Jax, Fullerton

[DISCO]

[FONT=&quot]Jax is not without a soul, the man behind it started out building bikes and has since built a business that feeds the mouths of hundreds . It 's not easy to stick around when the market shifts, I have heard rumors of Rock and Road handing out pink slips with their last payroll. No employee is ever perfect 100 percent of the time but I can agree some people may be performing below their potential. If you want to be a retailer lesson #1 is that the guest in your store is not just the source of your income, but ultimately should be the boss. Given the average Jax demographic not having the cleats you needed in stock should come as no surprise. But to have to ride all the way over to another store to only have been mislead is unforgivable in my book and I could not agree with you more. This example illustrates one extreme of the spectrum but I don't feel it is indicative of the whole organization. [/FONT]

[DirtRider]

This "Jax manager" seems all to close to the person who was posting on here pretending to be a Chino Hills/Carbon Canyon Park Ranger before the B-Day ride on the 20th... same writing style, grammer and mis-spelling of words along with a lack of posts. All of your points are spot on about Jax... you shouldn't be wasting your time defending your experiences.

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by DISCO

[FONT=&quot]Jax is not without a soul, the man behind it started out building bikes and has since built a business that feeds the mouths of hundreds.[/FONT]

Building bikes is a very loose term. I actually worked with Dave Hansen (the owner of Jax) more than 20 years ago at Buena Park Bike Shop. He was a salesman and mechanic just like myself (although he was older and fatter - he didn't really ride much).

Yes, we used to build bikes, or I should say, assemble them. Dave and I, as well as the other shop techs often had competitions building similar bikes. I always beat Dave, and on top of that, his build quality was always poor. Mine were ready to deliver (bikes were always inspected prior to delivery, anyway). Ah there were many stories and good times.

Feeding hundreds? Perhaps. However, since it is a profit-driven store, and considering the majority of employees are young and inexperienced, the pay is not very good. Heck, I've known a couple managers of the Jax Irvine store, and I can assure you that the pay or benefits is not that good. So with that in mind, Dave is certainly not a philanthropist regarding the statement of feeding hundreds.

I want to clarify that I'm not knocking Jax as a whole. There is a place in the market for shops like Jax and Performance. However, Jax is neither owned by an enthusiast, opperated by enthusiasts (with some exceptions), or tailored to enthusiasts. That's ok.

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by 2wheel_lee

Building bikes is a very loose term. I actually worked with Dave Hansen (the owner of Jax) more than 20 years ago at Buena Park Bike Shop. He was a salesman and mechanic just like myself (although he was older and fatter - he didn't really ride much).

Yes, we used to build bikes, or I should say, assemble them. Dave and I, as well as the other shop techs often had competitions building similar bikes. I always beat Dave, and on top of that, his build quality was always poor. Mine were ready to deliver (bikes were always inspected prior to delivery, anyway). Ah there were many stories and good times.

Feeding hundreds? Perhaps. However, since it is a profit-driven store, and considering the majority of employees are young and inexperienced, the pay is not very good. Heck, I've known a couple managers of the Jax Irvine store, and I can assure you that the pay or benefits is not that good. So with that in mind, Dave is certainly not a philanthropist regarding the statement of feeding hundreds.

I want to clarify that I'm not knocking Jax as a whole. There is a place in the market for shops like Jax and Performance. However, Jax is neither owned by an enthusiast, opperated by enthusiasts (with some exceptions), or tailored to enthusiasts. That's ok.

OT

That is where I purchased my first M-bike in 1989

Resume topic

[DISCO]

While the extended families and Dependants may not be that many, all I am saying is that they have yet to go hungry. Thank You for agreeing it's not broken overall, but I think we both concur some areas could be improved. I too have the privilege of riding and knowing some very enthusiastic Jax employees. Most businesses are for profit, which is why I don't hold a grudge with them for catering to the mainstream. From my experience the typical Campy/Conlago guy is seldom pleased. And it's just not fair from the shops point of view to have a 28mm seatpost or proprietary headset or bottom bracket in stock that may never sell when that customer does come in. However if a guest does need that one particular item; I know that if it is available Jax can and will go to the ends of the earth to get it for them. But as stated it will take up to ten business days and cost full retail plus shipping.

