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Is my experience w/ Gerbing customer service normal?


John Ranalletta

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John Ranalletta

I've a non-warranty problem with my jacket. Using their website, I sent an inquiry to Gerbing describing the problem and asking for their suggestions (fix or toss).

 

3 days and no response. Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

Go figure...

 

"We value your call, but not enough to have a human answer the phone...." tongue.gif

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Gerbing is a small, family-run business and it is winter, their busiest time. Yes, I know, that should not be an excuse. But I believe that when you do contact them, they will be more helpful than you can imagine. My experience, both as a dealer and in hearing stories from customers, is that Gerbing goes far beyond the extra mile for their customers. That started with Gordon Gerbing, the patriarch and founder. And it continues to this day.

 

Call them and ask for their help. Who knows, maybe the person in charge of responding to customers e-mails has been home with a cold. Then let us know if they took good care of you.

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Pick up the phone and call them.

 

Generally their customer service reputation is sterling.

 

Heck, maybe it's as simple as your email never delivered through. It happens you know. Don't condemn them just yet!

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No.

I've had them send me a new item before I returned the other one.

Seven purchases between Beth and I, 2 issues, both resolved easily. thumbsup.gifthumbsup.gif

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Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

This is the curse of the internet.

Remember when the phone was the best way to contact someone? Well it still is.

The internet has created a whole new breed of "want it now" individuals that complain without even a consideration of picking up a phone.

 

They then air their complaints in a public forum and make grand statements of poor customer service.

 

John, I am not intentially attacking or besmirching you it's just your post was the epitome of what I and many others have been seeing lately.

 

You knew you can and should make a phone call yet this post resulted.

Go figure.

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Chuck Hatcher

If Gerbing's wants to do business on the Internet and profit from web sales, they should pay the price of answering email inquiries promptly. I also waited a long time for a response to an email inquiry. I had placed a web order and the order confirmation said:

 

If there is a problem with your order or if you just have questions about your order, or any other comments, please feel free to contact us at any time. You can call toll free at 800.646.5916 or Email us at sales@gerbing.com .

 

My hearing is not very good, to the point that I find talking on the phone tedious and frustrating. So I tend to like ordering via the web and communicating via email, and while I understand some people prefer the phone, Gerbing's should understand some people don't.

 

In my case, there was an error on their end filling my order. They substituted an on/off switch for an extension cable. Because my order receipt was correct and the packing list was not, it is obvious a human must transfer the web order the customer enters to the order that gets filled and shipped. I understand honest mistakes are made, so I emailed them about the error. A week goes by with no answer. So I emailed a second time, and got a courteous reply from Jordanne Gerbing asking me to return the switch and they would immediately send the correct part. Now I don't mind paying return shipping if I get what I order and don't like it or it doesn't fit. But this was their mistake and they asked me to pay extra to correct it. Besides that, I am pretty confident that their cost for the switch was less than my cost to ship it back. So I emailed again and told them it was boxed up and ready to go, and to please send UPS to pick it up. I never received a reply, and so far UPS has never showed up. I received the extension cable quickly and my credit card was charged for it. The switch is waiting in a box in my front closet (and of course I never received a refund for it).

 

I am not mad at Gerbing's, but they did not do what I would have done had I been running their business. You can make your own judgment about whether or not they did the right thing and whether or not I am a difficult customer.

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I personaly liked there product, but was disapointed in there customer service the control died on my vest and they didn''t carry parts for the old model wanted me to buy the new model control wasn't happy with them frown.giffrown.gif

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I had just the opposite experience. My old controller died (the Warm-n-Safe one they used to sell) well out of warranty. Called them and explained it failed and how I had tested to verify it was the controller. They sent a new controller with the two adapter cables to convert the coax controller to plug into my SAE jacket. I did pay to ship my old one back, but I'm confident the new stuff was here before my old controller got to them.

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I've a non-warranty problem with my jacket. Using their website, I sent an inquiry to Gerbing describing the problem and asking for their suggestions (fix or toss).

3 days and no response. Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

JohnR-

I sent an email to you via your website, but haven't heard anything. I checked with Customer Service at Gerbing's (Heather), and she can't find an email from JohnR in Indianapolis. If you tell me the problem, or email Heather (or call) directly, we'll try to help, but without being able to find the email...we're stumped.

 

Thanks

 

Karol Patzer

Gerbing's Heated Clothing

karol@gerbing.com

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I'd bet that you could make a Buffalo nickel crap in your hand if you squeezed it hard enough. tongue.gif

 

If you send me your address I'll send you the 2 or 3$ it'd cost to mail it back..............

