[chocwheaton]

You gotta love aussie retailers! I don't know why, but bad attitudes from retail businesses still surprises me sometimes! I'll give you a brief rundown of the scenario and post up the emails for giggles [laugh].

I've been shopping for good one piece leathers and new race style gloves. I came across the aussie online shop gobike.com.au. Thought I'd check out what they had/prices etc. No worries. I go to their site and ALL the product images were broken.

I go back to the site about a week later and its in the same state. I figure I'll tell them it's all broken (in case they don't know) and let them know how dodgy it is for an online retail site to be like that. I'm probably a bit brief with my comments, but I was in a hurry and a bit sick of all the crappy websites I'd been searching through.

My email

----- Original Message -----
From: "Greg Eaton"
To: "GoBike"
Sent: Friday, November 10, 2006 5:12 PM
Subject: Enquiry from GoBike.com.au

> All your product images are broken (and have been for a while). How do you
> expect me to trust your online shop enough to buy anything if you can't
> even get product images working.
>
> Cheers
>
> Greg

I bit harsh? A little, but I was an annoyed customer and the comment is definintely valid. Their site was broken, so I asked why I should trust using it.

gobike reply:
On 13/11/06, Orders <[email protected]> wrote:

Ha Ha, Greg your a funny Guy!

Yes, the site is having some issues and should be fixed soon, its up to you
if you want to deal with us in the future, but assuming your attitude I'd
rather you didn't


"...but assuming your attitude I'd rather you didn't" [clap] [laugh] touche

Ha ha! Man you gotta love customer service attitudes these days. Sure I was a bit curt with my email (hey the website sucks and that's not good enough), but I was just telling them what impression their site left upon me as a customer!

So I figure it's a slow day, so I'll have a bite for fun!

My next email:

"...but assuming your attitude I'd rather you didn't"

Regarding my attitude, I was simply telling you the impression I had of your site from the perspective of a customer that has never dealt with you before. Online business has a great deal to do with trusting the online seller to handle my credit card details, and to actually deliver the goods. Surely many customers would feel as I did when confronted with a site where all product images are broken. Would you prefer I was not honest, or just bought elsewhere without letting you know my impression?

My email was to the point, possibly a little abrupt (apologies for that), but not rude and did not contain any course language. I just told you what what I thought given I'm a frequent online purchaser.

When customers take it upon themselves to provide feedback, perhaps you could you leave out the attitude from your response?

You are correct about one thing, I will not be doing any business with you. Not because your site was having temporary difficulties, but because of the attitude you displayed towards a customer.

Good luck

Greg

Now I'll see if he wants to have a go at me for being honest again!

Man I gotta get out more [clap] :angel: but I can't help it...it's fun (and poor attitudes towards customers with money to buy peeves me orrrfff)!

Cheers

Choc

 

[s4grrr]

greg,
go see rodney at springwood suzuki, tell him i sent you if you like but it shouldn't matter, he'll help you out with a great range to try on and really good prices, no aggro either!!! ;D
paul.

 

[nickors]

[clap] well done Greg, give it to em [clap]

I agree whole heartedly with both of your emails. The attitude in the second email is unbelievable.

Lets see what comes back.

 

[DUCMONROB]

Love it! [thumbsup] I`m on your side..

I just recieved a survey from Frasers about my first service......well its all bad. :'(

I totally wrote them off due to the ass hole service manager. I was told before I bought my pipes that if you leave the stock filter in they can tune the stock ecu........wrong information! ..... I pick up the bike after the first service and asked to have the ecu re mapped..........wait for it..........The ass hole service manager walks up to me at the counter and says.........wait for it..........'you need to spend $2200 on a race ecu!!!!!


