I just want to ask if CASE is effective. I have recently bought a 'defective' item, and I wanted action to be taken against the company. Went to police station, but was told to refer matter to case. To have the matter taken by case, i need to be a member right? with membership fee of $35 or so, and admin fee of $10, is it worthwhile to go through the trouble of registering as a member?
Case is:
Bought a normal bicyle from Giant (supplier is Aleoca), and the wheels on most of its bicycle are not perfect rough. I went for a 1-1 exchange with Giant, picking the least defective one, but today went down to see supplier. After heated discussion, they picked up the bicycle, and told me it will be okay in 1-2 weeks. Shit waiting time?
Bicycle is not expensive lah, around costs $300, but at least i expected round wheels. I did not care about braking system, suspension etc, i just needed a bicycle to ride (not bumpy ride).I check the rest of thier bicycle, even those $1300+ have obvious oval shape wheel (not balance at all).
Supplier told me he does not care to fine tune his bicycles and sold them as they come to keep his costs as low as possible. They told me it is the way they do business. They told me must get thier bicycle 'repaired' after you buy.
Last edited by AquaObsession; 3rd Apr 2007 at 23:31.
Address is : Main Office:
Aleoca Pro Singapore Pte Ltd
108 Pasir Panjang Road #03-02/03-02A
Singapore 118353
Telephone: 65 - 6272 0330
Fax: 65-6373 0347
And their website is : http://www.aleoca.com/
Do not buy from THEM. I look at its warehouse today. So sad! All thier wheels are OBVIOUS OVAL.
Hi AquaObsession,Originally Posted by AquaObsession
I really empathy with your situation. Which is why I rather buy it at a reputable local bicycle shop (LBS). I suggest that you write in to Giant as the invoice/receipt bears their name. They have to be partly responsible for it. Demand for a refund if possible.
Else the next better option is to write-in to Today, so far, its seems to be the most efficient free complain medium. However, you have to be very sure what you wrote is nothing but the truth.
$300 can get you quite a decent bike from any bike shop. A GT 3.0 cost around $300 if I remember correctly. They will also normally provide you with free after-sales-services. I just collect my MTB today and the LBS owner specifically remind me to go back for free tuning when necessary. I must say that I am extremely happy with their attitude despite me getting a cheaper bike from them and wasting a lot of their time (they were very crowded most of the time) offering me advises on equipments I would need.
This is just another example of bad shopping experience from hyper-marts. The other I heard was from AMK NTUC but that was just totally another story.
Yea, I now know buying from big hypermarket is no good, but I just wanted to normal bike,and did not want to be 'convinced' to buy a more expensive bike from local bike shops. well, anyway i am responsible from buying from Giant, and even there the promoter even tried to convince me to buy one set with plenty of scratches. After sorting through their bike, I initially chose the one with no scratch, had a front wheel changed because there was a scratch on it etc, but then i never checked the wheel balancing. I have wrongly assumed that a $300 bike will have round wheel to say the least. Wrong wrong assumption! Had it exchange monday night, chose among the less faulty, but still i was not totally satisfied.
This is because for $300 in mauritius you can get a very decent bike. So to me a $300 is quite an expensive one. I know many of you guys will say yea now we have $1k to 6K and much more bike, he he he.... Well, I just wanted one for leisure riding to some parks around my place.
I will email Giant tomorrow to inform them about my discussion with their bicyle supplier, and will hope to strike a new deal if any with them. Best is they give me back my money, but I am not hoping too much for that!
I will try to find whatever ways possible to get back to either Giant or Aleoca. I simply cannot let them earn money over consumers with these methods. They could have put one technician in the store to service the bike on spot if needed, but they choose to put 2 promoters to force sale thier bike.
I will update this thread as I go along. I will be giving CASE a call or a visit tomorrow as well. Already informed STB since i am on social visit pass etc, maybe more chances there, will just treat me as a 'tourist' hehehe.
Don't be afraid of my duck!
sorry to hear about your experience. I guess these sort of things are the 'hidden costs' of the bin bottom prices one gets at hypermarkets and big chain retailers....
I contacted STB yesterday, and they contacted the shop today. And guess what guys? i got my bicycle repaired and sent home today itself at 1500, instead of waiting 1 or 2 weeks as the manager initially told me to.
Can we know what STB stands for? That way, we would know of another way to get uncooperative businessses to deliver. I find that Singapore is kind of a wild west, where small businesses are concerned, most of the problems is that client refuses to pay up.
STB : singapore tourism board. SInce i am a 'tourist' in a way, i can use this service. Much faster than otehr complaints department because they do not want the singapore image to be spoilt.
Baton courtesy.....service with a smile!
Wow! That was fast. Did you happen to ask about the other remaining bike in the store? Maybe other tourists might have to go through what you went through. It's good that you know where to seek help but the other tourists might not be fortunate.
If you've learnt, teach, if you have, give.
Don't walk behind me as I might not lead, don't walk in front of me as I might not follow. Walk beside me, as my friend.
Mohamad Rohaizal is my name. If it's too hard, use BFG. I don't mind.
BTW, nice to know you got your bike fixedEnjoy you ride... *ouch* (bodyache)
I don't think that the STB would assume many tourists would buy bikes in Singapore. Let it pass but probably send a note to Giant to see how it goes, as a good will
I did ask. In fact, one the office from STB call me to inform me that they have spoken to the supplier, i was arguing with them about the rest of the bike in the warehouse. But the person kindly asked me to treat this on individual basis, meaning if i am happy with the supplier repaired bike, it will considered the case closed. I could not argue more, though I have emailed them one more time to thank them for their efforts, and urge them to consider the other bikes being sold by the same company. They told me then that the supplier told them that they only fine-tuned high end bike, while the rest are left at factory default. Hence I cannot push it any further, although i guess if there are more similar complaints, they should be looking in the matter deeper I guess.
Update on the bicycle:
Today I had a chance to ride it finally, and guess what..... the bearing at the cycle pedal jammed. I was so disappointed and angry. Went to a local bike shop to try repair it, but was told it was at a loss. Headed to Giant to get refund. The customer service refunded me without any resistance, and talked to the promoter in front of me. Got back my money finally. That bike was cursed!
Way to go!
Let us know when you need assistance getting a new bike
Or you can just post in my thread on Mountain Bike.
Nice to know it ended well.
*sigh* looks like they don't make good quality bikes as they used to...
My dad's Philips vintage bike from about 1/2 century ago is still road-worthy. He still rides it often in the neighbourhood.
koah fong
Juggler's tanks
Well actually if you were not satisfied with the replacement bike, you could have just returned it for a full refund. Same policy applies for Carefour. I know of a guy who 'borrows' DVDs at these stores.
I wanted to have a bike, so first place, i exchange 1-1, then send for repairs... I thought Giant would not refund. But then i went to giant to refund, and it was well taken.
Hi,
Since this case has a happy ending, I shalll close this thread.
Cheers
Nicholas
Newbie en el cichlid enano
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