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Canyon Customer Service

Quite unbelievable.  I was just about to press order on a new Canyon bike when I thought I'd just dounle check Trust Pilot. Worryingly, the company is rated 3.3/10 and there are a speight of seemingly well founed 1 star reviews. Normally that'd be enough to put me off a purchase, but I did really like the bike, so I thought I'd give Canyon the benefit and engage with them for their side of the story. I was expecting the usual; blame the post office, blame a supplier, blame whatever ... however, what they said was this (full transcript):

 

Jack (03/04/2019, 12:22:29): Hello, how can I help you? 
null (03/04/2019, 12:22:54): hi 
null (03/04/2019, 12:23:56): I'm looking to purchase a bike but am really put off by the latest trust pilot reviews. I'm very concerned re the delivery and after sales customer service. What can you do to allay my fears? 
Jack (03/04/2019, 12:26:46): Hey there, 
Jack (03/04/2019, 12:28:56): I'm sat here monday to friday along with my team looking after all of the UK and Ireland orders. We do this because we ride bikes - I wouldn't be sat here if i didn't want people cycling1 
Jack (03/04/2019, 12:29:30): We have a team of mechanics down stairs and warenty guys to ensure everyones bike is back on the road after any misshaps. 
Jack (03/04/2019, 12:32:43): Ofcourse people are more than happy to let out a rant online as is the way with the modern world and a thank you out there is rarely ever seen. The trust reveiw is a small amount of orders to which typicaly customers don't help them selves. You wouldn't believe it! At least once a week I have a customer yelling down the phone that he had a puncture on his 5k bike. We can't work miracles like ending all punctures - that is just the ride of life. But, we do ensure our customers ride awesome bikes and are taken care of! 
null (03/04/2019, 12:33:23): Just to let you kow i am still here 
null (03/04/2019, 12:34:07): Thank you for your response. 
null (03/04/2019, 12:35:02): I appreciate that there's a lot of numpties out there, but by the same token, stories of people having to wait 8 months for delviery where it was initially promised in 2 months are disconcerting. 
null (03/04/2019, 12:35:49): That's not unreasonable  behaviour and most other recent reviews suggest similarly 
null (03/04/2019, 12:37:15): It's also the case that a lot of companies have 4, 4.5 or 5 start ratings, but Canyon has a 1.5. Surely Canyon don't attract more unreasonable people than say Ribble (4.5 stars) 
null (03/04/2019, 12:38:04): I'm not looking to grill you, I just need reassurance that my bike, if ordered, would arrive on time, undamaged and as promised 
Jack (03/04/2019, 12:39:35): Well, only one way to find out! 
null (03/04/2019, 12:41:16): You've just made my mind up for me. Cheers pal 

 

I was rather flabbergasted at the response, partiucalrly the part bolded. Perhaps will think me too harsh on the chap on the other side of the screen but I've never expereicned such nonchalantly terrible service for a prospective £4.5k purchase. 

 

I thought I'd post so that others in a similar situation to me can be aware how seriously Canyon are taking their recent bad publicity. 

 

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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23 comments

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zeeridesbikes | 3 years ago
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Just to add my own experience - I ordered a endurace cf 8.0 disc from stock back in 2018. It was delivered in just over 7 days as they said, and was in perfect condition. It's a lovely bike and aside from the usual maintenance it's been a joy to ride. 
 

Shame that the latest model is £600 more expensive for what is effectively the same bike. 

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Morton Baggot | 3 years ago
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Quite unbelievable indeed. What we witness here is a man armed with nothing but a keyboard for deffence, battling for his livelyhood with only top down information as ammunition. 
Canyons reviews as our case, this fellows scruptulus attempt to preserve his own standing is honerable. Firing rebuttles' discerning to the consumer, yes. Inacurate, oblivious or not to the consumers best interest - History dictates countries have gone to war with less artilary to back this service agent.  One coud put forward "Jack's" responses to be an honest gloss to the dim light of truth. 
To  elicidate philhubbards' comment bellow (and I mean to with good intent); one's attempt to enter a service of faceless comerse over that of thier own local bike shop is to forego such assurance in service. This is a business model risk Canyon mitigates with a competitive pricing strategy.
 I'd like to put forward "Our service agent has not over sold, under sold nor sided to the corporate head. As a statistician I could protest; MAT4404 may well have been subject to the rightly feared delays and we could look at this service agents transcript as a simple honest act to deviate our consumer from dissapointment". 
Yours,
Morton Baggot 

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thelighterthief | 3 years ago
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15 months ago I bought an in stock bike (Edurace CF 8.0) and it arrived in perfect condition on the exact day they said it would. I assembled it in about 30 minutes (taking my time as it was my first online bike purchse). Went for a century ride at the weekend and the only thing I was unhappy with was the saddle and the shimano brake pads. I've tweaked the fit a bit (which is a ballache due to an unusual stem diameter) and cleaned it but that's all it's needed.

