Support your local bike shop?

[Ocean1]

Room for another rack manufacturer in NZ then is there?

[Big Dave]

Room for another rack manufacturer in NZ then is there?

They would be doing well if they are nicer people or have a better manufacturing set up than the folks at Dolds.

There appears to be some sort of communication problem in this case.

[Motu]

They need someone on the phone with a better vocabulary than NO.

If they are so good - tell them to make it so.They suck in PR,they suck in imagination.

[Big Dave]

They need someone on the phone with a better vocabulary than NO.

No idea what the policy or capability is.

I know what they do make as stock in trade they make well for the price and the product has a good reputation worldwide - and they are not about intentionally pissing people about.

[Motu]

They certainly do a good job of what they do,no doubt about that.And that's it....they go no further.One thing that was learned from the last resession - companys that think like that do not survive.They need to extend their customer base....not piss them off.

[F5 Dave]

ok I'm hesitating to write this as I hate the shop etc beat ups. But I've been carrying this around for years.

An old girlfriend had bought some crashbars, they patently didn't fit very close to the case on one side. I returned & asked the shop (coincidentally it was Scooter centre) if they could get the bar shortened on one side so it rested the foam against the case like it did on the other side rather than stick out 2 inches where it caught on your shin while paddling the bike & would likely twist off in a crash (they were the clamp type).

It would have been a fairly easy job to change this & adjust their jig to improve the product & make this & future customers happy.

They returned them saying nothing was wrong with them. WMCC weren't interested but passed on a ph number. So I called Dold (think it was Paul Dold? the manager, too long ago to remember) to talk to him about it. He tried to start an argument that I refused to get dragged into, trying to keep calm. I know what a difficult customer is & I was totally on the side of reasonable.

I was then met with a tirade of abuse followed by threats that he could find out where I lived & something about 'the boys' etc.

I was dumbfounded so I gave up & took it to the local engineer who charged me $15 to lop a bit off, weld it back up & even hit it with a bit of paint. I was happy. That was all it took.

OK to put it in perspective this was 20 years ago. But the bike shop didn't stand up for me at all & Dold's response was scandalous.

Have either received any money from me in the last 20 years?
No.

If I buy a bike with anything on it marked Ventura or Dold it meets the grinder.

Being involved in manufacturing in NZ I think we should all support local manufacturing. But some people shouldn't be allowed out of the house let alone run a business, maybe he's croaked it by now but I'd feel sorry for anyone to work for such a person.

[Big Dave]

I've been using the products and occasionally working there for 5 years and it's always been a pleasant, friendly experience.

[YellowDog]

I like going to the dealer because whilst it costs more, it does save you a lot of farting around making sure you have got the right part No. and the right rev for your model.

I use Holeshot in Barry's Pont Road. A very helpful bunch of gauys and the service is pretty good. I am always happy to pay for good service as IMO it makes the item cheaper in terms of time wasted and errors.

BUT when it goes wrong, you really do feel bad and completely out of control. It took me 5 minutes to order some parts that would have taken me an hour or so to find. Six weeks later I still don't have them. I now wish I'd spent the hour or so to get them within a week from the USA.

I must say tht this has been an exception and not the norm, which is usually around one week.