Disappointed in the local tri shop

Below is the email that I wrote to TriBikeTransport and the local tri shop, Bonzai Sports, after a very disappointing experience when I arrived in Florida. After a phone call and two emails to Bonzai Sports, all I got was a "We'll look into it" on the phone - no apology, no explanation, no return phone call, no return email.

That's one place I won't do business with again. I would gladly use TriBikeTransport again - their service was worth every cent - although I understand that Bolder's experience with them wasn't as positive.

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I was extremely pleased with the services and staff of TriBikeTransport. The staff went far, far beyond the call of duty in helping me with some much-needed repairs to the chain and derailleur before Ironman Florida. I would definitely use the service again and will recommend it to others.

Unfortunately, I am extremely disappointed with the service of your partner shop in northern Virginia, Bonzai Sports http://www.tribonzai.com/

I had called ahead a couple weeks ahead of time to line up a tune-up before the bike was shipped. I was told it needed to be there at least 4 days in advance for a tuneup, and that I did not need a special appointment. I confirmed on the phone that a dropoff Tuesday October 24th would be a good dropoff date.

I made a special 2-hour drive over there (keeping my daughter out of school one day) on a weekday to drop off the bike on the requested date, the Tuesday 4 days in advance of the final dropoff date for shipment.

When the employee wrote up the ticket at dropoff I asked them to do a complete tune-up and especially fix the chain which had a broken link and adjust the derailleur which was slipping, and those requests were written on the ticket in my presence. I left two phone numbers to reach me for any problems or issues with the tuneup.

It was obvious when I picked up the bike in Florida at the race, however, that the bike hadn't been touched (the derailleur was still out of adjustment, the chain hadn't been fixed, there were still frayed, loose derailleur cables) and the tuneup had not been done, and I had not been called nor notified in any way about it by the shop.

This added a lot of extra time and effort to the drop-off for me, plus a lot of extra time and stress in Florida when I picked up the bike and it still needed a lot of work two days before an Ironman race, when I was away from home and without proper tools to service it.

Thank you again for your interest in customer service.

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