Out of Stock Britain.

JimmyK

there are two 3 word phrases i just hate :-

1) not tonight dear

2) out of stock


Id been onto the clampets in a local bike shop asking

have you got ANOTHER shimano rs20 spoke.......no sorry, its out of stock

im thinking of buying this cateye front and rear light set...........sorry its out of stock

i need a new cycling jersey , this one in the brochure looks nice......its out of stock

and then call to specialist guitar dealer

that electroharmonix small stone looks just the ticket.......sorry its out of stock just now

i see the boss dd3 delay is reduced in price , ill take one.......its out of stock too

i need a set of d`addario 11 gauge guitar strings .......sorry, we are out of stock

I MEAN IS ANYTHING BL00DY WELL IN STOCK THESE DAYS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you ever seething inside when everything just seems to be "out of stock " ?

Jimmy

Barrie_G

It's the same with some of the larger online bike retailers, I'm planning on building a bike up over the winter and the number of drive train parts and STI's etc that are out of stock with most of them is ridiculous

JimmyK

Barrie_G wrote:

It's the same with some of the larger online bike retailers, I'm planning on building a bike up over the winter and the number of drive train parts and STI's etc that are out of stock with most of them is ridiculous

how do they expect to do business if they have sod all in the shop , thats what gets right up my shirt

Jimmy

Floodcp

I'm finding this with bike parts as well. You find a cheap part only add it to your basket only to find it is Out of Stock!!

Then the hunt for an alternative starts all over again.

Hornetto

Flood - I hate it when that sort of thing happens. I bought some cycle shorts and a jersey from an unnamed online retailer (wanted the jersey only really but thought I might as well get some shorts at the same time and save on postage). Waited 10 days for it to arrive despite the website saying 2-4 days delivery (no e-mail contact in between) and then when it arrived only the shorts were in the package and the invoice just had a hand-drawn line through the jersey order saying "Sold Out". I was really p*ssed off as it was the jersey that I wanted in the first place, the shorts were more of an impulse buy (and didn't fit to boot!). However, I've not named the retailer as they did sort it out very quickly (got me replacements couriered the next day) and were very apologetic.

I think that all online retailers should do what xomy.com did when I bought a TV from them - they had a live stock count at the top of the web page showing the exact number they had in stock. I wanted to get as close to pay day as possible before buying the TV I wanted, and they had a sale on so I was worried I'd miss out. But I just checked the website each day and saw the stock decreasing steadily and bought it when there were about 5 left. As soon as my order went through the counter said that there were 4 left. Next day they were sold out, so I was happy I got the TV and got within 2 days of pay day. I can only think of Wiggle who do the same thing with bikes.

As for local (independent) bike shops, I think that they hold minimal stock because of cash-flow issues and not being able to have cash tied up in stock on the shelves. Also they may not want to risk not being able to sell stuff that they have in stock. I can understand it to an extent, but it is extremely frustrating.

Jez mon

Everything seemed to be out of stock last time I wanted some pro team kit. I'd scroll through, see one I liked and then....OUT OF STOCK. Do it again, they only had shorts in stock, or jerseys.

Then I found a deal on some Mercatone Uno kit, buy shorts and top together for a considerabe discount. Only they only had XL shorts and XS jerseys

polemann

I ordered somthing three weeks ago from chainreactioncycles. I ordered it cause it said out of stock stock due in 29 - 08 -2008...... No I don't mean to complain but I have rang them and emailed thatm and both times they said its out of stock and we don't know when it will be back in..... keep checking the website....

thats pretty different from order today they will be here tomorrow....

The latest update is they be in stock 28 - 10 - 2008

hahaha...... maybe I'll never get them

cougie

Erm no. Not had any problems.

Floodcp

Cougie

Try looking for Look Keo Classic pedals on Wiggle or Probikekit.

Only 1 example but seems very common recently

cougie

But I dont want them - I'm happy with my old Looks - no point in changing them til they break really ?

Now I will be needing some Time Atacs soon.....

<crosses fingers>

This year I've bought - off the top of my head :
Gilets
Jerseys
Raincapes
Armwarmers
Energy Food
chains
tyres

And I dont think any of those were out of stock. Hmmm - that list looks a bit puny. I clearly need to shop more !

kinesin

it's the economic fall out of a recession; cash flow issues means that stock is always run down, whether your a direct supplier to consumer, or from the wholesellers/manufactures to shops.
It happens in every recession, within every industry, so make sure eveything is paid by credit card as lots of smaller companies could go under and it will allow you to get you money back if > £100.

robbarker

It does annoy me when retailers advertise stuff on their website that is not in stock. If all they want to do is take our money and sit on it while they order in from the manufacturer or (more commonly) the importer then they add nothing to the world and are wasting oxygen as far as I can tell.

It's an inevitable consequence of a lot of punters simply buying from whoever is cheapest though.

I shall continue to support the likes of SJS Cycles who do keep good stock levels and are very helpful to boot. Their prices are incredibly reasonable considering.

aracer

Another irritating thing is that in this country some things have never been, and never will be in stock, and the only way to get them is to import from Germany (where it seems they don't have the same problem with stocking what the odd person might want rather than just what they can sell loads of).