outstanding customer service, a note

Outstanding Customer Service note

Ultimate Outcome? Free gloves!

[NOTE: I mention vendors and names in this commentary that may or may not be affiliated or authorized to be mentioned with this site. I have attempted to designate such actions, as appropriate. However, I apologize in advance if the names are not allowed on this site and understand if they are to be edited by moderator(s). Thanks!]

Short synopsis: Good on **(STG)** and **(Knox Armor USA)**  Bad on **(Held USA)**

I live in Texas and I ordered Held Phantom gloves thru an online company in Michigan that caters to those who buy gear for riding sportbikes, and who may do so primarily on racetracks **(STG)**. I loved those gloves. They were my favorite gloves of all time. 9 months later, after normal wear, the left glove (clutch hand) had worn unevenly on the finger tips and a slight, small hole appeared on my left thumb. Now, I started riding on dirt at age 5, and have ridden off and on since in several states and overseas. After a military career of spec ops training assignments and now doing university research, I believe I can be fairly reasonable in evaluating what works or what “should” work. After initially discussing this unusual wear pattern telephonically with Held USA in NC, I was not informed as to how this “could have happened” but, rather, that I should “contact STG about it”, even though Held admitted they had a 1 year warranty on the gloves. I had followed all of the care suggestions and not gone down (amazing right? Well, some seasons it happens. Guess I need to push it a little more next time!!).

Anyway, after emailing pictures to STG—that compared wear patterns in both gloves, etc.—and then after **(STG)** having communicated with Held, I was informed that Held was claiming they were not going to back up their warranty. At that point, Jason at **(STG)** asked me to give him a call. We spoke and he let me know that Held’s response was not consistent with their expectations and that Brian (Van—founder & owner STG) had personally taken up the matter. Even he couldn’t agree with what Held USA stated. Brian and **(STG)** contacted another of their suppliers (Knox) and arranged for Knox to send me a set of gloves—complimentary—to evaluate and use. And also, this would somewhat diminish the adverse effect of losing the value I had put into Held after only 9 months of use [NOTE: FYI, full price for Held Phantom = $289!!]. So, free gloves. Knox will be sending me some Knox Handroids [VALUE = $249]. I can’t wait to try them out.

So, this is the outstanding customer service I am talking about. Brian and **(STG)** did not have to back up me, their customer. But they DID, and therein lies all the difference!! They went out of their way to more than make this thing right. I’m impressed. I have used their company for numerous purchases and posed questions on equipment use. You know what? Each employee I have encountered has always exhibited professional and outstanding service. They really know what they are doing up there in Michigan, people! The only thing I mentioned that I would do to acknowledge such fantastic customer service (by STG and Knox) was that I was going to post my commentary to many online forums I’m involved in, mention this to track organizations that I frequent, and circulate the word to my friends and relatives who ride and are novice and/expert racers. This is what I am accomplishing now, via some of the following links:

(Racers inc net) Racers Inc
(CMRA racing) http://www.cmraracing.com/forum.php;
(High Performance Crew) High Performance Crew
(W for riders) WFOriders.com
(1000rr net) Good Guy Bad Guy : Honda CBR 1000RR Motorcycle Forums: 1000RR.net
(Lone Star Track Days) http://www.lstd.com/html/index2.html;
(Elite Track Days) http://elitetrackdays.com/;
(Sportbike Track Time) http://www.sportbiketracktime.com/Alabama-Track-Time-Events/;
(Ridesmart) http://ridesmart.info/;
(fireblades org) http://www.fireblades.org/forums/vendor-seller-dealer-reviews/;
(Fz1-forum) Yamaha FZ1 Forums - International FZ1 Motorcycle Community Forum - Powered by vBulletin
(Yamaha fz1 owners association) http://www.yamahafz1oa.com/;
(trackdays) http://www.meetup.com/TRACKDAYS/;
(Austin sportbike riders) http://www.meetup.com/austin-sportbike-riders/;
(San Antonio sportbike riders) http://www.meetup.com/sasportbikes/;
(underground sportbikes) Error! - Meetup
(killerfrogs com) http://www.killerfrogs.com/;
(orangebloods com) http://texas.rivals.com/forum.asp?fid=500;
(purple menace com) http://tcu.rivals.com/default.asp?SID=1126&ReturnTo=tcu.rivals.com&LIN=1;
(rivals com main board) http://footballrecruiting.rivals.com/forum.asp?fid=2208;
JFK Special Warfare Center & Forces Association Museum Association) http://www.jfkwebstore.com/personnel.php;
(82nd Airborne Division Association) http://www.82ndairborneassociation.org/;
(American association for the advancement of science—AAAS) http://www.aaas.org/;
(Association for psychological science—APS) http://www.psychologicalscience.org/;
 
Poor customer service always amazes me. For the cost of a set of production gloves, Held USA has lost a customer for life and pissed off a dealer - unbelievable! I've been both a customer service manager AND a business manager, and frankly - if one of "my" customer service representatives had denied a claim in this fashion - they would be looking for work elsewhere. :tdown:

Replacing that one set of gloves might have prompted the exact opposite reaction - one where praise was given online for great product support. Instead we have this... :shame:

I may not race, or do track days, but I do ride - and I'll likely remember this post for a very long time...
 
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