I have used Tri UK in Yeovil for several years, not because they are cheaper (you can buy the same products cheaper elsewhere on line), not because of their customer service (more of that later!) but because I believe in supporting local businesses on the high street in a of growing culture of internet sales dominance. I have shopped with them for years, bought three expensive bikes and accessories (all cheaper on line) and always used them to have the bikes serviced, but due to their woeful customer service, condescending attitude and abject refusal to compromise, this is one occasion where Mary Portas and I differ and this is one high street store consumers can definitely do without.
The first incident occurred a couple of years ago when I purchase some very expensive Continental bike tyres (£40 a pop!). On getting them home, fitting them in accordance with the manufacturers instructions and taking them out for a ride, within two miles something caught my eye and I noticed a bulge in the side wall of the front tyre moments before it caught my brake pad, bursting the tyre and sending me out of control across the opposite lane of the road and into a hedge. On inspection it appeared that the tyre wall had split allowing the inner tube to bulge outwards causing the catastrophic failure. On returning to Tri UK to explain the situation and request the faulty tyre be exchanged for a new one (as I believed it to be faulty), I was initially refused an exchange on the grounds that I "must have fitted the tyre incorrectly". On stating that I had followed guidance on the packaging and that the rear type was fine and fitted in exactly the same manner, I was then told that it was my responsibility to contact Continental (in Germany!) to have the tyre investigated and that it wasn't their responsibility to replace the tyre. Throughout this dialogue I had to rely on the shop assistant to relay messages to and from the staff room as the manager was on his break and too busy to come out! Leaving without satisfaction, I vowed to never use Tri UK again. However, time and my misplaced assumption that personalities can change and that I'd probably just had a "bad experience" lead me back to using them again.
Take two: Having recently bought my wife a road bike for use in triathlons, I was keen to buy her some accessories to ensure that she was carrying the right kit should she ever need to change a flat tyre or to carry out basic maintenance before or during a race. Once again my misplaced desire to buy local took me back to Tri UK where I bought a saddle pack (unsurprisingly cheaper on line). On getting it home we realised that it was far too big to be practical for triathlon and returned to the store with the item in perfect nick to get a refund. Once again I was dealt with by a different but seemingly equally unempowered sales assistant who would not give a refund without his manager's approval, which he duly sought. Not thinking this would be too much of an issue, I calmly explained to the manager (not on a break this time!) that the saddle bag was surplus to requirement and I would like a refund, to which he then replied with an overt air of confrontation that he "was not obliged to give a refund and that I could have store credit", not a huge issue in itself but when I asked for clarification stating that I had the receipt and that the item was in 100% saleable condition having not been removed from it original packaging, he replied that he "knew consumer law better than I did" and that he "wasn't going to give a refund" before beginning to walk away. Annoyed, embarrassed and more than a little shocked at this unwarranted dressing down, I recommended that Tri UK perhaps advertise their returns policy, to which he relied that they were "under no obligation to do so" before he walked off. Whereas I have no doubt that he is probably correct, the disgraceful and contemptuous manner in which I was dealt with for the sake of a £15 accessory has convinced me that in a society where items are bought and returned without quibble or fuss and without the need to be interact with archaic, ill mannered trumped up shop assistants like this (as a "manager" he certainly isn't!), leads me to conclude that in the case of Tri UK, local isn't cheaper, better or a more pleasurable experience. Tri UK is another moribund organisation that appears to view customer service and satisfaction as surplus to requirement and has ensured once and for all, that I shall be shopping elsewhere in future. read more
