Chain Reaction Cycles customer service

peter101cycle

Just thought I would post this good example of customer service, as there are so many threads of the opposite.

I bought a Gear and Brake sets of the Gore Ride-On Professional Cables. While the Gear box looked brand new and unopened, I had suspicion that the Brake cableset had been returned and that there was missing parts inside.

Emailed CRC under a warranty claim stating that the box had been opened previously and that parts were missing inside, they replied back saying another box would be sent out and there was no need to send back the original box.

Really quite impressed with CRC and use them a lot - the replacement was delivered yesterday (4 days later).

Hoopdriver

I have to say I've enjoyed good service from them as well - prompt, and the one time i had a problem it was dealt with with real class.

I used to buy a lot from Wiggle, but I just don't go there anymore at all. CRC is quicker and cheaper and generally (but not always) has a better selection.

marin_maniac

How odd I was going to post. a similar thread. Bought some liner gloves on October which already have a hole on them. Emailed CRC, got a reply couple of days later to say they'll refund me without having to send them back the gloves.

Outstanding service I you ask me.

Pro bike kit on the other hand aren't so good emailed them the same day about a windstopper which I bought in October and is also falling apart. Haven't heard a peep from them and there is no contact number on their website! Grrrrrr.

Big_Ste

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

Supergoose

Marin Maniac wrote:

How odd I was going to post. a similar thread. Bought some liner gloves on October which already have a hole on them. Emailed CRC, got a reply couple of days later to say they'll refund me without having to send them back the gloves.

Outstanding service I you ask me.

Pro bike kit on the other hand aren't so good emailed them the same day about a windstopper which I bought in October and is also falling apart. Haven't heard a peep from them and there is no contact number on their website! Grrrrrr.

© Probikekit.com
Dispatch Area Good Acres Business Park Aynam Road Kendal United Kingdom LA9 7DE - Tel. +44 (0) 1539 738 268

getonyourbike

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

it'smore the fact that they shipped the item without him having to return it. So he's got almost a 2nd full kit on his hands now.

Well done CRC, whenever I've emailed there customer service department I've always had a quick and informative reply.

marin_maniac

Supergoose wrote:

Marin Maniac wrote:

How odd I was going to post. a similar thread. Bought some liner gloves on October which already have a hole on them. Emailed CRC, got a reply couple of days later to say they'll refund me without having to send them back the gloves.

Outstanding service I you ask me.

Pro bike kit on the other hand aren't so good emailed them the same day about a windstopper which I bought in October and is also falling apart. Haven't heard a peep from them and there is no contact number on their website! Grrrrrr.

© Probikekit.com
Dispatch Area Good Acres Business Park Aynam Road Kendal United Kingdom LA9 7DE - Tel. +44 (0) 1539 738 268

Good work Columbo 8)

Supergoose

FWIW I have had to call PBK a couple of times for various reasons and found them to be helpful and efficient. 8)

Skerryman

I have never had anything but great service from CRC also. When I was on the lookout for a new MTB I seen one I had my eye on marked down on the site. I emailed CRC to inquire about frame sizes and when I hadn't heard back the following day I logged on to buy the bike regardless only to find that the price had gone back up to full RRP. To say I was sickened is an understatement. A few days later there was a post by CRC on their Facebook page asking people to comment on their service as they had got some bad ratings on a customer opinion thingy. While I hadn't dealt with them yet at the time, I commented to say I had heard good things and politely mentioned what happened regarding missing out on the sale price of the bike while awaiting a email reply. I thought nothing of it until a girl from CRC (I assume who maintains the FB page) sent me a message saying that she would try help me out. After a few mails back and forth they agreed to knock some cash off the bike as a result of my bad experience and brought it down pretty close to the sale price I missed out on. A lot of other companies would have either not taken notice of the post in the first place, or told me tough sh!t on missing out on the sale price. So IMHO that is great customer service and long may it continue.

ShutUpLegs

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

+1
They are a shocking company and this is disgraceful company practice sending out incomplete/ missing items. Trading standards should be informed also.

peter101cycle

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

+1
They are a shocking company and this is disgraceful company practice sending out incomplete/ missing items. Trading standards should be informed also.

What complete rubbish and I will tell you why.

