[Closed] Another Planet X 'Customer Service' grumble ...

Contacted PX customer service (twice) this week, finally got a response today … Basically along the lines that this is a wear and tear item, and thus not covered under warranty.

I had the same issue with an a57 rear wheel I bought a few years ago.  Rear hib lasted about 400 miles on a road commuting bike, px agreed eventually to replace the bearing under warranty, the wheel came back about 6 weeks later.  New bearings lasted about 200 miles.  Wheel went in the bin. I would agree 100% you have a case, their stuff is generally shit.

I think it'd be better just to replace the bearings and move on. I had a miserablel battle with Dolan once where they just kept fobbing me off, to the point where the anger was ruining my life. Ended up bodging a solution myself and moving on.

Repair it yourself, don't use them again.

Get Dave Hinde to send you a replacement via MyHermes

Certainly not out of line to complain, but it is a wear and tear item that you basically bought from a poundshop, so I think I'd just be replacing the bearings myself.
If it's something else like a bolloxed freehub [had that on a new planetx bike before] or a cracked axle etc then obv they need to sort it - and they will do so IME.

^^^ ... I get that it is a wear and tear item, and if I'd put it through a couple of thousand km's over several months, would likely suck it up. But it's 5 weeks old and has done under 300km FFS ... So, either faulty or not fit for purpose IMO.

Anyway, more positive update. Email back within the hour with a Collect + label, saying to send the wheels back and they'll have a look at them.

But it’s 5 weeks old and has done under 300km FFS … So, either faulty or not fit for purpose IMO.

Very similar to mine.

Anyway, more positive update. Email back within the hour with a Collect + label, saying to send the wheels back and they’ll have a look at them.

Hope you don't need the wheel back in a hurry.

Seriously, haven't we done these threads enough to just all agree the simple answer:

don't buy anything from them where you expect any sort of quality / warranty / customer service?!!?

noisier-than-it-should-be

Exactly how noisey should it be? Compared to what? What's actually wrong with it other than it's noisier than your lbs thinks it should be? Is it draggy, does it not engage etc.

My hope hubs are noisier than my shimano ones are they faulty?

Don't get me wrong there may be something underlying causing the noise, and returning it to px for inspection is a fair step. Complaining it's not fit for purpose, quoting the [s]SoGA[/s] Consumer Rights Act seems a bit premature.

Complaining it’s not fit for purpose, quoting the SoGA Consumer Rights Act seems a bit premature.

In fairness to the OP and speaking from past experience that was probably a reaction to px's terrible customer service, 'it's just wear and tear' my arse.

In the meantime, buy a better set of wheels elsewhere and ebay the ones they send back.

"I think it’d be better just to replace the bearings and move on."

Me to. It sucks but unless you want to send the wheel back and perhaps be off the bike for weeks, just swap the bearings out yourself. It's good advise to expect nothing of planet-x. If it's cheap enough buy from them, but cost in doing this sort of thing yourself. 

Exactly how noisey should it be? Compared to what? What’s actually wrong with it other than it’s noisier than your lbs thinks it should be? Is it draggy, does it not engage etc.

Clearly this isn't an issue about noisy Hope-type hubs.

The LBS is very well respected (generally, and in wheel-building) ... They know their onions! The mechanic hadn't investigated any further (I'd not asked him to, and his view was that as the bike was so new, I should get advice from PX), but his view was that the bearings sounded more rumbly than they should, and suspected that water had got in and degraded the grease /bearings

Complaining it’s not fit for purpose, quoting the SoGA Consumer Rights Act seems a bit premature.

In fairness to the OP and speaking from past experience that was probably a reaction to px’s terrible customer service, ‘it’s just wear and tear’ my arse.

Exactly. I don't think I was going in 'all guns blazing' ... My initial enquiry had been "this is what my LBS have told me, what would you advise/suggest I do?" It was only after the "F*** off, it's not our problem" first response that the blood started to boil a little, and when I started to suggest that IF a problem existed on something so new, then SoGA/Consumer Rights might be relevant ...

"I think it’d be better just to replace the bearings and move on.”

Hmm. Maybe. But is it likely to be just crap bearings that were installed in the first place, or just poorly designed and sealed (likely OEM) hubs? If I replace the bearings, can I just replace with better quality / better sealed ones?

"In the meantime, buy a better set of wheels elsewhere and ebay the ones they send back."