[brownlandshark]

Originally Posted by DirtRider

This "Jax manager" seems all to close to the person who was posting on here pretending to be a Chino Hills/Carbon Canyon Park Ranger before the B-Day ride on the 20th... same writing style, grammer and mis-spelling of words along with a lack of posts. All of your points are spot on about Jax... you shouldn't be wasting your time defending your experiences.

I manage the Irvine Jax. I am new to the board, I type fast....sorry not perfect. I have no idea what the the carbon canyon ranger thing is about. My name is Brent call Irvine and ask for me. I ride a brown land shark. A business has a right to examine reviews, respond to them and learn from them....are you faulting me for that?

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by brownlandshark

I manage the Irvine Jax. I am new to the board, I type fast....soryy not perfect. I have no idea what the the carbon canyon ranger thing is about. My name is Brent call Irvine and ask for me. I ride a brown land shark. A business has a right to examine reviews, respond to them and learn from them....are you faulting me for that?

Since I may have missed your formal introduction, welcome Brent!

Thank you for coming here and speaking on behalf of Jax. That does add credibility for the store - or at least the one you're managing. Staff and owners of some of the local OC high-end shops are here, as I'm sure you've seen, so you're in good company. By the way, I mean no disrespect to you personally, so please don't take it that way. By coming here, it truly implies that you're an enthusiast. I wish you the best in using the information you've gained here at improving the service and selection at your store. I'm sure your hands are tied in many ways - as the case for your predecessors - but I hope you can do what you can.

[brownlandshark]

Thanks buddy. I'll see if the Fullerton staff can post on here. I love bicycles and have proudly been a bicycle mechanic since 1986 at various shops. I love riding road and mountain, a bit more mountain I'd say. Just got a Curtlo with a "new" action tec fork. I'm stoked. Come on in sometime, I think our selection is good, could be better for mountain and we'll fix it. Excellent for road, and even cyclocross.
No offense taken on any posts, Thanks for sharing your thoughts

[stinkyrider]

Allow me to start off by quoting Dante's Divine Comedy.
"Abandon all hope ye who enter here" (All said purely in jest)

Seriously though....
I hope this doesn't ban me or anything, but here's my official diatribe regarding Jax Cycle center. Lemme start from the top. I'll try to remain as objective and reasonable as possible.....if possible. It's hard for an A-hole like myself to remain objective but I'll try. Maybe I'm a victim of unsatisfactory service or maybe I'm a victim of circumstance. I'll let the readers of this thread determine that.

Of course, as a typical noob I bought my first REAL mountain bike in January 2007 at Jax Cycle Center in Fullerton. I bought myself a 2006 Gary Fisher Fat Possum XT on sale. I'll give Jax credit for the fairly good deal I got
on the bike. The bike remained in my garage collecting dust in my garage until about May 2007 (ski season was still in swing).
The bike works great until about June 2007 where the Bontrager crank becomes dethreaded and falls off in mid ride with less than 150 miles on the bike. The threads on the spindle are completely gone and the non-drive side arm becomes physically impossible to reattach. Fine, no big deal. Bontrager components are not exactly known for being the best anyway. I took my bike into Jax Yorba Linda with my broken crank and original receipt in hand to warranty the busted crank set.
Maybe it was just the time it takes for jumping through all the right [FONT=&quot]beaurocratic[/FONT] hoops at Trek, Fisher, and Bontrager but my crank sat in the store for a little more than a week before it was even sent in for warranty. The staff at the store seemed to have little sense of urgency when dealing with me or other customers. After a couple weeks of a no-show crank set, I say "F-it", throw my arms in the air and buy a new Shimano XT hollowtech II. After many many weeks later the new Bontrager crank finally shows. I'm willing to give Jax the benefit of the doubt. Bontrager is probably the one to blame for the slow service in this instance.

