[Closed] Surly have got the right approach to customer service...

I'll be honest, that is somewhat off putting.

Heh

😀 funny, although if I wanted a pig iron frame I'd get an on one for half the price...

I'll be honest, that is somewhat off putting.

I agree.

I suppose you can try too hard to be "Niche"...

Imagine the outcry if Superstar put that on their site!

chakaping - Member
Imagine the outcry if Superstar put that on their site!

That level of honesty would be refreshing.

I like, sorts the wheat from the chaff.

bikey - Member

I suppose you can try too hard to be "Niche"...

That's kinda what I was thinking, too cool for you. I friend of mine is insanely rich and I was with him one day when he went to look at/consider buying a brand new merc. He asked the price and the salesman cliched with "if you have to ask the price you obviously cannot afford it". My mate was a bit turned off buy this and just walked away. I think he gave up any pretentsions of showing off how rich he was because he bought a toyota for practicality.

chakaping - Member

Imagine the outcry if Superstar put that on their site!

exactly.

Hmmm. Not buying anything off them. That is possibly the point tho.

🙂

Bit knobby, tbh.
Trying way too hard.

Simlarly, there must be a good market for a Cross-Check Disc, but they won't make one.
Shame really. Daft to turn money away at the mo.

Funny, considering the number of Rohloff builds I've done on their frames 😉

The one thing about Surly that annoys me is that they measure frame sizes differently to everyone else on the planet.

sur·ly
/?s?rl?/

Adjective
Bad-tempered and unfriendly

You may prefer www.amiablebikes.com

Try hard, comes across as somewhat immature would make me think twice before spending my money with them, which ultimately as a business should be their aim.

Tryhards. I'm sure some tryhard punters will eat it right up.

Well, it depends - they've probably decided that they attract more people who like their attitude than they repel.

It's childish marketing - like writing **** in big letters on your clothes. Ooh, aren't you naughty, what would your parents say?

Tryhards. I'm sure some tryhard punters will eat it right up

This. Trying to be edgy, but just comes across as dickish, which is a shame as I like Surly.

Good on them, cleary an attempt at being funny and will probably only offend the Pinkbike-grommet-mafia who will, no doubt, start an entire thread and Bookface page about it thinking they will actually have some chance of destroying the entire company.

What I think Surly should do is . . .

I'll be honest, that is somewhat off putting.

funny as chuff. To be honest the same folks upset by surly are probably the same one who have paroxysms of rage and more hand wringing than an OCD sufferer over Cove bike names as well. It's bikes, bikes are fun, chill the flip out and get over your little serious selves*... 😆

*or go back to riding you specialneedstrekgiant5's safe in the knowledge that you can be at one with the trail mincer herds

big snogs

xx

part arrogant, part knobbish, think they've gone for style (edgy) over content and tried to stand out

It's funny, and to me it sums up surly, no nonsense no shit,

free advertinging works stupids.

, think they've gone for style (edgy) over content and tried to stand out

think it's more a case of not really giving a flying xxxx about what 99% of mtb world think as they're happy doing their own thing. If they wanted to be a big corporate cycle company like trek they'd have to be all polite and nice even to folks they think are dobbers

Reads like an "I was bored one Friday afternoon" blog post to me.

And it's got us talking about it, so it's probably served its purpose.

If they put some good stuff on there "If one of our bikes breaks and it's our fault, we'll sort you out" then the direct approach might sound reassuring

As it is: 6th form project B+ 😐

From surly

Seeing how I am the self appointed “Tsar of Anti-Social Media” I wanted to take a moment to talk to you about social media and how it fits within Surly. I understand some of you do not particularly care for things like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, so on and so forth (the names alone make me want to hate them right away). Not everyone that works for Surly likes the whole social media thing as well; but everyone understands it has its place and its uses. I get the feeling that most of the angst revolves around the fact that it’s not cool because everyone is using it. It’s not punk rock enough for you and you’re way too cool for that. I get that. I mean, why would you want to be just like everyone else? After all, you’re a unique and very special snowflake, right? You’re not going to fall in line with the rest of the cattle. Just because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it right, right? That’s all well and good but I’m here to tell you no matter how hard you try and ignore it, it’s not going to go away any time soon. For some companies it’s become the way they do business, they live and die in that world. Other companies try too hard and it becomes blatantly obvious that they have no idea what they’re doing. We tend to do things our way around here.

