[MTBeer]

I am completely frustrated with HammerHead so much that will no longer buy anything from them. Here's my dilemma. After researching and researching about HH; reading online how HH prides themselves on customer relations and that they want to reserve "45min" with you go over all the specs with their customers, I call up Charles at HH and he assures me there is a frame in my size available and I should get it built-up in 4 weeks. I'm pumped so I ordered and purchased my complete built HH back in Feburary of this year. By communicating by phone i spec out my bike in 10min. Over the course of the 8 weeks while supposedly waiting for my frame to arrive from Titus, i had made some changes to my spec list. Again by phone only to find that when my bike finally arrived in late April it had the wrong shifters, grips, crank, chain, and no seat post skewer clamp that i had specified. For spending over $3600 I was pissed. I figured that I may have confused them by making changes by phone and not by email so I purpose to Charles that he send me the correct shifters and i can live with the rest. He agrees and assures me i will be getting them soon. Well, after several weeks go by i email Charles. There on backorder now. So i wait another 3 weeks and email again. Whoops forgot, NOW they are on back order. Another 3 weeks. Whoops forgot again now they are ordered. The replacement shifters finally arrived the 2nd of July only to find that the shifters were the same ones that came with my bike in the first place!

Long story short - I don't think HH gives enough customer attention. They might be too busy for themselve, but it shouldn't come at the cost of their customers. They have a great bike, but I would suggest getting a RacerX100 rather than getting a HH.

My 2 cents.

 

[scurra]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experiance. Doesn't seam like the HH bikes everyone in this forum talks about. Must have been a fluke, or a bad week. I'm sure HH understands your fustration, and feels really bad you had a bad experiance. I don't know any business that enjoys pissing the customer off, especially one that sells custom big $ bikes. JM2C...

 

[KRob]

Sounds like you're the unlucky "customer of the month". I own a small business that tries to be very customer oriented, but every now and then it seems like all the bad luck falls on one customer and one thing after another just doesn't go right. It doesn't happen very often, and we go out of our way to make things up to them, but Murphy's law for whatever reason seems to compound into this unfortunate negative vortex and whip the snot out of one poor soul every now and then. Charles is good people. Give him another chance.

 

[fantom1]

Sorry to hear about that as well. I get the feeling that they may be experiencing some growing pains right now and are too busy for the current number of staff. Im sure it was just something temporary.

 

[MightySchmoePong]

Similar experience here.

But this was about a year and a half ago. Got my Turner, had a drastically wrong spring rate for front and rear shocks, missing a tire, wrong stem length, wrong brand of handle bar, brakes needed to be bled, front fork IS tabs not faced etc. I was e-mailing and calling back and forth to get the right springs. Sometimes I wouldn't get a response for two weeks, and when I did it was always "Fox doesn't have the springs right now". I finally got annoyed enough that I just called up Fox and ordered the springs myself. No problems. I decided to not bother about the handlebar/stem stuff. The stem was only off by 10 mm and the handlebar was of similar (or honestly better) quality. I finally got the springs about 2 weeks after I had already purchased them myself, so he did send them.

I think it's simply a case of a small shop being overwhelmed w/ the amount of business they have. I think generally Charles is a dedicated, passionate guy who probably works a ton of hours, but perhaps is not the most organized guy out there?

Take it easy,

Dave

 

[Tim C Boston]