 

Pat

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John Ranalletta
I've a non-warranty problem with my jacket. Using their website, I sent an inquiry to Gerbing describing the problem and asking for their suggestions (fix or toss).

3 days and no response. Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

JohnR-

I sent an email to you via your website, but haven't heard anything. I checked with Customer Service at Gerbing's (Heather), and she can't find an email from JohnR in Indianapolis. If you tell me the problem, or email Heather (or call) directly, we'll try to help, but without being able to find the email...we're stumped.

 

Thanks

 

Karol Patzer

Gerbing's Heated Clothing

karol@gerbing.com

Karol, thanks for your email. Hopefully, tech service will have good news.

 

john

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russell_bynum
Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

This is the curse of the internet.

Remember when the phone was the best way to contact someone? Well it still is.

The internet has created a whole new breed of "want it now" individuals that complain without even a consideration of picking up a phone.

 

They then air their complaints in a public forum and make grand statements of poor customer service.

 

John, I am not intentially attacking or besmirching you it's just your post was the epitome of what I and many others have been seeing lately.

 

You knew you can and should make a phone call yet this post resulted.

Go figure.

 

The simple solution for the business is: Don't put your email address on your website if your aren't prepared to deal with people emailing you.

 

People who use email expect fairly quick response times. If you can't manage that, then don't list an email address.

 

I'm not picking on Gerbings...especially since it sounds like the email may have never been delivered to the correct person to begin with. I'm just talking about businesses in general. I can't tell you how many times I've used the "contact us" link on a company website to send an email...and never received a response. Hell...when I was looking for our two dirtbikes, I sent probably 10 emails to different sellers using the "contact the seller" link in their cycletrader ad. I got one response.

 

With Lisa's DR200, the ad said "no email" or something like that. OK, cool, I can deal with that...I picked up the phone and did it that way.

 

Since nobody else listed a contact preference, it was reasonable to assume that any method that they provided was acceptable. Email was the most efficient way to communicate what I needed to communicate, so that's what I used.

 

This was a case where I was ringing people's doorbells and waving money in my hand, begging them to open the door so I could give them my money...and they couldn't be bothered to open the door despite the fact that there's a big sign on the door that says "Ring bell for service".

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Email is expected but in many circle still not the norm.

 

Gerbing's has gone above and beyond in as much as a representative has joined this data base to contact one customer! As well as (indirectly) point out they do care.

 

In the case of private sales such as emails attached to a product you wish to purchase via a net ad.

 

Often times the seller is overwhelmed with emails on some items. Just fills out the form provided by the selling service. Loses track of who's who. Not overly motivated to sell item. Not that responsible. Not particularly net savy.

Can't spell or write English well

You get the point.

 

When I respond to a ad with just a email I assume I wont get a response.

 

Russell, your world is much more intergrated into computer literacy than many out there. Though they will try it at times and just like the phone for some people may not be comfortable with "it".

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Russell, your world is much more intergrated into computer literacy than many out there.
But that's not the point. If a business is too small to respond to email promptly, or isn't 'computer literate' enough to do so, or are unable to support it for whatever reason, they shouldn't offer to do so on their web page, period. The reason for their failure (unless it is the occasional rare, one-off sort of thing) is immaterial... either be prepared to support a service, or don't offer it.
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russell_bynum

Gerbing's has gone above and beyond in as much as a representative has joined this data base to contact one customer! As well as (indirectly) point out they do care.

 

Yeah...Gerbings seems to be handling this well. And I said I wasn't picking on them.

 

When I respond to a ad with just a email I assume I wont get a response.

 

Then why bother?

 

Russell, your world is much more intergrated into computer literacy than many out there. Though they will try it at times and just like the phone for some people may not be comfortable with "it".

 

Yeah, I get that. I don't like using the phone for most things. For me, email is much more efficient since it is asynchronous...so I don't have to make myself available at a certain time to make the call, and I don't interrupt them with whatever they're doing when they have to take the call. When I'm doing something like that, I either don't list a number, or I say "email preferred" or "leave a message".

 

Is it unreasonable to expect other people to specify their communication preferences?

 

The really troubling thing was that some of these Cycletrader ads that I responded to were posted by dealers...and they didn't respond. Their ability to put food on the table depends on them selling bikes, they offered a bike for sale, a potential customer enquired about it and expressed a desire to come look at it, and they couldn't be bothered to respond.

 

It isn't just CycleTrader ads. Quite frequently, when I click a "contact us" link on professional websites, my email goes unanswered. If you don't want customers to contact you via email, don't give them your email address. If you give them your email address, understand the norms of that communication medium: People expect relatively quick response times. (I'd say within 1 business day at the most.) If you can't handle that, put up a disclaimer, or don't list your email address.

