| Author | Message | ||
     Bluzm2 |
It's been an interesting week as a consumer. It started out about 2 weeks ago with my quest for warmer winter riding gloves. My first stop is usually newenough.com as I have always had good service and products from them. After browsing their web site, I chose a pair of First Gear Fargo gloves in size XL. Decent price and features and lots of Thinsulate. I normally wear a large or in some cases an XL depending on the manufacturer. I wanted a bit more room for liner gloves if needed so I went with the XL's. As is usual with Newenough, the transaction went with out a hitch and the package arrived 4 business days later. I'm always like a kid at Christmas whenever a package arrives with "scooter" stuff inside. The package was open in a flash and after giving the gloves a quick once over I attempted to put on the right glove. What the???? Man were these buggers ever small! They were tight across the palm and the fingers were tight and on the short side. Smallest XL's I've ever seen. They were obviously not going to work. A quick call to Newenough and all was straightened out. I ordered a set of 2XL's and sent the XL's back. Again there was a 3-4 day wait and the new set of gloves arrived. Same great looking gloves, neat little wiper deal in the left finger, nice styling and a 2XL tag in each one. I didn't even get my hand half way in and I knew there was a problem. The damn thing wasn't any bigger than the last XL pair. Still tight in the palm and fingers. I decided to send First Gear a note to see if they had a manufacturing problem. I got a response right away, they wanted the gloves sent to them and wanted me to verify my hand measurements. I took some pictures of a tape measure around my hand and of my hand laying on top of the glove and of the size tags. Their sizing guidelines on their web site said with a hand 9 1/2" at the widest I was at the bottom end of the XL scale. All this was sent back to First Gear along with a explanation of my problem. I also mentioned that the gloves I was sending them were 2XL's. They provided me with a UPS tag to return the gloves to them. A few days go by and I don't hear anything from them. I sent they guy a note to make sure he got my pictures and stuff. I got a reply the next day. He stated they had found a sizing problem with the new Fargo gloves and they would send a pair of 2XL's so they would fit properly. Obviously he didn't read my note very well or look at the pictures. Needless to say I fired back a response that I was returning to them a pair of 2XL's. They replyed back that they had found a problem and all the sizing was wrong. The samples they got were correct but the production units were all too small. His solution was to send me last years model (the Dakota) that was now discontinued. I replyed back to him that this wasn't acceptable as I had paid for a current year glove, not a discontinued obsolete version. I suggested they upgrade me to the Navagator model to make up for all the hassle and postage. If they would't do that, I requested a refund. The next response took a bit of a curve. They said ALL of their current gloves appeared to have a sizing problem, not just the Fargo's. They also said they couldn't refund my money as they didn't deal directly with consumers. I had to go back to the place I got them and request a refund. While all of this was going on, I also let New Enough know what was going on and there was an issue with my gloves. The specifically asked to keep them informed as to what was going on. After the last email today from First Gear, I called New Enough directly to try to get things straightened out. As per their normal return policy, they said to send back the gloves and the would immediately refund my money. After telling her the whole saga and informing her that I didn't have the gloves but First Gear did she didn't even miss a beat. She offered a refund, no problem. I then told here I still had a problem and that was cold hands!! She suggested a couple of different gloves they carry. While she was still on the phone, I looked them up on their site. One of the gloves was by Tour Master, they looked like they would work fine so I said "Let's order them up and get them on the way.". I had looked at these gloves before I selected the First Gear's but decided against them to save $20 or so. She then said "I haven't sent the refund through yet, how about I just send these and call it even?". Needless to say, I accepted her offer. She also said they were going to check ALL of their First Gear gloves in stock to see if they have screwy sizing. Can everyone guess where I'm buying ALL my riding stuff from now on? The folks at New Enough are the best. They get "it" and care about their customers. Period. The thing I found a bit frustrating was the First Gear folks. They didn't really seem to be too concerned that they had a fairly serious problem with their new inventory. I think they do now that they figured out that all their golves of all models are hosed. It also makes me wonder about their quality control methods. Wouldn't you think they would check production versions against their specs and previous samples? Can anyone guess where the gloves were made? First Gear makes great products, I have a pair of the HT Over Pants and absolutely love them. My son as one of their mesh jackets and it is very well made, good looking and functional. I would buy their stuff in the future but you can bet I'll take a very close look first. Bottom line, www.newenough.com is the bomb, I'll support folks like this all day long. Brad (Holy crap was that a long one, sorry about that. Hard to stop whe you get on a roll....) | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Newenough is the best. They always try to do the right thing. | ||
| Gentleman_jon |
+1 | ||
| Court |
That is incredible. Riddle me this? . . . you have any clue how much profit they are going to make as a result of the way they handled this screw up? Look . . . I'm not needing anything . . . but all of a sudden I find myself scooting to their website LOOKING for something to buy! I'd suggest we nominate them for what I'd call the "Al En-Lightonedment Award" for over the top amazing customer service. Court P.S. - Brad, I've a set of heated Widder XL's you're welcome to use for the winter if you want. | ||
| Cyclonecharlie |
Great report Brad....  | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
They have an option on their website that allows you to donate a dollar to a list of organizations/clubs... The dollar comes out of their pockets not yours. Perhaps Badweb can be listed there. I've spoken to the owner on the phone and he's a real nice guy. | ||
| Dynasport |
