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TL:DR - I bought an expensive bike last year, was unhappy with the shock when I picked it up, but allowed myself to be persuaded to accept it. It rode ok, perhaps because I've struggled more with the fork, but now that I've had it serviced, TFTuned have told me that both of them were in a really bad state, but fixable, likely from the time that I picked them up.
Last August, I got fed up of chasing creaks on my old bike and decided to upgrade. I bought a Stumpjumper Evo from a very well known chain. There was only one left in my size in the country, and I had to have it transferred from one store to a closer one so that I could pick it up.
When I went to pick the bike up, I noticed that the lock out lever on the shock was slightly loose, and that the shock squelched on compression. When I raised this with the shop assistant, he got the mechanic to have a look, who said that it was fine, the lock out worked, and "They all make that noise".
I wasn't happy, but all the shop assistant could offer was to send the shock off to Fox to be looked at, and he didn't know how long it would take for them to get it back to me. This was a problem as I was on a reasonably tight schedule to have a bike ready to go to the Alps in a few weeks. I agreed that I'd accept it, he'd make a note of my concerns, and that if there were problems then I could get back in contact with them.
As it turned out, I did have problems. Not with the shock, but with the fork (also Fox). I've really struggled to get the settings dialled in, to the point of getting arm pump to a level where I've had to stop and rest on relatively short descents if they're particularly rocky or rooty. It's always felt harsh over small bumps, no matter what I've done to it. I've also never been able to get it to full travel, even when doing some spectacular hucks to flat at Dyfi.
I've just sent the fork and shock to be serviced. According to TFTuned, the squelching in the shock has been caused by a separated seal, and they think that it's won't have been riding well. I suspect that because it's been better than the fork, I've not noticed it. For the fork, they say the seals are completely dry, there's too much grease in the negative air spring and this has meant that it's far too stiff.
Don't get me wrong, I've had fun in the past year on the bike, and last week I was doing non-stop laps of Dyfi top to bottom. However there have been a few occasions at BPW or in the Alps when I've had to stop and rest my arms because it's been too painful, and there have definitely been days when I've had to stop earlier than I wanted to out of tiredness.
So what would singletrack world do? I've had them serviced now, so it should be fixed, and I would have been paying to get them serviced at this point anyway. However I do feel that I've been somewhat let down by Specialized quality control and the bike shop chain in question.
Suck it up, or make a complaint?
Specialized don't make the fork or the shock. It's unlikely that the bike ever went near a single actual Specialized employee.
The shop don't know what they are talking about and i'd avoid them like the plague in future.
I doubt you've got any leverage for anything if you've left it since last year.
Personally I would make a formal complaint detailing the issues you found and the poor service from the shop but don't invest any great emotional energy into it as you are unlikely to get anything from them. £50 in vouchers as goodwill would be a good result IMO
First point of call for me would have been back to the shop to get it sorted through them via warranty or another Specialized dealer. Unless its changed since Specialized did away with their in house suspension department then its usually gone back to Plush Suspension who are in the same building as Brink who are a Specialized dealer or the importer.
Failing that if you have your bike registered on the Specialized website you could give Specialized UK a ring, I've always found them helpful even when I've had a daft question
With regards the forks I've always ensured that new forks are given a lower service ASP with one of the two localist to me bike shops that I would trust to do them.
TBH, the shop offered to do the right thing with regard to the shock, but you chose not to. If you hadn't been off to the Alps, you may have taken them up on it and had the issue resolved there and then.
New Fox forks arriving dry are another pretty frequent complaint, as is grease blocking transfer ports etc. Although Fox's own service intervals are pretty unrealistic, it's not unreasonable for them to be have been given a lowers service (solving the dry seals) quite a while ago, especially as you sound like a pretty active rider, and probably a fuller strip-down a bit sooner as well.
I doubt you'll get much out of a complaint to Spesh or Fox. The grease thing is annoying, but if was getting unusually battered off a fork which should be plush, I'd probably have sent them off a bit sooner.
Thanks for the opinions.
I agree that I don't have much of a leg to stand on in terms of entitlement to any compensation.
I'm angry at myself for not trusting my instincts and letting myself be fobbed off by the bike shop mechanic saying that "they're all like that".
I also think that if a bike needs a lower leg service to get it working properly (ironically I'd done an air can service on the shock myself) from new, then that should be part of the bike shop preparation.
Overall I think it's poor service when spending a significant amount of money on a bike from a premium retailer.
I take your points about whether it's worth investing the emotional energy in making the complaint.