[Yak] comments on BF...repeat

[Ray Cousineau]

1.	It's a privately held company. 

2.	Many customers are unhappy, the exact number is known only to BF, if
they mine the data from this website and other feedback

3.	The percentage of unhappy customers may or may not be decreasing
with time, and the percentage may be a reasonably acceptable number(to the
management). "What you do not measure, you cannot manage". 

4.	Almost Everyone seems to think the customer service is responsive if
you call in for help. 

5.	Many have commented that fixing a problem after the fact is less
desirable than preventing the problem in the first place. See item 3.
 
6.	One  can argue all day the purpose of this forum, but (suggestion!)
let's try to listen first, and refrain from  beating  up people every time
someone expresses an observation or opinion that is not in line with our own
experience. 

7.	Grant people a licence to be upset if the situation demands it: they
have just lost thousands of dollars, etc and the product they  bought is not
up to expectations. A little empathy may be more appropriate.

8.	Customers are not buying a bike, they are really buying a piece of
the company's mindset, and ability to fix problems after the fact is not
part of the customer's expectations or mindset. 

9.	I believe BF has taken steps to ensure that they are selling to
people who have needs that are in line with their  product's
characteristics.

10.	Prospective owners can sign up and review the posts on this forum
(unless I am mistaken?) and have the opportunity to see for themselves what
the level of customer satisfaction is. 

11.	My guess is as good as anyone's, and in my experience, small
business owners typically cannot see the trees for the forest (or blue sky)
, while their staff have difficulty seeing the forest for the trees, so
there is a continual shifting back and forth between the two seemingly
competing sets of values. So while BF has a great ideas for products that
can truly liberate travellers (example: visit 5 cities in 2 weeks in Europe
using train, plane, and bike)  they are likely, like most small enterprises
with great ideas, to have problems executing from time to time.   


Cheers
RC in Vancouver