Online Retailers - Great, Average, Poor Customer Service

intheknowcycling.com
intheknowcycling.com Posts: 75
edited June 2014 in Road buying advice
Hi,

I'd love to know which online retailers you've bought cycling gear from in the last 6 months or so who you've have had a great, average or poor customer service experience with and why?

Thanks,
Steve

Comments

  • gethinceri
    gethinceri Posts: 1,517
    Rose.
    Perfect customer service, in every way.
  • wishitwasallflat
    wishitwasallflat Posts: 2,927
    Wiggle - faultless even when dealing with expensive packages that never arrived.
  • mercia_man
    mercia_man Posts: 1,431
    I've consistently had good service from Wiggle, Total Cycling, Merlin, Planet X , High On Bikes, Chain Reaction, Ribble and PBK (before the recent takeover).

    I was impressed with Evans a couple of weeks ago for the way in which a problem was sorted without hassle. I ordered some SKS mudguards for 20 inch wheels. Four self-tapping screws and two front quick release clips were missing. The package had already been opened and I reckon someone had previously returned the guards and forgotten to enclose the missing items. A phone call to Evans and they told me to keep the original order and they would send a replacement. That arrived two days later. So I have a spare set of guards and stays.

    Planet X and Wiggle have also both been good to deal with when ordered items were damaged or wrong.
  • sloppyschleckonds
    sloppyschleckonds Posts: 8,019
    intheknowcycling.com wrote:
    Hi,

    I'd love to know which online retailers you've bought cycling gear from in the last 6 months or so who you've have had a great, average or poor customer service experience with and why?

    Thanks,
    Steve

    For someone claiming to be ITK, you do ask a lot of questions.
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • intheknowcycling.com
    intheknowcycling.com Posts: 75
    Sloppy - Just trying to learn from others' experiences beyond my own and those I've talked with over the years. That's what's great about this forum. A lot of people are willing to share their perspectives and experience. Continually asking and learning puts me and all of us more in the know.

    Would welcome reading about yours and others' experiences with online cycling retailers - good, bad or average. Thanks to those who've responded so far. Steve
  • opus25
    opus25 Posts: 36
    Evans - online and collected in-store (Manchester) and they have always been great. No issues so can't comment on that side of things.

    Wiggle - bought my beginner bike and a number of other bits along the way. Also never had a problem.

    Winstanleys - just spent almost 2k on a new bike and other bits. Was a bit nervous having not used them before and me being in a remote part of China. They were great over the email and the bike arrived fantastically packed without a scratch.

    I appreciate it's hard to know just how good customer service is until there's a problem but it's also better to not have a problem than trying to fix it afterwards, so it's a thumbs up from that aspect.

    I've also bought from a number of things from shops around the country on Taobao (eBay-ish equivalent) here but you're not likely to be using them anytime soon.
    Felt F3 Di2 (2013) : Moser Speed Sora (2012) : Cruising the roads of China
  • kettrinboy
    kettrinboy Posts: 613
    My no 1 supplier is Wiggle used them for 7+ yrs and 20+ orders , hardly any problems that I can remember apart from a missing item on a recent order that a quick e-mail sorted fast , have also recently used Merlin as they had a pair of Shim DA9000 C50 wheels for £100 less than Wiggle and they came fast with 1hr delivery window on next day delivery , Evans again 1 hr delivery window on next day and came correct and on time.
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Chain Reaction, 2 orders in the last 3 months both delivered really fast and correctly.
  • top_bhoy
    top_bhoy Posts: 1,424
    I bought a Sportful jersey which had a problem after only one wear. I won't go into the nature of the problem here but it wasn't necessarily the fault of the retailer. However, I wanted to know who to contact at the manufacturer and make my complaint to them and give some customer feedback. It was my first ever purchase from Merlin but sadly in spite of follow-up emails, Merlin don't seem too bothered about my damaged jersey and for that reason, they lose me on their customer service. Wiggle have always given me excellent customer service and support over the years.
    Click here to view Top_Bhoys Pedal Force:
    Click here to view Top_Bhoys RC2:
  • joshvoulters
    joshvoulters Posts: 97
    Merlin are consistently outstanding. Didn't expect them to be on the level of Wiggle when I first used them, but they really are excellent. Items often ship a couple of hours after payment, you can always call and speak to a real person too.
  • iga
    iga Posts: 155
    St John Street Cycles - truly outstanding customer service. A rear brake bridge support for my rear mudgaurd was out of stock with them but their supplier kept on putting back the delivery date and eventually sent SJS the wrong size. This would usually be cause for complaint and taking my custom elsewhere. But they were pro-active in keeping me informed, were polite and apologetic so kept me a happy customer.
    FCN 7
    Aravis Audax, Moulton TSR
  • mulletmaster
    mulletmaster Posts: 502
    Merlin cycles- fantastic quick return without very much communication
  • Tjgoodhew
    Tjgoodhew Posts: 628
    Very good recent experience with Canyon. Visited their Base in Majorca and they were great even tho i changed my mind numerous times on what bike i wanted to hire and for what period of time. They also gave me a £50 discount code to use if i decided to buy a bike

    When i got back ordered a frameset as the full bike i wanted was sold out. I then noticed they had a full bike back in stock and they were more than happy to change to order.

    Bike arrived Wednesday and very happy with it - communication throughout excellent and from changing the order to receiving the bike was 7 working days
    Cannondale Caad8
    Canyon Aeroad 8.0

    http://www.strava.com/athletes/goodhewt
  • Grill
    Grill Posts: 5,610
    In the past year I've ordered from Merlin, Wiggle, ProBikeKit, ChainReaction, Ribble, Planet-X, Rose, Bike-24.de, Bike-Discount.de, Evans, Westbrook, Freeborn and ACycles. No problem with any of them.
    English Cycles V3 | Cervelo P5 | Cervelo T4 | Trek Domane Koppenberg
  • Miles253
    Miles253 Posts: 535
    Wiggle, Probikekit, Chain Reaction, Tredz, Ribble, all have provided good service to me.
    Canyon Roadlite AL-Shamal Wheels-Centaur/Veloce Group
    Canyon Ult CF SL- Spin Koppenberg-Ultegra group
  • intheknowcycling.com
    intheknowcycling.com Posts: 75
    Thanks for all of your replies. Good to hear about your positive experience with these online retailers. Anyone have any experience with Bling Bike Kit, Cyclestore, Hargroves, Leisure Lakes Bikes, Slane, ShinyBikes or any US based online retailers like JensonUSA, Competitive Cyclist, Performance Bike, Arts Cyclery, Planet Cyclery or others? I've had good success with some of these but wondered what your experience has been with these or others? Any elsewhere in EU beyond those Grill mentioned? Any Aussie ones? Any niche cycling shops or smaller IBD stores that also sell online that you particularly like? Thanks
  • bendertherobot
    bendertherobot Posts: 11,684
    I've never had a bad experience with anyone. Though Wiggle are easily the best.

    This week I've ordered from Wiggle and PBK on next day deliveries. BOTH have failed because we are a new build. But a quick call to both companies (UK Mail and Yodel) saw both drivers go out of their way to come back to deliver. Which is unusual!
    My blog: http://www.roubaixcycling.cc (kit reviews and other musings)
    https://twitter.com/roubaixcc
    Facebook? No. Just say no.
  • Chastise1943
    Chastise1943 Posts: 40
    Probikekit have driven me up the wall recently. I'll never use them again after these 2 shambolic episodes, the subject of a recent post...

    I've used PBK a lot in the last few years. In the main with no problem. But 2 recent purchases have been so irritating I feel compelled to flag up their incompetence. First £600 Cosmic Carbone wheels. Yes, a good price but packed so poorly the box arrived punctured on both sides with paint damage to spokes some of which were bent. There were various other marks and dings on the rims and hubs. Not a big deal. But not what you expect if you're buying new wheels. The normal round black hub protector caps were missing. And there were 2 front skewers - meaning I had to get a rear myself to use them. They looked like they were returns. I asked for a new set from PBK or £100 off the price. PBK's response - go and get the wheels fixed and we'll pay for the repairs! They insisted. So after 2 trips, I got Sigma Sport to true the wheels but was left with paint damaged spokes and various other marks to the rims and hubs they couldn't deal with. Sigma thought PBK's policy bizarre. I thought it was a joke. I got £50 back. Then in April I ordered 2 pairs of bib shorts but was only sent one. 2 months, 5 phone calls and countless emails later, I'm still waiting for a part refund without any reasonable explanation. Yes 5 phone calls. Enough. I'll never buy from PBK again.
  • kajjal
    kajjal Posts: 3,380
    SloppySchleckonds wrote:
    intheknowcycling.com wrote:
    Hi,

    I'd love to know which online retailers you've bought cycling gear from in the last 6 months or so who you've have had a great, average or poor customer service experience with and why?

    Thanks,
    Steve

    For someone claiming to be ITK, you do ask a lot of questions.

    It's just a company gathering information. Not unusual on the web these days. Cycling forums are a good source of free marketing information.
  • finlayson99
    finlayson99 Posts: 213
    CRC, Merlin & Wiggle for me
    SC Heckler
    Chopper Mk2
    Grifter
    Merlin Malt-CR
    Revolution Courier 2

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