Here’s what I think about social media: Social media should be used by companies to be nothing more than social with the people who use and enjoy your products. I know that may be pretty hard to wrap your head around so give it moment to sink in. I believe that you shouldn’t use social media to sell your products; there are far too many better ways to do that. I’d much rather see you go to your local bike shop for some real world human interaction than have you click on a link on your Facebook page. Trust me, its way more rewarding to do that and you are doing your part to keep cycling alive in your community. I view social media they way Surly does it as an insight to who we are, what we do, how we do it, and the world we live in. Most importantly I think it should be fun. It’s not always going to be politically correct, prim and proper, and even relevant all of the time. It’s not our soap box, that’s what our blog is for. We don’t use all of it all of the time and days can go by with not a peep from us. We don’t have a ton of fans on Facebook or a shitload of followers on Twitter. What we have are honest people that follow us that are true fans of Surly Bikes, not inflated numbers from “fan gating”.

If you don't get it, don't worry, you probably don't like the idea of a single speed fat bike or riding and drinking beer at the same time either 🙂

tazzymtb - Member

*or go back to riding you specialneedstrekgiant5's safe in the knowledge that you can be at one with the trail mincer herds

think it's more a case of not really giving a flying xxxx about what 99% of mtb world think as they're happy doing their own thing. If they wanted to be a big corporate cycle company like trek they'd have to be all polite and nice even to folks they think are dobbers

If you don't get it, don't worry, you probably don't like the idea of a single speed fat bike or riding and drinking beer at the same time either

Wow!

You're so individual.
I've never met a rebel like you before.

Of course, I always knew I was special and different, but others just couldn't see this based on my personality, thoughts or actions.

Losers eh!

Now they will KNOW how special, radical and different I am, because I will buy less popular products from smaller companies.
They must be better than the mainstream stuff - only individuals like us could possibly understand the cleverness of their ironic advertising.

I feel safe with this brand - they only appeal to special people like us, not all those other idiots.

And now, because I use this brand, other people will know how special and individual I am, even if they can't tell this from what I do or say.

I love my special life. Don't you? 😀

no nonsense.....like their bikes.

I have a surly fork (complete with factory-applied Surly Branding just so people know how surly I am) fitted to a specialized frame, on which obviously the downtube logo could be seen from a low orbit. I just don't know what to think any more. 😀

Don't get me wrong - I like Surly products - the road bike stuff is about as tradiional as you can get - solid, old fashioned steel frames at an almost reasonable price.
Every company used to sell a Pacer/LHT equivalent - Trek still do in the
states, the 520. Lovely bikes.

It's people trying to grow a chin by associaion that make me laugh. 😉

You're so individual.
I've never met a rebel like you before.

It's people trying to grow a chin by associaion that make me laugh.

que?

nice set of personal insults there rusty not quite sure they're directed at me, but hey if you feel you've scored some sort of obscure point...then i'm glad to be of service.

nice to see you commenting about "try hard individual" and then starting threads asking about alternative subcultures and music.

me think the lady doth protest too much 😆

I just thought it was a bit of fun!
Do people really read that blog and make a decision not to buy a bike off a company on something like that? ....really! Wow!

Basically they are the us version of on one before on one got more organised/ serious are they not

Oh and rusty spanner Taz hasnt got a surly but has got a sense of humour- try it you might like it 😉

*starts compiling a list of people who seba would like to go for a drink with and who to avoid at all costs*

nice set of personal insults there rusty not quite sure they're directed at me, but hey if you feel you've scored some sort of obscure point...then i'm glad to be of service.

Apologies, I thought you were being ironic 😯

It's bikes, bikes are fun, chill the flip out and get over your little serious selves*...

*or go back to riding you specialneedstrekgiant5's safe in the knowledge that you can be at one with the trail mincer herds

My point was that Surly make possibly the most traditional road bikes on the market.
Trying to make out that they are somehow alternative is a bit off.
They have more in common wih the bikes your grand-dad rode than 99% of bikes in the Specialized catalogue.

nice to see you commenting about "try hard individual" and then starting threads asking about alternative subcultures and music.

me think the lady doth protest too much

Eh?
Music is just music - unless you're permanently stuck at 12 years of age.
All musical subcultures are manifestations of the same contradictory teenage desires of acceptance, rebellion and individuality.

True individuality comes from inside your head, not from the width of your trousers.

Oh and rusty spanner Taz hasnt got a surly but has got a sense of humour- try it you might like it

I like it, though I didn't think it was all that well done... Still,

"The name is Surly. What did you expect, Flowers and ****ing unicorns?"

unless you're permanently stuck at 12 years of age.

bit grown up for me that, try about 7 with a child like wonder of all things freaky 😀

You don't really mean that about people who ride Treks & Giants, surely

yep, never met one I like and they all smell of wee and cabbage

Just out of interest, has anyone here used Surley's customer service ?
How true is that ?

Thank god for that, I thought you were being all nichest and serious for a minute.

See, we agree?

As you were. 😀

Thank god for that, I thought you were being all nichest and [b]serious for a minute[/b].[s]

hahahahahahahahaha

yes I am very serious * 😛

besides which surly are as common as the Jeremy kyle audience. I like my niche....NICHE! 😀

* particularly about giant and trek riders

 

I really like that. It took BALLS of steel if sanctioned by the owner(s)

When will it get pulled i.e is it a disgruntled employee?

Way WAY TOO try hard...

TBH they just sound like an immature bunch of cox..

But it is what it is... 😉

I might just start emailing them with EXACTLY that kind of stuff just to **** em off! 😈

They've only wrote what every other customer service department/shop thinks

You reckon?

Sound like a bunch of d1x who are prime for a wind up or 2!

It's a big meh from me, but I'm not niche enough for them.

Trying to make out that they are somehow alternative is a bit off.

Especially when they are part of the QBP group (quality bike products a $150million business) yet try to maintain an illusion of a backstreet operation in a shed run by a balding geek with glasses and a fondness for self aggrandisement and self promotion.

It's a big business but marketing to a willing doe-eyed audience (single speeders and steel fetishists) obviously isn't that difficult.

I might just start emailing them with EXACTLY that kind of stuff just to **** em off!

this from than man who posted wanting to know if using different front and rear tyre sizes was ok ? To be honest darling it's not like you'll have to step outside your comfort zone for inane questions 😆

Especially when they are part of the QBP group

well to be honest salsa do the racey thing and surly do the surly thing, it's a very astute business model to ensure that all types of riders are catered for. I mean it's not like they are trying to sell awful tat by sticking an orange label on it for the sheeple and fanboys is it 😉

I guess it's meant to be ironic with hints of truth, but it's a bit too negative for me. (and their bikes are supposed to be tru with hints or iron right?)

Still they got some forum inches out of it, so they won in the end.

sur·ly (sûrl)
adj. sur·li·er, sur·li·est
1. Sullenly ill-humored; gruff.
2. Threatening, as of weather conditions; ominous: surly clouds filled the sky.
3. Arrogant; domineering.

fair enough then

it's a very astute business model

their sales graph would probably look like this

[img] http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTOLBcQqYMjsSGU_cYvc_fvYXEcq-d_DPswYLGnFcuGICxunO9e6g [/img]

It's clearly worked though lol. Got you guys all talking about it...

Mleh...

Sounds fair to me; the customer is always wrong.

Bradley: I could take a dump on a coffee table and get people to talk about me, but it's not going to persuade many people to do business with me!

I could take a dump on a coffee table and get people to talk about me, but it's not going to persuade many people to do business with me!

unless they are the sort of childish folks with a scatological sense of humour...much like surly owners...they are an odd bunch when I've seen them out on the trails....all fat bikes and 29er niche tat

The Surly Pacer- over a grand for that build on a cromoly frame.

Is that right? Im no roadie but it reads whoa

bad move I'd say - regular/existing customers will have less impact, potential customers you will lose more than you acquire.

emails sent on a weekend get deleted regardless??? even if you're being jokey you just don't say that, your suppliers, creditors, your bank, distribution network are going to see that and you'll be fielding calls with sarcastic comments at the very least

LOL! Trying very hard to be "cool" by showing some attitudes. Coooolllll dudeeee!! Coooooolll! So yesterday ...

