Bike delivered with lower spec wheels from retailer...what's my recourse?

[weisan]

Some vendors might even give you a "free" upgrade...

[batman1425]

Something similar happened to me once but it was just a wheel order. Had a much different outcome though. Website I bought them from had inaccurate info on it, which they got from the manuf. which was also wrong. I bought them based on the inaccurate info and the 1600g set I thought I was getting was more like 2000 when they arrived...

Talked to the shop and they immediately got working on a solution. I was handed off to the manuf. (HED) and they took care of me. They got the site corrected and said they would be starting assembly on a brand new set of Ardennes SLs for me. When they arrived, I was to take my built for me set SLs out of the box, put the entry level 2000g+ GAs I bought in and send them back to HED. No charge for anything. My name was even written on the rim beds. Outstanding customer service.

[peanutgallery]

Return it...there are a bunch of deals at retailers, too. Walk into a lbs and say I have a budget of X and i want Y in my size. There's a delivery truck circling near by...trust me. Scotts are crazy discounted right now. The spec is pretty straight forward and the price is good

Some of those classic Italian brands are imported by dip****s. Who knows what you're actually going to get. I too suffer from nostalgia...but Gita and 10 speed drive have been defunct for decades. It's worth the extra hundy, find a dealer

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I have a set of i9 65s that I plan on using, but the Rapid Red 500s it was supposed to come with were a reasonable all around wheelset. They were a 1700ish gram 23 inner width rim and the 900s they shipped with are 1900ish grams with a 19 inner width. There is no disclaimer anywhere about a possible wheel or component change and all the reviews, photos , videos and websites state the 500 as the stock wheelset for this model. The price for the bike was still $3,300 which isn't exactly cheap and I definitely wouldn't have bought the bike with the Rapid Red 900 wheels. There are quite a few retaillers with the same deal on this bike or better, but I had bought a Stumpjumper from Epic Cycles before without an issue.

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Return it...there are a bunch of deals at retailers, too. Walk into a lbs and say I have a budget of X and i want Y in my size. There's a delivery truck circling near by...trust me. Scotts are crazy discounted right now. The spec is pretty straight forward and the price is good

Some of those classic Italian brands are imported by dip****s. Who knows what you're actually going to get. I too suffer from nostalgia...but Gita and 10 speed drive have been defunct for decades. It's worth the extra hundy, find a dealer

I haven't owned a Pinarello in over a decade and my last one was steel! I loved that bike and the Grevil looked like something I wanted to try out. The frameset and group are fine, but the customer service for an out of spec wheelset is a joke! I did receive an email from one of the owners asking to call me last night. I promptly sent an email explaining the situation as I don't need to discuss this over the phone and prefer a written account of what is going on. I am hoping he can come up with some sort of amicable solution, but who knows!?!

[tctyres]

IMO, talk to him, but know what your talking points are ahead of time. People are less aggressive on the phone and work gets done faster.

[madsciencenow]

Originally Posted by batman1425

Something similar happened to me once but it was just a wheel order. Had a much different outcome though. Website I bought them from had inaccurate info on it, which they got from the manuf. which was also wrong. I bought them based on the inaccurate info and the 1600g set I thought I was getting was more like 2000 when they arrived...

Talked to the shop and they immediately got working on a solution. I was handed off to the manuf. (HED) and they took care of me. They got the site corrected and said they would be starting assembly on a brand new set of Ardennes SLs for me. When they arrived, I was to take my built for me set SLs out of the box, put the entry level 2000g+ GAs I bought in and send them back to HED. No charge for anything. My name was even written on the rim beds. Outstanding customer service.

This is how you take a bad and make it well! I don’t understand how companies can’t see past the $$$ and see the opportunity staring at them in the face? I’m also not in retail so maybe there are aspects of that I’m missing?


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[madsciencenow]

This is a super crappy situation and hope you get it sorted soon! I hear what you are saying about wanting to have a record of what’s been said. I also understand the value of a personal call to express concern for the issue created and talk through a solution. I negotiate agreements for a day job and email is great when things are going well but if the transaction or relationship is not in good form it often helps to have a conversation so both parties can better appreciate the dynamics each is dealing with and work toward a solution. There’s much detail I’m willing to provide and that has been provided to me over the years over the phone or Teams that would never be written down. This said, I get just wanting them to make it right and move on. It’s a bike not a relationship that needs to exist beyond the immediate transaction.


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[KonaSS]

Bad situation, likely 100% on Pinarello and any making it right is likely going to be on the shop who I imagine have very little margin on a bike marked down this much.

I think your request to "put it in writing" sounds overly aggressive if you are looking for the shop to make that extra step for you to keep the bike and be happy.

[buddybikes]

Would think that most internet sales like this, the box is never opened - new shipping tag on and shipped. Remember what the boxing looked like to see if it had signs of previous opening?

