Fort Nine Vs Royal Distributors | GTAMotorcycle.com

Fort Nine Vs Royal Distributors

cycling

cycling

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Bought 2 Cardo units.

One from Cardo Spirit From Cardo. USA
One from Royal Distributors. Guelph.Freecom X2.

Using now Cardo Freecom X4. Wanted one for a spare, just in case.
Thought that the Cardo Spirit Had Voice activation. Spoke to Cardo. USA. They sent me the microphone in 2 separate incidents.

Neither worked.
Gave it a chance and called Fort Nine. Regular customer.

Absolutely, best service in the World. Explained what my problem is. The microphone did not work.
Mentioned that I bought it from Cardo USA.

Not a problem. They said as they the deal with Cardo USA. For me to return the unit. The modular unit. They exchanged for another new unit..
Did not work. Called Fort Nine and they said not problem and they will deal with Cardo USA. Sent me an RMA. They will also give me my money back.

Top class excellent Customer service, Excellent Customer service. Yes, I said it twice. Needs repeating.

Saw a special deal with Royal Distributors for a Cardo Freecom X2. Thinking that as it was on special at less that $20 less than Fort Nine. {Sorry, Fort Nine}
BIG mistake. The Freecom X2 was not working with a voice activaction.

Royal Distributors Customers service was the worst in the world. Blatantly rude, rude, rude, rude.
Was told that they will not deal with me as it is warranted by Cardo USA only. Told me more or less, Tough s**t. My problem, in no uncertain way would they even help me. Asked to speak to the Manager. Nope, he is busy. Called again and asked to speak to the Manager. Still have not heard from anybody. This is 1 week later.

Long story short{Too late} I will only ever buy from Fort Nine. Even with a higher price. Great FANTASTIC customer service.
Just had an e mail from Cardo USA. Both units do not work with voice activation. Send it back Cardo. They apologized that nobody informed me of this. Duh.
 
cycling said:
Bought 2 Cardo units.

One from Cardo Spirit From Cardo. USA
One from Royal Distributors. Guelph.Freecom X2.

Using now Cardo Freecom X4. Wanted one for a spare, just in case.
Thought that the Cardo Spirit Had Voice activation. Spoke to Cardo. USA. They sent me the microphone in 2 separate incidents.

Neither worked.
Gave it a chance and called Fort Nine. Regular customer.

Absolutely, best service in the World. Explained what my problem is. The microphone did not work.
Mentioned that I bought it from Cardo USA.

Not a problem. They said as they the deal with Cardo USA. For me to return the unit. The modular unit. They exchanged for another new unit..
Did not work. Called Fort Nine and they said not problem and they will deal with Cardo USA. Sent me an RMA. They will also give me my money back.

Top class excellent Customer service, Excellent Customer service. Yes, I said it twice. Needs repeating.

Saw a special deal with Royal Distributors for a Cardo Freecom X2. Thinking that as it was on special at less that $20 less than Fort Nine. {Sorry, Fort Nine}
BIG mistake. The Freecom X2 was not working with a voice activaction.

Royal Distributors Customers service was the worst in the world. Blatantly rude, rude, rude, rude.
Was told that they will not deal with me as it is warranted by Cardo USA only. Told me more or less, Tough s**t. My problem, in no uncertain way would they even help me. Asked to speak to the Manager. Nope, he is busy. Called again and asked to speak to the Manager. Still have not heard from anybody. This is 1 week later.

Long story short{Too late} I will only ever buy from Fort Nine. Even with a higher price. Great FANTASTIC customer service.
Just had an e mail from Cardo USA. Both units do not work with voice activation. Send it back Cardo. They apologized that nobody informed me of this. Duh.
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You can expect to get what you pay for.
 
That's very surprising that Fort Nine supported you on a device that you didn't even purchase from them. That's about as good as you can get in terms of customer service. But if you are a regular customer, they probably extended you the courtesy.

Royal Distributing is (very loosely) like the Walmart of motorcycle accessory retailers, with a wide range of budget items but then a few higher end items. Don't expect any customer service beyond returning an item within the return window. If you need advice, you're in the wrong store - go next door to GP Bikes, or online to Fort Nine as you discovered.