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bakerzdosen

I tend to agree with Russell. I think that it's akin to posting a phone number on your website, sending all incoming calls to voice mail, and then only occasionally responding to voice mail. Why is it OK to complain about bad phone support and not OK to complain about bad email support?

 

No, not everyone lives in Russell's world (insert your own joke here), but FWIW, we are talking about a company posting an email address on their web site after all. You've gotta have a little bit of tech savvy to get to that point.

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Paul Mihalka

Answering emails for a business is good business. Over times I made several sales based on answering emails. Often the prospects stated that they sent emails to a number of dealers and I was the only one that answered.

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My wife bought a Gerbing's jacket liner from our local BMW shop last fall. On her first ride with the jacket, she sustained burns along the side of her neck whose marks remained visible for several days. When I contacted Gerbing's, they advised me to return the liner via the dealer and did not seem too concerned about what, to me at least, seems like a fairly serious issue. They did not offer to replace the jacket. Eight weeks later we finally got the repaired jacket back. I think their "sterling" reputation for taking care of their customers is overblown. "Barely acceptable" would be more appropriate in my opinion.

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You could have delivered the defective item during a ride up to Gerbing's headquarters in Union WA. I hear it is a nice ride and they welcome drop-ins.

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we are talking about a company posting an email address on their web site after all. You've gotta have a little bit of tech savvy to get to that point.

 

Tech savy.. I think not. I was resently asked by a customer if I did web sites too. I said nope. Lots of regular archaic business folks feel forced into the internet enviroment to keep up. They have someone design a site that gets put on a server and then handed the keys and told "here you go, your all set up"

 

Boom! instant net savy business? Not quite.

 

So if there is a email address and a phone number use both options to achive your goal and don't complain about one option that failed you.

 

As to Russell's "why bother"

Because I may want that item and my only option is the email provided.

If that item has been previously sold the seller may just forgo any further communicaion even if this is your first attempt at contact.

 

Hell I know it has happened here on this site to me in the classifieds!

 

As for bikes listed by dealers on cycle trader same applies. The sale prevails.

Communication after the fact... they could care less. Actually applies pretty much across the board on a one shot item from most sellers of anything.

 

This thread has gone off in a tangent.

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russell_bynum

Lots of regular archaic business folks feel forced into the internet enviroment to keep up.

 

I can understand that. This is just basic customer relations stuff. If you only want people to enquire by mail and you have no intention of answering the phone, don't list a phone number. If you only want phone calls and have no intention of responding to emails, don't list an email address. If you're not going to be online on Instant Messenger, don't list an Instant Messenger Address.

 

Saying "use this method to contact me", and then not responding to that method of communication is WAY worse than telling people "don't email me, I dont' respond to emails". The latter is managing customer expectations. The former is bad customer relations.

 

This thread has gone off in a tangent.

 

Indeed. My bad.

 

Back on topic. If anyone wants to continue this discussion, please start a new thread.

 

John, sorry for the hijack.

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Chuck Hatcher
I'd bet that you could make a Buffalo nickel crap in your hand if you squeezed it hard enough. tongue.gif

 

If you send me your address I'll send you the 2 or 3$ it'd cost to mail it back..............

 

Pat

 

What are you trying to say, Pat?

 

I was just relating my own personal experience with Gerbing's customer service.

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You could have delivered the defective item during a ride up to Gerbing's headquarters in Union WA. I hear it is a nice ride and they welcome drop-ins.

 

When I lived in Seattle that's exactly what I did and you are right, it's a beautiful ride. I had to exchange a jacket for a different size and the wife and I made a day of it. A nice trip and the folks at Gerbings were very cordial.

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I had good response form Gerbings through e-mail. Their website however is sub-par (poor design and ordering system) and they do not follow-up an online order with proper e-mails telling you it's been shipped. I had to confirm my phone.

 

However, the product is very good. I ordred a pair of aerostich vests for my fiancee and I. I kept the medium that sent ofr her and returned hte large that was wayyy to big for me. I ordered a womens specific jacket for her and it's much nicer.. I wish now I would have bought both from there.

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John,

 

I'm not sure I follow your reasoning. You started with questioning why Gerbing did not answer your email and the last sentence is...

 

"We value your call, but not enough to have a human answer the phone...."

 

...but you say you have not called them?

