An Instagram account from massive UK retailer Evans Cycles has been taken over by a group of employees who are unhappy with the direction the company has taken since it was taken over by Sports Direct.
The account, which used to belong to the retailer's Gatwick store, has been rebranded as 'Make Evans Great Again' and now posts pictures of green caps with the slogan modified from Trump's 2016 election campaign.
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The first post from the account, which was uploaded on December 30, said: "Even though our buying department is full of incompetent and inexperienced people, our stores across the country are filled with knowledge and have a huge passion for cycling. Low end brands like Viking Bikes and Schwinn Bikes cheapen our image as a company. We know there is a market for lower priced bikes more than anyone but when the bike continues to fail straight from the box it’s time to rethink our buying tactics (or buyers)." The account is anonymous but it was signed off by an "Area Manager".
Evans Cycles, which was founded in 1921 in Kennington, London, has been through a turbulent few years after it put itself up for sale in September 2018. It was bought in October of that year by controversial businessman Mike Ashley. He saved the company from administration but Ashley claimed that up to half of the 62 Evans stores could close and hundreds of staff jobs were put at risk. To date, only 11 have closed however it seems that there are other problems for the owner of the hijacked Instagram account.
In other posts, they complain about the company's communication, structure, targets, spending and that the upper management are, "old men who know nothing and will destroy the company and move onto the next." It seems that they are still in control of the account and are posting stories that are claimed to be from other upset employees from Evans.
Road.cc interviewed the people behind the account and they claimed that the problems started before the Sports Direct takeover and that the account is a protest so that their voices will be heard.
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Evans say they believe an employee is acting alone and their legal team is now trying to regain control of the account. They also confirmed they have an internal process for employee complaints.
A spokesperson said: "We are aware of the Instagram account in question as it was a store account that was accessed without permission and re-purposed by a former employee, who we believe is acting alone in this campaign.
“It's now with our legal team and Instagram as we aim to restore the account to its intended purpose. We have internal processes for colleagues to raise their concerns with us directly.”
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59 Comments
There's always an element of truth to these things. I don't agree with the way makeevansgreatagain are now going, it's getting personal and spiteful, but for the most part they are not wrong.
Ordered a 2007 Cannondale Chase in the end of season sale, £1100 down to £750. Got a phone call to tell me they had sold out in my size so they sent me a 2008 that was about to be reduced from £1200 to £850 for my £750
That's how to do customer service
Believe me, mtb rrp/mark ups are ridiculous
I'm not pretending to be an expert on the bike industry (& it wa a long time ago that I worked in it) but, true story. We had the cannondale rep come into our BMX,/skate shop an try to get us to open an account. We said that we had no interest in mtb also that there was a shop in town that allready sold cannondale (a shop that he had just come from!) His reply was " well, dont you want to make money".... go figure
www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/thwaites-brewery-sign-lights-changed-3059037
The same idiot goes blindly into a Halfords they get sold a subway two sizes too small that lasts a year before it costs more to fix everything than the bike is worth, if they are lucky. Or their kid gets a bike that weighs the same as a car and/or is two sizes too big.
It'll be a shame if the stock changes so Evans staff can't feel confident in what they are selling. In the past, I'd point people to Evans for 'everyday' bikes. We have spesh and trek dealers locally too, where the elite can go and drop several k if they wish.
have to add for fairness I have no experience of the service to the roady community
Right I'm going to name and shame here, my local store in Reading is typical of this. I Go in, browse, see if there's a bike that in interested in (latest Norco Sight for example), see if the guy on the shop floor might come over and say "hey can I help"........ but no I'm clearly not making the right engagement signs for someone to engage with me. Their staff also seem to have little knowledge of the products they stock at their Gatwick warehouse and just end up checking their own customer website for the info.
Stores like this need a shake-up, they need to listen to their customers, the ones who are passionate about cycling not about looking great in the latest gear but about actually getting out their and riding their bikes.
The shop I used to love was Mud Dock in Bristol, used to love the way this was a bike shop/cafe/live music venue and the staff really cared.
Feel sorry for the guys/gals that work there but I'm one (used to be regular) customer that's never going to buy there. Cheapening the brand shows how little the upper management know.
Get your Optics ordered before the close then!!!
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