Dotbike...1. rip you off 2. laugh at you 3. insult you...

Dotbike Delirious

I have had the recent misfortune to do business with dotbike.com. Never again. I only ordered a U lock for £10.05, not a lot but for £10 I did expect it to work. No such luck. When I received it through the mail I could not get the keys supplied to open the lock despite spending some 10 to 20 minutes to do so. Naturally I phoned them up and told them what had happened. I got through to Neil Warner, the Director, who seems to handle all incoming calls. His response when informed of my problem was to burst into peals of laughter. After he had composed himself he advised me to send it back first class which I duly did which cost me about £3. I returned it with all the wrapping, warranty etc. Today I received it back, sans warranty and all wrapping, just the lock plus the three keys. It was evident from the smell and feel of it that it had been treated with some oil. Their email advising of the re-dispatch read as follows...
"Ran all the keys through the lock they all open it. One is slightly stiffer to insert than the others but they all work."

It is true they do now all work but the lock was obviously treated with some oil. I phoned Neil Warner to let him know again that the keys did not work the first time. He then 'admitted' that it took him five minutes to get the keys to work. Five minutes? You can buy a lock from B&Q for a couple of pounds and it will work straight away. You will be able to open and close the lock withing five seconds not five minutes. I suspect Neil Warner was being economical with the truth and it took him much longer than five minutes to oil the lock and to get it working, that is if the original keys were used. I suspect another set of keys was found which did the trick and the oil was just belt and braces. Who knows? Only Neil Warner and he does not seem inclined to divulge the truth of the matter.

Its not the £3 postage that bugs me, though it would be nice to have that back, it is the time and trouble taken in returning it and the time taken off work to go to the post office. When I insisted that the original keys did not work Neil Warner then informed me that this was an incredibly 'cheap and cheerful' lock and basically only an idiot would secure his bike with it.

So that is Dotbike.com. Clearly I was dotty to do business with them.

:x

method

Laughing at you and not returning your warranty is a bit rubbish, but apart from that, the lock not working isn't necessarily their fault. They fixed it for you and returned it back to you free of charge. Its pretty common for internet retailers to get you to post stuff back, Wiggle do it.

avalon

method wrote:

Laughing at you and not returning your warranty is a bit rubbish, but apart from that, the lock not working isn't necessarily their fault. They fixed it for you and returned it back to you free of charge. Its pretty common for internet retailers to get you to post stuff back, Wiggle do it.

Perhaps he has a sense of humour.

I can't believe you signed on just to post this DD.
Get a life. :roll:

cougie

Yeah - I'd say get over it.

And as to your theory that he got a different set of keys to open the lock - er, wouldnt that take a hell of a lot longer to do ?

How many permutations of keys would there be ?

avalon

cougie wrote:

Yeah - I'd say get over it.

And as to your theory that he got a different set of keys to open the lock - er, wouldnt that take a hell of a lot longer to do ?

How many permutations of keys would there be ?

Er ,about two or three at that price.

proto

Others beg to differ ..........

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showt ... ht=dotbike

PS any idea why this is in 'Race' ?

Dotbike Delirious

]

Ask yourself this very simple question.

Would you buy something if you knew it would not work?

Dotbike Delirious

proto wrote:

Others beg to differ ..........

http://www.cyclechat.co.uk/forums/showt ... ht=dotbike

PS any idea why this is in 'Race' ?

Sorry wrong place.

Dotbike Delirious

cougie wrote:

Yeah - I'd say get over it.

And as to your theory that he got a different set of keys to open the lock - er, wouldnt that take a hell of a lot longer to do ?

How many permutations of keys would there be ?

What if the keys had been placed with another lock by mistake?

Why should we just 'get over it'. Why should Internet Pirates or whatever you like to call them just be given carte blanche to rip people off?

redddraggon

Dot bike seemed to be fine when I used them.

ricadus

DD, I would give the benefit of doubt first time. At least he/they attempted a repair. Like someone said, it could be someone else's error, such as the company that actually makes the lock and put it and its keys in the packaging. Really though, they shouldn't lube a lock mechanism with oil. Graphite lube is the way; oil will eventually dry and seize up the mechanism again.

As for the lock itself, I doubt any lock that cheap would be worth buying, unfortunately. The only "security" a bargain lock gives you is the false peace of mind it generates, IMO.

Anyway that one's out of stock now.

aarw

this sounds like an opportune moment to poke a stick at Dave Hinde/No.1bikebits.....

Monowai

I've been using dotbike on and off pretty much since they started trading. Never had any problems - v.quick delivery and pleasant enought to deal with.

davesvord

method wrote:

Laughing at you and not returning your warranty is a bit rubbish, but apart from that, the lock not working isn't necessarily their fault. They fixed it for you and returned it back to you free of charge. Its pretty common for internet retailers to get you to post stuff back, Wiggle do it.

But Wiggle will refund postage if it is a faulty product, or at least they did with me.

DavidBelcher

Monowai wrote:

I've been using dotbike on and off pretty much since they started trading. Never had any problems - v.quick delivery and pleasant enought to deal with.

Seconded - bought a USE Alien seatpin from them a couple of weeks ago; cheaper than the competition and arrived quicker than expected.

David