Super Serotta Service!

[pjmsj21]

About two weeks ago, my Fierte It, while temporarily residing on the roof rack of our car, had an unfortunate altercation with the top of our gararge door as we pulled into the garage. The good news was that the frame suffered no damage but the left dropout on the S3 had a 90 degree bend to it.

I took photos and sent them off the next day to Serotta and later in the day spoke to Scott Hock. Scott said that they could likely repair the fork and since Serotta had previously announced an offer to replace the dropouts on the S3 forks, they would repair the fork at no cost even though it was clearly my fault.

I sent the fork off to the Serotta Composites with return authorizaton that Scott provided me with an offer to pay for the return postage. Today I recieved an email from Mike Lopez indicating that my fork was on it's way home. Total cost for MY ERROR was the cost of sending the fork one way to California.

Now contrast this with a friend in the office who recently had a similar incident on a Specialized. Specialized could not repair the dropout as the fork he was not manufactured in the US. So for $300-400 she has a new fork.

For me the moral of this story is that yes a Serotta will likely cost more than a Specialized. However the superiority of the product along with an organizational culture that supports the customer is more than worth the additional cost. I am also comfortable that, had my frame been damaged, Serotta could have likely repaired it, not for free but certainly less than the cost of a new frame.

Thank you Scott, Mike and Ben. I love your bikes and your service!


Pat McShane

[SEABREEZE]

Outstanding

[Pete Serotta]

Pat, thank you for the kind words and for letting folks know.

WE feel SERVICE is very important and when you are a SEROTTA owner you are family!!!

Additionally when I meet you the first round is on me :beer:


Thanks again PETE

[AngryScientist]

awesome stuff.

if i were you, i would have been thrilled about the following things, in the following order:

1) wow - a human being answered the phone
2) wow, this human being actually knows what a bicycle is
3) its repairable - score!
4) free of charge - gasp!

i think looking to the future, good customer service is what is going to keep smaller companies afloat in the sea of mediocrity in which we live, sounds like serotta is one top notch company!

[pjmsj21]

Just an additional follow-up note. I recieved my fork today, sent via Fed-Ex, two weeks to the day since I sent it off and it took five days for me to get to Serotta Composites. They replaced both dropouts and both now look great. I am impressed!

[oliver1850]

.

[oldpotatoe]

Great story and ending. Contrast with this one. I bought a NOS carbon frameset on ebay. It used an integrated headset, which I had no experience with. I checked the compay website to see which headset it needed, no info. Called the company, the person I talked to said Campy. I called 2 of their dealers, both said Campy, so I went ahead and ordered one so I'd have it when the frameset arrived. Of course when I got it I found out it used the Cane Creek standard.

42mm OD and 45 degree bearing?

[R2D2]

FWIW Cane Creek maanufactures both standard Italian Standard (is) is for Campagnolo Hiddenset specs.

Hope it all works out well for you.
Sure is frustrating though isn't it?

[bobswire]

About two weeks ago, my Fierte It, while temporarily residing on the roof rack of our car, had an unfortunate altercation with the top of our gararge door as we pulled into the garage. The good news was that the frame suffered no damage but the left dropout on the S3 had a 90 degree bend to it.

I took photos and sent them off the next day to Serotta and later in the day spoke to Scott Hock. Scott said that they could likely repair the fork and since Serotta had previously announced an offer to replace the dropouts on the S3 forks, they would repair the fork at no cost even though it was clearly my fault.

I sent the fork off to the Serotta Composites with return authorizaton that Scott provided me with an offer to pay for the return postage. Today I recieved an email from Mike Lopez indicating that my fork was on it's way home. Total cost for MY ERROR was the cost of sending the fork one way to California.

Now contrast this with a friend in the office who recently had a similar incident on a Specialized. Specialized could not repair the dropout as the fork he was not manufactured in the US. So for $300-400 she has a new fork.

For me the moral of this story is that yes a Serotta will likely cost more than a Specialized. However the superiority of the product along with an organizational culture that supports the customer is more than worth the additional cost. I am also comfortable that, had my frame been damaged, Serotta could have likely repaired it, not for free but certainly less than the cost of a new frame.

Thank you Scott, Mike and Ben. I love your bikes and your service!


Pat McShane

Bravo!

[AndrewS]

What would the fork repair have cost if the S3 was not under some sort of recall?

[Pete Serotta]

What would the fork repair have cost if the S3 was not under some sort of recall?


also what is damaged on the fork. If you are the original owner of the frame and fork, then I will work with the team on seeing what can be done on replacement of the entire fork. PETE

[pjmsj21]

Just an additional comment, in an age where some airlines are not only charging for checked luggage but also carry ons, businesses (and governments) are looking for every possible opportunity to charge something in order to survive. Serottta easily could have opted to charge me for the repair and I would have had no hesitation in paying. They opted to give the customer a break and I applaud their decision.

Pat Mc

[steampunk]

this kind of peace-of-mind is truly priceless. :beer: