What's going on with Chain Reaction Cycles?

asprilla

In the interests of balance: ordered a new seat post on Tuesday evening at 21.30. Received an email yesterday afternoon at 14.30 to tell me it had been dispatched.

Not had any problems with them at all recently.

Bozman

Put a huge order in on Monday at 21:30, the "washer" arrived this morning with two free gels, the gels matched the total cost of the order too.
Faultless.

petemadoc

My order has been despatched.

5 complete working days after the order.

monsterhill

They are pathetic. I placed an order with them over 2 weeks ago, thy can not find my order or locate it. So when i say cancel the damn thing, they say they cant as its in their automated system.
This is now in the hands of PayPal.
Utter rubbish

ugo.santalucia

The problem I find with big online retailers like CRC and Wiggle is that you always speak with some minimum wage guy in a call centre who is not willing to help at all and only does two or three things. 95% of the times all is smooth, but that one time, you have to deal with the same problems as talking to your insurance or utilities provider... answer phones, machines and idiots.

Whenever I can, I order with smaller shops, where you get to talk with somebody who understands what he's talking about and normally offers a sensible alternative/option if something turned out to be not in stock. Besides, most of them have an LBS presence, combined with the online retail unit, which makes them more human and less "tesco".

I like SPA Cycles, Sdeals, these kind of people

ilm_zero7

its a while since I dealt with CRC, but I did have to speak to them and they were fine on the phone, but of late I have been a Wiggle convert - they process your order quickly, post it quickly, let you know if it is incomplete, and dont deduct payment for stuff until it is ready to post...

for that reason i am a platinum customer - but other give excellent service too, like these guys
http://www.highonbikes.com/

markyone

My brake pads turned up wed after ordering tues morning,and i had some free gels.

asprilla

ILM Zero7 wrote:

for that reason i am a platinum customer - but other give excellent service too, like these guys
http://www.highonbikes.com/

Their eBay outlet is great for tyres.

jimmythecuckoo

Only had one experience with them and that was very rapid... maybe it depends on the product group you buy as to the service level?

ultimedia

I've used them on many occasions and seeing this topic surprised me. However I placed an order on Tuesday but I'm still waiting for the dispatch mail. Quite annoying because normally the do it really quickly.

letap73

Interesting thread this, I bought something from them and they seemed very little in the form of communication eg. the order has been made, the order has been posted etc. In comparison to wiggle and high on bikes postage was slow. However, what I bought had a rrp of £173, couldn't be bought elsewhere for less than £150 and I bought it for £72. Is the slow service compensation for a stonking great deal - I would say yes if the product lasts or you don't have to go through the faff of returning it.

JezC

I have used Chain Reaction Cycles for ages and never had a problem. Recently I have had two confused orders; one which didn't contain everything they said had been dispatched and the other with the wrong sizes in. Customer services were quick to send a replacement for the item missing but when it arrived it was also the wrong size.

I have returned everything; awaiting a refund and taking my business elsewhere.

Beatmaker

Well I gave CRC one more chance after the last order took over a week and I'm happy to say they redeemed themselves. Order placed Thursday night, dispatched Friday, received Saturday. Plus I got £130 worth of parts for £65

bus_ter

OK So I got my order in the end! It arrived next day after being sent 1st class, which would have been great if it hadn't been 'processing' for 14 Days!!

I'm going to stick with Wiggle from now on and only use CRC if there is a big saving and I can afford to wait more than a week...

turkeytickler

I always rated CRC No1 for speed of delivery until this year. Something has definitely changed there. I've made 3 orders this year, the first two of which I cancelled after waiting a week and still seeing it "Processing..." the third order took about 4 days to arrive, it was 2 tyres, each of which was delivered separately, by different couriers! I will avoid them in the future.

Shame really - wiggle and CRC used to be great, CRC are now slow, and Wiggle are often no cheaper than an LBS and seem to keep much less stock these days.

Maybe the LBS is having a resurgence!

steveplymouth

Same for me. I ordered some bit last Thursday morning (26th April) for next day before 12, had the email saying it will go out that day. so i took the day off and waited but it didn't show. When i rang them they said they were having some stock issues. They apologised and said the would send it out that day for Saturday delivery via Parcelforce.

Again it didnt show up:( so then sent off a snotty email on the following Monday and they replied that it would be sent out for delivery to me by Wed AM and i would be refunded the postage. So again take i the day off today and again it didn't show up. This time there was a problem at the airport and it wasn't their fault, however i was not aware of the delay until i emailed them on the weds afternoon asking where it was. There seems to be a bit of a breakdown in communication somewhere, not just to their customers but between their various departments too.

Obviously i am a bit pee'ed off to say the least that what should have been next day before 12 is actually taking six days!! (thats if it turns up tomorrow of course).

Nairnster

Well I ordered on Monday morning, a pair of sale mitts, and received them on Tuesday, with 2 free energy gels. Pretty good.

Though I do still have an order which shows as processing from back in January lol

Beatmaker

Though I do still have an order which shows as processing from back in January lol

:shock:

Nairnster

Ah should have said, I have received the items.

I did actaully try it on and tell them I hadnt received it yet, yet they confirmed it had been dispatched,and so I gave up. STrange they could 'tell' that, but their system obviously doesnt confirm it, or it wouldnt say processing?

Makes me a little sceptical that perhaps they pull this every now and again, as some people wont even complain.

jonomc4

Hey you think you had problems - you should see what happened when I ordered from Shiny Bikes - I posted about it here

viewtopic.php?f=40042&t=12851586

Got to say as someone else has posted here - I get an excellent price and free next day delivery from http://www.highonbikes.com/ - I really recommend them and prices are good often better than all the others on some items.