same thing happened to me 2 yrs ago

Sorry to see Charles is still screwing people over. I had the same awful experience 2 years ago. Charles said my HH100x frame would take 6 wks or so. It ended up taking 12, and I had to call to find out the status rather than him being proactive given the long delay. After initially ordering XTR cranks, I called to tell him that I wanted to change to Race Face Next (this was early in the process....only a couple wks in). I followed up w/ an email to get my request in writing. The bike showed up w/ XTR cranks, the wrong shock (no lockout), the wrong rims (Charles took it upon himself to change my spec, without notifying me much less asking what I, the paying customer, wanted). The bike was also assembled so poorly that I had to take it to my LBS to tune everything (e.g. no links had been taken out of the chain, rear derailleur not adjusted at all, etc). He said he had some young kid doing the work, but I think its clear that Charles should inspect everything before it goes out the door if he is to take any pride in what he does. He overnighted the shock to me, but it was absolutely the most frustrating process. He brags about how often he gets to ride, but if he wants to run a real business that is premised upon REAL customer service, rather than lip service, he should be much more organized and diligent w/ respect to service; if not, offer a huge discount like the other mail order places and make no such promises. - Tim Carney, Boston

 

[blue22]

it´s about time somebody called Charles out.

I´ve had the exact same problems . I could go on for hours about all the issues I´ve had with Charles and his blunders. The problems posted above are no great surprise. Unfortunatley, I´m the type of person that gives people second and third chances and Charles blew it every time. I spent close to 4k on a Hammerhead, but the whole experience during and after the sale has been such that I would spend another grand not to put up with all the BULLSHEET I went through. The mail order parts service is just as bad. I gave him his second and third chance by ordering parts from his website and both times I received the wrong items. On one occasion, it took him 3 times to get it correct.
So the part he supposedley had in stock took me almost a month to get when it should have taken 3 day´s.

Initally, I attributed it to growing pains, new business, popular bike, etc, etc. I finally came to the conclusion that it´s primarily an organizational issue and not being properly engaged in his business. Also, he either lies alot or doesn´t remember very well.
It´s a shame because he has a great product and decent knowledge, but his business skills need lots of help.

FWIW, I just orderd a new Racerx100 for my wife and could have just as easily ordered a HH100X from Charles but, the money savings and headaches were just not worth it.

 

[ddraewwg]

I am completely frustrated with HammerHead so much that will no longer buy anything from them. Here's my dilemma. After researching and researching about HH; reading online how HH prides themselves on customer relations and that they want to reserve "45min" with you go over all the specs with their customers, I call up Charles at HH and he assures me there is a frame in my size available and I should get it built-up in 4 weeks. I'm pumped so I ordered and purchased my complete built HH back in Feburary of this year. By communicating by phone i spec out my bike in 10min. Over the course of the 8 weeks while supposedly waiting for my frame to arrive from Titus, i had made some changes to my spec list. Again by phone only to find that when my bike finally arrived in late April it had the wrong shifters, grips, crank, chain, and no seat post skewer clamp that i had specified. For spending over $3600 I was pissed. I figured that I may have confused them by making changes by phone and not by email so I purpose to Charles that he send me the correct shifters and i can live with the rest. He agrees and assures me i will be getting them soon. Well, after several weeks go by i email Charles. There on backorder now. So i wait another 3 weeks and email again. Whoops forgot, NOW they are on back order. Another 3 weeks. Whoops forgot again now they are ordered. The replacement shifters finally arrived the 2nd of July only to find that the shifters were the same ones that came with my bike in the first place!

Long story short - I don't think HH gives enough customer attention. They might be too busy for themselve, but it shouldn't come at the cost of their customers. They have a great bike, but I would suggest getting a RacerX100 rather than getting a HH.

My 2 cents.

i bought the first model HH (2002) and had some "incidences" with charles. there are a few issues here. first, my bike was delivered a lot later than charles quoted me. BUT that is not his fault per se, especially if Titus is telling him that. he is a customer of titus just as much as we are and if anyone wants bikes fast enough, IT WOULD BE HIM! his business relies on titus and there is no reason for him to lie to us.

however, i'm not putting all the blame on titus. there are issues with wrong shipments, wrong parts, etc. that is totally charles's fault. i don't need to go into this more than that. that side of the business is the absolute resonsibility of hammerhead. when i got my bike, i don't think that charles was as busy as he is now, so i only had one mishap (wrong colored seatpost). but my friend ordered a SB from him and all kinds of stuff was wrong. he also went through a lot of unanswered e-mails like what a lot of people on theses boards are saying.

