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Main
Date: 30 May 2007 13:02:52
From: Doug
Subject: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
left a message this week when they did not answer.
Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
Thx,
Doug
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Date: 05 Jun 2007 16:30:17
From:
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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I had a pair of RSX pedals fall apart on me after only about 500
miles. These pedals were under the recent recall, so I sent them an
email on 4/22 and two follow-up emails since. Still haven't gotten a
reply.
I used to love Time products, but they have seriously gone downhill
over the last 10 years, and along with it, their customer support.
>From the recall page at http://www.timesportusa.com/, they say "for
quicker service, send an e-mail to rxsrecall@timesportusa.com"...
Quicker than what, I wonder???
On Jun 3, 11:43 pm, Doug Pearl <doug...@sbcglobal.net > wrote:
> On 2007-06-01 00:39:07 -0700, "b...@mambo.ucolick.org"
> <b...@mambo.ucolick.org> said:
>
> > Why do the cleats keep coming loose? I have never used
> > Impacts, but I did use the old Time road pedals once
> > upon a time. Like most cleats, the surface that wears
> > with use is not the surface that the screws bear on.
> > If I had to guess, I'd wonder if the screws are bottoming
> > out in your shoes or adapter plates. Slightly shorter
> > screws would help if that is the problem, or washers
> > under the screws (provided that doesn't make the screw heads
> > stick up).
>
> It's not the screws which attach the cleat assy to the shoe, it's a
> pair of torx screws that attach the brass piece to the cleat base. You
> can see what this looks like here:http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=photos/2003/tech/reviews/timei...
>
> To
>
> get at the torx screws, you have to remove the cleat assy from the shoe
> and turn it over. Backside of cleat assy is shown here:http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=photos/2003/tech/reviews/timei...
>
> Well,
>
> > that is one of the problems with online retail.
> > I do it too, but we are usually making a tradeoff of
> > price against customer support and have to recognize that.
>
> True, though if I had purchased them from a LBS, it's possible I would
> have to wait for warranty authorization or whatever.
>
> This is a known problem and it's the 2nd time I've run into it. 1st
> time was when Impact pedals were still current and on that occassion
> Time did respond and sent me a new pair of cleats (though they were
> very slow and I had to remind them).
>
> Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
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Date: 01 Jun 2007 10:29:05
From: Bill Lloyd
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On 2007-05-30 13:02:52 -0700, Doug <dougpeg@sbcglobal.net > said:
> Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
> service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
> keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
> ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
> left a message this week when they did not answer.
>
> Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
> past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
> yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
>
> Thx,
> Doug
I had RSX Carbon pedals that were affected by the recall. When I
contacted them, I got a response within 12 hours. I then didn't send
them in, waited 6 months, contacted them again, and again got a
response within 12 hours.
This time I sent them in, and had the pedals back in 5 days.
So my experience was good. But it could be they're really motivated to
help with the recall stuff, and not so interested in other stuff.
::shrug::
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Date: 01 Jun 2007 02:34:27
From: Bill Westphal
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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Doug <dougpeg@sbcglobal.net > writes:
> Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
> service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
> keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
> ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
> left a message this week when they did not answer.
>
> Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
> past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
> yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
>
> Thx,
> Doug
They recalled their newer generation RXS (timesportusa.com), and they
answered the phone, and email, were prompt, and sent the "fixed"
pedals back in about a week. I suspect they applied some special
tool, and ensured they were sufficiently tight. Something about cases
of the axle housing screwing itself off in use, I imagine potentially
resulting in "death". I attached a letter to the pedals and they
responded to that in the package with the returned pedals, saying the
pedals didn't need any other work. And nobody ever acks enclosed
letters in packages. I think the number was in-house at the
distributor QBP.
I saw that universal cycles was selling a bearing rebuild kit for
their mtb ATAC pedal, so I tried calling Times support number back to
ask about rebuild documentation for either the RXS or ATAC, but got
voicemail. I've been meaning to start calling again, but the pedals
don't need maintenence. I'll make a note to start calling every day,
and then eventually multiple times daily. Their official line in the
installation doc that comes with the pedal is that the pedals never
need maintenence(!). With the Impacts, they're easy to disassemble,
clean, and relube (but not replace the cartridge bearing), but the
water and dirt gets in pretty easily too. So the impacts are on the
rain bike, and get frequent maintenance, like modern campy hubs,
i.e. not very waterproof.
