Top Saddlery seat is here

I guess I'll first start with giving details and pics of the seat since this was requested from another thread I started.

I did not buy one of the pre-made seats because I wanted a lowered version. In the end the seat cost me 356 euros which converted into $511.96! I had used an online currency converter the day I ordered which said it would be $499 but it came out more when converted through paypal.

I ordered the seat on 6-12 and was instantly charged the $ and sent a confirmation e-mail from Top Saddlery. I was notified by e-mail on 6-23 that my order had been shipped. It arrived at my house via USPS (signature required) on 6-29. The seat was sealed up with paper and placed in a box with a small amount of foam bits. It appears that customs did open the box but did not bother to seal it back up properly.

Here are the details of my order:
Type 1 deluxe seat
YAMAHA FZ6 FAZER 600 [≥ 2004]
Model Year : 2007
Colours and materials
Front of seat : SEL003
Front strip : SEL106
Seats : SEL003
Strips : SEL005
Edging : SEL106
Stitching and embroiderery
3 cm stitching line : Silver
Inscription : yes (Text that forms part of the model)
Lettering style : Lettres en plein
Colour of thread : Silver
Text : FZ6
Designs on seats
Designs : no
Shape, Gel®, seat heater
Shape : lowered
Gel® : no
Seat heater : no
Base options
Choice : I buy a base

The seat looks as awesome as I expected!

My wife is going to hate you because I WANT ONE! That seat looks incredible. Let us know how it feels after you get a couple of hours in it.

Now as spectacular as the seat looks, it is not lowered as I expected. I also did not get the FZ6 text in the font I wanted. After receiving the seat I went back to their website and realized I did this part wrong. I selected the "Text that forms part of the model" and then deleted the Fazer 600 portion of it. I then went to the bottom and chose a font after looking them up through Word. It turns out that you need to choose the "personalized text" option, type in FZ6, and then pick your font (which will then actually provide a sample of what that font looks like). It's amazing that such a superior product requires ordering through such an inferior website!

I contacted Top Saddlery about my concerns and attached pics as proof. The heals of my feet were still about 3 1/2 inches from the ground no matter which seat I was sitting on!

This was my e-mail (sent on Monday) and their response (received on Wednesday):

I received the new seat today and am very impressed with the quality and
looks! However, I do have a couple of concerns. I did not get the "FZ6"
text in the font I thought I had chosen. But I think that I may have just
misunderstood how to properly specify that through the website order. My
biggest concern is that I chose the lowered option when ordering but do not
believe that I received an actual lowered seat. I specifically did not buy
one of the much cheaper pre-made seats so that I could choose this option. I have attached 4 pictures to show that by comparison there is no difference in the seat heights. Would you please let me know how you plan to resolve this problem?

Hello,
I confirm you that the FZ6 text you got is the one mentioned on your order ;
concerning the height of the seat, I have the report of the technician would
worked on the seat and it is well mentioned that the seat was lowered by about 2,5cm but especially in the area just before the backrest where normally the rider is. Should it not be sufficient, you can send us back (at your expense) the seat and we could reduce it by about 1cm more but the usual lowered version is the one you received. Thanks in advance for your understanding. Best regards, Top Sellerie

Well, obviously this response was not to my satisfaction so I sent more pics last night and this was their response I received this morning.

Thank you for getting back to me about my concerns. However, after taking
some more measurements I still do not find any difference from the stock
seat. I've attached two more pictures that actually show your seat is higher
in the back compared to the stock seat. I feel very mislead on this
purchase. It seems you are not willing to admit this error and fix it at
your own cost. I would like to keep this high quality seat but do feel I
deserve a partial refund. I paid 356 euros for the seat sent to me. Had I
known a lowered version does not actually exist then I would have ordered a
cheaper pre-made seat which would have only cost me 273 euros. Therefore, I am requesting a refund of 83 euros. Please do right by your US based customers by honorably resolving this matter as requested!

