Spybike / Integrated Trackers: problem with delivery?

bowzee
bowzee Posts: 9
edited February 2016 in MTB buying advice
Does anyone have reputation information on Integrated Trackers (aka gpstrackthis) ? I placed an order on their site for a Spybike device three months ago and never received it. According to the tracking information (from the number provided by them) my address on the package was incorrect. I have tried:

1) their phone and Skype:
    -> nobody answered (I tried many times on several dates);

2) their emails (I tried several, only one answered):
    -> I got this reply from someone called Harley a month ago:
"Hi we are checking with our warehouse now to see if it has come back to them and we will check the address and resend";

3) and of course, I was never refunded.

Is this a reputable business? Does anyone have any suggestion?

Comments

  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    How did you pay?
    I hate to state the obvious, but why wait three months? A week and I would be opening a Paypal case.
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

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  • bowzee
    bowzee Posts: 9
    Hi cooldad, thank you for your reply. I paid using PayPal but it ( literally ) takes about two and a half months for regular mail to arrive here where I live (Brazil). So PayPal's time-frame does not make sense.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    edited October 2013
    I don't do Twitter, but you could post some snotty remarks on their Twitter thing
    https://twitter.com/intent/follow?origi ... ariant=2.0
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • bowzee
    bowzee Posts: 9
    Hi cooldad, HAHAHA! I am going to think about this! From my point of view it seems like they have no customer service whatsoever.
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    They should have turned it on before posting.
  • bowzee
    bowzee Posts: 9
    Hi supersonic, Indeed! HAHAH!

    On the other hand, they didn't forget to leave the PayPal billing service running...!
  • Ha yeah... slightly ironic.
    Not sure i'd want them to track my bike if they can even track their own stuff!
  • The Northern Monkey, HAHAHA!

    It gets worse, it just occurred to me that I could also check with the Royal Mail, and this showed up:

      A delivery was attempted for your item with reference RQ378048769GB in NATIONAL RETURN CENTRE before 09:23 on 23/10/13. If the addressee does not collect it or make an arrangement to have it redelivered, it will be returned to the sender in the UK.


    So I guess that there are only a finite number of possibilities, and I am afraid, all have the word "wrong" in them:

    1) the return address on the package was also wrong, so it never got returned to sender;

    2) the package was returned to sender after the date that showed up on Royal Mail's site and writing my address wrong on it was a method to pocket the money for the device;

    3) the package was returned but, due wrong administration practices, they suffer from lack of human resources and/or customer support, and I will never get refunded;

    4) They went bankrupt and now a person that does not speak English but seems to be called Wong opened a dry cleaning place at their address.
  • For anyone interested, I have not been refunded or even contacted by Integrated Trackers. And the package still seems to be unclaimed and in possession of the Royal Mail.

    Additionally, I ended up buying a tracking device from a Chinese company called Gainbridge (easy to find using Google), which sells something similar to (or a knockoff of) the Spylamp, meaning a GPS tracker disguised as a bicycle tail light. They offer cheap expedited non-EMS shipping which is very convenient. After a few hours and e-mails I was able to make it work in Brazil, where I live, using a bizarre format for the "master" phone number like this: +550aabbbbbbbbb where aa is the area code and bbbbbbbbb is the local number of this "master". It seems to do what it promisses. But, it has a major drawback, it is pretty big, so whoever steals the bike will probably get curious... It is easy to note the size difference from the images of both products on the Internet.
  • FWIW, I had *excellent* customer service from Integrated Trackers when I had problems with my Spybike, which included sending out replacement batteries, a replacement unit, and eventually swapping it for a Spylamp2. But then I had the advantage of living in the same country as IT, and I suspect that the postal service is cheaper/faster/more reliable as a result.
    They use their cars as shopping baskets; they use their cars as overcoats.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Hello again.
    Who would have thought it? The Official Spybike Defender.
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • Hello George,

    Apologies for the postage issue. I have refunded your transaction. We are going to update the customer notification system to ensure customers are notified earlier of any delivery issue.

    We do get a few packages go missing sometimes, very sorry to take so long.

    Gainbridge is a knockoff of our product. They have copied the brand name, functionality and even copy-pasted the Engish description from our website! The thing does look pretty massive, miniaturisation was one of the biggest design obstacles we had to overcome making it.

    Thankyou for your consideration and very sorry you did not recieve the product

    Kind regards,
    Harley
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Wayyy too little, wayyy too late. IMHO.
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • bowzee
    bowzee Posts: 9
    @marleydc

    I received no refund whatsoever. Please clarify.

    Why would you reply to a forum post instead of to an e-mail or to a request made on your customer-service-bottomless-message-pit? And why would that make any sense to anyone with age above 12?

    BTW the Chinese tracker is the only one that works because your device did not get delivered.

    Feel free to contact me. If by any chance I am mistaken about the refund I will post about it here.

    bowzee
  • bowzee
    bowzee Posts: 9
    Just updating, for anyone interested, I got refunded today. I received an e-mail regarding one of the customer support tickets opened by me on their site, asking if the issue had been resolved, and after I replied "no", they refunded me.

    Again, for anyone interested, it took them more than seven months to solve the problem (Aug-19-2013 to Apr-2-2014).
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    Nothing like a bit of adverse publicity
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools
  • When I initially purchased mine four years ago it was also a long time before they sent it . I have been trying to contact them for around three months now. They have a new website that doesnt work correctly and they advertise an online support chat but it is never connected....all I want to buy is a new battery as the present one only last for three days. I have emailed them and I get no reply - I used their online form and get no reply - I tried calling their phone number and it is disconnected - does anyone know what has happened? It is an excellent product and has saved my bike twice during a tour throughout all of france and spain.
  • The Rookie
    The Rookie Posts: 27,812
    Saved your bike as in it was stolen and you got it back?
    Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.
  • cooldad
    cooldad Posts: 32,599
    You could find numbers and phone the owners direct - tell them their service is rubbish.

    Current Directors

    Title
    Mr
    Function
    Director

    Name
    Harley Clark
    Nationality
    New Zealander

    Date of Birth
    02/1975
    Present Appointments
    1

    Latest Address
    152 City Road, London
    Appointment Date
    25/06/2007

    Post Code
    EC1V 2NX

    Other Actions
    View Director Report
    View Consumer Report
    View AML Report

    View Trace Report
    View Compliance Report





    Title
    Mrs
    Function
    Director

    Name
    Lucy Clark
    Nationality
    British

    Date of Birth
    10/1978
    Present Appointments
    1

    Latest Address
    51 Dunvegan Road, London
    Appointment Date
    01/07/2014

    Post Code
    SE9 1RZ
    I don't do smileys.

    There is no secret ingredient - Kung Fu Panda

    London Calling on Facebook

    Parktools