Unfortunately I've got time pedals on 5 bikes, because they just work
better than Look, in my opinion, and the cleats last forever because
they're metal on (pedal) metal rather than metal on plastic cleat, and
with pedals all the similar bikes need the same type of pedals, unless
you want a bunch of pairs of shoes too, or you want to swap pedals
every time you use a different bike, which is every day for me. And
with Time road pedals you need an allen/hex wrench, which, for me,
involves removed the crank arms to apply the torque wrench to 40 NM.
However, now that I see that documentation and support is non existant
I would have gone with something else way back when I gave up on Look.
I suppose they had to support the recall to avoid a potential costly
lawsuits.
But there is clearly some special propriatory tool for disassembling
these things, and Time doesn't want to bother making it available. I
was hoping Park had a version, but they don't.
I've posted to this group for experience, but apparantly no one wants
anything to do with Time pedals
Here's a pretty involved speel about Time RXS relative to others by
someone who loves them as much as me:
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/rxspedals.shtml
Bill Westphal
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Date: 01 Jun 2007 06:10:43
From: Tim McTeague
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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"Bill Westphal" <aioe@westphal.org > wrote in message
news:81ira83wfg.fsf@westphal.org...
> I've posted to this group for experience, but apparantly no one wants
> anything to do with Time pedals
>
> Here's a pretty involved speel about Time RXS relative to others by
> someone who loves them as much as me:
>
> http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/features/rxspedals.shtml
>
> Bill Westphal
I just picked up new Time RXS pedals a few weeks ago. The 2007 pedal is
slightly different this year. The "sprinter's clip" is now gone and the
inboard collar is black instead of silver. So far I like them a lot. They
are not as easy to clip into as my SPD-SLs, I often have to wiggle my foot
and push really hard to get in, but the float feels much better. I also
feel as if I am more connected to pedal axle than standing on top of the
body. This may be the lower height or the way the cleat attaches below the
surface of the pedal.
Here is a link to a site that shows the what the new version looks like.
http://www.gearandtraining.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=29372
Tim McTeague
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Date: 01 Jun 2007 07:39:07
From: bjw@mambo.ucolick.org
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On May 30, 11:23 pm, Doug Pearl <doug...@sbcglobal.net > wrote:
>
> The cleats are only a couple months old, have tons of life left if not
> for the above problem and they're $30 a pop. This happend before and
> Time sent me a new pair. I'd like them to send another pair or
> recommend another solution. I'm tempted to switch to new pedals but I
> have two pairs that are in decent shape.
Why do the cleats keep coming loose? I have never used
Impacts, but I did use the old Time road pedals once
upon a time. Like most cleats, the surface that wears
with use is not the surface that the screws bear on.
If I had to guess, I'd wonder if the screws are bottoming
out in your shoes or adapter plates. Slightly shorter
screws would help if that is the problem, or washers
under the screws (provided that doesn't make the screw heads
stick up).
> I bought the cleats online. What am I gonna do, send them back to the
> retailer and wait for resolution and in the meantime have no cleats?
Well, that is one of the problems with online retail.
I do it too, but we are usually making a tradeoff of
price against customer support and have to recognize that.
> Besides the main point of my post is that frigging Time hasn't
> responded at all. Since when does discontinued = no support/no
> response? Hello?
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Date: 03 Jun 2007 23:43:40
From: Doug Pearl
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On 2007-06-01 00:39:07 -0700, "bjw@mambo.ucolick.org"
<bjw@mambo.ucolick.org > said:
> Why do the cleats keep coming loose? I have never used
> Impacts, but I did use the old Time road pedals once
> upon a time. Like most cleats, the surface that wears
> with use is not the surface that the screws bear on.
> If I had to guess, I'd wonder if the screws are bottoming
> out in your shoes or adapter plates. Slightly shorter
> screws would help if that is the problem, or washers
> under the screws (provided that doesn't make the screw heads
> stick up).
It's not the screws which attach the cleat assy to the shoe, it's a
pair of torx screws that attach the brass piece to the cleat base. You
can see what this looks like here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=photos/2003/tech/reviews/timeimpact/oldcleat
To
get at the torx screws, you have to remove the cleat assy from the shoe
and turn it over. Backside of cleat assy is shown here:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/tech.php?id=photos/2003/tech/reviews/timeimpact/topview1
Well,
> that is one of the problems with online retail.
> I do it too, but we are usually making a tradeoff of
> price against customer support and have to recognize that.
True, though if I had purchased them from a LBS, it's possible I would
have to wait for warranty authorization or whatever.
