Salsa warranty issues

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
Warranty issues happen. I've seen my share in 30 years of riding. That thread seems like a typical mtbr rant, though. I have a hard time giving it much credibility. Salsa will warranty the problem, of that I'm sure. Of the few warranty issues I've seen first hand with Salsa, all of them were handled immediately and beyond customer expectations.
 

mtnbike28

Expedition Leader
I disagree Christopher. Guy seems to have a legit complaint. He said he was OK paying labor (I was confused by the Salsa $65 warranty fee?) My claim on my Dos Niner (broke where they all did) was denied.... then offered a replacement frame (even the LBS said it was a bad deal) but it required a new BB, crank, and odd adapter for fork.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
Not saying he doesn't have a legit complaint, but it seems like a wee bit of drama has been infused into the discussion for good measure. I've seen that over the course of 30 years in the bike industry. It's understandable. When your new bike breaks, it's really disheartening. For some, the first order of business is to run to their nearest forum to tell the tale of woe...and...perhaps infuse a little drama into the mix.
 

mtnbike28

Expedition Leader
"Bike and moto warranties are always a PIA. " - x2

My first warranty claim. Brand new Trek 930, first ride with the LBS manager, the rear derailleur implodes... JRA - that was covered by the shop ; )
But I know every LBS mechanic has heard the JRA story, knowing the guy was launching the bike, etc.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
I managed a bike shop not all that long ago. A dude came in for a warranty, we made the call, everything was put in motion to remedy the situation within minutes. But, the dude ran to mtbr as fast as he could and ow wowie, the firestorm he started. I think it's just in some people's nature to drum up drama over warranties. But, to agavelvr's point, this guy isn't necessarily doing so, but something about his story still sounds off.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
Heh, like I said, something about this warranty claim smelled of foul fish. I am "Quito" on mtbr. The bellow is the latest post from the OP with the warranty grievance:

"Ok, not sure with the current track of conversation if this will resolve much, but i had a long phone conversion today with Zach from Salsa, the guy who handled my warranty. The info that came to light, which I hadn't really considered, but seems to be a bigger deal on their end, is the fact that I purchased the bike "mail order". Generalized term, as it was phone order, but whatever. The whole transaction occurred when Salsa was demo-ing Bucksaws in Spokane, about 8 hrs from here. I emailed my local dealer, knowing that they opened a few hours later, asking if a demo would come here- we have a great trail system, have specialized, kona, transition, others demo on our trails. Response was " no clue", and not much more. I called Salsa, got a return call a short while later, learned they were in Seattle that morning.A few hours away, I was busy, not going to make it then. I then emailed the local shop asking what it would take to order the bike, knowing it was 5-6 months out. 100% down payment was the response. Sorry, unreasonable for me to loan them 5 grand interest free for 6 months. Apparently my mistake. I knew Glenn from Old Spokes Home in VT from years ago, toured the cascades together, kept up since- He agreed to broker the sale, wanted to keep it on the lowdown, didn't want to offend local dealer, (where he had worked one afternoon in exchange for boxes to ship a 1898 Columbia ordinary, 58" wheel, different story). Glenn took a reasonable down payment, bike arrive there in Nov, shipped to me, arrived, reassembled by me. Key point, by me, not a Salsa dealer for final set up. Ambiguity is that I may not have set suspension up correctly. I think I did, but at this point I see their concern, and understand the initial reluctance to honor warranty. My local shop rep and Salsa agreed to make it right for me, and did. An offer today was made to pursue shop credit for my costs, but I declined- I felt my local shop did their part, and should be reimbursed for their time, and Salsa did their part in covering the broken part. I can't say at this point where the failure came from- I honestly felt it was a paint crack up until the shop in Bend stated it was a crack, I really hadn't pushed it that hard. I had continued to ride the bike after documenting the crack to Salsa, which raised red flags also. I explained i assumed it was a paint issue, that i couldn't conceive of riding in a way that caused structural failure. Zach stressed the point correctly that a lot of this was info lost in translation thru email, shop reps, etc. I agree, I was basically looking for Salsa's view on why this wound up being handled the way that it was. At this point I'm satisfied with the resolution, glad my local shop backed me (100% down, what?) glad Salsa covered it, and ok with my out of pocket costs. I came into the entire transaction liking Salsa as a company, loving the Bucksaw, and feel at this point good with the resolution to a still nebulous problem. Did I cause the failure? My feeling is no, but I'm not perfect, so who knows?"

http://forums.mtbr.com/fat-bikes/new-bucksaw-wait-club-963067-2.html#post11933962

Kudos per usual to the Salsa team.
 

p nut

butter
As couple of others mentioned in that thread, if he wasn't bottoming out the shock, I guess I don't see how he could have cracked the stay due to installation errors (did he even install the shocks? Don't think so). Back when I had a full suspension bike (long time ago), I never messed with the suspension settings and the shop didn't either.

In the end, Salsa did the right thing by offering the refund. Glad to hear that.
 

Christophe Noel

Expedition Leader
There's no way around not addressing the suspension settings anymore. Someone, either the shop or the consumer, has to set it up. Which is really not any different than the same procedure used to air up the tires. Inflate the shock and fork to the suggested PSI and go ride. Adjust to taste as needed.

But, people do blow up their own bikes when they fail to set up their bikes properly, which is baffling that anyone would plunk down thousands of dollars and then fail to use them properly.

Anyway, like man warranty rants on internet forums, this one took the normal trajectory. It started with a dig on the company, included a little speculation of customer exploitation, and then culminated in, "It's all good." Pretty much how most of them go.
 

p nut

butter
It just sounded to me that he was somewhat of an older gentleman (52) literally crawling down the trails, and not a rip/shred type of a guy. I'd assume suspension setting would really not matter, unless he was bottoming out. But then again, I know 50-60 year olds that can shred, so who knows.

I haven't dealt with suspension of any kind in years, and I'm just glad I'm out of that realm. 5" tire "suspension" excluded.


And just to give Salsa their deserved credit--I am loving my Blackborow. Relatively short chainstays, ~69 head angle, 5" fat tires--it's an awesome ride on snow OR on trails. I have a hard time deciding on my custom 29er or the Blackborow when I head out for a ride. Will probably set it up with 29x3" tires this summer.
 

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