Wait for it...........The scheduled first service is a fixed price of $250..........
He charges me $301 for the service. I said it is $250 for the first service........he says 'we are using shell oil now and we can`t absorb the cost in the service so you have to pay for it'.........well this has now been sent on to Frasers head office with copies of both first services from both of the bikes I have owned this year..(one bike dead). I also mentioned that their new bike owners card that offers 10% discount in store is great that it pulls the price back to what all the other bike shops charge for accessories and apparell.

Ok I have vented, I feel better now

Rob

 

[chocwheaton]

Sadly I've had no reply to my reply email to gobike. :'( Maybe the unnamed person at gobike has more common sense than I gave him credit for. There's really no point for him to get into an email argument with me about how crappy his attitude is.

Possibly my email made him sit back and think long and hard about himself? : Hmmm maybe not. [laugh]

Oh well, my money is already spent elsewhere...and always will be spent somewhere other than gobike . I recommend you all do the same. Can you imagine having to deal with some incorrect size or warranty issue with someone who has customer service attitude like that

Cheers

Choc

 

[chocwheaton]

Just out of curiosity...does anyone have any good things to say about gobike?

Choc

 

[GeoffB]

.....'you need to spend $2200 on a race ecu!!!!!

I hope you bought a PowerCommander, or equivalent?

$565 + $200 (usually) for a Dyno tune.

 

[DUCMONROB]

I hope you bought a PowerCommander, or equivalent?

$565 + $200 (usually) for a Dyno tune.

i`m working on that!

 

[nickors]

i`m working on that!

minister for finance approval issue? sounds familiar (to me anyway!) ;D

 

[juk80]

stick it too 'em choc.

I just sent them an e-mail as well asking when their pics will be back on-line "cause I really want to buy some stuff".

We should all annoy old mate by sending him a lame e-mail we know the answer to. [laugh] ;D [laugh]

 

[DUCMONROB]

minister for finance approval issue? sounds familiar (to me anyway!) ;D

Heheheheheh! [clap]LOL. Funolice:......YEP!

 

[GeoffB]

I've been shopping for good one piece leathers and new race style gloves.

How's your search going? I'm after some leathers too, and am not sure where to look (bike shop prices are high).

 

[pepsduc]

I purchased my Alpinestars Jacket from this ebay store for a fraction of the price it would have cost here;

http://stores.ebay.com.au/Flyin-Brians-Deals_W0QQcolZ4QQdirZ1QQfsubZQ2d999QQftidZ2QQtZkm

check it out, they have a huge range of suits, gloves, jackets, boots, etc.

I'm looking at getting some boots, so if anyones interested in combining shipping?

 

[chocwheaton]

I have a full write up of my whole process on trakdaze. Check it out...I hope you can see all the images without needing to register...

****edit****
(If this link does not work, just try again later. Trakdaze is a very unreliable site for some reason)
http://www.trakdaze.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=6911#6911

But in a nutshell...in the mid priced market, for all the research I did online (a LOT of forum reading and opinions on crash performance) I found that there are only a few brands that I'd pay big dollars for and actually be confident of getting superior crash protection.

So instead of paying big dollars (2kAUD+), I threw caution into the wind purchased the MotoGP kangaroo compression suit in the black/white/grey colour combo.

I found a killer deal on it from the USA. $920 AUD delivered! To cheap to pass up. I read mixed reports about these MotoGP leathers, but I'd read mixed reports about almost every brand, including dianese, A* etc, so I don't think there's much real info to base any decisions on in the mid-priced leather market (1k-2kAUD).

FYI...In the end only a few brand names had nothing but praise online. I hunted around forums and seach engines for weeks, and they all cost well over $2000 AUD to get here. These were:

Kushitani
http://www.kushitani.com
Hiside leathers told me they thought these were the best stuff they've seen
A japanese designed and made product. Can't buy them in oz as far as I know, so it would be imported from the US or direct from Japan.

RS Taichi
http://www.rs-taichi.com
Another Japanese company also not sold in Aus. I like their designs alot and will think about these next time when I have more $$$.