This is a known problem and it's the 2nd time I've run into it. 1st
time was when Impact pedals were still current and on that occassion
Time did respond and sent me a new pair of cleats (though they were
very slow and I had to remind them).
Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com
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Date: 31 May 2007 04:06:26
From: Ozark Bicycle
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On May 31, 1:23 am, Doug Pearl <doug...@sbcglobal.net > wrote:
> On 2007-05-30 19:23:41 -0700, Barnard Frederick <loco-m...@spamcast.net> said:
>
>
>
>
>
> > In article <1180555372.417263.291...@n15g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
> > doug...@sbcglobal.net says...
>
> >> Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
> >> service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
> >> keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
> >> ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
> >> left a message this week when they did not answer.
>
> >> Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
> >> past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
> >> yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
>
> >> Thx,
> >> Doug
>
> > It is a discontinued design. I wonder what it is you want them to do.
> > I would think the dealer who sold them would be the one to go to for
> > problems. If they are defective, the dealer should be willing to
> > replace them. If the design is problematic, that may be why they
> > discontinued it. Most people would just buy new cleats or switch to a
> > different type of pedal.
>
> The cleats are only a couple months old, have tons of life left if not
> for the above problem and they're $30 a pop. This happend before and
> Time sent me a new pair. I'd like them to send another pair or
> recommend another solution. I'm tempted to switch to new pedals but I
> have two pairs that are in decent shape.
>
> I bought the cleats online. What am I gonna do, send them back to the
> retailer and wait for resolution and in the meantime have no cleats?
>
> Besides the main point of my post is that frigging Time hasn't
> responded at all. Since when does discontinued = no support/no
> response? Hello?-
That's the new paradigm: got a crap design with a high problem or
failure rate? No problem! Just discontinue the product and shrug your
corporate shoulders. Some might call this The Shimano Syndrome.
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Date: 30 May 2007 22:23:41
From: Barnard Frederick
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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In article <1180555372.417263.291030@n15g2000prd.googlegroups.com >,
dougpeg@sbcglobal.net says...
> Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
> service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
> keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
> ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
> left a message this week when they did not answer.
>
> Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
> past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
> yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
>
> Thx,
> Doug
It is a discontinued design. I wonder what it is you want them to do.
I would think the dealer who sold them would be the one to go to for
problems. If they are defective, the dealer should be willing to
replace them. If the design is problematic, that may be why they
discontinued it. Most people would just buy new cleats or switch to a
different type of pedal.
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Date: 30 May 2007 23:23:54
From: Doug Pearl
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On 2007-05-30 19:23:41 -0700, Barnard Frederick <loco-moto@spamcast.net > said:
> In article <1180555372.417263.291030@n15g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
> dougpeg@sbcglobal.net says...
>
>> Does anyone have any recent experience with Time USA customer
>> service? I'm having issues with my Impact road cleats (brass cam
>> keeps coming loose and tightening the torx screws only works for a
>> ride or two) and have emailed them 3 times over 2 wks and called and
>> left a message this week when they did not answer.
>>
>> Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
>> past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
>> yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
>>
>> Thx,
>> Doug
>
> It is a discontinued design. I wonder what it is you want them to do.
> I would think the dealer who sold them would be the one to go to for
> problems. If they are defective, the dealer should be willing to
> replace them. If the design is problematic, that may be why they
> discontinued it. Most people would just buy new cleats or switch to a
> different type of pedal.
The cleats are only a couple months old, have tons of life left if not
for the above problem and they're $30 a pop. This happend before and
Time sent me a new pair. I'd like them to send another pair or
recommend another solution. I'm tempted to switch to new pedals but I
have two pairs that are in decent shape.
I bought the cleats online. What am I gonna do, send them back to the
retailer and wait for resolution and in the meantime have no cleats?
Besides the main point of my post is that frigging Time hasn't
responded at all. Since when does discontinued = no support/no
response? Hello?
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Date: 31 May 2007 01:26:31
From: still me
Subject: Re: Time USA customer service (does it exist?)
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On 30 May 2007 13:02:52 -0700, Doug <dougpeg@sbcglobal.net > wrote:
>Have yet to receive any reply. They have been unresponsive in the
>past, but this is ridiculous. I've been on Time pedals for about 15
>yrs but I'm ready to ditch the bastards for good.
Can't comment on Time specifically, but it sounds like standard
corporate fare these days. Welcome to the new millennium.
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