tweeks cycles apalling service!!!

jewbs
jewbs Posts: 139
edited December 2011 in Road buying advice
I`m sure some people would have no complaints about the service they received from tweeks cycles but not me!!
I`ve gad really bad service from them without receiving any goods and its cost me money for getting nothing!

At the beginning of october i ordered a chainset and a pair of handlebars from them, neither items were in stock but they took full payment from my credit card. They said the chainset would be in the following week and would send it on when it arrived and gave me a date when the bars would be in so they would follow. The next week came and went no sign of the chainset so at the beginning of the week after I called them to find out where it was and was told they were not expected in until mid december!! No call or email from them to let me know. So i did a internet search and found them in stock with crc , phoned tweeks back and cancelled that part of my order and asked them to refund the money to my credit card. Also at the time they ntold me the bars were delayed by a further 2 weeks. So this is the 3rd weekm of october, the refund didn`t happen until the 24th of november!!
So i`m still waiting for the bars to turn up, the date they should be here comes and goes so , no call or email to let me know what`s going on again so i phone them up again , it was either the 14thor 15th of november and they tell me the bars are now not expected until the end of november but they couldn`t guarantee they would turn up then so again i cancelled the order and asked for my money to be refunded. They apologised and said they would make sure the money was refunded that day. Well today i opened my credit card statement to find the money had not been refunded, i spoke to the cc company but they hadn`t received it.
By now i`m pretty well had enough of tweeks, i called them to find out where my money was and although they said sorry they didn`t seem at all bothered, infact they said i should have dealt with their customer service department and not the sales staff. The fact that they have just 1 telephone number on their site and the fact that i have no way of knowing i`m not dealing with customer services when the guy who answers their phone deals directly with me was beyond the comprehension of the guy i spoke to today. In fact every time i tried to speak and explain my side he would speak over me and took no repsonsbility for their poor service. I felt like he was blaming me for it.
When i told him it had cost me money because the credit card company were charging me interest on the money they took he offered no compensation and when i asked for them to cover that cost he refused and said he would just offer me a discount on my next purchase with them. Do you honestly think i`m going to buy from you again was my reply. So i now have to wait to see if i get my refund this week.

I will not be using them again, their service is awful the worst i`ve ever had. Think twice before you use them and don`t let them take all the money upfront if the items are not in stock. Is it worth me making a complaint to trading standards

Comments

  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Obviously they've borrowed the Dave Hinde book of customer service.
    If they're giving you truck regarding a refund, raise a dispute complaint via your Credit Card company - they usually issue a refund and then go after the merchant themselves.
    You claim for compensation for the interest is however spurious IMO.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Nuggs
    Nuggs Posts: 1,804
    Monty Dog wrote:
    If they're giving you truck regarding a refund, raise a dispute complaint via your Credit Card company - they usually issue a refund and then go after the merchant themselves.
    Agree with this advice. It may also take care of the interest issue as well.
  • Wirral_paul
    Wirral_paul Posts: 2,476
    If you're that upset about the service then suggest you speak to Trading Standards and put in a formal complaint to the management of Demon Thieves / Tweeks Cycles. Very poor though to take payment straight away - many companies make it policy to not charge until goods are ready for dispatch.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    I've bought from Tweeks before, sometime last year. Absolutely fine service, someone to speak to on the phone etc. Haven't bought anything major admittedly but you know, from personal experience, they were fine, sorry about the problems you've had ....
  • Jewbs - it obviously sounds like they have not given you a decent level of service.

    But, in the interests of balance, I bought a Genesis Aether (and some other bits and pieces) from them about a year ago and they could not have been more helpful. I dealt with a guy there called Matt Eames and he was great.

    Now a year is a long time so I can't vouch for their current service levels.
  • ajb72
    ajb72 Posts: 1,178
    I've had a couple of 3T stems from them without issue - in fact very fast delivery, but they were listed as in stock on the website. Poor form to take your payment without having the goods in stock though. I'm afraid I agree that claiming your interest back is OTT though.
  • phil s
    phil s Posts: 1,128
    edited December 2011
    Seeing as no one else has said it, I'll do so - I blame Wiggle!
    -- Dirk Hofman Motorhomes --
  • markos1963
    markos1963 Posts: 3,724
    I would be worried when a company processed payment when the goods weren't in stock. Distance selling regulations are quite clear, payment can only be charged when goods are dispatched(deposits can be taken for special orders etc) I would point this out to the company and ask for any reasonable costs you have incurred( phone calls, interest, postage) due to their inability to fulfill the contract of purchase.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Same happened to me when I thought I'd bought a Brooks saddle from Fatbirds. Showed as in stock on their website and I took it as a positive sign when payment was taken.
    Long story short, nothing arrived, no communication, when I chased by phone I found out nothing in stock nor any likelihood of stock arriving, cancelled order, credit card refunded a week later.
    So I lent them seventy quid for 3 weeks, my employer paid for several phone calls, and I had to buy elsewhere. :(

    In this instance Wiggle were certainly not to blame; they had the item in stock and didn't charge my card till they'd despatched it :D