 

In any case I just wanted to add my two cents worth. I am an IT professional with 12 years of experience and have built and maintained numerous email systems. Email servers and the systems that support them are very efficient but not fool proof. There are many simple and many complex explanations for what happened to your email. I would venture to say that in the absence of a Non Delivery Report (NDR) in your email Inbox that your email was delivered to the destination server as a minimum <xxx>@gerbing.com. If I were Gerbing IT and they asked me what happened to your email the first thing I would do is see if it ended up in a spam email quarantine folder and/or was accidentally deleted, this happens all the time. Or perhaps the email was sent to a virus quarantine folder on the server or on the destination computer. In most cases that is where I find these emails when asked to look for them. Other options include anti spam software that is incorrectly configured, email servers that are incorrectly configured and black listed ISP's. The fun goes on and on. There are many, many reason why emails are not delivered and no one should ever assume that an email was delivered let alone that is was read without asking for delivery confirmation and/or a read receipt. Delivery confirmations generally confirm that the server responsible for @Gerbing.com accepted the email. Read receipts mean the recipient at least reviewed the email message and may or may not have read it but they did see it. If there is a question as to whether an email was delivered I always call. Think of emails as a good way to encapsulate your thoughts in writing for posterity but in no way do I rely on them exclusively for important business related matters with out verifying that they are received by calling the intended recipient.

 

Nough said, just my thoughts!

 

Cheers! lurker.gif

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russell_bynum

"We value your call, but not enough to have a human answer the phone...."

 

...but you say you have not called them?

 

I'm pretty sure that was poking fun at the companies who's recorded messages talk about how much they value your call (But not enough to have a human answer the phone.)

 

Personally, I like "Your call is very important to us. Please stay on the line and your call will be ignored in the order that it was received." grin.gif

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You could have delivered the defective item during a ride up to Gerbing's headquarters in Union WA. I hear it is a nice ride and they welcome drop-ins.

 

I was prepared to do that and told them so during my phone call to them, but, as I said, they insisted that I return the liner via the retail channel. It was clear to me that they most certainly do not welcome drop-ins and that my bringing their defective product dirctly to them would not speed up their response to the problem. When I took the product back to South Sound BMW, their personnel tried to get Gerbing to authorize a new jacket, but Gerbing refused that option and insisted on repair. I realize that per their warranty that is their option, but let's not claim that their customer service is superior. As I said originally, the after-sale customer service that Gerbing provided with regard to this purchase was barely adequate to meet their warranty.

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You could have delivered the defective item during a ride up to Gerbing's headquarters in Union WA. I hear it is a nice ride and they welcome drop-ins.

 

I was prepared to do that and told them so during my phone call to them, but, as I said, they insisted that I return the liner via the retail channel. It was clear to me that they most certainly do not welcome drop-ins and that my bringing their defective product dirctly to them would not speed up their response to the problem. When I took the product back to South Sound BMW, their personnel tried to get Gerbing to authorize a new jacket, but Gerbing refused that option and insisted on repair. I realize that per their warranty that is their option, but let's not claim that their customer service is superior. As I said originally, the after-sale customer service that Gerbing provided with regard to this purchase was barely adequate to meet their warranty.

 

I'm certainly sorry to hear about your experience. I don't doubt for one second that you were not treated appropriately. But my experience says that (unfortunately for you in this case) you were the rare exception, not the rule.

 

As a Top Ten Gerbing Dealer, we occassionally get a few warranty issues. You can't sell as much Gerbing product as we do and not come across a few. And each time Gerbing has stepped up and taken care of our customers, several times when the product was already out of warranty, and once when it was highly probable that the product had been misused.

 

I've spoken with Jeff Gerbing. He's completely committed to customer satisfaction and it's not just lip service. It was a policy established by his father, Gordon. Jeff thoroughly believes in the power of happy customers. It's one of the reasons we carry his products over those of the competition. We know our customers will be pleased with Gerbing and, if there's ever a problem, we know they'll be taken care of well.

 

Perhaps you should write to Gerbing. Contact Dottie Wheatley, VP of MC Sales. I know she would take the time to read and respond. In fact, if you were not satisfied with the way you were treated, I think she would insist on knowing.

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Perhaps you should write to Gerbing. Contact Dottie Wheatley, VP of Marketing and Customer Service. I know she would take the time to read and respond. In fact, if you were not satisfied with the way you were treated, I think she would insist on knowing.

 

You're right...Gerbing's management is very committed to Customer Service. I have forwarded some of the comments (not specific posters names or emails) for management review. The website has been modified recently, and still needs work, but it's unfortunately a slow process. I know I get a ton of spam through the webmail, and have on occassion deleted a good email.

I've been with the company for 2 years, but worn their products for 15. It was a no-brainer to join a company that had a quality product and excellent business ethics! I don't normally post to forums because of the potential "perceived" bias, but felt the need to try to help.

