Personally I think the customer has a beef. A sub-par paint job on a $4,000 bike is unacceptable. A sub-par paint job on a $2,000 frame is unacceptable. If you advertise a custom paint job, it should be in line with the quality of the standard paint on the AHH. Anything less should sell for less than the standard frame. I would hold them accountable. I'm glad you posted this as I've been wrestling with a 69 or 71cm AHH (if they hadn't discontinued the 68cm Atlantis that would be the consideration) or a custom Adventure Cycle from Waterford. The price is pretty darn close. Since Rivendell uses Waterford as a manufacturer (and I do admire Rivendell), I consider that an endorsement of the Waterford quality. This paint issue you speak of makes me lean to Waterford. -----Original Message----- From: rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com [mailto:rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of William F. House Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 11:17 AM To: RBW Owners Bunch Subject: [RBW] Re: Rivendell, Ad Copy, and Paint
Thanks for the informative words, Dustin. And yes, I'm out there riding daily. Let me see if I get what you're saying: Don't trust marketing. The onus was with me to do due diligence. I'll have to remember those. ;-) And I agree that Riv is really good at walking folks through the process. Just not in the paint category. Regardless of their marketing this should have been made clear to me, but you may disagree with that as well. Let me see if I remember the points again: Lord loves a working man. Don't trust whitey. See a doctor and get rid of it. Yep, got it! Now back to finishing my burger and studying for med school. On Nov 5, 10:01 am, Dustin Sharp <dsh...@runbox.com> wrote: > Somehow I think that if we held all manufactures and retailers to the > literal words of their ad copy, a lot of them would be in deep trouble. But > we expect a certain amount of puffery and salesmanship even from the best > and most honest of them. > > The claim made is clearly of this genre--Riv couldn't possibly mean it > literally since they'd have to know all the other bikes you've seen and > touched. And I don't think even Riv claims they are hands-down better than > something like a Toei or a Richard Sachs. > > Given all this, it seems there is also a general burden on the consumer--all > consumers--to do a little due diligence. Even if some widget is touted as > being "super duper fantastic" at $100, it's not reasonable for me to expect > it to be as super duper fantastic as one costing $1000. > > In the end, I think Riv is better than most in walking new folks through the > process, and hopefully they will become better after your feedback. > > But I don't find their ad copy misleading. Except to the extent that the > phrase "misleading ad-copy" is redundant. > > Anywho, hope you get out and ride that sucker! When it gets chipped up in a > couple of years, you can plunk down $1000 for Joe Bell perfection, if you > wish. > > Cheers, > > Dustin Sharp > San Diego, CA > > > > > From: "William F. House" <williamfho...@gmail.com> > > Reply-To: <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > > Date: Thu, 5 Nov 2009 08:30:56 -0800 (PST) > > To: RBW Owners Bunch <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> > > Subject: [RBW] Re: Looking for that String in The Custom Color Labyrinth > > > I understand all that fully.....now. Again, I've tried to make this > > clear in previous posts. My beef isn't the flaws or the price or > > really anything other than the fact that Rivendell didn't explain this > > to me as a novice. If they had taken the time to fully explicate what > > I was paying for and exactly what I could look forward to (and not > > look forward to) then I would have been much more satisfied. > > > As such their website states, "We do, though, guarantee that we put > > every effort into making your Rivendell the best bike you've ever > > seen, touched, heard about, or ridden." That's not exactly what I got. > > I got an excellent bike, but it's not the best I've ever seen, > > touched, heard about or ridden (with regard to paint). > > > Look at it this way. I could advertise the "best hamburger in the > > entire world, hands down, no question." And maybe you ordered one and > > wanted some custom element like a gourmet bun. So, you pay $50 more > > for the bun. You get the burger and take a bite and find the bun > > stale, would you feel the advertising had failed? Now, what if someone > > told you, "listen Doug, you could've had a really fresh bun, but you > > should've paid for the BEST chef to cook it," would you feel a little > > misled? I would. How were you to know that if you paid much more money > > for another chef you'd have gotten what you THOUGHT you were getting > > in the first place? And then what if you came to me to express how you > > felt and all I had to say was, "well, Doug, I'll make sure we're more > > careful in the future." > > > Now I'm really hungry for a hamburger. ;-) > > > On Nov 5, 8:55 am, Doug Van Cleve <dvancl...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hey William, > > >> I can certainly understand your disappointment. I don't know if this will > >> help you at all, but basically what you paid for was picking the color. I > >> am pretty sure your paint is as good as any of the stock frames, but it is > >> YOUR color. To get the color choice AND the primo job probably requires > >> stepping up to the JB level paint. It sounds like this could have been > >> communicated better but I think you did get what you paid for. In any case, > >> it is a great looking bike and before long it will pick up some chips and > >> scratches ;^) > > >> Regards, Doug > > >> On Tue, Oct 13, 2009 at 9:33 AM, William F. House > >> <williamfho...@gmail.com>wrote: > > >>> It was really easy. I knew I wanted a dark green. I went to our local > >>> hardware store and found it. It's called Scholar Green and is part of > >>> the Ralph Lauren line of interior paints. You can see it on this page: > > >>>http://www.ralphlaurenhome.com/rlhome/products/paint/items.asp?haid=48 > > >>> I grabbed a sample card and simply mailed it to Keven who was helping > >>> me with the AHH. I just took delivery a few days ago. Amazing bike. > > >>> One thing to note in your decision. I have pretty high standards I > >>> guess and upon close inspection of the bike I found NUMEROUS flaws in > >>> the custom paint job - including a hairline of the green on the cream > >>> color headtube and imprecise highlights of the cream on the green > >>> (like the little circles aren't all perfect). There are quite few > >>> spots that really could've been much better, but you have to look to > >>> find them. Is it a big deal to me. Not really. Do I think it should've > >>> been better for shelling out an extra $200 for a nearly $4000 bike? > >>> Absolutely. Rivendell's response has been "we'll check bikes more > >>> closely." I've had other custom paint projects that were done by hand > >>> (high-end guitars, furniture, artwork, etc.) and had come to expect a > >>> very high degree of precision and flawless work. Overall I'm happy > >>> with the bike, but in retrospect I'm not sure I'd have shelled out > >>> that much money for the value of work I got. Your mileage may vary. I > >>> LOVE the dark green though. Will be posting pics on my Flickr site > >>> soon. > > >>> On Oct 13, 10:13 am, mushmash <mushm...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>>> Hello All, > > >>>> Compliments to all who post in this forum. I have taken part in > >>>> several enthusiast forums in the past and hope to enjoy getting hooked > >>>> up with other riders. > > >>>> My reason for posting: I really would like some direction on how one > >>>> selects and communicates a custom bike color! > > >>>> I have placed my money on a new AHH, but have not told RBW whether I > >>>> want the standard blue color(s) or custom. Now, I have ridden the same > >>>> bike (1974 Fuji Finest) since high school. This is the first real new > >>>> bike I will have had in all these years, so it is something that I > >>>> have to do right for myself. > > >>>> Blue is good, but a rich earthy green is what really appeals to me. > >>>> Like this bike identified as Blue Lemon Photos ( > >>>http://www.flickr.com/photos/eldukedegreaser/3516760819/in/pool-12565... > >>>> ). > > >>>> How and where does a guy go to look at colors? I look around me every > >>>> day, but how do you "identify" and communicate a color to the RBW > >>>> folks? > > >>>> Thanks for any help on this project. It is a big commitment for me and > >>>> I don't want buyer's remorse just because the color isn't just so! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. 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