That said, as you now realize, neither the Spirit nor the Freecom X2 have voice command - the Freecom X4 is the lowest model with voice. I'm just as surprised with Cardo support that they sent you two microphones to "fix" the Spirit instead of telling you the feature isn't supported in the first place. Likewise with Fort Nine not knowing there was nothing wrong to begin with and getting you a brand new unit, then Cardo again for sending it to fix a non-existing problem. As for the X2, if you purchased it from Royal because they told you the item had voice, then they should have taken it back because it was their error. Then again, they have a pretty open return policy, so you should be able to regardless of the reason.
 
Relax said:
That's very surprising that Fort Nine supported you on a device that you didn't even purchase from them. That's about as good as you can get in terms of customer service. But if you are a regular customer, they probably extended you the courtesy.

Royal Distributing is (very loosely) like the Walmart of motorcycle accessory retailers, with a wide range of budget items but then a few higher end items. Don't expect any customer service beyond returning an item within the return window. If you need advice, you're in the wrong store - go next door to GP Bikes, or online to Fort Nine as you discovered.

That said, as you now realize, neither the Spirit nor the Freecom X2 have voice command - the Freecom X4 is the lowest model with voice. I'm just as surprised with Cardo support that they sent you two microphones to "fix" the Spirit instead of telling you the feature isn't supported in the first place. Likewise with Fort Nine not knowing there was nothing wrong to begin with and getting you a brand new unit, then Cardo again for sending it to fix a non-existing problem. As for the X2, if you purchased it from Royal because they told you the item had voice, then they should have taken it back because it was their error. Then again, they have a pretty open return policy, so you should be able to regardless of the reason.
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Yes. Thank you for that. Royal Distributing, as the equivalent of Walmart. Good one. {Guelph}
I was truly surprised at the way they treated me. For the fact as to how I was treated as a member of the public. My impression is that I would think that customer service is supposed to top notch. Not theirs.
If I am going to GP Bikes, I never waste my time going to Royal Distributors.

Obviously, very impressed with Fort Nine. Fast, efficient and friendly. A true pleasure. For me I am always impressed when they pick up and the voice is always friendly.
Truly appreciate your input. Very nice. Thank you.:p
 
I bought my Ballistic 8-cell LiFePO4 battery in 2015 from some unknown (to me, at least) company called "Canada's Motorcycle". It was way cheaper than anywhere else, and on top of that the company was in Quebec with no cross border shipping delays, brokerage fees, and free shipping. It's still working fine to this day, but I don't really attribute it to that company, much less the fact that it looked like it was used when I opened it, but hey, it was cheap and it was going to get dirty anyways. The next year they sent me an email telling me they're changing their name to something weird that made no sense at all - "Fort Nine". I was thinking what a stupid name, and dumb move to not mention motorcycle or powersports in their name, but they also started their Youtube channel with Ryan, and then blew up! Congrats to them.
 
Relax said:
I bought my Ballistic 8-cell LiFePO4 battery in 2015 from some unknown (to me, at least) company called "Canada's Motorcycle". It was way cheaper than anywhere else, and on top of that the company was in Quebec with no cross border shipping delays, brokerage fees, and free shipping. It's still working fine to this day, but I don't really attribute it to that company, much less the fact that it looked like it was used when I opened it, but hey, it was cheap and it was going to get dirty anyways. The next year they sent me an email telling me they're changing their name to something weird that made no sense at all - "Fort Nine". I was thinking what a stupid name, and dumb move to not mention motorcycle or powersports in their name, but they also started their Youtube channel with Ryan, and then blew up! Congrats to them.
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Thank you for that. interesting.
My thoughts as you said. "Fort Nine" I too said what a dumb name. Watched many of Ryan's video's.
Yes, they seem to be doing very well. They deserve it too.
It is not about the name, give us great service, great prices great attitude. Winner, Winner chicken dinner.
Customer service is #1.The Ladies that answer the phone, amazing.
Going back a few years ago, go to a certain store and the store said more or less. "What do you want?"
That is why I made the comparison between Royal Distributors vs Fort Nine.
P.S. How did they manage to use the name "Royal"
 
Another company in Quebec that slips my mind is also great to deal with.

Last time i dealt with fort nine was for a set of tires that they said was in stock. I ordered them and I got an email a couple days later saying they could not ship as they was not available at the price i paid.

Ended up buying from the other company for even less than what fort nine was originally asking for them

Edit: Revco is the name of the other place
 
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Klaatu said:
Royal just bought Revco.ca to strengthen their online presence. Maybe it will get better. All scrambling for a bigger piece of the pie. lol
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They will never ever beat Fort Nine for customer service.
That's where the money is.
 
F9 is great, I've always had a good experience with them.

