C.R.C customer service, anybody there ?

kettrinboy

Just wondering if anybody else is having bother contacting Chain Reaction Cycles ,I ordered a crankset from them on 22 Jan ,got an e-mail confirming shipment and should have been delivered next day by 1pm, but it never arrived and still hasn,t. Since Friday 23 Jan ive tried to contact C.R.C by phone but constantly get the" line busy" tone or a recorded message telling me to try again later ,I must have tried 50 times all through yesterday and today including e-mailing to which there also has been no reply, the Royal Mail track and trace service hasnt been any help either, it keeps saying "there is a problem with the number please try again" , but on two out of 20 tries it said the parcel was delivered , well not to me it hasn.t. my best guess is that it went to the wrong address and someone else signed for it , thats why i need to let C.R.C know but just cant get through , short of getting a ferry to N.Ireland and banging on their door what can you do?

alfablue

I'm sorry, this will be of no help to you, but there have been a number of posts on Commuting reflecting similar problems.

In this current economic climate, I'm worried! They are usually faultless. Maybe they had another flood???

Captain Fagor

FWIW, I got an email from them yesterday regarding a wrong item that they sent me. I must be unlucky because my experiences with CRC have been poor. Won't be hurrying to use them again, to be honest.

And I was wondering if it was a metaphorical flood, as an awful lot of the "flood damaged" items seemed to be of the type that fewer people want anyway - i.e. italian threaded shimano bottom brackets flood damaged, but not english thread, etc.

alfablue

Captain Fagor wrote:

And I was wondering if it was a metaphorical flood, as an awful lot of the "flood damaged" items seemed to be of the type that fewer people want anyway - i.e. italian threaded shimano bottom brackets flood damaged, but not english thread, etc.

maybe, but would they make this up?

Back in August 2008 we suffered the unfortunate event of having one of our warehouses flooded when a local river burst its banks. Over a period of 24hrs rising water levels and damp conditions affected several thousand of our stock lines, but due to the dedicated effort of all the staff at ChainReactionCycles.com we were able to remove all the damaged items from the building and were back up to our regular efficient levels of service within just a few days.

What condition are the items in?
Almost all items in the sale are in a Near Perfect condition, any damage incurred was by water and silt from a local river combined with a period of damp storage conditions, this may have caused cosmetic water marking or some light corrosion on bare metals. All items have been fully inspected for damage and repackaged by ChainReactionCycles.com staff, You will not receive any of the original instructions or packaging. Items considered to have had excessive marking or damage have not been offered for sale.

edduddiee

I found chain reaction quite rude to deal with when the buggered up on my order. They sent me the wrong item (in the flood sale) but refused to send me the right item as it was 'easier for everyone' if they just refunded me and I ordered a new item. I since went elsewhere and now avoid shopping from them.

alfablue

Obviously I can't comment on their perceived rudeness, but their solution would seem easier, surely just a case of submitting an order, takes seconds. Were they letting you keep the original too?

edduddiee

Obviously I can't comment on their perceived rudeness, but their solution would seem easier, surely just a case of submitting an order, takes seconds. Were they letting you keep the original too?

No that was the frustrating thing. I emailed them before I sent the item back and they said it would be a straight swap. So I sent the item back then they decided actually they can't be bothered to send me the right item.

schlepcycling

kettrinboy wrote:

Just wondering if anybody else is having bother contacting Chain Reaction Cycles ,I ordered a crankset from them on 22 Jan ,got an e-mail confirming shipment and should have been delivered next day by 1pm, but it never arrived and still hasn,t. Since Friday 23 Jan ive tried to contact C.R.C by phone but constantly get the" line busy" tone or a recorded message telling me to try again later ,I must have tried 50 times all through yesterday and today including e-mailing to which there also has been no reply, the Royal Mail track and trace service hasnt been any help either, it keeps saying "there is a problem with the number please try again" , but on two out of 20 tries it said the parcel was delivered , well not to me it hasn.t. my best guess is that it went to the wrong address and someone else signed for it , thats why i need to let C.R.C know but just cant get through , short of getting a ferry to N.Ireland and banging on their door what can you do?