WARRANTY ITEM #2

Around mid July 2007 I was riding the Possum in the street and I notice the platform dial on the rear shock (manitou RPA) is bleeding substantial a bit of oil. Every time the shock was compressed, it would sqeeze out large droplets of oil.
"Uh-oh" warranty time.
I roll into Jax Yorba Linda once again to warranty the rear shock. This time I leave the whole bike there. I didn't miss it too much because I was just riding the new Stinky around (bought at the Path).

Anyways, the bike sits in the shop until about late September without a rear shock attached to it. I get a call at work saying my warrantied manitou shock had arrived and that I can pick it up tonight. As I am driving home from work that same day I check my voicemail and I get a message from Jax saying that THEY LOST MY MOUNTING HARDWARE and that my bike is not ready for pickup. I was less than pleased so I say fine, just order the new mounting hardware.

Once again, I say "F-it" and walk into Jax with a brand new Zoke Roco Air R I got at the Path a week before (Many thanks to the path).
I had come to Jax to reclaim my Fat Possum and have the new shock installed. I had the exact size shock I needed and all the necessary mounting hardware with me. The "service manager" could not figure out how to mount the rear shock (I was right there with him watching). He was saying the eyes don't line up perfectly. The fixed side was true and the stroke side was off parallel with the fixed side. He gave up and I took my bike and both shocks (old and new) out of the store. I gave the service manager specific instructions to notify me as soon as the mounting hardware for the manitou shock arrives.


That same night I took the shock to Rock N' Road Cyclery and they fixed my problem in about 1 minute. The trick? Let the air out of the shock and twist the travel end so the eyes are parallel with the fixed end. The new Roco mounted without a problem. The Roco is super plush but it bounces like a pogo stick while climbing on a single pivot frame like the Fat Possum (too cheap for Fox DHX or RP23). "Dammit, I want the Manitou RPA back."

Right now I am looking at a factory rebuilt manitou RPA shock sitting on my desk with no mounting hardware. To this day I call Jax Yorba Linda twice a week asking for my new mounting hardware. I always get the typical reply, "It's being shipped. It will be here next week."
"Can I have a tracking number so I can look it up on the UPS or FedEx website?"
"We don't have a tracking number."
"Call me when it gets here"
"Okay"

I've been waiting since July to get my original factory shock back. F__K, this sucks. The mounting hardware was first noticed missing in September. It has been approximately 4-5 weeks now with no mounting hardware to show. Am I wrong for bitching, here? Does it normally take this long get 40mmX8mm mounting hardware from Manitou?? Am I being unreasonable here?

Another thing that chapped my ass was that in the time the fat possum was left in the store, somebody had been f-ing with the front wheel even though it was completely fine. I found my bike there with the vavle cap completely gone with the front tire left completely flat with the presta valve open. Plus I found out on my next ride after I got that bike back that the bolts for the front rotor were dangerously loose. So much so that I could almost wiggle the rotor off with my bare hand. WTF? It wasn't like that when I left it. Was it just coincidence?? Maybe so?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Brownlandshark, I appologize for any comments perceived as disrespectful I made earlier in this thread, but I hope you can understand my frustration with my experiences at Jax. There seems to be a severe lack of urgency and much of a "slacker" vibe at the Yorba Linda store. You being a manager, I humbly ask you to rattle the cages at Jax Yorba Linda and provide your employees the proper motivation to get my mounting hardware back. If done so, I will be forever thankful and forever sing the praises of Jax and once again spend my money there.

[brownlandshark]

Originally Posted by stinkyrider

Brownlandshark, I appologize for any comments perceived as disrespectful I made earlier in this thread, but I hope you can understand my frustration with my experiences at Jax. There seems to be a severe lack of urgency and much of a "slacker" vibe at the Yorba Linda store. You being a manager, I humbly ask you to rattle the cages at Jax Yorba Linda and provide your employees the proper motivation to get my mounting hardware back. If done so, I will be forever thankful and forever sing the praises of Jax and once again spend my money there.

