11/24/03 OPEN LETTER TO ROBERT STEIN: SEAT DAMAGE UNRESOLVED SINCE 8/18/03

Robert,

I am including jpegs of the seat failure, & paint defect.
Jpeg #11 shows only the most serious paint problem. There are more
that are tiny in comparison.
Jpegs #9 & 10 show the collapse of the left side bolt-hole area.

I'd appreciate the fastest possible response to this, since even with
oversized washers & patching I shortly won't be able to ride.


Dear Michael,

This never happened before (seat failure) and I'm waiting for the
composite expert (subcontractor) to come back from vacation to get a
satisfactory explanation what is wrong with the seat you received. The
carbon seat is supposed to be lighter and stronger at the same time.
My best guess is that they tried to cheat out a layer of carbon hoping
that nothing will go wrong. Please find a way to make a snapshot of
the damage and I'll do my best to provide you with a replacement seat.

The idea sounds reasonably, however, the carbon seat never should have
failed. The only possible damage one would expect is if the seat is
smashed by a heavy stroke of a car or such vehicle, but otherwise it
should remain intact.

About the paint: Looks I really a have a serious problem with the
subcontractor. He claims he did everything as usual and agreed. I have
no reason not to believe you and now I'm not sure how to compensate
you for the problem. As you might have seen, I already removed the
Schwalbe City Marathon tires from the offer list on my site, even
though I received no other complaint. I fear I'll have to remove the
carbon seat and custom paint as well from the offer or look for new
subcontractors.
Lack of images to document the damages makes it harder for me because
it's my word against theirs, I claim there is some damage that never
should have occurred, they say it's not true, and that I'm only trying
to get something out of them...

PS. Sorry for my delayed response, family problems.

Sincerely,
Robert Stein

web: http://www.steintrikes.com

11/24/03
After repeated requests, Mr. Stein claims to be broke, & seeking a
buyer.
I have repeatedly requested Mr. Stein to do his utmost to have his
INDEPENDENT SUBCONTRACTING SEAT MFG. REPLACE A CLEARLY DEFECTIVE SEAT.

This has been met with absolutely no response, and (I trust) is
unacceptable
to all of us who appreciate honorable work & responsible customer
service.

Michael Talley
Talley Trans, Inc.

[This followup was posted to uk.rec.cycling and a copy was sent to the
cited author.]

In article ,
says...
This has been met with absolutely no response, and (I trust) is
unacceptable
to all of us who appreciate honorable work & responsible customer
service.

Merkin spelling, Merkin problem, I'm not Merkin, take your whinge
somewhere else.