Skip to main content
English French German Italian Spanish

Shoddy parts and bad customer service

I get annoyed when I am sold shoddy parts....

Recently I bought a speedo drive cable from Venhill.  It was made-to-measure, 64 1/2" long.  It arrived the day after I ordered it, and the length was exactly what I asked for.  It fitted perfectly.

After 15 miles, it broke.  The speedo-end ferule fell off, because the sheath was 3/4" short - only the crimped part had sheath inside it, the rest of the ferule was empty.  Fracture of the drive cable was inevitable.

So I sent the cable back to Venhill, with a letter explaining the situation, and asking for a replacement cable.  That arrived at Venhill on Tuesday.  I rang them to confirm what was in the letter, and ask that it be done promptly as I was about to go on a trip on the bike.

Come Friday, still no cable - so I rang Venhill again to ask when I might receive my replacement cable. I was told "It can't be made today, and it's scheduled to be made on Tuesday next week".  After explaining, I was promised fabrication on Monday for a Tuesday delivery. 

It didn't arrive in Tuesday's post, so I rang - to be told that it would be made on Wednesday some time, for a Thursday or Friday delivery.  I politely explained again about the promised delivery, and that I was needing it urgently, to no avail

This is a classic example of shoddy manufacture, and a 'don't care about the customer' attitude which deserves to give companies a bad name.

After a look on line, I see that a speedo cable for an AMC twin or single is 65" long, just a little longer than I really want.  Should I need another cable for this bike, I will buy one of those.  But not if Venhill are the supplier.

I will avoid Venhill products in future, and want to leave a 'bad product, bad service' review somewhere anyone can read it.

Permalink

I had a new Venhill Commando rear brake cable fail, luckily it was in the garage and not on the road. The cable pulled through the nipple quite easily; it was clear to see that the void in the nipple had not been filled with solder, there had only been a covering on the end of the nipple.

I 'phoned and was asked to send it back for examination, which I did. A promised call to give me their conclusions never came, just a replacement cable in the post and a refund of my postage. What annoyed me the most, apart from the safety issue, was that there was no apology!

Trouble is, usually when buying cables, you don't know who made them. I bought from Venhill because I thought that I would get a good quality product as is usually the case from them. I bought cheap throttle and choke cables (not Venhill) from a well known bike part supplier for a Monobloc on my BSA B33. A few weeks later, after starting the bike I pulled back the choke lever and the cable went slack. The nipple had pulled off the carb. end but had got trapped by the slide springing down threfore saving the engine. The end of the cable was perfectly straight and clean cut, not splayed at all. 'Phoned JJ Cables who told me that many such cables were made with the nipples just crimped on, this was clearly what had happened to mine. Replaced both cables with new ones made by JJ. Took a bit longer to get as I sent the 'old' ones as patterns, but at least they were well made and at a reasonable price and I have confidence in the cables knowing who made them.

Permalink

... and have done ever since I started riding. As said, you can't actually see how well a cable has been made. Most cables for modern bikes have the nipples effectively cast onto the cable ends.

I've always found Venhill cable components to be fine but clearly they don't use them properly. And you're right to highlight this issue.

Permalink

Never had an issue with Venhill but I now use 

J J Cables

Manufacturer in England

Hillfields Farm, Warwick CV35 0BQ

Phone01926 651470

Ring up discuss my requirements, read out card number and they show up a few days later.

Made some very nice custom Commando rear brake cables for rearsets.

 


Norton Owners Club Website by White-Hot Design