Royal. I probably will not set foot back into their shop again.

I know that requires some explaining. I can be a pissy consumer at times. I was going to purchase something at RD, and at check out I was told I have to be a member or something. I just said nope left the item and took off. For me when you have 2 great options like F9 and GP bikes, and don't recieve the same kind of experience elsewhere, why bother. Also I didn't find there selection of items all that great, probably why I never really go there as well.
 
sburns said:
F9 is great, I've always had a good experience with them.

Royal. I probably will not set foot back into their shop again.

I know that requires some explaining. I can be a pissy consumer at times. I was going to purchase something at RD, and at check out I was told I have to be a member or something. I just said nope left the item and took off. For me when you have 2 great options like F9 and GP bikes, and don't recieve the same kind of experience elsewhere, why bother. Also I didn't find there selection of items all that great, probably why I never really go there as well.
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Nothing wrong with being a pissy customer. I am always thinking that a customer should be treated like gold. You are giving them your money. Customer service gives us the choice as to whether we will return. If they disrespect us then they can then go kick rocks.
It is not difficult for the companies to determine if you are treated bad, disrespectful, scam us.
For example, I have shopped RD many times in person. never, never ever again. Unless, I want my eyes poked out with a hot poker.
 
sburns said:
I was going to purchase something at RD, and at check out I was told I have to be a member or something. I just said nope left the item and took off. For me when you have 2 great options like F9 and GP bikes, and don't recieve the same kind of experience elsewhere, why bother. Also I didn't find there selection of items all that great, probably why I never really go there as well.
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That's odd, no membership required to purchase from them. There must be some misunderstanding - it's not Costco.

I won't make a dedicated trip there for anything, but if I'm already down the street at GP Bikes, I'll drop in to stock up on Maxima MTL80 for my SXV and look around for anything decent on clearance. Maybe Winners is a better analogy than Walmart.
 
cycling said:
Nothing wrong with being a pissy customer. I am always thinking that a customer should be treated like gold. You are giving them your money. Customer service gives us the choice as to whether we will return. If they disrespect us then they can then go kick rocks.
It is not difficult for the companies to determine if you are treated bad, disrespectful, scam us.
For example, I have shopped RD many times in person. never, never ever again. Unless, I want my eyes poked out with a hot poker.
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Like any other person, you should treat customers, like you would want to be treated, With respect, understanding and courtesy. It is a road that works both ways. I have never had a bad experience with either RD or F9 I keep my expectations in check and stay focused and positive and I've always had that in return..
 
Relax said:
That's odd, no membership required to purchase from them. There must be some misunderstanding - it's not Costco.

I won't make a dedicated trip there for anything, but if I'm already down the street at GP Bikes, I'll drop in to stock up on Maxima MTL80 for my SXV and look around for anything decent on clearance. Maybe Winners is a better analogy than Walmart.
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I might be remembering wrong about the membership. But there was some info I had to give them, or something, like a postal code, email, phone#, I knew they wanted something and I was like I don't want to give them this info and just make the purchase and get the F-out, but they would not accept no without it (it's some data collection scheme), so I walked out.
 
Jampy00 said:
Like any other person, you should treat customers, like you would want to be treated, With respect, understanding and courtesy. It is a road that works both ways. I have never had a bad experience with either RD or F9 I keep my expectations in check and stay focused and positive and I've always had that in return..
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Could not agree with you more. However, as long as I get good service, not a problem. Until the time comes when I have a problem with an item the good service goes right out of the window. I then know they are not interested , they do not want to continue being polite. They want to get their point across. Regardless, to good service and bad manners, they no longer care.
 
sburns said:
I might be remembering wrong about the membership. But there was some info I had to give them, or something, like a postal code, email, phone#, I knew they wanted something and I was like I don't want to give them this info and just make the purchase and get the F-out, but they would not accept no without it (it's some data collection scheme), so I walked out.
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Giving out your information is a big no, no. I too will walk out and have done so. Kudos to you for standing up for your rights.
 
cycling said:
Giving out your information is a big no, no. I too will walk out and have done so. Kudos to you for standing up for your rights.
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Typically it is for marketing, But I also don't agree with it. If I had a dollar for every Uline catalogue I have received since my first purchase I wouldn't have to work anymore. I am not sure I'd go as far as standing up for your rights as no one forced you into the store and it is their property and their policy to ask, but I will say if you want to fight, fight with your wallet. At the end of the day it is always about the bottom line...
 
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