This is a thread to outline my firsthand experience of dealing with MEC and dealing with an LBS as it pertains to product warranty/service.
LBS Experience
I bought a Lezyne alloy floor drive pump a couple years ago from an LBS on the Shore. Pump worked great … best floor pump I've ever owned. About two months ago, the pressure gauge stopped working. Looked up on the interwebz about possible reasons and fixes and found out that the gauge needed to be replaced (common occurrence with these pumps). Sent an email to Cycles Lambert as they are the distributor for this brand and they advised me to take to an LBS to have it serviced/warrantied. Took it in, and after the service tech called Lambert, I was told they would need to order the gauge part but none were in stock so I'd have to wait about 6 wks. Also told I'd only have to pay the shipping for the gauge as there is no actual cost in the book for this part. Fair enough .. sounds good to me. The part must still be out of stock 'cause I'm still waiting and it's been a couple months. Overall, I'm satisfied with how this has gone down and I'm looking forward to the part coming in so I can use this great pump again.
MEC Experience
Bought a Garmin Edge 500 bike computer about 2.5 years ago from MEC. Started having problems with it picking up the satellites properly. Off to the interwebz again. Tried all the fixes (latest firmware, emptying the memory, hard reset, etc) but still no improvement. Call up MEC service centre to see if I should send back to Garmin or bring in to a store for service. I was told not to go to Garmin but to bring the unit into a store and they'd replace it on the spot. Went in, got it replaced, and out the door again in no time at all. No hassles, no questions other than what's wrong with it. Super happy with this service.
That's my recent experience with two separate transactions both concerning service/warranty. I like to support my LBS as much as the next dude, but my first hand experience is that some LBS's can't even begin to compete with MEC when MEC offers service like what I experienced. It definitely is not always about price.
:canada: :england: