Are dotbike any good?

I have used dotbike and for the same reason as yourself.I got my cinelli ram bars from them. They were deliverd fairly quickly too and I would have no qualms about using them again.

I was recommended dotbike from others on this Forum who also had used them in the past.

Bought a Polaris cycle top from them recently, zip broke after about a week

posted it back to them, replacement one recieved back in only a few days, can't complain at that sort of service, so to me they seem OK

They are very good IF and only IF its in stock. Worth ringing to find out. I ordered a cassette, order processed but chased it a few days later to find it was out of stock and would be for some time. Cancelled the order and guess what, couple of days later they sent it anyway! All sorted fine and they were very courteous but hassle as I'd ordered it elsewhere in the meantime. But would use again.

Ordered a bottom bracket tool from them at a great price, fast delivery, good communication.

I generally really like Dotbike but my experience with them hasn't been quite as glowing as those above - I'm at the moment going through a really frustrating saga which I shouldn't go into the detail of without them here to defend themselves.

Even when things have been smooth, delivery times have been a bit slow, the first two things I ordered took a couple of weeks, the next few things were slow-ish, none of it really terrible but slower than everybody else. Ironically during the xmas rush delivery times were ok. Other than the two slow items and the one that I still haven't got after a month, everything else has arrived within a week.

It's encouraging to hear that normally they're reliable - part of the delay is the holiday, e.g. them not answering the phone for the last week and a half or so, but one thing I really can't stand in any business is taking the money, not mentioning they don't have a part in stock, and leaving you high and dry till they can deliver the goods at their convenience.

Websites that can indicate whether an item is in stock are a great thing - I do most surfing at night when there's no chance of ringing up to check whether the thing advertised actually exists, so I have to trust that a company won't just help themselves to the dosh and then deliver at their leisure.

"Their website does indicate stock status - is it not accurate?"

It doesn't say how many, it merely says "In stock - usually dispatched in 2-3 working days". That's stock status of sorts, and in the case of my last order, is not accurate.

I think "in stock" means "we can get it for you from somewhere, probably", and the word "usually" makes the undertaking a bit meaningless anyway. If a website specifies how many items in stock then there's more basis to make a judgement on whether you'll be messed about. Though I suppose it could still be inaccurate and could still mean "we can see if there's one in the attic and if not we'll set a passing snail on the case".

Over a month after the original order I've asked for a refund, but had no reply. I suppose they're still on holiday. I can't find where on their website they indicate when they'll be back to work.

If someone had paid me a month ago, I sent them the wrong item, then I went on holiday and left them to it, I'd be pretty keen to make amends. But then that's why I don't run a bike shop - I'd go out of business trying to be fair to people. You have to be a bit a bit ruthless to be in business, and that means occasionally crapping on a customer. As long as the average customer is happy the odd one out doesn't matter. I don't know yet whether that's indeed the situation, I'm sure when they eventually re-materialize there'll be some really good story as to why a month after an order I still have neither the item nor the refund.

The thing is, it's legally dodgy to say publicly that you've had a bad experience, hence I'm not going into detail about this - I've seen companies get away with seriously bad practice because they can threaten legal action even when they haven't a leg to stand on, and joe average doesn't have the time or a solicitor at the ready so shuts up.

Also, while I'm not hearing from them, I assume they got messed about in turn by their supplier, though I would really appreciate knowing that so as to cancel the sale. It's equally possible they sent the thing ages ago and it's still in the post...

Anyway, it's a long way from legal yet, it's nowhere near what I'd call dishonest, just slack so far. And a total pain dans le derriere for me, I've had a rim and a pile of spokes waiting for a month - SJS delivered spokes within two days, a pair of Ebay GP4s took about a week, I'm now still using the hefty wheel off my touring bike on an otherwise really nice race bike. Not life-threatening of course!

If anyone on here manages to get to speak to them on the phone, PLEASE tell me!!!

I think to some extent it's just the luck of the draw - any shop can c0ck up*, it's only after two or three bad experiences that I'd not recommend them. Apart from this ongoing wait of over a month, which is still ongoing... the deliveries I've had from them have never been quick, two of them were really slow, but then I like the fact that they give prices including postage - mostly I think their prices are about the same as Ribble, Parker and others with postage, so all it means is not wait till you've ordered the thing to find out what the postage is - what you see is what you pay. I quite like that, though it makes multiple purchases less of a saving.

Another thing - really good pictures are not only good eye candy but are more informative - the dotbike site is really good for that.


* (just avoiding the swear filter - it turns c0ck into "fool"!!!),

Raph wrote:

* (just avoiding the swear filter - it turns c0ck into "fool"!!!),

cock?

I wrote "cock up" and in the preview it came out as fool up. I definitely never typed "fool"!

Just checking - cock cock1 - hmmmm, again I didn't type "fool"!

So cock comes out as fool, yet cock? also comes out as cock ... I mean cock ... NO - COCK1!!! How did you manage to get cock? to come out as c0ck?

I give up! Try typing c0ck (I mean with proper spelling) and see what comes out.


I can investigate this till my hub (or refund) arrives - I've got lots of time!

Managed to speak to them today on the phone - their supplier had their warehouse totally destroyed by fire, coincidentally a couple of days before the huge one here in Warwickshire that was on the news... and had to re-locate in the week before Christmas. Combine that with them sending me the wrong hub by mistake in the first place (which did arrive fairly quickly), and it expains the month's delay. I'd really like to have been told about it rather than get total blackout but I understand they had a lot on their hands at the time.

Just got an email within a couple of hours of speaking to them, saying they've dispatched the correct hub today. Wow, I can finally get this back wheel built.