I love it when I hear of great (or even good) customer service. It seems so rare these days. BTW, I don't know which winter riding gloves you ended up with, but I have some pretty inexpensive Tour Masters that I really like alot. They are called Cold Tex I believe. They were about $30 though at the local Yamakawzuki dealership. Their Winter Elite model looks even nicer, but is much more expensive and living in Florida the Cold Tex has been fine. I really only used them in NC now that I think about it. Enjoy your gloves and thanks for the good report on New Enough, and not so good on First Gear. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Great story! Newenough has been great every time I dealt with them as well. And it makes an important point... people should consider going through somebody with a great reputation like NewEnough to insulate themselves from this kind of manufacturer complacency. How much does first gear care about one guy with a funky sized pair of gloves? Ehh. How much does first gear care about New Enough, the place responsible for 8% of their sales last year? Sir yes sir! (for the record I have and like a couple first gear articles) BTW Blake, if you are reading this, I think its NewEnough that has a "kickback" program. When I buy, I give the kickback to KLR650.net (for my "other bike"). But if you set yourself up with them, you would probably get something to raffle off here a few times a gear. | ||
| Tom_b |
been looking for a pair of leather pants. think i'll have a look at these guys. | ||
| Brinnutz |
Someone should show them how to become a BadWeb sponsor perhaps?!?!? Edit: Bluz, thank you for the heads up on the site, I just found a pair of full length riding boots I'm going to be purchasing here soon from them!!!! (Message edited by brinnutz on November 17, 2007) | ||
| 4cammer |
Buy from Newenough without any hesitation. They have gotten way too much of my money (ask the wife) and I have yet to have even a small issue. | ||
| Ulywife |
Newenough.com is great! They have great prices, especially in their clearance/bargain basement section! We do need to check into the donation option. | ||
| Ironken |
just added them to my favorites | ||
| Pwnzor |
That's a great story about good customer service. I love to hear it when people have that kind of experience. I've been wearing the same Tour Master gloves for the last 17 years, not to mention using the same tank bag and saddle bags. I've had the whole set since I got my first road bike, and the bags still look like new. The gloves are starting to show their age, however, and I've been thinking about replacing them. I'll be buying them from newenough.com, thanks to your testimony.  | ||
| Hughlysses |
Newenough definitely rocks. I bought a Joe Rocket mesh jacket from them this summer on sale for $25! Their regular prices are great but some of the sales are pretty amazing. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Has anyone ever read the book "Raving Fans"?  It should be required reading for every employee of any company that conducts sales and service. | ||
| Court |
I have not . . . I have a very large collection of books on Customer Service and will order it today. It'll be a great turkey day read. The world is changing . . . are you on the bus? | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Yep. The back of the bus, but I'm on it. | ||
| Doerman |
Bus? For public transportation I prefer an individual vehicle - preferably 2wheels.  | ||
| Crusty |
"I think we're all Bozos on this bus" -Firesign Theater | ||
| Court |
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| Ft_bstrd |
I hate hippies. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
"Jack Kerouac was not impressed and had little to say to either Kesey or the Merry Pranksters." LMFAO!!! That's awesome. | ||
| Birdy |
Could be a short bus.  | ||
| Court |
>>>I hate hippies. Hmmmmmm . . .  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
My hope is that with my children's generation, hippiedom will die the death it should have. And all of these Woodstock wannabe "festivals" make me want to retch. Woodstock was an f'n nightmare full of lame dirty people. Bonnaroo is full of lamer dirty people who aren't creative enough to create a festival of their own. They have to try to copy Woodstock. At least Burning Man was an original though. Still full of social misfits, but at least they had the creativity to do something a little different. Whiny self absorbed pretentious sacks of crap. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Its not juts the hippies I hate, its what they did to free love, drugs, rock and roll and the general spiralling downhill suckhole into desperation that they created that led us to Disco. Ok they could take a bath or shower too, petulie is not a substitute for hygene. Funny that Keroac was unimpressed, I started his "on the road" and havent made it past tramping on the rails ... one mans slacker adventurer is anothers hippie | ||
| Corporatemonkey |
What the hell happened??? This has got to be the most creative thread jacking I have ever seen. To go from newenough (love them myself) to customer service books, to Southpark (FT_B looking in your direction), to a "Magic Bus," Timmy Leary, And finally on to how the baby boomers have screwed us all... Pure magic... | ||
| Bearly |
Yea, wow, I got sucked in. Hardly noticed the change. Well done! :-) | ||
| Court |
Let me tie it together . . . The thread concerns Brad's wonderful customer service experience. It's important reading because, citing my own case, I've never looked at New Enough and probably wouldn't. Now I am and am looking for things, needed or not, to buy to send a message. The point is that CUSTOMER SERVICE is a selling point no less powerful (in fact arguably more powerful) than horsepower, torque, handling or chrome. I just bought a car that was twice what I intended to pay and had no more power. . . cause I was willing to pay for the comfort of knowing I'd get great service. This become paramount to us in the Buell community that has hung it's marketing hat on a "Different in Every Sense" and "cutting edge of technology" (when you run national ad campaigns alluding to your product being studied by MOMA and M.I.T. that happens) probably needs to start looking at this. Buell can not, pursuing it's current strategy, ignore the fact that folks are dialing a toll number, experiencing wait times of up to 30 minutes on hold and that there is not so much as a single e-mail address on Buell's website to contact customer service, they are effectively "hidden" unless you know someone. The people in Buell Customer Service are not to blame. They are hard working, knowledgeable enthusiasts with their hands tied somewhat from legal issues with merit but more so by HD convention and "that's the way we've always done it". The traditional HD medication may not cure the Buell cold. Buell is going to have to do some innovative things that are going to ruffle some feathers to add legitimacy and to perpetuate it's image. The introduction of the 1125r represents a good time for this. I've advocated, and have put into detailed writings, some of the following things.
I've got 5 other points but you get the idea. If the same people who marketed the TT (which languishes in dealerships to this day) are allowed to keep their blinders on Buell could miss availing itself to one of the most powerful selling tools it has . . the unique dedication and enthusiasm of people. There is much to be learned from Brad's experience with New Enough. That help? |
