What a terrible customer service experience! I brought my Bilt bluetooth helmet in because one speaker stopped working. It was a gift, so I had no receipt. I did bring the tag with price and code on it, and the warranty card that comes with the helmet. I also had the box it came in, but I ride a motorcycle, (surprise!) so I could not fit that in my backpack. I assumed, since Bilt is an exclusive Cyclegear product, that I would have no problem getting my issue resolved.
I was SO wrong.
There was one guy ahead of me in line, so I got behind him and waited. An employee came to me and asked what I needed. He was very nice, just doing his job, no worries. I explained to him that my bluetooth helmet was not working. He asked if I had a receipt, I said no. He proceeded to explain that they could not help me because a receipt was necessary. I told him that this was a Bilt helmet. It could only be purchased from Cyclegear.
This is where it gets good. He told me that they would throw the warrantied helmets in the dumpster and people would retrieve them and bring them in for warranty again. That is why you must always have a receipt. I looked at him for a second, but he was dead serious. I said, that is dumb. Why would I be required to have a receipt to make up for bad policy on your part? He stammered something unintelligible. I asked if he was the manager, he said no, and directed me to him.
The "Manager"!
ha! Scott, the manager, gave me a rude and condescending attitude from the moment we spoke. He never once smiled. Never once talked to me in a friendly way. He went through the same excuses that the first employee did. He argued with me for quite a while about how many companies he had worked for that required receipts for warranty items. He searched his stores database for my purchase, found nothing. I told him it was a gift, he said it made no difference. I told him that I actually liked the helmet, it was a minor problem with a bluetooth speaker, perhaps we could just fix that? He refused to even consider it.
At this point he accused me of having a bad attitude. I asked, how so? I have not raised my voice, used foul language or been angry, despite being told that my purchase of a Bilt product was not being backed up by the company that manufactures and sells it. An employee that I had not spoken to leaned over from another register and mumbled something that I could not understand. I turned to him and asked what he had said. He was angry and could not look at me directly. He said that I had called them dumb for throwing helmets in the dumpster, and that is why I had an attitude.
This blew my mind! Is it company policy to toss perfectly good helmets in the garbage? Would you be surprised when people take advantage of this and return them? That is DUMB. No two ways about it. Nothing personal about it, either. No need to get insulted.
Next, Scott grabbed my helmet with an angry huff! He literally stomped over to the side counter, like an angry 8 year old, and slammed my helmet on top of some boxes. Without looking at me or saying a word, he went to the new helmets and began searching. He realized that he had no idea what size I wore, so after a few seconds, he angrily asked me. I told him it was a medium. He got a new helmet, unpackaged it and set it on the counter in front of me. I honestly have no idea what a person like that is doing managing a store. I was embarrased for him and utterly unprepared for such behavior.
He handed me a form to fill out for the return, and Lo! and behold, there is a spot on the form to check if no receipt. It turns out that they DO allow for such an eventuality! Amazing. I asked him about that, and he told me that he had never said he WOULDN'T honor the warranty. I was shocked! I told him that he had just argued with me for ten minutes! His empoyee had told me that they could not help me, and given me the dumpster story! Scott looked me right in the eye and said, "He was being facetious. It is called sarcasm", his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Now, I have had good experiences with Cyclegear. They are cheap, but decent. I do not expect perfection from an obviously lower end store. But this was ridiculous. I would have been perfectly happy with repairing my helmet. It was probably a $1.00 speaker! There is just no reason to act this way in that situation. Scott and his lackeys lost my business forever. read more