Hello,
It seems indeed that the seat is not lower than the original one; nevertheless the price for a seat with normal height would have been the same since your seat was already an "à la carte" version because of the three different materials used for the seat cover.
If you are ready to send us back the seat, we will modify it under warranty so that the height could be reduced as originally ordered. In that case, please send us in the parcel the photos for our technician since I will be out of the office between July 20th and August 7th. Thank you very much in advance for your confirmation.
Regards,
Aurélien
Export
Top Sellerie

Great job with detailing the before and after. I hope it works out & you get the seat you were looking for.

Very nice looking seat. And I love the color on your bike!

If you've read all of this so far then thanks! I know it's been long but I just want to make sure others are aware in hopes they avoid the same problems. I have yet to try the seat out since I don't know how this will all end. But it obviously looks like a well crafted and comfy product. However, it seems their customer service is pretty crappy and they just keep making incorrect excuses. I'm afraid I may end up opening a dispute through paypal. This was my most recent message sent to them this morning. I will keep you all updated on how this plays out and hopefully I will get it road tested soon!

Thank you for being willing to resolve this matter. However, I am not willing to ship the seat back at my own cost due to your error. Are you willing to reimburse me for the total shipping cost? Also, if I send the seat back will it in fact be lowered appropriately by 2.5 cm? I don't know how you manage to say the seat would have still cost me the same. I know how much I payed and I also went through the process to calculate the cost of buying a pre-made seat. There are no charges through the website for ordering three different materials on the seat. If there had been then I wouldn't have done so. So, if you are not willing to reimburse me for shipping costs then I do still expect a refund of the 83 euros.

wow. i'm so sorry this has happened to you. i can tell that your seat is different than mine. but it should be considerably lower. crazy. the two order stories that have been bad have been from people who ordered something "special" with their seat. you'd think they would get those things right.


maybe another option could be for you to find someone in your area that can do seats who could take an inch out for you. work it out that TS would pay them for their work. i'm sure it would save TS money when you think of shipping back and forth to france.

i really hope this gets worked out for you. i love mine. it's very comfy. and the standard is just as tall as the stock fz6 seat. so they definitely forgot to take some foam out for you.

I too hope you can get Top Saddlery to make this right by you, but just in case they don't.....
you can take an inch or so off it yourself! There have been posts on "how to shave the seat". I did it to mine....just wanted that extra bit of foot down, you know!?

Its a shame that such a good product is backed by such poor customer service.


Now a little off topic...That green color for the bike is sick :rockon::rockon::rockon:if I was riding the slower red fizzer:Flip::justkidding: it would make me jealous but since I have the faster Blue one its all good

Wow! As Dean stated, it appears that customized orders are a problem there. They sure can do standard seats well but having to customize is not their specialty!

I'm sorry they did not give you what you asked for and I hope there is some type of resolution. You can always file a complaint with PayPal and if you cen get your money back, send them the seat... postage due!

Well here is the latest message from Top Saddlery that I received yesterday morning. Now they are back to a lame excuse of why the seat is truly lowered as requested. And they still don't seem to understand my reasoning for requesting a refund (my cost minus the cost of a pre-made). But, they are at least offering a fairly reasonable compromise. It's not exactly what I wanted but I am going to take them up on the offer.

If anyone would like to buy the tank cover from me, I'd like to sell it for $120 (83 euros) plus shipping cost. Just PM me by sunday with what color you want and that's what I will request they send me. I saw these selling for $207 total on ebay so I will just sell it on there if no one here wants it.

Hello,
I have explained the case to the technician who had worked on your seat and in fact the height is almost the same but the foam used is much softer than the original, and thus if you sit on it, you will lower the seat by about 2,5cm. I confirm you that a normal version with the colours you had chosen would have costed you the same price since a three-coloured seat is already an "à la carte" version, I have made the same as you and you can see that the price is the same (€ 281 + transport costs).

Nevertheless, we can offer you, if you are interested, a tank cover for your
FZ6, which normally costs € 99 ; in that case, please chose the colour and
reference you want and confirm us :
TS Tank Cover Link

Thanks in advance for your understanding.
Best regards,
Aurélien
Export
Top Sellerie

08-FZ6 said:

My wife is going to hate you because I WANT ONE! That seat looks incredible. Let us know how it feels after you get a couple of hours in it.

Click to expand...