Good customer service by the top companies in the world, is all about delighting the customer, i.e. going beyond what they expect. The cost of gaining a new customer through advertising and the like is multiple times the cost of retaining a customer.

Over the years I have probably made 20 orders or so worth hundreds. The one problem I have had they resolved without a quibble. They are a big company so there is always going to be the one shipment that goes wrong.

As a result of how thethey have resolved the issue, I am more likely to shop there again.

northpole

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

+1
They are a shocking company and this is disgraceful company practice sending out incomplete/ missing items. Trading standards should be informed also.

You are joking, right?? :shock:

Peter

marin_maniac

northpole wrote:

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

+1
They are a shocking company and this is disgraceful company practice sending out incomplete/ missing items. Trading standards should be informed also.

You are joking, right?? :shock:

Peter

Troll.

Yawn............. :roll:

sturmey

Other posters may rave about them all they like but I am NOT likely to shop at ChainReaction again after they sent me out a well used and decidedly secondhand bottom bracket, then short changed me on a refund.

Yes, I have had good service from them in the past but that was shabby and, I would say, inexcusable.

Zingzang

The point the OP and one or two others are missing is that ChainReaction have quite a bit of previous form for sending out used items instead of new ones. Discerning customers feel uncomfortable with this, whether or not new replacements are subsequently sent out. The practice is a dodgy one, and not doing it at all in the first place would be a preferable kind of customer service, and certainly one more deserving of praise.

marin_maniac

Zingzang wrote:

The point the OP and one or two others are missing is that ChainReaction have quite a bit of previous form for sending out used items instead of new ones. Discerning customers feel uncomfortable with this, whether or not new replacements are subsequently sent out. The practice is a dodgy one, and not doing it at all in the first place would be a preferable kind of customer service, and certainly one more deserving of praise.

Previous with who apart from one post on this thread.

Never happened to me, and I've only heard of this practice on this thread. "Quite a bit of previous" infers that this happens on a regular basis. You have experience of this do you?

ChrisSA

Worst issue I have had with CRC is they sent a wrong part for a future build. Correct parts send next day. No time lost & cost refunded rapidly.

Same story when I ordered 2 pairs of shoes as I was unsure of the fit. Refund for wrong size was rapidly dealt with.

This week's order arrived promptly too.

spokegeezer

Also had opened / returned stuff sent to me by CRC twice. Rude on the phone.

Unless no one else has got what I need i no longer use them

sturmey

Previous with who apart from one post on this thread.

Never happened to me, and I've only heard of this practice on this thread. "Quite a bit of previous" infers that this happens on a regular basis. You have experience of this do you?

Suggest you do a bit of research yourself. Reading the following comments might enlighten you in the meantime to the fact that this is not an isolated occurrence:

http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomme ... &pagenum=1

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Chain_Reaction_Cy ... ew_5930089

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... used+parts[/quote

Oh, and the last post before this one from Spokegeezer seems to eerily echo the same sentiments.
Funny that...

dilemna

Well here's my 2p's worth.

I have shopped with CRC since 2003/2004 spending a fair amount of money with them over the years enough to have helped them to the sucess they are today. However I have mixed feelings about them. Some stuff they are excellent on - tyres, bar tape, lights, tools and the service is good.

