Hi All,

Yeah, I'm still alive... Believe it or not the reason i've been laying low is out of embarrassment, as i know i've let so many folks down who wanted racks. For that i'm truly sorry.

I ordered a batch of 20 racks in January from the the same engineering company as has always made them for me. I even asked for a small number of them to be anodised blue, as I noticed it's very close to the blue Tenere. I was told 6-8 weeks, as usual. 8 weeks came and went, nothing. Eventually after much pestering by me I finally received a delivery at the end of April. I eagerly opened the box only to be devastated to find that they were all faulted, every last damn one.

The faults are all superficial - the racks are still perfectly good for carrying stuff, but the quality just isn�t there. I returned them all to the manufacturer, and the owner agreed that they'd made a massive foul-up. I pressed the point that this order was already overdue, and I needed the replacement racks as soon as humanly possible. I was told that the workbook for the following week was a little empty so it would be no problem to get them done quickly, two weeks was the promise. A discounted price was negotiated for the faulted ones and the phone call ended with an assurance from the owner that he understood my frustration and urgency. I chose to keep quiet about the racks i had, as I didnt want to offer people second quality goods after thay had waited so long, and anyway - i would have the proper ones very soon(?).

Despite a number of prods two weeks turned into an unfathomable three months, and ultimately it took six months to fulfil an order which was promised to me in 6-8 weeks. With no explanation or apology from my supplier I feel I have been left high and dry, not to mention furious and embarrassed. I am still trying to figure out how the same supplier who has been utterly professional and reliable in the past, not just for me but for my previous employer, has let me down so completely. If I had other supplier options I would have used them before now, but I don�t.

I originally started doing these racks for a few reasons. I wanted a luggage rack and when I looked around I wasn't really taken with what was available. Availabilty of stock was another reason - I'd heard of a few people who wanted luggage racks but those that were in catalogues were not in stock at suppliers. As an added bonus i'd make a few pennies from it, whilst helping my fellow Tenere owners by keeping the price below that of others. In short, I knew that I could produce a quality item at a good price, which could be produced in a short time.

All that now seems to be completely out the window - if I can�t get stock in a reasonable timeframe there really isn�t any point. Letting people down is not what I wanted to do. So I�ve decided that once the ones I have are sold, there won�t be any more.

I have quite a few to move-

Faulted ones,
8 silver
8 black
4 blue

Faults are cosmetic - nicks, tramlines, uneven bead blasting - perfect if you just want something functional.
These will be sold for �25 each.

Proper ones,
10 silver
9 black
3 blue

These will be the usual �43 each.

Blue is very nice! I'll post some example pics of all the colours and of the faulted ones as soon as I can take them.

Once again can i say I'm sorry to the folks i've let down - i wont say its not my fault because it is, but I was let down too. Anyone who was waiting for a rack should have a PM from me soon.

let the flaming commence.
Pete Crossman.