It does occasionally creak a little more than my steel road bike with a square taper cartridge bb but the bike is solid, easy to ride, more comfortable than my steel tourer and quite frankly a bit of a bargain. My lbs stocks cube and giant and I couldn't have got anywhere near this bikes spec that way. I was unlucky in that the spec changed to GP5000s just after I bought it 

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Chris Hayes replied to thelighterthief | 3 years ago
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....that BB squeak isn't going to improve...just saying. Or fix itself.

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joeegg | 3 years ago
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Just a note to recarobob. My Canyon started creaking and I was certain it was the BB. Removing the chainset the bearings were perfect. So to the headset. Again, smooth bearings and no play. Eventually I traced it to the front qr,the DT wind on type.Changed to Campag levers and silence.

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ktache replied to joeegg | 3 years ago
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Something to do with the diamond frame, every noise seems to come from the bb area.

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Compact Corned Beef | 3 years ago
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If the chap had responded 'yes, I can assure you that your bike will arrive on time, as ordered' would you have promptly decided that all would be well?

And perhaps more pertinently, if not, what would have allayed your concerns?

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Recarobob | 3 years ago
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I didn't have any issues with the delivery of a new bike back in November 2019, but having since ridden it for about 4 months/1200 miles since the weather has improved, the bottom bracket has started creaking/clicking. I know this isn't an unusual problem but Canyon's reponse was it's 'wear and tear' so isn't covered by any warranty. My response was whoever built the bike - Canyon - didn't use enough grease and I wouldn't expect a bottom bracket to do this after so few miles. They won't accept this argument so I've got to get it fixed at my own expense. When I've had this problem with a bike bought from Evans they replaced the bearings at once. So Evans 1, Canyon 0. Don't trust Canyon customer service.

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Spangly Shiny replied to Recarobob | 3 years ago
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I do not think that the creaking is caused by a lack of grease during assemby, more likely it is an issue with the BB shell and how well it was manufactured. A poorly made BB shell will cause increased wear on the bearings and the accompnying "Canyon creak".

In your position and knowing Canyon's track record I would have the BB shell professionally measured by a metrologist to find out whether it meets specifications. 

Specifically you need to know about thc circularity of the holes, their concentricity and their size. If they are not up to specification then you have good grounds for a replacement from Canyon.

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mdavidford replied to Spangly Shiny | 3 years ago
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Conentricity? Is that a measure of how barbaric they are?

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Spangly Shiny replied to mdavidford | 3 years ago
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My bad, sorry about the typo.

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zeeridesbikes replied to Spangly Shiny | 3 years ago
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Hambini? 

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longassballs | 4 years ago
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Good points, Phil.

It's worth remembering that even if Canyon's service was as perfect as could possibly be it would still inherently not be as good/easy as dealing with your lbs.

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philhubbard | 4 years ago
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I think the thing to bear in mind is that the UK support is a remote help desk, essentially they get fed what information the head office in Germany wants to feed them. None of their staff work in the German office and I highly doubt that they go to Germany for training or to look at new products so they will only see what comes across their desk.

 

I think that all Canyons have to be taken with a pinch of salt, you expect bad service as all the money goes into producing a bike as cheap as possible. All of you have mentioned in your review how long it takes to arrive, not the warranty on the frames and not the fact that you have to post most warranty items back to Germany to be inspected (at your own expense). If you really like that bike then go for it, if you can get a bike within 10-15% of the value go to your LBS and speak to them and they will probably sort you out a deal, throw in a service and look after you if anything goes wrong

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longassballs | 4 years ago
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It's not that Canyon don't make great bikes cheaper than almost everyone else - they do. Nor that you can't order a bike from them, everything work out and be totally satisfied. I'm sure this happens 99% of the time.

It's what happens when something goes wrong that you measure a company's service by. It's pretty clear that Canyon's is lacking. Not completely awful or fraudulent, however if you have a problem you might have to work bloody hard to get it sorted out.

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EddyBerckx | 4 years ago
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Another happy Canyon buyer here. The box came damaged, they refunded it.

The bike was fantastic, is fantastic and I still love it 9 months on!!!

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Drinfinity | 4 years ago
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Unboxed the very well packed Spectral. Super nice bike, daughter very impressed with its capabilities. Would recommend.

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ibr17xvii | 4 years ago
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My experience with them is pretty much faultless:

Ordered a bike middle of July & expected delivery was end of August which suited me fine as it was a new winter bike. Was actually delivered middle of August so was a couple of weeks early.

When it arrived even though it was extremely well packed (as it should be seeing as they make you pay extra for the "better" box which was optional before) the front mech wasn't set up correctly & wouldn't change to the big ring.

Took it to the LBS as front mechs aren't my strong point & he said it was "all over the place". They charged me a few quid to rectify it so I sent over the receipt to Canyon & within a few days they'd refunded me, no quibbles at all.

Bike is excellent, really pleased with it so would I buy from them again? Absolutely.

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Drinfinity | 4 years ago
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I’ve ordered a Spectral MTB from them for my daughter, because it was the right style of bike in a 2xs size, and very good value too. Delayed three weeks due to ‘unforseeable ‘ circumstances. I contacted customer services who explained the frames weren’t delivered on time. No doubt this was true, but I suggested this was entirely foreseeable, given that it happens all the time, and their contract is carefully worded to exclude liability in such cases. 

