“My elderly, widowed, neighbor had purchased a Radio Flyer “Retro Red” tricycle some time back which her grand children used when they visited her. The front tire and axle had been attached to the front forks with special plastic retainers. Although the tricycle looks like new, one of the plastic retainers failed and broke. The second retainer could not take the added stress and cracked badly, leaving the tricycle unable to be ridden.”

At her request I looked to see if I could fix the tricycle for her. Sadly, I was forced to admit my usual standbys of duct tape and “Gorilla Glue” were just not going to cut it. I searched several local bike shops for parts with no luck, and also found out she had an older tricycle which had been replaced by a newer model. I turned to the Radio Flyer website and while I could not find a manual with part numbers, I did find an area to email Radio Flyer for replacement of defective parts.

Having nothing to lose, I fired off an email explaining the situation and tried to describe the parts as best as I could, asking for them to be replaced of to be directed to a source where I could find the parts. I should also add, I have no idea how long ago she bought the darned thing nor did I know what store it was purchased from…both questions in the parts request form. After a week with no response I thought I was out of luck. A couple of days later the parts came in the mail.

Not only did they replace the parts at no cost, they sent upgraded parts which had been manufactured out of metal instead of the plastic like the older parts. In addition, someone in customer service was sharp enough to recognize what I had not. In order to replace the retainers I was going to have to destroy or damage the foot pedals which had been designed to prevent them from coming off. Radio Flyer’s staff recognized this and included the pedals as well as the retainers and in 15 minutes the tricycle was as good as new and now her youngest grand child is enjoying her beautiful tricycle.

Bravo Radio Flyer! If only other companies would follow your lead.

Thomas G.
Boise, Idaho

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