I have mounting hardware here for a fat possum running a manitou swinger shock. I'm fairly certain this will work for you. Can you bring the bike to my store in Irvine for me to dial it in, or would you rather me send it to them at yorba linda? Call me if you can 949 733 1212 at the Irvine store.
Thank you,
Brent....Jax Irvine

[stinkyrider]

Issue Resolved!!! Mounting hardware received.
The Fat Possum is alive once again. Thanks Brent!! Thanks Jax. I can't believe this issue was resolved so quickly and efficiently.

Originally Posted by brownlandshark

I have mounting hardware here for a fat possum running a manitou swinger shock. I'm fairly certain this will work for you. Can you bring the bike to my store in Irvine for me to dial it in, or would you rather me send it to them at yorba linda? Call me if you can 949 733 1212 at the Irvine store.
Thank you,
Brent....Jax Irvine

[ODB]

Originally Posted by stinkyrider

I can't believe this issue was resolved so quickly and efficiently.

Yeah, it only took 3 months to get it sorted out. Here's to Jax!!

Too bad Brent can't be cloned and work in all their locations. In my experience, there has only been one person in the Fullerton or Yorba Linda stores who has shown as much interest in delivering good customer service, and that dude left years ago.

[jcampbell]

I don't mind giving this Brent dude some props for not saying a word of a comeback to that rant and just fixing the problem.

[stinkyrider]

I got my mounting hardware in maybe less than 24 hours after that thread was posted.

[ODB]

Originally Posted by stinkyrider

I got my mounting hardware in maybe less than 24 hours after that thread was posted.

My point was that you first took the bike in in July, and your issue only just now got resolved ... and it took someone from ANOTHER location to get the job done. That's horrible CS from the YL store, and mirrors a warranty experience i had there a number of years ago. Brent deserves kudos, however, for stepping in and working it out for you. Anyway, glad you got your bike rolling again.

[Fired Yo Momma]

I get a kick how this website is influential and powerful that when problems come up you see Bike shop managers on here scrambling to save their buisness. I used to own my own buisness and I built my customer base so strong that four years after I stopped with the buisness I have older customers still calling me to this day. I am sure everybody has heard this but it takes years to have loyal customers but just one or two consitent F ups and you can loose a customer forever. I hope these bike companys realize that we are their bread and butter and it would be very easy for us to spend our money on internet based bike shops. The reason I shop at the Path or Adrenline is the knowledge they have and great customer service. If it wasn't for that I would not care if the places burned down. This is just my opinion but I think Jax's is realizing that they are loosing out on potential money and they are jonesing over it. Overall I think this stuff of being remorseful about their service is just a act because they undersatnd that the STR community is huge and thats lost revenue. I am all about action maybe have a big sale with a BBQ or a STR discount? Once this happens they will (at least me) show that they are trying to change their customer service to a positive way then they will see their repeat customer's increase. I think the appology made is a positive step to a new start for Jax, but Jax should ralize that they are going to be under the microscope for some time and we should realize that change is not overnight.

[brownlandshark]

[quote=Fired Yo Momma;128256] Overall I think this stuff of being remorseful about their service is just a act because they undersatnd that the STR community is huge and thats lost revenue. I am all about action maybe have a big sale with a BBQ or a STR discount?

An act?! Really? Come on man. This thread isn't even about my store. I came on here to defend the shop a bit, solve some problems, and meet some new riders. That's it. I have no interesest in doing marketing for Jax on this site. Honestly, the STR community is big and we appreciate all of you, however, we are and will always be a family shop and that is where most of our income comes from. Do we want more business...yes. do we care about the mountain bike community...yes. I am here because I care. Bottom line. Not trying to "save " my company here, just be helpful. Believe it or not that's the truth. Always great to put a negative spin on someone trying to do the right thing.
As far as a sale. Tough to do to just one particular group. We have several throughout the year. A bbq would be cool and we've had many over the years. We offer discounts to several clubs right now. If we saw a commitment from enough STR members we would explore that in the future.

[Collette]

This may be just me, but bitching and complaining about a shop you don't go to anyway, seems like a complete waste of time.