On Customer Service

With last week's Winter Sale happening the phones around the office were ringing off the hook. The wedding of a certain Prince did nothing if not make matters worse for those of you hoping to get your gear soon. However, it is safe to say that Stateside we have the right man on the job. He goes by many names, but the one that you would know best is Tim Coghlan. Tim joined our forces a little over a year ago, but up until last Friday he was only part-time. Thankfully, we now we have him all to ourselves as Tim is the one to handle Customer Service for all of the United States and Canada.

A lifetime of training in various areas has helped Tim to perfect his personal views on customer service, but a few years on the floor at the local Portland Patagonia store probably didn't hurt anything. He can answer anything relating to any one of our products. In fact, I implore you, put him to the test, you can't stump this guy. But, this is far from the extent of his skills. Not only have I seen him get out his needle and thread to fix a jersey that needs repair but also massage the necessary ointments into the Grand Tour Gloves to start the softening process of the leather.

But do not think that he can hoe this road all on his own. There are a few things that cannot be done within the small confines of our office. Which is why we are lucky to have the help of Mountain Soles. located here in Southeast Portland. Mountain Soles has long been providing the outdoor industry with the best repair services in the business. This is where we send everything complex that needs to be done to damaged garments. Matt Menely can fix whatever needs to be fixed (unless he cannot). Bonding and stitching holes in bib short material? Not a problem. Same goes for patching and repairing the neoprene that is used to make up our fantastic Overshoes. Even the complex repairs that are required to make that jersey that you took a little tumble in last weekend can be assessed and usually fixed by Matt as he specializes in stitching and the sort of customized fabric repairs that are necessary in crash replacement. Matt needs no further qualifications than that, but in case you were wondering Mountain Soles also provides all the repairs for Patagonia's footwear line. So, when you wear through those Pau shoes, this is the place where Patagonia will send them to have their soles replaced.

Early last month Matt from Mountain Soles was kind enough to open his doors and allow a brief look into the tiny world that is Mountain Soles. He even took the time to explain everything from start to finish in the area of shoes. There are some examples of his cycling footwear work on his Flickr page. His collection of Italian shoe manufacturing machines are out of this world.

Side Note and a good thing to know about: While on the road with Tim Johnson and Co. we ran into a bit of rain on the East Coast. One never knows what the winter will bring in that part of the country. There was an issue with the Rain Jacket taking on a bit of water, but no worries Tim Coghlan was quick to fire back with a fix that has helped my spring riding to a great degree since.

Here is Tim Coghlan in his own Rain Jacket I have included this photo partly so that you will have a face to put to the name when you speak to him on the phone, and partly so that you should know that he rides his bike and he rides hard. If you have questions about clothing or repairs you may contact Tim here: usa@rapha.cc