My suggestion will always be, if you're not satisfied with the Customer Service you receive, please get the name of the rep helping you. Don't hesitate to contact Dotty (VP of M/C Sales) dotty@gerbing.com

If the item was purchased at a dealer, our goal is also to support our dealers, but any item can be returned directly. If not satisfied with the service, contact Dotty (800-646-5916) or Jeff Gerbing.

I represent the Dealer network, but you can also contact me. karol@gerbing.com

 

Karol

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Sometimes, life has a few of those "one in a million" moments, huh?

 

As well as Marty, I am extremely happy with the way that the folks at Gerbings have handled some of my problems. In January of this year, I received my liner back from them after sending it over to have a couple of seams repaired. Then in February, the "troller"started having intermittent power problems. As I'd noticed a "manly" waft of air when opening the box the last time, I decided I should wash it. So I dropped some Nikwax (pre-wash?) in a bucket and proceeeded to give it my all.....both by hand and with a bathroom plunger (new of course)....rinsed it....washed it again...and rinsed it again. After removing it from the last rinse, I noticed that the seams (heck....almost the whole liner) were almost all, coming apart!! Uh oh!! So I sent them an email explaining what had happened, and after letting it drip-dry out in the garage, I boxed it up and sent it off w/a copy of my email. 2 weeks later I got my liner back, ....everything looking almost brand new! Also got a new 'troller'......

Complaints?? Not from me. And I'll continue to pay whatever the mailing fees come to.

 

Pat

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Dear Pat,

 

Let me know if you need help with the mailing fee/I'll do 50/50 with you up to $1.00.

 

Your pal Marty lmao.gif

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Chuck Hatcher
Dear Pat,

 

Let me know if you need help with the mailing fee/I'll do 50/50 with you up to $1.00.

 

Your pal Marty lmao.gif

 

I just got a follow-up email from Gerbing's and they are sending out a UPS label for me. So now I have nothing left to whine about.

 

And just to prove I'm not cheap, I'd be happy to buy you all a beer (or whatever) if we ever meet in person. (In case you don't find yourself in my neck of the woods any time soon, I'll be at the RA rally at Biltmore/Asheville in June.)

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Dear Pat,

 

Let me know if you need help with the mailing fee/I'll do 50/50 with you up to $1.00.

 

Your pal Marty lmao.gif

 

You know, sometimes the love on this site is almost overwhelming. bncry.gif

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Perhaps you should write to Gerbing. Contact Dottie Wheatley, VP of Marketing and Customer Service. I know she would take the time to read and respond. In fact, if you were not satisfied with the way you were treated, I think she would insist on knowing.

 

As I said before, Gerbing's took care of my problem, very slowly, and without apparent concern that their product caused the user an actual injury in normal use. They met the terms of their warranty, barely. And, obviously they know this. What could I possibly tell them by writing to them? And what could their response possibly be? ("We regret that blah, blah, blah...") We purchased Gerbing products (liner, gloves, controller) based in part on their reputation for good customer service. Based on the comments on this forum, some Gerbing's customers get lucky and others get minimal service with their problems. I'm realistic enough to understand that this time I wasn't one of the lucky ones. When my Aerostich Kanetsu wears out, I'll just take a look at Widder.

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John Ranalletta
I've a non-warranty problem with my jacket. Using their website, I sent an inquiry to Gerbing describing the problem and asking for their suggestions (fix or toss).

3 days and no response. Yes, I know I can call them and I will; but one wonders why a company puts an email address on its web site only to ignore messages it attracts, espcially from customers.

 

JohnR-

I sent an email to you via your website, but haven't heard anything. I checked with Customer Service at Gerbing's (Heather), and she can't find an email from JohnR in Indianapolis. If you tell me the problem, or email Heather (or call) directly, we'll try to help, but without being able to find the email...we're stumped.

 

Thanks

 

Karol Patzer

Gerbing's Heated Clothing

karol@gerbing.com

Karol, thanks for your email. Hopefully, tech service will have good news.

 

john

Per Karol's good help, my liner and heat troller are en route to Union, WA for diagnosis. Karol was quick to remind that the liner wiring has a lifetime warranty.
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I too have had excellent customer service with Gerbings. Last Fall I purchased a jacket liner, gloves and the controller. A month ago, I noticed the seams coming apart in a couple of places. Luckily, I only live an hour or so away from Union and decided to make a trip up there and drop the liner off to be fixed. When I showed the liner to their customer service gal, she immediately pulled someone off the production line and my liner was fixed right then and there while I waited. The whole process took about 15 minutes and the repair was perfect.

 

I'm a happy customer.

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