Lucky Bike: Lucky Products, Unlucky Service
Mobility transition? As environmentally friendly as possible – to which large bicycle dealers like Lucky Bike can significantly contribute. With great and extensive rental or leasing offers, competent advice, indoor test rides, and professional service. The personal touch might sometimes be a bit lacking, but one accepts that.
Good keyword, in 2022, the purchase of a new "daily driver" was due, the bike enthusiast colleague and professional browsed through various online platforms and dealer pages and ended up with a Raleigh Chester with a seven-speed hub. For the reduced price of only 500 euros at Lucky Bike, it also came with high-quality equipment and delighted daily with its reliability. After a good year and around 2,000 kilometers, the chain is now slightly elongated, and the brakes need slight adjustment – no big deal. But since there is a two-year warranty and we highly appreciate the bike for its reliability, it is allowed to stay dry in the basement after each ride, is cleaned much more often than its predecessors, and is supposed to get a service – for 90 euros at Lucky Bike.
The service appointment marked the beginning of the drama
And thus, the drama began... on 15.3.2024 we asked for an appointment, which was confirmed for 18.4. in a terse and not really polite manner. OVER A month of lead time for a small 90-euro standard service? If we want to pick it up in the evening, please drop it off by eleven o'clock at the latest and bring the documents, as the Chester and the frame number are not in the system.
Okay, one has to be glad to even "apply" for a service, so it seems. But fine, bike mechanics are in short supply, and our cobbler's window also says: "Good work takes time".
18.4.: We have an appointment at 10 o'clock, but Lucky Bike only opens at that time, so we reschedule. Because our slot is only valid until 11 o'clock! We drop off the bike at 10 o'clock sharp, it is in the system. We inquire again if we could pick it up in the evening. It's just the standard inspection, and tightening the chain and possibly the brakes – a job that, in our opinion, can be well done within two hours. We also want to know if it's very busy, but the impression in the quiet and relaxed halls is rather not.
And yes, a mechanic would be available, perhaps a new chain. We will be informed by SMS as soon as it is finished; to be safe, we also provide the landline and email and walk 25 minutes to the office. And look forward to a freshly serviced bike.
Please wait, please wait...
Instead, we wait until we turn black. Around 2 pm, we hope gently for a message, but nothing. At 4 pm, we call, but no one at Lucky Bike in the Euro-Industrial Park in Munich answers until we are connected to the central office, sorry – they can't help directly either. So we write an email, asking to check how far our order number has been processed. No response.
Another call around 5 pm, again Bielefeld. We explain the case to our counterpart, check in the system. The bike is there, but no invoice has been issued, so nothing has happened. This raises the pulse, not only for us but also in Bielefeld, because unfortunately, we are not the first. So, the second email from Bielefeld, asking for feedback. The phone rings on the second line, we hope for the callback and thank them.
Munich number, but not Lucky Bike. So at 6 pm, 25 minutes back to Lucky Bike with our order and pick-up slip. After an eternally long wait at the relaxed service desk, the casual question if we had received an SMS? Of course, we had not, to which the employee explains that such a service takes one to two working days! After more than four weeks of pre-registration and punctual submission! He disappears and we wait further.
No, it certainly won't work today, whereupon our pulse rapidly increases: We immediately cancel the order and demand the bike back, which hasn't even been touched in the past eight and a half hours!
How slow and poor can a bike service actually be? Deeply disappointed, we leave the large, silent branch and understand why there's comparatively little going on at the service desk, because service here is practically non-existent. Lucky bike? Yes, if you want to buy – but the service made us extremely unlucky. One can only hope that it was just a single "unlucky shot," but a call to the headquarters suggested otherwise... Which is why we're now recalibrating ourselves. And should we actually need a spare part or service, other Munich bike specialists will be happy about the revenue.
What does that mean?
For the mobility transition, the bicycle is one of the most important means of transport. And it’s great how much the offerings have grown recently and it’s also great that there are large all-in-one specialized dealers. But if they neglect the expensive service, which already accounts for almost 20% of the purchase price on average, in such a way, it is more than annoying. Lucky bike – that was not a lucky action at all!
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