Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Ashima PCB: The saga continues..

You've got to hand it to the Indonesians...

Yeah. You heard me.
My 2011 Dahon Jetstream's brake lever is broken again!
A year ago, it was an Indonesian maid who busted it. Cost me nearly RM300 to get it fixed. 
The guys from Zero 2 Hero Coaching did a great job servicing the brakes.
I owe this to Herbert Lye for giving the Ashima PCB another lease of life.
Herbert, of course, was a controversial figure whom I had tried to help after he left his employment suddenly.
I think he is back in his hometown in East Malaysia.
So, fast-forward to my trip in Indonesia, the last day I was in Sumatera, I watched with a heavy heart as luggage handlers loaded my bike onto the ferry bound for Port Klang.
Now, they've stacked my bike on top of friend's one and that's where the trouble began.
We tried t separate the bikes that were stuck together and as a result, the Ashima PCB Brake Lever on my Dahon Jetstream broke.
My immediate reaction was: "FUCK!!!!"

The broken lever, actually, this was the first one..
Seeking help...

I contacted Darcy from Zero 2 Hero.
He said he no longer handles Ashima and would try and see if he had the parts.
Darcy got back to me and said he hasn't any.
He also gave me two emails from Ashima's Customer Service.
That didn't help because I had emailed one of them without any success.

Chinaman bikestore and motherfuckers!

So, I did a Google search.
I ended up on a web page belonging to bike shop in Cheras.
From this lead, I located the shops number and called.
A friendly voice on the other side told me to ring up the shop's main man.
And so I did.
The guy told me to email him details of the parts.
I did so and waited.
A week went by and no response.
So, I called the guy on his cellphone.
He said Ashima had no stock.
I asked how else he could help?
"I need to know how many brake lever service kit you need," he said.
"What is your minimum quantity order?," I asked.
"You a shop owner or user?," said the agitated guy.
I told him that if he can't help, just say so.
"I don't know what to tell you, Ashima would be suspicious if I order parts that I don't usually keep stock, I can't help you..," said the fucking Chinaman.
I wasted 20-minutes on the phone explaining to him, but this was a futile bid.
From his tone, the way he handled my issue, he wasn't going to even bother contacting me.
So, there you have it, fucking Chinaman doing business!

Never give up..

I went home, my mood was on the downhill spiral.
I have tried at least contacting the local sources. 
I tried Ashima, to no avail. Basically, their Customer Service SUCKS!
My last resort, is to order the parts from the UK. 
I've located at least a dozen on-line retailers that sells the PCB Lever Service Kit.
At the meantime, I mended the broken pieces together. 
It's holding, aesthetically, but the right lever wouldn't function.
The next thing is this: If I can get the parts into Malaysia, the challenge is to remove the broken lever assembly and fit in a new one. That, we'll have to wait and see.
Oh yeah, that running down the Chinaman part, I guess some scum-sucking bottom feeding lawyer would pick this up inform the guy and try to slam me with a lawsuit. Well, good luck to you!

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