Vanson
http://www.vansonleathers.com/
From the USA, they have basic designs, but everyone raves about their quality. Questionable customer service when ordering direct.

BKS
http://www.bksleather.co.uk/home.htm
From the UK...lotsa $ and old school designs.

And there was one more but I forget what it was!

I'll let you all know how the kangaroo leather works out. In a couple of years I'd like to get a RS TaiChi suit if I can afford it. Might need to have another holiday in Japan and get one while I'm there!

****edit****
Or knowing my luck, gobike will start stocking RS TaiChi and they'll refuse to t sell me one [laugh]

Cheers

Greg

 

[GeoffB]

Thanks for the details. Buying leathers is difficult over the internet. You really need to try them on, and call me old-fashioned, but I feel a bit bad about trying leathers on in a shop and then buying them over the net.

 

[chocwheaton]

Thanks for the details. Buying leathers is difficult over the internet. You really need to try them on, and call me old-fashioned, but I feel a bit bad about trying leathers on in a shop and then buying them over the net.

You're right there GeoffB. This is the first time I've never tried lethers on. We can't buy MotoGP in Australia. I've gone ok in euro style (slim cut) suits before and was told that this is also a slim fitting suit, which suits me! [thumbsup] Joe rocket are horrible on me.

Hopefully it'll be good, else I'll get a nip and tuck here and there if need be to make it perfect. I should be getting it early next week! [clap]

Choc

 

[pepsduc]

i couldnt help myself, so i also sent our little mate an email illustrating my disappointment of their website.

the reply this morning......

'We are hopeing the site will be fixed very soon'

: [cheeky] [laugh]

 

[chocwheaton]

i couldnt help myself, so i also sent our little mate an email illustrating my disappointment of their website.

the reply this morning......

'We are hopeing the site will be fixed very soon'

: [cheeky] [laugh]

So he was civil to you then? Maybe I just emailed them on that day of the month?

 

[Palooka]

Greg,
I have some RS Taichi gloves that I ordered from the US. Got them from Terra Powersports (http://www.terra-powersports.com/default.aspx/sid/1). I had great contact with them, very helpfull and the gloves arrived within a week of ordering ($25US for shipping). I can highly recommend thewm and if you are unsure about sizing, get in touch with them. They are very helpfull.

The other place you may want to consider for custom leathers is Tiger Angel. A mate of mine got some custom made and they were reasonably priced. Although they are located down south, I'm pretty sure that they have "agents" in most capital cities who can measure you up and sent the details to the factory.

In terms of the "best" leathers out there Kushitani (as worn by **** Doohan and Alan Cathcart), RS Taichi and BKS are all up there in quality and protective qualities. The cost of BKS is huge. Being british they are prohibitively expensive for Aussies (unless you have at least $4000 to spend). The other 2 brands dont have a local importer.

In my own personal experience, you need to have custom mades or at the very least try on before you buy. Sizes within a manufacturer are not consistent, let alone across manufacturers. I have some Alpinestars SMX-2 leathers that I gambled on for size. They are not perfect but good enough. I imported them from the US from Motostrano but wouldnt have done that if I didn't know people in the US who could have returned them for me.

When it comes to protective gear my advice would be to get the best you can afford. Get past the "bling" factor of the name brands and you can find some good value out there.

Hope this helps.

Paul

 

[chocwheaton]

Cheers Paul,
How are the RS Taichi gloves? I was almost going to get a pair of those, but instead ordered a pair from an Austrian company called 'Racer, (shite name I know! [laugh].

Have a look at a review here on webbikeworld:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-gloves/racer-gloves/

Have not recieved them yet. The RS taichi gloves were going to cost me a bit over $300AUD, so I opted for these 'racer' gloves for $250AUD delivered. Hopefully they'll be as good as what I've read about them.

Hey how's that 749R going? I'm thinking of doing another track day on the 13th of December. You should bring her along for the riding like she was made for!