Steve Hogg said:G'day Pete,
I attempted to contact De Rosa after the initial problem. I tried via the contact info on their site as well as the email address of one of the prinicipals of the company that was supplied to me by someone else. I sent half a dozen emails with photos attached over a 5 week period for zero replies.
Some years ago I had problems with paint falling off new De Rosas in large flakes. It was a bit of a problem here in Oz for a period. The distributor got such an unsatisfactory response from De Rosa that he had the problem frames (quite a few) repainted here in Oz at his own expense and stopped distributing DR's.
I am coming to the view that they are now just a generic Italian brand that is more about show than go and have zero interest in backing their product post sale.
I contrast their attitude with that of many American manufacturers who offer a lifetime warranty and are easy to deal with versus DR's much shorter warranty where if there is a claim, they attempt to wear you out to the point where most people give up.
As you can see this rankles with me. I offer an unconditional money back guarantee on anything we do. I don't expect others to do the same. What I do expect is that when they have an explicit warranty that they honour it without having to be dragged screaming to do it. And when they do honour it 7 months later, they forget to include bits that allow the bike to be frame to be ridden. DBDR!
Regards,
Steve
I think I've read posts from the owner(s) of a couple of the failures you noted. It is disturbing, at best, that De Rosa is responding as they are.
I don't think they're a generic Italian brand, but I do think that they've failed to move forward with bike technology and more importantly, communication technology. I think they don't realize how quickly word of mechanical failures coupled with [censored] poor customer service spreads around the world. It does seem as if they're expecting their name to carry them and give them that cachet that makes bikes dream bikes for some. That ain't happenin'.
Failures happen to the best of products and to the best of engineers and scientists; however, not acting quickly to diagnose failures and to prevent them in the future is nearly criminal. To ignore the customer is unacceptable.
FWIW, I don't think a lifetime warranty is a necessity. I think 5 years is more than enough, especially given the abuse that riders dole out to their bikes. It does seem, though, that De Rosa doesn't place any importance on warranties, either. Contrast De Rosa with some of the other bike manufactuers. Nick Crumpton and Richard Sachs are very active in several forums, as is David Kirk. Brent Ruegamer is very customer proactive and also regularly participates and answers questions on at least two forums. Jared, from Baum, in Australia, does the same. Bob Parlee frequents two forums to answer questions. Chas, from Look USA, is uber proactive. Not only does he get issues addressed quickly for US customers, but he also intervenes toute de suite for international customers even though they're not in his territory.
DeRosa really needs to wake up and take a look at all of their competitors that are doing business and customers right.
