And mine are also on my commuter. Luckily I have an extra left arm in the basement that I slapped on, otherwise I'd be SOL for a week or so.

I'd just prefer they not use the consumer as a Beta tester for their product, which is what I think happened with this crank design.

[Ken Robb]

I'm glad to hear that there's a rapid turnaround.
That maybe makes me a little less crabby about the whole thing.
But how hard is it to properly design and manufacture a set of cranks?

And mine are also on my commuter. Luckily I have an extra left arm in the basement that I slapped on, otherwise I'd be SOL for a week or so.

I'd just prefer they not use the consumer as a Beta tester for their product, which is what I think happened with this crank design.

Well I think some of the reason has to be that manufacturers are marketing and people are buying "weight saving parts". There is a lot of pressure to get the weight of parts down as low as they can be and that leaves little room for variance in manufacturing and materials. We have seen examples of too-light failures in stems, bars, etc. I'd say that Ritchey's performance overall has been good and that this recall is a good example of them standing behind their products. FWIW, I don't think you have a prayer of getting an adjustment or replacement out of Campy without proof that you were the original buyer from an authorized dealer in the USA. Makes Ritchey look prety good doesn't it? :beer:

[shinomaster]

I'm glad to hear that there's a rapid turnaround.
That maybe makes me a little less crabby about the whole thing.
But how hard is it to properly design and manufacture a set of cranks?

And mine are also on my commuter. Luckily I have an extra left arm in the basement that I slapped on, otherwise I'd be SOL for a week or so.

I'd just prefer they not use the consumer as a Beta tester for their product, which is what I think happened with this crank design.


The guy I spoke with at Ritchey said that the company that made the mold in Taiwan didn't do it to spec, they made it too thin. I agree that the bozo's should have caught this sooner.

[Ray]

The guy I spoke with at Ritchey said that the company that made the mold in Taiwan didn't do it to spec, they made it too thin. I agree that the bozo's should have caught this sooner.
I don't have any problem with a recall, but as one of the victims of a snapped crank, they knew about the problem WAAAAAAY over a year before they issued the recall. If they'd have recalled them when they first knew they had a problem and already had replacement cranks available, I, and lots of others, wouldn't have ended up on our a$$es staring up at the sky. I've had enough good experiences with other, older, Ritchey stuff that I'll probably give them another chance. But if this had been my first Ritchey piece, I probably wouldn't.

-Ray

[3chordwonder]

Much more impressed with a company issuing a recall and processing it quickly, than a company supplying faulty goods but steadfastly denying there is an issue. That leaves me much more determined not to buy that brand again.

imho etc.

[Ken Robb]

I called them yesterday, they called me today w/return authorization number, said they have the arms in boxes ready to ship immediately. Now if I could just find my OctaLink crank puller dagnabbitt!

[sspielman]

I think that when you buy a (quality)product, that you have the reasonable expectation for it to work in a reasonable fashion for a reasonable amount of time. Clearly, the product in question suffered a failure rate that was unacceptable. The company did not recall the product out of the goodness of their hearts, but out of the fear of a catastrophic failure leading to a massive lawsuit. The original posters feelings of buyer's remorse are justified, atmo....

[victoryfactory]

Occasional recalls are inevitable in manufactured products.
It's how they are handled that tells you about the true quality
of the company.

VF