Sooooo, what does this all mean? basically, there is a problem with how charles is handling orders and this is the place to voice those concerns. but don't blame him for everything.

i was a little annoyed at some of the things that happened with my order, but that's how it goes sometimes, as long as he's taking the steps to fix it. bottom line, it's a great bike and worth the wait.

 

[Endomaniac]

I have done business with HH a few times including purchasing a HH100X 3 years ago. My bike arrived 3 weeks later than promised with no tires, the wrong shifters, and a fork steerer cut so short I could use no stack spacers at all ( I specifically asked for the steerer to be left uncut). I have tried a couple of other orders for parts that arrived late and some parts obviously had been mounted on bikes before. The last time I placed an order with them I started out the order being very specific that I need parts for an upcoming event 2 weeks away and to let me know if that posed any problems. 3 days before the event I called them only to find out that my parts would were not in stock and would not be on time. I have never received a receipt with anything I ever got from them. They are nice people, have good prices, know their equipment and the HH frame rocks but they are not the model of professionalism. I don’t shop with them anymore.

Most people seem to have had much better luck than me though.

BTW… I have spent thousands of dollars with SpeedGoat over the years and never had any problem whatsoever. Speedgoat and Webcyclry are the models I judge all others by.

 

[toe-knee]

I hope Charles reads all of these post's are gets his act together. I am waiting on a HH100 and I expect it to be just as I ordered. This wasn't the case 3 years ago when I ordered a frame and most of the components from him. I built the bike up myself and some components were the wrong size or missing alltogether , and my brakes looked premounted and not in original box ! And also after confirming many times on the right rear spring weight I received the wrong one and had to buy the right spring. My friends also had issues ordering parts recently. I called Tius to see if I can buy the HH100 version of the Racer X from them directly but they said no way , so I put my faith in Charles one more time. I just pray that after the long long wait that I receive exactly what I ordered.

 

[hammerheadbikes]

We are a small, two person shop.
We DO care. We do try to get things done right. I think the biggest problem we made early on was not investing in some sort of business order management system. I like to think I have a great memory and can remember everything, but cleary that's not the case.
I have started to really focus on documenting everything. Seems like we need to work harder at orginazation and we had realized that and are doing such. We are also at that level where we really can't afford to hire more staff but have the workload to need it...
arg
We have definitely experienced growing pains and are working to be more efficient and to run a tighter ship so to speak. I can't do much about shipping delays from manufacturers, I have experienced unexpected delays from just about everyone we deal with.

Being riders sometimes we have made a part sub to get a bike to the guy faster, it's NEVER been a downgrade but nonetheless, not what he wanted. I guess if it means waiting a few more days so be it. We discussed this this morning.

I think we should also confirm right before buildup with the customer the details of the build up. That would eliminate the issue all together.

As much as it sucks to hear people bash you we can learn from it
We get lots of extremely positive feedback so I know we aren't screwing up every order we just need to work harder to deliver the kind of service you deserve.

If anyone here who has had a problem and feels unsatisfied please contact me to discuss and we will do whatever we can do resolve the issue.

 

[The Trail Nazi]

rant off

 

[Cary]

I'll just throw a few idea's in the pot:

1) It is really hard running a small business. Look at the number of shops that go out of business. There is the doubled edged sword, on the one hand you want to help customers, on the other, you have to move a certain amount of product through the shop every day to make a living. Here you have a shop owner that obviously cares about his customers but is also trying to stay afloat.

2) A suggestion for Hammerhead bikes. Make up a standarized fill in sheet for people when they order bikes (preferably one that can be e-mailed). Have them the items they want in the appropriate sections (i.e. left column has the name of the part, they fill in the brand and level). If for some reason the parts are not available when needed, you can have a third column where you send an e-mail stating that the part(s) requested will not be in before the requested date, but can be substituted with the alternative parts listed on the build sheet if the customer agrees. THis same sheet can then be used to track the build (checkoff) and make sure what is ordered is what is shipped. It will take a bit more time up front, but help to ensure less problems down the road.