I finally went out and got some seat time on it yesterday! I rode on it for 60 miles and I felt great when we stopped. It's a bit different feeling that back support but made me feel like I have my own little pilot area. I switched my seat with dturpen's stock seat for the ride home. I was starting to feel a bit sore but so was he and the wife. They said it took longer to feel discomfort and maybe they were still a bit sore from the ride down on the stock seat. So, mixed results I guess.

dean owens said:

wow. i'm so sorry this has happened to you. i can tell that your seat is different than mine. but it should be considerably lower. crazy. the two order stories that have been bad have been from people who ordered something "special" with their seat. you'd think they would get those things right.

maybe another option could be for you to find someone in your area that can do seats who could take an inch out for you. work it out that TS would pay them for their work. i'm sure it would save TS money when you think of shipping back and forth to france.

i really hope this gets worked out for you. i love mine. it's very comfy. and the standard is just as tall as the stock fz6 seat. so they definitely forgot to take some foam out for you.

Click to expand...

People should definitely stick to ordering the pre-mades!

I have thought about taking it to a local person but I'm worried about the fact that the material is probably glued down to the seat. Plus, I'm worried about losing comfort just to have it lowered. I somehow trusted TS to give me both lowered and comfort.

Now I'm thinking about just going ahead and ordering the Metisse lowering kit and/or the HyperPro lowering spring. Although the more I ride the bike the more confident I get. Sometimes, I think I just need more practice with moving it around but I worry something is going to happen in the mean time!

moopie said:

Now I'm thinking about just going ahead and ordering the Metisse lowering kit and/or the HyperPro lowering spring. Although the more I ride the bike the more confident I get. Sometimes, I think I just need more practice with moving it around but I worry something is going to happen in the mean time!

Click to expand...

Moopie, how tall are you and what is your inseam? How much of your feet touch the ground? You may have posted this in another tread but I couldn't find it.

tasop7 said:

Moopie, how tall are you and what is your inseam? How much of your feet touch the ground? You may have posted this in another tread but I couldn't find it.

Click to expand...

I am 5'4 and I guess my inseam is around 30" (not too sure the absolute correct way of measuring that). There are pics up above that show my reach to the ground when on the bike. I had hubby measure and he said my heel was about 3 1/2 inches from being able to flat foot the bike.

moopie said:

I am 5'4 and I guess my inseam is around 30" (not too sure the absolute correct way of measuring that). There are pics up above that show my reach to the ground when on the bike. I had hubby measure and he said my heel was about 3 1/2 inches from being able to flat foot the bike.

Click to expand...

Well you're the same height and inseam as my wife. She wasn't 100% comfortable riding the FZ6 at first, but now she has no problem. She thought it was too tall when she first sat on it, but she just had a pair of her jogging shoes on. She sat on it again with riding boots that have much thicker soles/heels, and she felt much more comfortable. I actually went to a Yamaha shop and was close to buying a lowering link for the bike but I decided to wait. I then looked at getting a lower seat or cutting some padding out of the stock seat... waited on that too. Nothing has changed on the bike, and after a month or so, my wife rides it all the time and feels very confident. The biggest key is to at least have the balls of your feet touching the ground. I'm not even completely flat footed and I know many others that aren't either.

Yes it may be nicer if the seat was a little lower for you, but if this all doesn't work out in your favor, I really think you'll be able to handle the bike at your height with no problems. Do you have riding boots with thicker soles to give you a little extra height? I found that was the number 1 way (and easiest way) to give my wife that little extra height she needed.

Sorry to hear about your problems with the TS seat. I ordered a pre-made one and so far like it quite well, although I have not taken a long enough ride yet to fully judge its long-range comfort.
Did you move all of the rubber bumpers from your stock seat to the new seat? (That won't change the confort or height, I'm just curious.)

SirIsaac said:

Sorry to hear about your problems with the TS seat. I ordered a pre-made one and so far like it quite well, although I have not taken a long enough ride yet to fully judge its long-range comfort.
Did you move all of the rubber bumpers from your stock seat to the new seat? (That won't change the confort or height, I'm just curious.)

Click to expand...

I changed over all of the round ones. The two rectangle shaped ones started to tear when trying to get them off the stock seat so I left them. Not sure if it was necessary, but better safe than sorry!

sweet seat dude