Trek Bicycle Camberwell — Local services in Melbourne

LEGAL ACTION PENDING.

My experience with Cycles Galleria Camberwell (CGC) began when I purchased a Trek Rail 7 on 07/07/20. The bike worked as expected but I took it back to CGC on 05/01/21 to have new handle bars fitted and to get them to look at a problem with the battery sticking in its housing.

A few days went by with no word so I contacted them on 07/01 to find out what was happening only to be told that they hadn't even looked at the bike but might get around to it in a day or so. But they would definitely get back to me.

A few more days go by and I still hadn't heard anything so I call again and they confirm that they haven't actually done anything to the bike but they can confirm that the battery is sticking in its housing and they will look on the internet for a solution. Tae fact that they hadn't made any effort to contact me and were searching on the internet for a solution should have warned me.

You can guess that they didn't contact me and I had to chase them up. When I did get in contact with them they told me that they had got the battery out of the housing but they had damaged the lock and housing so badly that the bike was now little more than an expensive paper weight. But they may be able to get some replacement parts from Trek by the end of March. Which would mean I would be without a bike for three months due to their incompetence.

To summarise CGC were given a perfectly functioning $8,999.00 Trek Rail 7 and their mechanic rendered it inoperable. Which did not seem to worry them in the slightest.

What followed was more of the same refrain of we will get back to you with a solution. I am still waiting for them to get back to me which is why I have asked my solicitor to begin legal proceedings against them.

What is interesting is that the actions of an incompetent mechanic and a lazy employee have dragged the owners of CGC into a legal fight which could have been avoided if someone higher up the food chain at CGC had taken responsibility for this issue. Although I was informed at one stage that the owners of CGC were aware of the issue - if that is true then they have a very laissez-faire approach to dealing with customers.

I will update this post as matters move onto a more formal legal footing.

UPDATE - 29/01/21

Received a call from Billy at CGC on 27/01/21. This gave me the impression that someone higher up was looking into this. He told me they were working on a possible fix and that I would definitely get a call back as to how it was going on 28/01/21.

Call was not received

As such have instructed my solicitor to issue a formal statement of demand which should hit their inbox in the next day or so.

11/02/21 A formal legal demand has hit their inbox @10:41am. Surprisingly I got a call at 10:54am telling me that they had a solution to get my bike back on the road. I was also told that they had been trying to contact me for some time to tell me. Remarkably my phone doesn't seem to have any record of any calls from them since 27/01/21 when Billy told me he would get straight back to me.

I was even told they had tried to email me - I have asked for these emails to be forwarded to me so I can see the time and date they were supposedly sent. I haven't sighted them...

Rented a Fuel Ex 8 from Cycles Galleria Camberwell between Christmas and New Year for a trip to Forrest. Billy and the staff at CG-Camberwell were super friendly, helped me in setting up the bike, and happy to extend the rental when I was delayed a day on my trip. Really happy with their customer service and would highly recommend them.

If you're interested in the Fuel trail bike, read on for my impressions.

My usual ride is a Trance 29er, a short travel trail bike, so that's my baseline. Have to say I loved the Fuel Ex. Absolutely loved it! It's a much better climber than my Trance - much easier to get your weight over the front wheel while seated, and the Reactiv shock gives you fantastic grip at the rear. I was able to spin up steep and technical tracks that normally I'd struggle with. The Fuel is also a much poppier bike than the Trance. I'm not a great jumper, but found myself featuring off even small undulations on the trail and getting air. It's great fun! Finally, on the descents it just tracks so much better than I'm used to, staying stable through rock gardens and over roots in a way that's really confidence inspiring.

Downsides? Not a lot. Personally, I'd upgrade the brakes to something more powerful for serious descending, but the stock SRAMs were far from bad. I'd also have a look at the wheels/tyres. They're good, but the big 2.6 Bontrager XR4 tyre on the front didn't have the sort of grip I was expecting in the corners, giving way suddenly and unpredictably a few times. Could have been a matter of finding the right tyre pressures, I don't know.

I came away from my three days on this bike thinking that with a few minor upgrades this would be about my perfect bike - a strong climber, eager to get into the air, and long enough travel to take on just about any but the gnarliest downhill out there. Definitely on my list when new bike time comes around! In fact, anybody want to buy a second-hand...

I booked my bike for service at the Camberwell Store. The sales person was very helpful when I dropped the bike at around 5:30pm on Monday 15th of February 2016 (for the service on tuesday). He also advised me on an issue with my broken lock and suggested a new one for $90. I agreed to purchase the lock and to the service of my bike for $99, asking them to fit the lock as well. The agreed time for pickup was 5:30pm on Tuesday and total price $189.

I needed to get home via public transport and then returned the next day via public transport at 5:37pm. I was informed when I arrived at the store that one of their mechanics was off sick and they hadn't done my service or fitted the lock but I would have to come back the next day. I never received a call to say that it wouldn't be ready. They were apologetic and offered me a 20% discount on the lock only.I collected my bike and told them they could keep the lock as well. All in all I invested at least 3 hours of my time and 2 public transport tickets to get this done. I also left work early twice to get to their store before close time of 6pm. Not good enough. I'll...