3) There is an old adage in racing, you have to slow down to go fast. I would encourage that orders be double checked prior to shipping to ensure accuracy. This saves a great deal of time over having to e-mail back and forth with a customer, return the part, and ship a new part when it is not correct.

 

[JTBAZ]

I have actually had very good service from Hammerhead bikes. Every time I have spoken with Charles he has been friendly and he has had my best interest in mind. My HH100X was delivered two weeks from when it was promised but that was do to titus not having a part to complete the frame. Whether it is Hammerhead bikes or other LBSs it is supply chain issues that result in most delays and the LBSs are the ones that have to contend with the customers when their expectations are not met do to supply chain delays.

 

[hammerheadbikes]

I remember the "negative comments" with regards to component choice
I believe it was my saying a SID fork with a 200lb hard rider wasn't the best choice.
that a Fox 80RLT is a much better choice and the bike will hold a line better

If that hurt your feelings, man, I am sorry

As for "austin snobiness"
hmm,,
I let you take my personal bike out for an afternoon, gave you directions to the trail, etc..
what more could I do?

Sometimes we kid around but it's all in fun, don't take it so seriously..
Lonnie used to live in Houston and I know he kids people about coming to Austin to ride "real" trails, it's said with a smile... just jacking with ya..

The wait was/is beyond my control
I go by what I am told and even have started padding it a bit and telling people I can't give them a hard date because I don't have one and would be lying if I tell them otherwise

 

[keypocket]

this is boring and petty....

these gripes are basically about things not coming in on time. Welcome to the real world. These are small builders and a small LBS. Try getting replacement parts from GT for an older bike - that is a real gripe. It's just the nature of small builders - which I've said before. I've got a Steelman which took longer than expected because of various things but I did get it and love it and would go through it again. You have to relax and expect these things. I am also waiting for a HH100x, but when Charles told me the projected time for the frame to be ready, I asked him if it was realistic - and he told me that it could probably drag out because they were behind. Titus has been backlogged for the RX100's for a long time. The waiting really isn't an important issue. If it was then you should have went with a bigger company bike.

 

[The Trail Nazi]

I remember the "negative comments" with regards to component choice
I believe it was my saying a SID fork with a 200lb hard rider wasn't the best choice.
that a Fox 80RLT is a much better choice and the bike will hold a line better

If that hurt your feelings, man, I am sorry

Naw I got thicker skin than that…I'm not some off the street idiot as it might of seemed and I had done plenty of research on numerous bikes before I decided upon the Titus and the 5th element shock. (I do wish I had gotten the anodized silver frame tho')

My choice of the Rock Shox SID was made from previous experience with the shock that I had on my hard tail and the same goes for having mavic crossmax's on all my bikes since 98 although it may "seem" that big guy can't have finesse some of us do and don't break these components, if I was building up a "trailbike" your advice on shocks and wheels would have been spot on. But that water under the bridge at this point.

I appreciate the quick response you had by sending me a replacement bolt for the one that fell out after my first ride and have bragged to folks about this…the folks that I have talked to (I've heard more positive than negative things about Hammerhead Bikes by the way) that have bought Titus bikes and HH 100X bikes from you and had certain "issues" isn't the bikes what so ever it all boils down to COMMUNICATION or lack thereof.

These bikes that you sell aren't cheap and the folks that are buying these bikes expect a certain level of service that the local Giant/Trek/Cannondale/Specalized/Kona whatever mass-produced dealer doesn't give. (think Chevrolet dealership customer service -Vs- Mercedes dealership customer service) There is a little more handholding that has to be involved that's all.

It might be just a weekly update e-mail or phone call on the progress of your bike order or having a check list that you sign and include with every bike you ship out showing the customer that YOU made sure everything was in order before it went out or just preparing the customer that they are buying a special bike and "things" do happen in the manufacturing process that might case it to be delayed.

