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May 22, 2012, 04:36:00 PM

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Total Voters: 287

[dhracer547]

Commencal screwed me over royaly. I had a 2008 DH Supreme and was lovin it. Unfortunately it was a terribly constructed frame and cracked in four places after only 3 months of riding. I wasn't worried about it because it had only been 3 months and I was the original owner, no problems with warranty right? WRONG, oh so very wrong. I have worked at bike shops for quite some time now and know company policies and how the industry works. The bike brands we deal with aren't the best in the world with customer service, but that at least stand behind their product. Commencal ran me around in circles with a load of crap for almost 8 months. They weren't going to warranty it because I raced it. It says all over their website DH RACING Supreme. I have to admit, the bike rode well, but for a frame to crack in four places after only 3 months is absolutely ridiculous. Finally they realized I was not going to drop the issue, and after 8 months of arguing, they agreed to sell me a frame at a discounted price, which was still a rip-off because they didn't send it with anything (shock, hub, chainguide, etc...) So I basically just bought one at cost, F'ing ridiculous. I would rather slit my wrists then ever deal with this company again.

PS: The frame I have for sale is the one I got after this whole ordeal, I probably shouldn't have said all this wanting to sell a frame, but I just couldn't resist.

[markb923]

not good. hope the people at commie read this.

[steveb]

I have no idea who DHracer is, but having dealt with Commie for 4 seasons now, and having had them cover some iffy warranty claims for goodwill, I have to draw the conculsion on the very limited info given above, that there is way more to this than meets the eye.

[Vic-Tim.com]

dhracer....

further to Steve's comments, when you say 'Commencal' are you actually dealing directly with them? or are you dealing through a shop and distributor set-up?

Just paints a clearer picture if all the details are there.

Tim S

[mc]

Going by the for sale thread, dhracer is based in America.

[dhracer547]

I am in America, but I have been dealing with Commencal directly. There really isn't more to this then what I've stated, I don't have any reason to make things up, I'm not out to screw anybody over. It just really sucks because it ruined my entire season and put me in the whole a lot of money. I don't know if has anything to do with me being in the U.S., but I've really never been treated this bad by a company before, period.

[doml]

Sounds bad, but your expectations sound high, if its your frame that is broken why would you expect a new shock/chainguide etc? IS there a weight limit on commencal frames?

[steveb]

Who did you but the frame from? And on the first thread you started about this you were asked for pics, but you never posted back on it. Got any pics yet?

[dhracer547]

I am not upset it didn't come with a shock, guide, etc... It's only upsetting because they made it sound like the were giving me a deal by selling it to me a percentage off. All the frames come with a shock, a chainguide, and a hub. So by selling me a stripped frame without all the goods for a discount, they didn't actuallly give me much of a deal, essentially I just bought the frame at normal price (maybe a little less). The extra stuff they send with them adds up to a pretty penny.

Originally I got the frame through BTI, the distributor for the U.S. Soon thereafter I started dealing with someone directly at Commencal, they were very supportive of my racing and it seemed like a great company. When all this happened though I kind of just got the cold shoulder. I was told that it could not be warrantied because I raced it. It is true that in their warranty policy it states if a frame is used for competition, it voids the warranty. Although it says numerous times on their website DH RACING Supreme and talks about how Gee has been winning races on it, etc...  The bike is clearly marketed as a race bike, seems a little contradictive.

Here is a picture of a few of the cracks in the swingarm, they are right on the welds where it connects to the dropouts. I can't seem to find the pic of the headtube so I'll take another one and post it later today or tomorrow.

[dhracer547]

Also, about the weight limit, I only weigh 160 lbs.

[doml]

yet have the hands of a yeti.

From that pic its difficult to tell. Looks like a paint scratch rather than something to worry about, but thats only from the picture.
So the warranty says no racing, and theyve cut you a deal sounds alright to me.
Ive had a vpfree have a crack all the way round the fishscales on the bb seat tube join, I got a slightly reduced front triangle. Ive had a bullit head tube go and downtube bend, got offered a front triangle in a size too small for an ok price. Mangled an M1 rear end and didnt get anything. A mates Orange 224 swing arm ripped open like a tin can (not surprising as they are made from them ) and he got what sounds like a similar deal to yours.

Thats the joys of racing!All the above were fine and to be honest more than I expected, as Ive raced. Yes Gee races his frame, he also probably gets a factory frame new every race if he wants. Same with any other rider from any manufacturer.

People seem to expect the earth nowadays.

[dhracer547]

haha, I'm a full-time mechanic its hard to keep my hands clean. I understand where your coming from, but I didn't get a good deal, I just got another frame at cost, what they sold me one for originally. I basically just bought 2 frames. I also understand completely bikes are built super light and do break, but to not even make it through half a season is pretty weak. I've read numerous other blogs on the internet about people having the same issues with the 2008 frame as me, so clearly there was a manufacturing problem. I didn't post this to argue with people, I just want others to think twice before buying a Commencal. If you ride hard at all or specially if you race, don't even bother dealing with this company. They have terrible customer service and an even worse warranty policy.

[twin]

hm, so it says that in the warrenty? Sounds a bit odd by my standards. Why would using a frame for its intended use void the warrenty? That's like stating "using this meta 5.5 on hilly, unpaved or uneven surfaces voids the warrenty". Remember, we are not talking about people crashing or in other ways messing their frames up on rocks or dropping bender style, but the usual wear and tear from riding the bike as fast as one can - which of course is the goal of any mountain biker hehe. If all the fractures are from stresses put on the frame from normal riding - and not huge crashes straight onto roks or something comparable - i don't really see why this would be an acceptable solution at all. If i were to enter myself and my mini in a race and later discovered the frame to ruined under normal usuage, yet didn't get a fair deal from the manufacturer, the company would be  a def no buy in the future. There might be still more than meets the eye here though, meaning aproaching commencal in the wrong way about the issue or some other  strategic misstep from the claimant.

i dunno. Commie makes first grade bike out of what i feel could be better materials to some degree and where there are a few known issues with the manufacturing processes applied, though these have for the most part been rectified along the way (gusset vs nongusset, hydroforming vs none hydroforming and so on). For the most part though their bikes are first grade and loved by all Cannondale - or crack an fail - being another favorite brand of mine has another approach that is in stark opposition to commencal; their life time (of the frame, not the user) warrenty. A guy on mtbr just snapped his raven, a fairly old model and in carbon too, in two and got a new carbon rush real quick in honor of the warrenty. Sure, commencal isn't even close to cannondale in financial strength, but at the end of the day warrenties are there for the manufacturer, not the consumer. It's all about marketing or brand management, getting people to buy the product, being happy with it and spreading the merry word - especailly if something is replaced under warrenty (in which case the degree of rebuying from the given manufacturer actually increases when compared to a consumer with no issues). Sure, some of it is there by law too, but at the end of the day warrenties are in a companys best interest to have and to honor. And of course, us manufacturers like em mighty good as well.

anyway, too bad you feel screwed over and good luck on the next frame whatever it might be. Also, too bad for commie to have dissatisfied customers though pleasing em all is potentially impossible (not saying you're a tough customer here).