 

Anyway, bike has turned up on time to their second promise. Still in the box at the moment as I’m away - let’s see if it’s ok when I open it up.

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longassballs | 4 years ago
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Repeating my experience from the Grail 2019 thread with a bit of an update. I too took complaints about Canyon with a pinch of salt. I thought all the complaints were simply about delays. I ordered my bike September for January delivery. It arrived end of March. I expected a delay and two months was acceptable to me, it might not be to others.

Unfortunately it also arrived with a damaged cockpit. Within an an hour of delivery I emailed them whereupon they offered me £35 (or £45 in their webshop!). Their next offer was a bike exchange - with a twist. I were to return the bike and get a refund then pay again but delivery wasn't expected until the end of July. Essentially I'd be ordering a bike as a new customer!! Their 'offer' really grated as they worded it as though they were doing me a great favour instead of simply giving me my money back. I don't mind waiting for months once. Not twice.

I suggested a new cockpit fitted instead. They agreed and was told it would take about 4 weeks. I then noticed my model online actually had a dispatch date as the first week in April. I queried this and was told April was correct July wrong. Simply getting my money back and ordering anew would actually be quicker so I was willing to overlook the fact that their customer service was non-existent. I cancelled the replacement cockpit and Canyon put the order in for a new bike. Sound, I thought. Late Friday I received the order dispatch date - yes, you guessed it, July 25th.

Cue my first angry email. It was only answered on Monday afternoon. They hadn't gotten around to cancelling the replacement cockpit so that was still a possibility. I agreed and asked for a time frame. That was two days ago and I haven't received a reply since. Helpfully I was told I could ride my bike until the new cockpit comes in - which I took to mean it'll take ages. I packed the bike up after a couple of days and I'm not really of a mind to unpack it again, then repack.

What's really annoying is the length of time any complaint or query takes. Usually you get one email reply per day, two if you're lucky. None at the weekend. I've asked for a phone number and was ignored. The live chat function is useful for some things but if you've got an issue with a bike they'll direct you to email, or even work in parallel to the email team as though they're unconnected. It's taken 9+ days of emails to sort something a 10 min call would fix.

I'd buy a Canyon again only if the bike was in stock - but that's motivated purely by money, as Xenophon2 said.

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wycombewheeler | 4 years ago
1 like

bought a canyon, it arrived when promised, didnt like the colour, returned it for a refund.

bought the black version, also arrived when promised.

No problems at all with the bike. I love it when the seasons change and i can take the canyon out instead oif my winter bike, so much nicer to ride.

I know there was a time when they had real delivery issues, I would check the dates on the negative reviews, are they all similar and quite a while back, or has the issue ovvured more recently?

All that said with 4.5k looking to be exchanged for a bike, I would be looking at the Ridley Noah, so much better looking than the canyon, and not so likely to see many others around like giant, trek or specialized

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Chris Hayes | 4 years ago
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I say this time and time again,  when having my C50 repaired at a reputable carbon repair shop I asked which bike they saw most of: 'Canyon' came the unequivocal response.... 'by a mile.'  Now I'm quite sure that there are plenty of happy customers out there, and hell - even Colnago C50s have issues (rear stay: I bunny hopped a high pavement into a pothole)...but still.  Add poor customer service to this and I'd run a mile. 

If GPB4.5k is your budget buy a decent Giant: great company, great bikes, great value, plough money into the sport - and they'll be there for you if something goes wrong.  And no, I don't work for them and don't own one.  But if I was in the market for a new bike and VFM and reliability were major concerns, they'd be on my list. 

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Xenophon2 | 4 years ago
1 like

Well, I went ahead a couple of months back.  My experience:  before ordering, my size showed as available on very short (couple of weeks) notice.  Right after hitting the *pay (*see below) button, I received a mail saying it would take 3 months longer.

In the end I received the bike with a delay of about 4 weeks.

Experience with customer service echoes yours:

- Called to ask about the unforeseen delay:  they told me unapologetically that the initial date was 'off' and that the new one which I received after ordering was definitely firm.  They also explained that if I found the wait inacceptable, I could always cancel. *The 'payment' you make when ordering is actually a payment authorization, the cash doesn't leave your account until the bike is shipped.  

- Also called about which lights would fit  the (strangely shaped) handlebar and how about ordering mudguards.  They were clueless, a disgrace.  Essentially they told me that they simply didn't know but that if I didn't want to take the jump, I could always cancel the order, no quibble (!).

In conclusion:  it seemed to me like they pay staff to actively discourage customers or prospective customers.  If you place huge value on good customer service I'd recommend you to look elsewhere because their business model and attitude will only bring you grief.  If you absolutely need the bike on the date that was initially projected, caveat emptor and be ready to cancel at the first whiff of trouble.

One redeeming aspect:  the bike.  There's no arguing that you get A LOT of bike for the money paid, for what I was looking for, no competitor got within 500 Euro (on a 3k purchase).  

 

 

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