Shortly after the purchase of bicycle I started having troubles with leaking rear tire valve. I was excited to have my own ride but the excitement only lasted a day. I went for a ride the following day and found the rear tire completely flat. Unable to ride, I took the bicycle back to the shop where it was purchased and insisted that they replace the leaking valve. Dealing with Cambodians, there was a lot of customer mistreatment when they would say something to each other in a language I clearly did not understand and had a good laugh at it while I was standing there puzzled. This type of behaviour is very common in Cambodia as is zero after-sale support.
I knew I stood a very little chance of having the issue with leaking valve resolved, but I was determined to get results. After a good while of obvious abuse when I was being ignored and had jokes made on my behalf, I made a firm requirement again that they fix the problem with rear tire valve. Eventually, after seeing that I meant business, one of the boys working in the shop inflated the tire with a hand pump. I knew this was not gonna resolve the problem as if tire held air, it wouldn’t have gone flat within one day in the first place.
Seeing that none of the shop people were willing to spend any more time with me, I left. Not surprisingly, the tire was solid flat within a day again. There was an obvious issue with the valve that could not be solved by re-inflating. I headed back to the shop and stayed very adamant demanding a solution to this and re-inflating was not it. They were not willing to take care of it as in Cambodia, after money is spent, the deal is closed and if you bought a piece of junk, it’s just tough luck.
I stood behind my rights and showed I was not going anywhere unless the valve is fixed so one of the boys eventually took the bike and started working on the leaking valve. New valve solved my problem and there were no more flat tires every day. It wasn’t easy, but standing up for myself and my rights as a customer even in a country like Cambodia where no one has any rights did eventually deliver results. It was tight, but it worked.
