Toby Steering Dampers - Zero

[ebesel]

I bought a Toby Steering Damper from RevZilla for my '15 FZ-09 at the end of August. The thing comes from Belgium so it took 6 weeks to ship from time of order. Looked to be of good quality when I received it and I installed it a few weeks later. After 3 months the cylinder decided to puke out all of its fluid and no longer provide any resistance.

I called Revzilla and was told that there was a 1 year warranty on the damper, but that Nitron Racing Shocks in KY was the US distributor and I would have to contact them for warranty issues. (I also noticed that RevZilla had stopped carrying the Toby Dampers altogether...perhaps that is a sign)

I tried calling Nitron multiple times, but the phone rings straight to a voicemail box that is full...so no leaving messages. I sent multiple emails and got no reply. I also sent a message to them on their FB page...nothing. I even emailed the Belgium home office and asked them to intervene...again, nothing.

After waiting a couple of weeks, I left a negative review and comment on the FB page, hoping that might spur them to contact me...nope

Nitron Racing Shocks and Cobraheat Motorsports are the same company so as far as I am concerned Nitron Racing Shocks, Cobraheat Motorsports, and Toby Steering Dampers are all Zeros. (I am also a little ticked that RevZilla has washed their hands of all of this even though they are the ones who made the initial sale...but I am not willing to rate them a Zero just yet.)

Ok..rant over...

[gotfz1]

Hmm. "Nitron Racing Shocks" in KY sounds dubious. There's an official Nitron distributor in the US (Nitron is UK based) but it's not that guy.

Fwiw the nitronracingshocks and cobraheat domains have this contact:

Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Mike Meister
Registrant Organization: Michael R Meister
Registrant Street: 3419 Sunbrite
Registrant City: Taylor Mill
Registrant State/Province: KY
Registrant Postal Code: 41015
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.8594911258
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant Fax: +1.4322255710
Registrant Fax Ext.:
Registrant Email: sales@cobraheat.com

[WileECoyote]

Sorry you had problems.

A few years back, I bought a Toby SS for an old GSXR750. Same issue, blew seals and no cheese. (gouda) I contacted dealer, dealer referred me to Toby, Toby said, "Contact Nitron"..........
Yeah, **** that, bought an Ohlins, self mounted with home made brackets.........never another issue. Hate to say it but, your better off without them. Pony up for a Bitubo or better, you'll be much happier, trust me.

[FTL900]

I'd be calling Revzilla back and make it their problem. You didn't buy it from Kentucky or Belgium, you bought it from Revzilla and Revzilla took your money.
When they tell you they can't help you, start going up the food chain. Tell them "if you can't help me with this, then get someone on the phone that can help me".
Supervisors have greater authority to resolve things like this. If they can't help you, use the same line on them. Another line that I'll use is "I don't know Nytron shocks, but I trust Revzilla, and that's why I purchased from your company". Again, it puts the ball back in their court to fix this.

This really works. I've done it a few times in very similar situations. Just be firm but polite.

In a couple of instances where this didn't help, I have also looked up corporate executives and started calling and/or emailing them. I actually reached the UPS CEO's home phone once, and left a message there. Yeah, things happened quickly after that. Responses are unbelievably different. Most corporate execs have a hit squad that has access to their email and runs interference on things like this, so the CEO never sees or hears about it, but the corporate hit squad (my terminology) will totally fix things immediately.
Good luck.

[Stella Blue]

Hmm. "Nitron Racing Shocks" in KY sounds dubious. There's an official Nitron distributor in the US (Nitron is UK based) but it's not that guy.

Fwiw the nitronracingshocks and cobraheat domains have this contact:

Registry Registrant ID:
Registrant Name: Mike Meister
Registrant Organization: Michael R Meister
Registrant Street: 3419 Sunbrite
Registrant City: Taylor Mill
Registrant State/Province: KY
Registrant Postal Code: 41015
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.8594911258
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant Fax: +1.4322255710
Registrant Fax Ext.:
Registrant Email: sales@cobraheat.com

Registrant state Kentucky?

[theunderfighter]

This is definitely Revzilla's problem to at least get a proper contact form going with someone else, if they want to pretend it's not their problem. Polite, but firm, is key. Getting angry or irrational with the people you talk to will make things much more difficult. That said, you should not be left hung out to dry on this, especially from a company like Revzilla.

[killer5280]

I have found that getting angry but not necessarily irrational sometimes gets effective results.
When all other remedies have failed it's the only option.

[ebesel]

A quick update

After numerous attempts to contact the US distributor for a warranty claim, and getting no reply whatsoever..I focused on RevZilla and asked them to stand by the product that they sold me.

It took a couple of phone calls, but ultimately RevZilla agreed to take the steering damper back and issue me full store credit for it. I believe that was a fair resolution, and I am happy with that outcome.

So...Toby Steering Dampers, and Cobraheat Motorsports are still definitely Zeros...but RevZilla is a Hero and will continue to get my business.

[theunderfighter]

Good for them, and you! That's a proper resolution!

[hooligan998]