WORKSMAN CUSTOMER SERVICE

[northlandak]

Well , we are rebuilding an old Worksman bicycle . I Needed new spokes so in December I called Worksman and put my order in over the phone - 12 weeks later I contacted Worksman about the order 15 weeks now and still have not got a response. I do my absolute best to support American companies . But if Worksman Bicycles in NY goes out of business I will know why . After searching bicycle web sites I found that this is a common issue with this company . It's a shame, as they produce a good product . Customer service is dying along with companies I try to support .... If anyone starting or owns an American based company- remeber your customers !
I will finish this bike without Worksman parts and will omit the Worksman name from the bike .

Support those who support you !

 

[MadMax '58]

........

 

[abe lugo]

there is a spoke guy on ebay that sells sets for about 20.00. Sorry to hear about the service at Worksman, I wouldn't let it go more than a 1 week then move on to a better vendor. There is buchanan spokes in Azuza,Ca also.
I'm building a Worksman but hope I don't end having to order anything from them. Other than the frame and wheel/rims, it might bee mostly Wald parts anyhow.

 

[MIGZ]

I had an experience with one of the large cruiser manufactures that were less than favorable not wanting to stand behind their products. Since then I have decided to not buy or promote any of their products. I still have a lot of there bikes which I believe are cool but I will not buy another product from said company.

Good thing is that you can always find what you are looking for somewhere else.

 

[gcrank1]

I know you are frustrated and this will be a bit more work, but, just on principle, I would do all I could to try to talk to the head of Worksman, he needs to know what is happening so he can FIX it. People low on the chain arent going to tell him they are slacking!
FWIW, I have been considering one of their bikes, NOW Im not so sure. If you get to talk to him be sure to mention this site gets a lot of traffic, so word of how you are treated will (is) getting around.

 

[KJV]

i am surprised to read this.
because, when i call Worksman
for parts; i always have them within a week.

 

[jwm]

I have found that nothing gets results like old school written correspondence. Fire up the printer. Find out who you need to write to. Be polite (no cussing them out) but let them know in no uncertain terms that you've had a bad experience. Most companies are willing to make amends. They may even cut you a discount.

JWM

 

[MIGZ]

Don't always think management does not know. I think that the organization with which I was dealing with had a shift in management. The business focus went from independent bike supplier to part of an investment firm designed to improve brand market share an visibility and then sell the company for profit.

So with that being said they investment company is only in for a the short run of improving brand recognition then selling it off. What that means to consumers is you will have a hard time getting the company to cover warranty claims b/c it hurts the bottom line of the company.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

I think we may do some of this to ourselves. I have called Worksman before and tried to buy some spokes. They go through this long deal of what spoke you need and what size. Then they tell you they are $1.00 a piece with a minimum order of 100. Right about then the "Have you people lost your mind syndrome" comes into play. Needless to say I don't order the spokes. I think that probably happens a bunch. May cause them to not really want to deal with single buyer customers. There are about three companies that build a heavy duty bike that can be used in a chemical plant environment. I think they want to sell 20 bikes to a company than discuss the couple parts that you may or may not buy.

 

[MIGZ]

I had an experience with one of the large cruiser manufactures that were less than favorable not wanting to stand behind their products. Since then I have decided to not buy or promote any of their products. I still have a lot of there bikes which I believe are cool but I will not buy another product from said company.

My guess is Felt.

Nope but very close

 

[largek9]

There used to be a really famous guy named Tom Peters he spent alot of his career fixing and document customer service both good and bad at large companies. Kind of a motavational speaker and customer service expert.Sounds like they could use his help! Tom

 

[TornadoDave3]

You are not the first person to compalin about this company's customer service.... apparently, they aren't interested in keeping their customers happy.

Not too long ago I contacted them and tried to get a quote for 10 framesets to be used in a line of custom bikes. I wanted to use them because they were made in America and well-built. It took multiple e-mails and letters to even get a first response. Then when I did get a quote from them, it was higher than the parts are listed on their web-site as replacement parts. In fact, it was only a few dollars less than the cost of an entire bike. ... and they told me it would take six months to get 10 of them. Yikes! Six months? Geezzz....

After trying to negotiate with them several times, I simply decided that they were not the sort of people I wanted to deal with.... I found them to be rude, and unresponsive. So I switched gears, and started hot-tanking old Schwinn frames and forks for my bikes.

Since then, I've done far more bikes than I ever thought I would... and it looks like I'll do a bunch more this year. So... by being difficult to deal with, the Worksmen folks missed out on a rather large chunk of repeat business.

In an odd twist of fate, one of my customers told me about a plant in my town that had a fleet of old Worksmens that they were going to throw out and replace with new Worksmens.... So I contacted them, and sold them on the idea of instead of buying new bikes, I could hot-tank, repaint and rebuild their old bikes for less money.

Oh well.... that's what they get when they don't treat their customers and potential customers well.

 

[gcrank1]

Did you ever actually get through to the top brass, or was it just middle management? If it was only mid guys, Id really like to see their tree get shook.

 

[axsepul]

Interesting. I like their bikes. Never ordered anything from them. Guess I'll know now what to expect

 

[abe lugo]

Here is an alternative
http://www.industrialbikes.com/contact_us.aspx

 

[Bicycle808]

if you're on facebook, you can "like them" on facebook, then post polite but detailed questions about your order on their page. That'll get Wayne's attention right quick....

A company like that will die if it doesn't try harder to get the job done, taking care of the little guy. You can try all year to catch and eat an elephant; I'll just keep on eating a chicken a day & be happy.....

-rob