Demand what you pay for!

 New Lockdown, Day 4, Tuesday

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My bike ride was conducted in that flat two-dimensional bleakness that a brightly-dull overcast early morning day can impose when the weather is cool if not fully cold.  The light was compromised enough for me to feel that it was necessary for me to switch on my lights.

     My rear light is built into the back-carrier frame and the front light is one that I have had to add as the front light/horn combo that MATE bikes provided gave up the ghost within the week of its being installed.  Given the appalling after sales service of MATE I didn’t even bother to claim another light as a fully justified replacement because any attempt to get the organization to act with anything approaching concern with their customers is just wasted time.  Which is a pity, as the bike itself is more than satisfactory.

     It took MATE two years to provide me with the throttle that I ordered and when they eventually sent the thing, it was to the wrong address, and . . . well, that has now been seen to and I am using the throttle and it makes my bike experience safer and more enjoyable.

 

To be fair to MATE, the light/horn combo has been a different experience; I have had evidence that my order has been ‘completed’ and I have been sent various emails.  But I haven’t been sent the light/horn.  Admittedly, the projected delivery date was in October and it is only the 3^rd today, but given past experience, any delay can stretch into the far, far future, so I have written a ‘gee-up’ letter asking for delivery information.

     If you are already a MATE customer, then the moans above will have a ready resonance, if you are not then you might be asking why you should be reading this guff about an accessory for an electric bike.

     I think that the point of complaints is not just to get satisfaction for the individual but to express a general point about the sort of service that we deserve when we pay out our money for something.  MATE started life as a Kickstarter project and got funding based on a prototype and concept and has grown into a substantial company with a range of products, what hasn’t kept pace is their customer service.  Even allowing for the vagaries of everyday life complicated by a pandemic, their lack of attention has been chaotic and depressing – but it has been paid for.  MATE has used customer money to make bikes and make profit while not being over concerned about what happens after the bikes have been delivered.  And that is something up with which we should not put.      

     MATE is well beyond the stage where it can plead that it is ‘a young company’, that it is surviving in the rough and tumble of Kickstarter: it is substantial and it has responsibilities.

     Customers are usually far too backward at coming forwards to demand they get what they have paid for – not only in terms of the object of their purchase, but also in terms of the care they can demand for that object’s quality and guarantee.

     For example, I fell into the ‘let it go’ category over the light which only lasted days before it ceased to function.  I factored in the lack of response that I would get from MATE and decided to purchase a light that would attach to the handlebars for a few euros and which could be lost, stolen or fail with impunity because it was so cheap.  In fact, of course, I also bought a much more expensive light which survived until it didn’t.  Anything merely attached to handlebars has a limited life when the bike is locked to a post rather than being contained.  Things walk, which is why the tiny lights with a sort of rubber band connection to the handlebars are so useful – those are so cheap it is almost easier to replace the light rather than replace the battery! 

And, as I usually cycle in urban situations there is rarely a time when I need the light for anything more than indicating that I am there, rather than lighting my way,  But the MATE light was connected to the electric system of the bike and was firmly screwed into the frame – and it looked better, so I feel its lack.

     And that is why I am making a fuss about a delay (so far) of three days in the appointed delivery time.  I will also write on the Facebook page of MATE customers to let others (and more particularly the company itself) know that things are still not going right!  Which is what all of us should do more often.  I want what I have paid for: quality and promptness. 

     If the delay in delivery continues past this week, I shall ‘open a file’ – and we all know what that means!

 

The indifferent and sullen weather conditions mentioned at the start of this piece have now mellowed into a hazy though sunny afternoon, methinks a short lounge on the terrace is called for!