However I have had over the years grotty chainsets, a few that have been damaged, a couple of deraillieurs (Ultegra and XTR) in seperate transactions that had damage on them and had clearly been fitted, bottom brackets that had been previously fitted, a complete set of Ultegra STI units including cables that I ordered which when I received them were for TRIPLE chainsets. The levers were very poorly packed and had scuffs and scratches on them, and there were no cables or ferrules present contrary to what was stated in the product listing! I wrote several emails to them requesting they supply the correct spec levers and I return or they arrange for the collection of the incorrect and faulty ones I had received. Their customer service dept told me I could send them back but at my expense. WTF!!! I then mentioned that they were in breach of contract and were infringing my statutory rights and mentioned Trading Standards and the Cycling Forums which is when the Customer Services guy corresponding with me by email actually called me and was extremely rude and unpleasant threatening me that if I did this then CRC would in turn take legal action against me to protect it's business. WTF!!! I had a huge argument with him trying to get him to first apolgise for CRC's clear error and to provide what I ordered. He refused to admit that the levers they supplied were the wrong spec which was NOT my fault, but they were also damaged with scratches and scuffs and the cables were missing. I then emailed very detailed pictures of the levers. Suggested that the people who picked and packed them should have seen this as I noticed it straight away and the word "TRIPLE" on the plastic hood cover of the levers. My invoice clearly indicated DOUBLE. He then said I could return but they would ONLY pay basic second class postage. I told him I was sending them back first class recorded post insured. He said CRC would not pay. This guy calling from CRC Customer Services was basically a jerk neither apologising once for their error and then arguing with me when I brought this to his attention, nor attempting to resolve the problem that CRC had created, but merely being obstructive and rude. In the end I demanded to speak with a manager and was put through to some one called Billy (probably this jerk's mate sitting next to him) who I was told was one of the family of the owners and a manager or director at CRC. Anyway I summarised what had happened and that I was pretty unhappy and was just trying to get what I had ordered, straight away Billy apologised that the wrong and damaged goods had been sent to me, RESULT! Plus he aplogised for the rude customer service that the jerk who had been dealing with me, trying to fob me off, had given me was totally unacceptable. He would arrange for a new set of double STI levers, after some discussion in the smart Shimano Ultegra presentation box that the complete set of STIs are supposed to come in rather than packed loose in a clear bag and jiffy bag, to be sent out next day delivery (which didn't happen) and for me to be refunded some of the purchase price I had paid of the levers in the first place as a goodwill gesture owing to all the inconvenience I had suffered, which IIRC was about £20-25. I was assured that the double levers would be checked thoroughly and properly packaged before they were sent out to me and that the set would be complete. Anyway I sent the TRIPLE levers back and 4 days later I received a complete set including all cables of unmarked Ultegra DOUBLE STI units which I had originally ordered. The packaging wasn't that great but at least nothing was damaged although the Shimano box had at some point been broken open. Oh well, I was through with arguing with them.

So after this fiasco I didn't buy for some time. I think a few months later I bought some folding tyres and gel bar tape as a tester to see if they could get this right which they did. Then just recently just before Christmas I bought a Montane waterproof jacket, that wasn't cheap, as a gift for some one. But when I opened the external CRC packaging I could clearly see through the clear plastic bag that there was a black mark about half inch long like a black marker pen on the right upper arm facing forward so very visible. That went straight back the same day. I was not impressed. They sorted the refund within 10 days IIRC. I shall not be using them again unless for folding tyres or other stuff that really is impossible to f**k up. They really need to get to grips with checking items before they dispatch them and ensuring they use adequate and appropriate packaging.

As do other cyclists I use a range of on-line cycle shops and I never had such problems with Wiggle, Merlin, SJS or HighOnBikes that I have had with CRC over the years. Everything from them has been right first time and well packaged. Oh, Merlin sent me the wrong size of BB about 3 years ago. When I emailed them they replied within 15 minutes and were so apologetic. I sent it back same day and next morning in return I recieved the correct size with receipt for the re-imbursement of postage to my CC on trust. Errors do happen but it's how a company resolves a problem that determines whether I will use them again. Once, maybe twice bitten, thrice shy.

Mad Roadie

dilemna +101 for High On Bikes - i have no idea how big, or small they are but the standard of service I have got from them over the years is suggestive they are smaller than they appear as the service is exceptional and friendly. Keep up the deception, no matter how large you are or get Mike@Highonbikes!

peter101cycle

Another + for HighonBikes (used them a fair bit on eBay), Planet X & Merlin Cycles.....

Maybe I have just been a bit lucky but not really had the issues that some have reported with CRC, I just originally posted what I thought was good customer service. My opinion anyway of course.

marin_maniac

sturmey wrote:

Previous with who apart from one post on this thread.

Never happened to me, and I've only heard of this practice on this thread. "Quite a bit of previous" infers that this happens on a regular basis. You have experience of this do you?

Suggest you do a bit of research yourself. Reading the following comments might enlighten you in the meantime to the fact that this is not an isolated occurrence:

http://www.pinkbike.com/forum/listcomme ... &pagenum=1

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Chain_Reaction_Cy ... ew_5930089

http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... used+parts[/quote

Oh, and the last post before this one from Spokegeezer seems to eerily echo the same sentiments.
Funny that...

