Is www.parker-international.co.uk a good site to buy from?

thel33ter

I have been lookinf for wheels and they offer some handbuilt wheels for very good prices but i'm wondering if they are any good.

Has anyone bought from them/know someone who has?

Can you reccomend any other sites that are similar?

Cheers

alfablue

I bought from Parker because many others only did wheelsets.

The build seem excellent.

First wheel I bought they didn't have the hub but offered me a good price on a better Ultegra hub, previous year's model.

Build time not brilliant, but okay.

I would (and have) bought from them again.

Pokerface

Yes - they are a decent site. But make sure they have what you want in stock before you order as they don't keep the site 100% up to date.

Anonymous

Heard good things about them from a couple of club members...

thel33ter

cheers ppl, probably gonna go for the MAVIC OPEN PRO with tiagra hub. Can't decide about the Ceramic ones or normal ones though. All the things I've looked at have said it doesn't make much difference.

GemmaAtkinson1

good guys. ordered tyres, shorts and chamois cream off them. arrived 2 days later, after a nice phonecal letting me know the shorts were out of stock. prices are great too.

STEFANOS4784

Bought a pair of Northwave stealth bibs from them. Not knowing what i'm on about i just looked at the picture and thought 'nice'. Anyhoo they arrived and they looked like hot pants due to having quite short legs. Posted them back and refund actioned quickly and efficiently. I would definately use them again.

ridgerider

Just bought a tool from them, but only spotted the "free postage" button a bit late and had to cancel the order and re-order with free postage. Look out for the little tick box!

gabriel959

Bought some stuff from them for the first time - lets hope they are as good as CRC, Wiggle and PBK!

wiffachip

Pokerface wrote:

Yes - they are a decent site. But make sure they have what you want in stock before you order as they don't keep the site 100% up to date.

agreed, I ordered a stem which was shown as in stock, but it wasn't, eventually settled for an alternative

they do respond to queries promptly though

Mettan

They're a good retailer - just behind CRC and level with Wiggle imho - better prices than Wiggle in many ways and some interesting components.

Not sure what the handbuilt side of them is like, though.

craker

used 'em plenty of times - as good as wiggle, crc etc but for roadies mainly

sampras38

Only used them once for a pair of Shimano road shoes, and found them vey good over the phone and the delivery was no different to any of the other main players. Would use again.

whyamihere

Not the quickest, but they're a good bunch, good prices.

drewfromrisca

Used them a few times and always 100% satisfaction.

ScottieP

Parker are definitely a good shop - I've ordered quite a few bits and pieces from them now. I rang and spoke to them when I was thinking about some handbuilts (which I didn't end up buying) and they said they've had the same wheelbuilder for years, which to me is a good thing as if they'd been problems if would have been easy to find out about (on here for a start). I know someone who has ordered a couple of sets of handbuilts from Parker and has been very happy too.

daniel_b

Used them tons of times, only let me down once when a rear cassette was out of stock, but apart from that have been pretty much faultless.

They are quite often vying with ribble for the cheapest prices.

If you need something in a hurry though, always ring up to check stock, otherwise, select free postage and wait for it to arrive.

Dan

hollypolly

Just bumping this to share my very recent bad experience with them. To be sure that the two common items that I wanted were in stock I emailed them first, got an answer almost two days later saying everything was in stock.

Placed my order online only to get another email after three days, saying sorry nothing was in stock, no ETA. So I have lost a week. Now I will try to cancel the order of course, although this is the kind of company that charges customers credit card even if the items are not available, hope not.

Went to my account to delete my cc details by the way, like I always do with Wiggle just for safety, and guess what that option is not even available.

Avoid at any cost.

hopper1

Never had a problem with them...

Would recommend and use again myself.

ant.rocket

I have been dealing with Parker for 15yrs now. Think that says it all!

Rezillo

hollypolly wrote:

Avoid at any cost.

This seems a bit harsh - they got it wrong, let you know this within three days without you having to hassle them asking where your order had got to and didn't give you a fake ETA to keep your order hanging on. Compared to some sites I've experienced, this seems pretty good!

Btw, I've just checked my Parkers account and it doesn't list any credit card details - you have to re-enter them for each order.

John

fast as fupp

never had a problem with parkers- their communications if an item isnt in stock is great giving you expected delivery dates and options to cancel.

their prices are very competitive i only wish their website showed stock levels like wiggle

BE1

ant.rocket wrote:

I have been dealing with Parker for 15yrs now. Think that says it all!

That's a long time to wait for delivery

ScottieP

I like Parker too - but they have been very slow to ship my last 2 orders. Both times I also ordered things from other bike shops within an hour of placing my order at Parker. Both Parker orders took over a week - both other orders were with me within 48 hours. I did choose the free delivery option and I think Parker must do what Amazon do when you choose free delivery ..... put your order to the back of the queue - which is obviously because they'd prefer you to pay a delivery fee. So from now on I will only order things from Parker when I'm happy to wait a week for them - then if I get them faster it will be a bonus. If I need it in a hurry I'll order from someone else. I agree with the other comments that it would be good if you could see the stock levels at Parker when you are shopping on their site.

ScottieP

Lysander

They are a good shop, have had many dealings with them and they have always been honest and very polite.

Percy Vera

I have never shopped with Parkers, as their prices don't seem that competitive to me.

For example their Ultegra SL Groupset is £655 yet you can pick that up for £450 elsewhere.

hollypolly

My comment Avoid at any cost may seem harsh but a behavior like that it is not acceptable and insulting.

I specifically asked if the items were in stock and first they took their time to answer yes, then another three days to say nothing is in stock... and AMAZINGLY with what appears to be a generic pre-made answer, so they did not even took two minutes to write a personalized email to apologize for the mistake or offer some alternatives.

This to a first time customer and in recession times means they don't give a cent about whatever they do. People here who have been shopping with them for decades must be really lucky guys.

Caligari_uk

Has anyone used their sister site, Parker-wear?

I put in an order for a new helmet and sunglasses the other day - only I was contacted to say that the helmet was no longer in stock (even though there was no mention of this on the site).

Fair enough - so I sent back an E-mail stating that I'd be happy to just cancel the entire order. I received a confirmation - but I still haven't received my refund of about £70.00, and I haven't had a reply from to my last two or three E-mails.

Parker-International's site claims that they don't take the money until the item has been dispatched, so why are Parker-wear different?

On TOP of this, I've just received an E-mail (well - it was actually a few hours ago now) stating that my speedplay pedals from Parker-International are also out of stock, which is a bummer as they were selling them for about £11.00 cheaper than anyone else.

Pffft.

giant_man

I have used Parkers a few times and they have been good, but compared to Ribble's prices they are more expensive. Ribbles 10 and 15% off sales if you're spending over 50 quid are a good thing I've found.

STEFANOS4784

Rezillo wrote:

hollypolly wrote:

Avoid at any cost.

This seems a bit harsh - they got it wrong, let you know this within three days without you having to hassle them asking where your order had got to and didn't give you a fake ETA to keep your order hanging on. Compared to some sites I've experienced, this seems pretty good!

Btw, I've just checked my Parkers account and it doesn't list any credit card details - you have to re-enter them for each order.

John

This is not harsh, i work in retail and have never made a mistake, how dare they :roll:

GavH

I've used them for a couple of things including some Assos bib-shorts. No problems at all although I agree that they don't carry everything in stock. Where they don't have it in, they'll call you and let you know the availabilty date. I'd recommend them but perhaps contact them re: availability if your needing something urgent.