I'm having the same problem ordered some stuff from them on 18th Jan, got an email saying order shipped 19th Jan....but so far nothing. I've also emailed them several times and had the same fun and games not getting through to them on the phone. It's a pity really as I've always had good service from them in the past, hopefully this is just a one off glitch.

kettrinboy

thanks for the replies, tried at various times today and still getting the " line busy " tone ,i think the chances of getting my stuff now are pretty slim so when i get my credit card statement if ive been charged i,ll tell my credit card company whats happened and try and get my £45 refunded, god knows whats going on over there but if anybodys thinking of ordering from them i would,nt

DC Ayr

No consolation but it sounds like you have been very unlucky, kettrinboy.
I recently ordered a Tacx DVD from CRC, which arrived 2 days later. That's when I realised I'd ordered the wrong one. So I e-mailed their returns to check exchange conditions and received prompt friendly reply. Sent one dvd back on Wednesday and the correct one was delivered to me on Friday along with refund of the difference in price. So they're still doing something right.

DC Ayr

No consolation but it sounds like you have been very unlucky, kettrinboy.
I recently ordered a Tacx DVD from CRC, which arrived 2 days later. That's when I realised I'd ordered the wrong one. So I e-mailed their returns to check exchange conditions and received prompt friendly reply. Sent one dvd back on Wednesday and the correct one was delivered to me on Friday along with refund of the difference in price. So they're still doing something right.

DC Ayr

Whoops! Finger trouble on the submit button :oops:

Nuggs

Just to add some balance: I ordered some tools from them on Tuesday afternoon and they arrived the next morning. Never had a poor experience with them.

bobpzero

had a weird idea, if kettrinboy think it be worth trying. i could pm you my email address, and you could send me a letter i could print out and hand to someone at CRC seeing im few miles from the place. anyways maybe need to be more patient. for me ordering stuff from them takes 2 days to arrive so its easier just to drive over to buy the stuff.

bulldogbw2

I've had good experiences with CRC but the last one did take 8 months to complete, I was only awaiting a couple of tubes though. Given the time I completely forgot about.

I did have to send something back as I didn't like it and they refunded the money to me. I didn't even ask if it was OK to return and just did it.

softlad

Captain Fagor wrote:

an awful lot of the "flood damaged" items seemed to be of the type that fewer people want anyway - i.e. italian threaded shimano bottom brackets flood damaged, but not english thread, etc.

maybe the english ones were on a higher shelf..

synchronicity

I also got no answer when I needed to exchange a 140mm hope disc rotor. I actually wanted the 5 bolt version and they sent a 6 bolt one instead (even labelled as 5 bolt on the packet!).

No reply after 2 emails to returns / customer service. I couldn't be stuffed so I ended up ebaying it.

Still, they offer such good prices for people living in the Canary Islands that it's still worth it even after they make the odd mistake...

nielsamd

Ordered a week ago with 48 hr delivery. All items were `in stock'.
Nothing as of today. Still `processing' when I check acccount.
E-mailed yesterday. No reply yet.

As I type this there is a big CRC banner ad next to the box field. Maybe a BikeRadar person can make a `class action' direct enquiry for info for us all. i.e. `is there a problem at CRC?'

pllb

To add some balance. I ordered a complete bike (BeOne Storm 1.0) from CRC on Monday evening, it arrived on Thursday lunchtime well within the 48 hr parcelforce delivery window (taking into account processing time). Also I e-mailed CRC with a frame size question, this actually took longer to answer than the delivery of the bike, however the response was polite & helpful. First time using CRC and so far so good.

nielsamd

Ok as long as there's still `good' news for some... We all have days of not being able to keep up with e-mails. And they might be short-staffed or something. We shall see!

kettrinboy

just to update this thread i got an e-mail from CRC today in reply to one i sent Wed evening and they say it will take 7 working days to process a replacement order or refund and to contact them in 7 days if i still havnt received my parcel, so at least i,m hopeful of getting my stuff, well thats if the Royal Mail dont lose it this time, at least they contacted me so they are back in my good books because its really the Royal Mail who f****d up in the first place, hope anybody else who,s waiting gets sorted too

gb-locks

TBH I've not had a problem with them yet, ordered a pair of tubes on Wednesday they arrived today, I'm in the Highland s I can can't complain, I hope things work out for you.