Chain Reaction - Have I just been lucky?

Hobs

I've placed a number of orders with Chain Reaction on items NOT shown as being out of stock. They have completed the transaction online and taken my money. After a few days of wondering where my stuff is I've revisited 'my account' to see that they have maked my order as 'out of stock' - no notification and no refund. Its not like they're the only supply and its not the first time I've experienced this from them. I've even had the wrong product dispacted as "we only had it in a women's medium" Clearly it must be the same size then????


Is this a common problem?

konablastboy

i had the same probles they sent the wrong product and never sent the product and said they were out of stock but i phones and explained and they put me at the topof a list to get them dispached as soon as they come in to stock i would not worry because i have not had the problem more than once any questions just ask

schmako

I've had a few problems over the years (maybe 1 in 20). They've always sorted out any issues with me pretty quickly (when I can get through on the phone!). Think of the size of the place and the amount of orders they must get, i'd imagine its pretty hard to keep the website 100% up to date..

Muddy.Bail

hope this doesnt happen to me just ordered a lot of things from them

konablastboy

it is very rare dont wory about it mate

bogussocialworker

I agree.

CRC have had a few problems (and continue to have a few hiccups with stock at the moment) but generally they are pretty good. I've not personally had any problems with them and I've ordered loads.

But saying that... if I did start having problems I'd probably sack them off and try Merlin or Wiggle to get the same stuff for pretty much the same price.

chuckcork

I've had a minor issue with that, but then I've had similar with other web companies as well.

Biggest problem is getting the wrong product that very nearly but not quite matches the order. In one case it was almost twice the value of what I ordered but I had to send it back, a 2nd bike kit for a cycle comp is no good if you don't have the matching computer!

Now whenever I place an order with CRC I make note i the comments section for them to please check the goods supplied are as ordered....haven't had any problems since I made that a rule.

lfcquin

I have just had a major issue with them. I ordered a Kinesis Crosslight Pro5 about 2 months back. It was the last one "in stock" and had a 31% discount. I got a call a few days later saying it wasn't available and it had been a mistake on the website. I then ordered a Kinesis Crosslight 4T as that was the closest price match I could get without the discount (as it turns out it is the right bike for me because it has mudguard eyelets). Its taken me almost 8 weeks to get the bike from them. They have been blaming Kinesis and to be fair I contacted Kinesis who confirmed they had been having problems with their supply. The thing than annoyed me is the Crosslight Pro5 appeared back on the website last week with a 31% discount, same size frame, same colour only this time with an upgraded fork. :shock: Seemed suspicious to me!

I contaced consumer direct and after a stroppy letter informing CRC of the laws they were breaking by taking payment and not supplying the goods CRC have finally got a bike dispatched (today). Fingers crossed for delivery in the next day or two. Still fuming though about the Pro5 appearing on the website again. They haven't offered an explanation about that but consumer direct were going to follow it up and I am just happy to get my order fulfilled.

Having said all the bad stuff. I did make contact with one of their back orders team who has been fabulous at keeping me in the picture and dealing with my issues. Just about being lucky with the right contact I guess. I haven't been left with a great view of their service though. Back to Wiggle for me I think.

ratty2k

konablastboy wrote:

i had the same probles they sent the wrong product and never sent the product and said they were out of stock but i phones and explained and they put me at the topof a list to get them dispached as soon as they come in to stock i would not worry because i have not had the problem more than once any questions just ask

Whoa! Slow down there and please use some punctuation... I've had to read that 4 times to see what was wrong!

As for CRC, I have never had an issue, oh, sorry once! They sent some vee brakes with2 right hand pads. Emailed and got a left hand pad sent within a couple of days. I think that at the moment, they must have had soo many orders with the flood sale that they cant quite cope.. And that must be a genneral problem for them, it must be a massive turnover there.

stubs

Dont forget they had a river running through there warehouse a few months back. I can say from experience a flood screws you up for at least 6 months, every time you think you have it all cleaned up and put in order you open a box or a cupboard and its "oh cr*p" time again

andyturner28

I ordered some peddles that were in stock on the site, then after days of waiting got an e-mail saying they were out of stock, and i had to wait about a week and a bit for a cassette once, but that is it, generally they are pretty good and a lot better than some other sites!

JackBenson59

Yeah, I have ordered a T25 Torx Wrench and some mineral brake fluid and they came within two days both times no probs. You may just be unlucky or they hate you for some reason.

.blitz

Hobs wrote:

I've placed a number of orders with Chain Reaction on items NOT shown as being out of stock. They have completed the transaction online and taken my money. After a few days of wondering where my stuff is I've revisited 'my account' to see that they have maked my order as 'out of stock' - no notification and no refund.

I've had that happen a few times when I've bought the only ones they had in stock. Your order gets picked and they update the stock count - it usually means that your order is waiting to be dispatched or it's on its way. Wiggle is the same but you can see how many they have in stock.

The Northern Monkey

I've just had the same problem with a set of forks. they wer ein stock, the day they took my money they were out of stock.
a WEEK later they sent me them and the price on the web was increased by £80 (i have a recipt in my fork box saying they bought them for £340, so they lost £80 on my order)

i think its because they have sales, forget to update the website, someone orders the item at the sale price 3 months later, but they dont actually have the item at that price.
Because they've already taken your money that have to sell you the item at the price on the web, but take fecking ages about it.

my thread is here - http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... highlight=

blackdog24

I have had about 6 orders or so over the last 6 months.

I did have a problem with the last order when I ordered a rear XTR derailleur and they sent me a front one. Duh!

I sent this back and the replacement came without a box. I found this a bit suspicious since they had just started their flood sale - my item was not discounted. Anyway I check it over very finely and it looked fine so I decided not to follow this up.

However, if this was a flood item and I have no way to prove this - it seems very cheeky. I probably wouldn't have minded anyway but as long they let me know through an e-mail or some other contact.

Feeling a bit wary about using them again because of this - gone to Wiggle...

.blitz

blackdog24 wrote:

I sent this back and the replacement came without a box.

I've never had anything Shimano from CRC that was in a box. They always arrive in plastic bags (sometimes with instructions) but from a packaging point-of-view they're not the same as Shimano from the lbs. I asked Madison about it and their reply was that they are typical grey import components.

stumpyjon

^ often OE stuff intended for building bikes which is why they are so much cheaper than your LBS. With Shimano stuff there is no difference between OE and after sales but there can be with other brands (forks are a classic example).

I think CRC are pretty good, generally better than Wiggle (although they aren't bad either). I think the thing to bear in mind with CTC is that alot of us on here use them so we tend to hear about a lot of their cock ups, infuriating for the individual, but often isolated incidents. The thing they do seem a bit poor on is answering the phone when things do go wrong which is something they maybe need to sort out.