New Cervelo P2…sweet ride!

So there it is…2 days after a frame crack is discovered in my former Cervelo P2C

…there’s a brand new one in my ‘man cave’ 🙂

are you kidding me?!?

There is very little in the books about that level of customer service.

So it comes down to people…and companies being ready to respond and react and putting their people in a position to respond and react to what they see on the ground…

Both Cervelo and Cool Breeze Cyclery are such companies….here’s how I know…

On Monday morning at Cool Breeze Cyclery, I took my bike in for what should have been a routine race-ready 2’ish day turnaround on my well maintained Cervelo P2C…they always put the bike in a stand and take a look to see if there’s anything obviously wrong…typically check the chain with a measuring tool…the ‘walkaround’ to make sure that they can get an approval right there on anything glaring

…excellent idea…if I had just wheeled it in, they write it up and put it in a corner to get to it later, this story may not have had a happy ending, as my ‘problem’ would have been discovered 1-2 days later…much tougher timing at that point

…so kudos to Cool Breeze Cyclery and their standard procedure of checking out the bike, the moment that you bring it in

‘Service’ John (there’s ‘Sales’ John as well) was busy with a customer, so one of the mechanics that’s worked on my bike before was about to put it in the stand, saw the crack in the top tube, pulled the seat out, and declared that the bike was toast.

John circled back in, agreed that the frame was done, re-confirmed my race dates/going to Florida date…this Saturday…suitable ‘geez’…we discussed a few of the options now that I no longer had a bike…he would need to talk with Cervelo to see what could be done

I like Cool Breeze Cyclery, and John in particular…I was glad to see him there when I walked into the store…even more glad as I was walking out 🙂

So I started to work on my alternative plans for a bike in case the Cervelo solution didn’t work out.

…a bit disheveled I added a blog post on Monday afternoon:
https://irondaughterirondad.com/i-no-longer-have-a-bike-to-ride-for-ironman-florida/

IronDaughter, the social networking rock star in the family, ‘tweeted’ Cervelo about my new issue, referring to my blog post
https://twitter.com/#!/cervelo

She received a rapid response back, and ‘Peter’ added a comment back into our blog…as it turns out Peter handles ‘social media’ for Cervelo…he followed up with an email to get my contact information and forwarded it to David Byers in the warranty department at Cervelo

…are you kidding me?!? …a company that has someone that specifically responds to social media…instantly…this all within a few hours of the initial discovery of an issue

…of particular note was that IronDaughter had added her comment to their Twitter account…for all to see…could be a bit dicey to have an unhappy customer ranting on your Twitter account…of course, social media is there for all to see…so you need to be ready to deal with ‘stuff’ as it comes up…Peter’s comment into my blog post was in part:

…most companies are not wild about handling warranty issues on FB or Twitter

…and a follow-up email directly to me to get the issue into the warranty department…so, nice touch…communicate rapidly, get things into the right channels…

I don’t know Peter…we’ve only had a brief email exchange…what I do know is that he is a real pro at what he does…good job!

…so kudos on this one for Cervelo taking social media seriously…it gives you an idea of the depth of their focus on customer service, and covering all the bases…as IronDaughter did by sending the tweet in the first place 🙂

…how many companies are clueless about the new levels of communication that drive customers into the arms of those that do take it seriously

David from Cervelo replied the next morning…Tuesday…to say that he had looked into it, and that John and Cervelo had already worked out an agreement on how to get me a new bike.

…are you kidding me?!?

A drop in to John when they opened confirmed that I’d be on a new bike the next day…Wednesday…today…unbelievable…
https://irondaughterirondad.com/breaking-news-cervelo-to-replace-frame-new-bike-tomorrow/

An entire university course could be written on what Cool Breeze Cyclery and Cervelo did to put their people in a position to deliver this level of customer service…and then the tricky part, to have the right people in the right positions with the right authority to deliver.

These are two companies that have that figured out…

I feel a strong need to vent and expound about what other companies could learn from this small story…but I won’t…you know the companies that give you great service…and that’s why you go back to them

…and if you don’t know Cool Breeze Cyclery and Cervelo…add them to your list 🙂