That's not a bad shout, especially since I'm toying with some 650b wheels anyway. Trouble is, money is tight having just bought the bike, without having to spend extra on better wheels, as well as new-sized tyres ...

buy a better set of wheels elsewhere and ebay the ones they send back

And what do you say to the buyer after they come back to say the wheels are shagged after 200 miles? That's why I just binned mine.

Wheels are Vision Team 30 Disc.

that's your problem, trek used vision wheels last year and we had many problems with them, bearings wise and rim fractures. parts were very hard to get too

Your complaint is justified, your fast escalation equally justified considering who you're dealing with. Only problem is, none of this really matters with PX, they don't care about customer service, facts or the law, they'll do anything they can to make it too much hassle for you to bother proceeding.

If they can palm the defect off on their supplier you'll probably get a replacement or fix. If they have to pay for it themselves you probably won't. Good luck!

don’t buy anything from them where you expect any sort of quality / warranty / customer service?!!?

That's not fair..

you shouldn't actually expect what they've advertised either!

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don’t buy anything from them where you expect any sort of quality / warranty / customer service?!!?

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That’s not fair..

you shouldn’t actually expect what they’ve advertised either!

Overall, I'm ok with PX ... They do sell some good value stuff and I've bought from them a lot over the years, mainly as I don't have loads of cash and appreciate the good value. Customer Service has been mixed IME ... They were great with 2 dropper posts on my 45650b that developed faults (but maybe that was SRAM covering the warranty) and have (eventually) refunded me a couple of items of clothing I sent back due to premature wear. I know they're never going to go 'above & beyond' in terms of customer care, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to spec, and build (even to a very keen price) a bike where everything is reasonably fit for purpose. And, if they've got something wrong, to put it right ...

So, I am pi**ed off ... irrespective of whether they eventually resolve this satisfactorily ...

So, I am pi**ed off … irrespective of whether they eventually resolve this satisfactorily …

I felt the same, mainly their attitude when I first highlighted the issue, then the 'we'll do you a favour' stance when they replaced the bearings.  Haven't used them since.

There's a reason PX are cheap, they survive on super low margins and just take everyone's business, they use cheap components, sourced through their own channels. If people buy online and by price, they can't complain. Just go to a decent shop and pay a bit more, keep the shop in business and eventually companies like PX will close. Hopefully anyway. There are so many decent one man band mechanics now that they can do quality repairs.

"greenstix7

If people buy online and by price, they can’t complain."

Of course they can, just being cheap doesn't mean it's OK to supply substandard products, or to fail to honour guarantees

^^^ agreed, I do find it a bit odd though that people keep starting threads like this & feigning surprise 🙂

You've done the right thing. I got no resolution out of them until I posted on here and let them know and suddenly they sorted it out. I still couldn't recommend anyone uses them though.

^^^ agreed, I do find it a bit odd though that people keep starting threads like this & feigning surprise 🙂

Well I thought it can't happen that often it won't happen to me. WRONG!

^^^ agreed, I do find it a bit odd though that people keep starting threads like this & feigning surprise 🙂

I wasn't feigning surprise, just checking out whether I was being reasonable in expecting a product that works for a reasonable length of time, and if not, whether I'd grounds for comeback on PX.

The Vision Wheels are listed as being £300 wheels (albeit reduced to £179 currently). I've got budget Shimano CX wheels on the Hack that must be a similar price, but have been bombproof for the last 4 years and 20k kms, put through all kinds of muddy, wet, commuting, Dirty Reiver/3PCX abuse, with just one strip and regrease of the rear hub in all that time!

"Of course they can, just being cheap doesn’t mean it’s OK to supply substandard products, or to fail to honour guarantees"

^^ This.

Quick update ...

Sent the rear wheel off just over a week ago (and with the country ground to a halt with winter, they won't have got it until last Friday probably) ... Email today saying that they have replaced the freehub and driveside bearing, and it's back in the post to me.

Guess that is satisfactory customer service after all. It probably doesn't solve the doubt I have about the quality of the wheel/components being up to the job on a long term basis, and if it develops the same problem again in the next few months, I'll probably just have to suck it up. Probably keep this set as a spare, dry road set, and get some better (650, as was the original plan) wheels to run most of the time.

Guess that is satisfactory customer service after all.

Surely that's great customer service ? They didnt have to go that far.

They didnt have to go that far.

On a 5 week old wheel?

I'd say thats the absolute bare minimum they could do TBH