We all realize that your doing your best Charles and you have had growing pains however sometimes you need to hear the bad along with the good so that you can take it to the next level, you shouldn't look at this thread as an attack rather some constructive criticism.

 

[hammerheadbikes]

duly noted...

I am done responding on this subject in a public forum
If you have had a problem and would like to discuss it, please get with me

Sincerely,
Charles

 

[tommyrod74]

Not to question your choice further...

My choice of the Rock Shox SID was made from previous experience with the shock that I had on my hard tail and the same goes for having mavic crossmax's on all my bikes since 98 although it may "seem" that big guy can't have finesse some of us do and don't break these components, if I was building up a "trailbike" your advice on shocks and wheels would have been spot on. But that water under the bridge at this point.[/size][/font]

... but I think Charles was just acting in your best interests when recommending the Fox over the SID.

I weigh 165, and I ride hard but never break parts, and the SID is the last fork I'd put on my bike, even a superlight race bike. They steer like other forks from circa 1996 (which is exactly what the SID is) - flexy and imprecise. The damping and adjustability are vastly inferior to other forks, as are the reliability and service requirements. It's not that it's not a "trailbike" fork, it's more that it's an outdated fork whose time has come and gone (except maybe for sponsored XC racers who can have someone maintain it for them).

Seriously, I'd have trouble letting my girlfriend at 125 lbs. ride a SID. What's 1 lb. of weight (difference between lightest SID and the Fox RLT) to a 200 lbs. rider?

I think Charles was trying to help you out. He's always given me sound advice, and I've called often. I've also had good service when buying from him.

Tommy

 

[The Trail Nazi]

... but I think Charles was just acting in your best interests when recommending the Fox over the SID.

I weigh 165, and I ride hard but never break parts, and the SID is the last fork I'd put on my bike, even a superlight race bike. They steer like other forks from circa 1996 (which is exactly what the SID is) - flexy and imprecise. The damping and adjustability are vastly inferior to other forks, as are the reliability and service requirements. It's not that it's not a "trailbike" fork, it's more that it's an outdated fork whose time has come and gone (except maybe for sponsored XC racers who can have someone maintain it for them).

Seriously, I'd have trouble letting my girlfriend at 125 lbs. ride a SID. What's 1 lb. of weight (difference between lightest SID and the Fox RLT) to a 200 lbs. rider?

I think Charles was trying to help you out. He's always given me sound advice, and I've called often. I've also had good service when buying from him.

Tommy

i think the point that i was trying to make is that i "felt" that i was being talked down to as some newbie that just walked in with a fat wallet and i didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground. this wasn't my first bike i've ever bought and unlike many i had done my OWN research on various bikes and came up with my own conclusions, and of course i EXPECT charles to know more on the bikes he sells than i do however don't make me feel like an idiot for asking simple questions just to confirm my own research.

as you know what might work well for you may be terrible for some one else just look at tire selection that folks you know run. I live in Houston Texas the "black hole" of mountian biking everything here is FLAT and FLATTER so we make the best of it with fast tight twisty trails therfore a 100mm shock that is gonna soak up every rock root and drop off is'nt high on the list with the racer boi set.

i learned how to ride on a fully ridged MTB and been riding a hardtail since 96 this was my first FS bike and i didn't want a "sofa" on wheels just something to take the edge off at 12/24 hour races and at some of the rocky texas hill country race courses. the test bike that charles let me use (his own personal bike) had the fox shox on it and it was fantastic however...i had already purchased the rock shox sid world cup therfore changing midstream was not an option.

i believe that charles has taken note of any complaints voiced on here and will make the changes that are needed. i do realize that he is just a small businessman and sometimes things do get overlooked i'm all for cutting the guy some slack for mis-communication in the past and letting him get back to business.

BTW...whats this new stuff comming from Titus for 05?