I accept that this practice goes on, why... well its probably to do with there 12-months return policy that I'm pretty sure that no other online bike retailer offers.

I'm sure if you conducted another Google search you would find similar negative experiences that others have had with CRC and indeed the likes of Wiggle etc.

To be frank the only (touches laminated MDF) dodgly experiences I've had with the likes of CRC, Wiggle etc is ordered a Smart rear light from Wiggle and was told 7-days, but turned out much longer. So cancelled my order and purchased elsewhere. Same sort of thing with Planet X, ordered the last (as stated on website) Ultegra mech, but turned out they didn't have one soe refunded me straight away. The positive experiences for me, far out weigh these negative experiences.


I fully sympathise with some of the bad experiences that some posters have had, albeit somewhat difficult for me to comprehend based on my own.


I have an LBS which I would love to give all of my money too, and support them fully with all my cycle related purchases, but even he knows that in most cases he cannot compete with the large online retailers and money talks. In my view fundamentally it comes down to knowing that when I spend money with these large retailers if something goes wrong (and it will), will they put it right to your satisfaction. In my experience, it will. I accept that because ultimately we are dealing with human beings, mistakes will be made, just like I make mistakes at work.

When you think of the volume of sales that these retailers have, I'm sure that there are many more horror stories, at the same time overwhelmingly there are probably many more very satisfied customers that don't have any problems.

mercurykev

I must admit that I'm getting a bit sick of CRC because of the time it takes to receive orders. I placed an order at the start of November which was posted a day after the order was placed and didn't arrive until the beginning of January - admittedly this got caught up in the back log caused by the snow but it was sent out two weeks before the snow came. I have another order which was dispatched on 28th January that still hasn't arrived and over the past year I'd estimate that most orders take about two weeks to arrived from dispatch - even Ribble free post doesn't take this long.

peter101cycle

I suppose it depends on what you order but when things are in stock, I don't think I have ever waiting longer than 5 days.....most times, it is with me with 2/3 days

gsk82

it always seems to me that the people who find customer service staff rude at these places are the ones who send them extremely snotty/ rude emails in the first place. i've had a couple of returns with wiggle/ crc etc and never had any problems, but i don't start off talking to them like dirt and making demands

dodgy

getonyourbike wrote:

Big_Ste wrote:

So they shipped you a faulty/incomplete item and replaced it with a complete item. I'd hardly call it good customer service

it'smore the fact that they shipped the item without him having to return it. So he's got almost a 2nd full kit on his hands now.

Well done CRC, whenever I've emailed there customer service department I've always had a quick and informative reply.

I have a different take on this. I reckon CRC send out returns in the hope they will be accepted, once in a while some kicks up a fuss so they send out a new item and don't want the old one back, because they know it's not in saleable condition - and shouldn't have been sent out in the first place.

I wouldn't have been happy if I'd ordered the cables so I can fit them before an event, big ride or whatever.

peter101cycle

Most companies inspect returns upon receipt for potential re-use.
If you think any different, you don't live in the real world.
The only trick is to make sure they are unused and complete.

ademort

I,ve used them several times and had no problems recieving my orders in the Netherlands. They have been very quick and spot on each time. Yes of course they can make a mistake, but they are only human. A quick example, on a recent job offshore three men, a loyds inspector, a coordinator and a senior supervisor were given the task of removing a steel shim from a large container. Despite the fact that they were given the dimensions and all three agreed that the shim they found was the shim they needed it turned out later that it was the wrong shim. Thats three intelligent people all three were wrong.This mistake cost 40,000 euros to correct. As i said they are only human.
Ademort

warrior4life

Ive just started using them recently and so fat they've been great.
I returned a chain that i ordered thinking it would fit on my track bike (It wouldn't) and they refunded me very quickly.
I will be using them again but becuase of these stories if i have any trouble once then i'll shop elsewhere.
There are so many options that all these online retailers need to bring their A game.

tx14

i bought a front brake from them in dec, and it came without a sunken nut. took two weeks and two emails for it to arrive. it was a very busy time so i'm rather satisfied with the service i got.