Avoid at all costs – it’s a shame I can’t give it 0 stars – in fact, in February 2023 we hired a BASSO DIAMANTE bike worth €3,200 under a hire-purchase scheme that turned out to be a long-term hire agreement, which we would never have signed had we been given the correct information (proven misrepresentation).
After just a few kilometres, we encountered numerous derailment problems on every ride, rendering the bike unusable.
The various visits to the workshop and Ronan’s incompetence never managed to resolve this issue, and after one final attempt, he finally decided to contact the manufacturer.
During these negotiations with the brand’s sales representative, the bike was out of action for a further six weeks, only for the groupset to be replaced, in the end, with a 105 11-speed (replacing a Campagnolo 12-speed carbon groupset, which is of far superior quality…..).
On the day we went to collect the bike and expressed our astonishment at the 11-speed groupset, he simply made it clear that he’d changed the groupset and that this was good enough, cutting short any further explanation!
With all these problems, we decided to contact the BASSO sales representative, who confirmed that they had covered the full cost of replacing the groupset and, during that conversation, told us that we were not the only ones experiencing this issue.
Indeed, according to him, there have been numerous complaints regarding after-sales service linked to the technical limitations of the manager at RC CYCLES.
As proof, when I asked him why the tyres had been fitted the wrong way round compared to the manufacturer’s recommendations, he replied that it was to drain water more effectively and thus prevent aquaplaning – on road bike wheels 🤣🤣🤣!!!!
Thanks to numerous emails with the hire company and the threat of referring this dispute to our solicitor, the manager finally agreed to fit a 12V groupset – a mechanical 105 which, once again, nothing to do with the Campagnolo but which at least allows us to stick with a 12V system.
No sooner had we got home than the bike’s brakes started squeaking at the slightest touch of the brakes. I emailed the manager to ask if he’d fitted the new groupset – and therefore the brakes – himself, and he confirmed that he had… We returned the bike and had the brake pads replaced (which could have been avoided by a simple test ride…) and, miraculously, the noise disappeared.
After all the problems we’d encountered and the numerous times the bike had been out of action, the two-year hire period finally came to an end. We handed the bike in for a condition check and to close our hire file. The buy-back price for the bike (30 per cent of €3,200) was supposed to be €960. To our great surprise, we received a buy-back quote for €1,200!!! (There’s a name for that!!!)
We asked this gentleman to please honour his commitments (we were really right to have repeatedly requested written confirmation regarding the 30 per cent) and, at the same time, to offer a goodwill gesture of €360 to compensate for all the problems we’d encountered, given that we’d always paid our rental fees on time.
- The periods of downtime, amounting to at least three months; the price difference resulting from the replacement unit, which was neither of the same quality nor the same price; the numerous trips back and forth at our own expense; and the wasted time.
In response to our attempt to reach an amicable settlement, this gentleman simply replied that this case had caused him nothing but problems (due to his own incompetence and certainly not our fault) and that the replacement of the group had been carried out at his own expense (which, again, is completely untrue, as the bicycle manufacturer covered the cost) and that, for these reasons, he is making us one final, very generous offer of €960 (the original price), on which he is still losing money, and that if we do not reply, he will put the bicycle back on sale in 7 days!
We will do everything in our power, with the help of our solicitor (and supporting evidence), to assert our rights and seek compensation for the numerous losses incurred.
Greedy, incompetent, utterly dishonest and a liar! Avoid at all costs…