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Hilltopperny

I haven't owned a Pinarello in over a decade and my last one was steel! I loved that bike and the Grevil looked like something I wanted to try out. The frameset and group are fine, but the customer service for an out of spec wheelset is a joke! I did receive an email from one of the owners asking to call me last night. I promptly sent an email explaining the situation as I don't need to discuss this over the phone and prefer a written account of what is going on. I am hoping he can come up with some sort of amicable solution, but who knows!?!

As my grandmom used to say, "don't cut off your nose to spite your face". That's a great price for a nice bike. Call the guy with a plan. If it were me, I would suggest keeping the bike, but returning just the wheels for some type of refund (maybe $200). Then use the money toward a pair of Shamal Carbons, which I saw going for $650 on a Euro site last week. Win for everyone.

[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by KonaSS

Bad situation, likely 100% on Pinarello and any making it right is likely going to be on the shop who I imagine have very little margin on a bike marked down this much.

I think your request to "put it in writing" sounds overly aggressive if you are looking for the shop to make that extra step for you to keep the bike and be happy.

The email chain is there for reference and while I agree if the bikes shipped from Pinarello with a clearly sub par wheelset the shop should know what they are selling and have it listed properly. I received the email in the evening where I was dealing with my 6 and 3 year old children as well as a new puppy, so I was not in a position to have a conversation where they could try and explain their way out of sending a bike with a lower end wheelset than advertised.

Regardless of the discount the pictures, reviews and all websites specifically stated that the bikes ships with the Rapid Red 500 wheels. I let them know I would have been happy with a N3W freehub for my carbon wheels that I have sitting in the closet which I believe is a reasonable request.

It is 100% a bait and switch by Pinarello, but it is the shops responsibility to know what they are selling. I work part time in a shop and know what I am selling to customers. If I get it wrong then I will make it right. My initial contact with the shop was them trying to skirt responsibility and then turned into you can send it back as they weren't willing to make it right. After multiple back and forth emails one of the owners reached out via email and wanted to speak to me. We are in different time zones, so I was in the process of getting the kids and puppy ready for bed. I emailed my concerns and am hoping for the owner to make it right.

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

As my grandmom used to say, "don't cut off your nose to spite your face". That's a great price for a nice bike. Call the guy with a plan. If it were me, I would suggest keeping the bike, but returning just the wheels for some type of refund (maybe $200). Then use the money toward a pair of Shamal Carbons, which I saw going for $650 on a Euro site last week. Win for everyone.

This is what I was trying to do from the get go. The customer service rep basically said no and if I didn't want the bike they would send a return label.

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[Hilltopperny]

Originally Posted by buddybikes

Would think that most internet sales like this, the box is never opened - new shipping tag on and shipped. Remember what the boxing looked like to see if it had signs of previous opening?

The box had been opened as it was taped shut and there were no longer any staples which had originally been used to keep the box sealed.

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[Hilltopperny]

Here is their initial response

Hi Adam,

Thanks for reaching out. Those are the wheels that come with the bike as they come as complete bikes from Pinarello. We won't do any extra discounts on the bike.


Best,

Epic Cycles Team

My response

The stock photo and the description state Red Rapid 500 which are mid tier gravel wheels. It's definitely what you have on your site and in all of the promotional videos. The 900 series is the lowest rung wheel. I don't have a N3W freehub for my i9 Torch hubs or I would just swap them out now.

Their response to this email

That is exactly what Pinarello sends us to post on our website. Unfortunately we do not control how they ship the bikes to us and we apologize for the inconvenience. I am happy to provide a return label for the bike once it is shipped to us. We will go ahead and do a full refund.


My response

You sent out a top tier bike with the lowest end wheels that Fulcrum makes instead of what is both shown and listed. Then you claimed you had no idea and that you had no intention of making it right and that I could send it back.

That is not cool and is called bait and switch. I am a reasonable guy, but sending out a lower spec wheel and just saying "oh well...send it back then" instead of trying to make it right is no good. The site clearly states the 500 and those are the pictured wheels along with the stated wheelset from the manufacturer and all of the reviews. Getting a heavier lower end set of wheels is a huge disappointment when dropping thousands on a bicycle regardless of the discount which includes the 500 series wheels not the 900 series
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[KonaSS]

I agree the shop could have handled better, but from what I have seen from within shops, this is most definitely a problem created by Pinarello. They supply the specs, the website content and then delivered a bike that doesn't match.

Calling it bait and switch is a bit much. Mislabeled website specs on any product is hardly a unique problem. Unfortunately part of e-commerce these days. So perhaps sloppy business from the shop if they knew the bike had lower spec wheels, but probably something they see often enough from manufacturers that fixing doesn't get to the top of their long list of problems to solve in their eyes. They offered to return which I think is your primary recourse.

I get the frustration but they don't owe you anything beyond that. Reaching out to you is likely them trying to make it right. Talking about needing this in writing for reference is blowing this out of proportion in my mind.