Now if they are that proud of their brand then they should forever stay with it. Yes, you are right ... try not to go to other brand i.e. change company name or be employed by other frame makers.

Not to chicken out or come up with some excuses ok ... 😆

Attitude? That's so yesterday.

Having attitude that's easy ... not having one that's a Somebody.

Simlarly, there must be a good market for a Cross-Check Disc, but they won't make one.
Shame really. Daft to turn money away at the mo.

Having read the screed that Tazzy quoted, I really can't see what the problem is. Although some might get all Daily Mail about drinking beer while riding their bike; I prefer to drink beer as part of a bike ride, but that's just me.

All companies should base their customer services strategies on the "Fawlty Towers" model. Customers are shit- fact

potential customers you will lose more than you acquire.

Nope. Always liked their stuff and will now make the effort to buy something Surly. surly hve been doing their own thing for a good while now (Karate Monkey anyone?).
It made me chuckle, but what really made me laugh was the way it pricked the self-inflated egos on this thread. Some of you lot are just a little too far up yourselves.

Just like surly marketing department then 🙄

will now make the effort to buy something Surly...what really made me laugh was the way it pricked the self-inflated egos on this thread. Some of you lot are just a little too far up yourselves.

Reminds me of sugaRAPE from Nathan Barley.

Idiots.

Its hardly self inflated, egotistical, or up oneself to only want to do business with people who want to inform and be open about the product/process. If that piece was a joke or not it makes me feel that I would rather spend my money with a company who are prepared to communicate. Look what cotic and on one do, give asmuch info as possible. My main reason for buying two Transition frames was the excellent personal response I got to my inane questions.

If it was a joke or not, it reveals something underlying in the attitude ie contempt for customers.

Surlys PR manager..
[IMG] [/IMG]

Having had cause to use the Surly warranty I can proffer the following. The Surly approach to customer service & satisfaction IME is exemplary & definitely 2nd to none. Possibly the best attitude I've experienced when it counted the most.

That is all.

Jesus there's some seriously uptight dicks on here, it's just a bit of a joke, do people really care?

See? Some people really do fall for the "if you buy our corporations's product, you'll totally be sticking it to the squares" line.

I am amazed that you can type all the way up there.

like Surly because they make over-engineered bikes in big sizes and always have done. Being my height and weight, that can be a draw to a company. My lilac road bike says quite loudly that I buy what fits, not what is cool.

You're allowed to like the company and bikes, but their website reeks of pretension.
On the "Information Hole" tab: "Spews"?

Exactly.

My lilac road bike says quite loudly that I buy what fits, not what is cool.

now make the effort to buy something Surly.

Jesus there's some seriously uptight dicks on here, it's just a bit of a joke, do people really care?

It's funny and it's generated three pages of discussion (and counting). Looks like a win for Surly in my book.

well considering they posted on the first of feb, and if it wasn't for the hand wringing up tight dicks of Singletrack pretty much no-one would have noticed, it's hardly a super cynical marketing ploy is it? In the rest of the mountain biking world no one gives a toss. The middle age middle management masses of this place are hardly their usual market either, so it's hardly a win is it?

In the rest of the mountain biking world no one gives a toss.

The middle age middle management masses of this place are hardly their usual market either

I'd love a Disc Tucker or a Cross Check.
Simple, proven design.
Should ride well, last for ages and not be too nickable.

I'd rather buy the same thing from Boardman, Edinburgh Bike Coop or Canyon for less cash though.
I'd actually rather buy one from Tesco for even less cash, if they ever decide to branch out 😀

I can do without the inflated egos and prices that come with niche (or in this case, pseudo-niche) brands - and reliability is an issue too - only ever had issues with bikes from smaller manufacturers - all the mainsteam bikes from big manufacturers have been perfect.

Sorry, but the more I think about it, the more that bit of writing puts me off the brand.
Childish toss, basically.

The bikes are a different matter - still like those. 🙂
And the stickers come off easily. 😀

lolz at rusty....i think i love you, you big cynical cuddly bugger