Negative experinences with online retailers

[andyhunter]

Shiny bikes are the worst company to order from, have no quality control checks, very poor to no customer service, run by a gangster of a manager.

I ordered 100 quid in tubular tyres, got wrong ones. Therefore i sent a email to customer service stating got wrong tyres and vent frustration in checking item. I posted the item at my expense £8 roughly for weight and having to have it tracked and compensation at £100 as their site states getting it tracked incase it lost they won't refund etc.
Item arrived too shiny bikes on sat which they don't accept sat deliveries then mon and tues no one would accept the goods so royal mail left a card. I had to do the chasing up and ringing 4 times to get a refund, i didn't get a refund on postage returned since it was there fault but i still scanned receipts and for proof as they did not believe what it cost and passed onto a manager in an email.

Advice whether you live uk, europe or abroad do not use this company. I have ordered thousands worth of goods before this and rather pay dearer else where for customer service and reliable correct orders.

[LocoDuck]

Oh bugger! I was going to buy a bike light from them as they seem to be cheap, may have to reconsider although i only intend on using them for this one transaction...

[yongkun]

Prices are cheap but customer service is horrible. They don't reply to my email; they sent back a repaired SRAM shifter to me, but to a wrong address based on tracking info, and the item was returned back to shiny again. But they make no effort to rectify and further communications were futile. I also had a case with them when I ordered a frame set from them and was wondering why after 2 weeks it was not shipped, I had to call them and they told me the lead time was around 3 months.. Without even letting me know..

I wouldn't want to purchase anything from them again. Absolutely nightmare.

[Valbrona]

And it is very difficult to get a refund out of Parkers. On the other hand, I have found that CRC give refunds promptly.

[mrfish]

Yes, Ribble too - the stitching on my top end Castelli shorts came apart after 1 week of riding. They refused to provide a refund until the Castelli rep had seen them and could not provide a date for his "viewing". After 3 weeks I called and spoke to the manager. In their favour they took a decision and sent out a replacement pair. But in their disfavour that had faulty printing all round the leg and was probably from the same faulty box as my original pair. But I'd had enough and gave up at that point.

What I find annoying is that the importer or manufacturer do not set up a fast and sensible warranty replacement process. For example Madison took about 3 months to warranty my DA shifters, involving postage between me, CRC and Madison, all of which puts the cost of service up significantly.

Otherwise I've had excellent service from CRC and Wiggle. Wiggle are a bit more expensive than other bargain shops, but consistently provide refunds / rectify mistakes without hassles.

[LionelB]

I had ordered many things from shinybikes over the years and they used to be good. I recently ordered some components and they were not that reliable and communication is horrible. Never tried a refund but I guess it would be a nightmare... They may have grown too fast. I noticed that they now carry a lot more stuff than they used to.

[swinter]

I want to share with all weight weenies my experience with Probikekit.com:

On 10 July, I ordered a pair of Castelli Free Aero Race Cycling Bib Shorts 3XL Black (yes, I'm that big) because they are really good in hot weather riding. I came home from a bike trip to find two packages delivered to my house on 17 July. I went to the Post Office to pick them up. Both were marked "1 of 1" with the same order number, but one of them had $51.80 postage due. I took the one without postage due -- figuring they were both the same and they had made a mistake. When I got home and opened it, I found a Pro Bike Kit thermo jersey in medium!

So, I contacted them to organize a return. They responded a week later asking if I could confirm the order number, just "to make sure you haven't received someone else parcel by mistake."

Well, duh!

So, I got back to them with the parcel number but told them that both parcels had the same number! I inquired about returning the jersey and also whether they would send the Castelli bib shorts or give me a refund.

In response, they asked me to "send in a picture of the jersey you received to care@probikekit.com quoting your order number and name. We can then decide the appropriate action for you."

I thought that was weird (as did American Express).

I sent them the picture. Five days later I was still waiting to hear back.

So I contacted them again. This time they said they were "investigating" the issue.

Twelve days later (12 August) I contacted them to ask what was going on.

The responded the next day (13 August): "I am sorry for the delay. I have now found that your parcel is being returned to us. Accordingly you will be refunded in full just as soon as the parcel arrives back in our warehouse. I would imagine this will be within the next fortnight."

Sounds good, but -- alas -- no refund. I contacted them the next day to explain -- once again! -- that there had been two parcels and that I was still waiting on an RMA number to return the second one. At which point they responded "Thank you for getting in touch about the second parcel. I am really sorry it arrived with you incorrectly. Your returns request has been approved" but voided the refund.

I mailed them back the second parcel on 16 August.

Now, of course, they claim they haven't received it -- do you believe them? -- and want me to prove that I sent it back. Of course, in the meantime AMEX (which has good customer service) has found that I am in the right and credited back my account. (Though I'm still out the nearly $20 for mailing the size medium thermo jersey back.)

So, let the buyer beware!

ADDENDUM: Today (12 Sept), 10 days after AMEX reversed the charges, I got an email from Probikekit saying my credit card has been reimbursed. Wouldn't you know it?

[bombertodd]

Sounds about right. I made a lot of orders with PBK the last couple of years but after they got bought out their whole company has suffered. I made two orders since they change and both took over a month to get to California. There are plenty of other good stores out there. Thanks for sharing your story.

[gazzaputt]

I've heard this about PBK and missing returns a little to much.

Evans online are dog awful. To many things to write about but never again for me

[kbbpll]

^^ Over a month to get to CA might be the new standard. I was getting wiggle orders in 9-10 days but my last one took a month to arrive in CO. I think there is a slowdown at customs lately. Unfortunately wiggle no longer has tracking so you can't watch your package sit in NY.

[ryker]

I cut ties with CRC after several poor orders. Imagine unpackaged cranks loose in a big box (bent tooth). Imagine two hubs unwrapped in a shoebox (scratched badly). Ordered front and rear brakes. Both were discontinued and they sent rear only because they ran out of fronts. They cancelled the front brake line item and shipped without contacting me. They were jerks about the return. I have returned a couple of things. In the case of their mistake they are supposed to refund return shipping but didn't happen for me. I could go on but I try to forget.

No problems with other retailers come to mind and certainly no repeat problems.

[bombertodd]

^^ Over a month to get to CA might be the new standard. I was getting wiggle orders in 9-10 days but my last one took a month to arrive in CO. I think there is a slowdown at customs lately. Unfortunately wiggle no longer has tracking so you can't watch your package sit in NY.

I had and order from Wiggle and CRC this last month and both made to my door in less than 10 business days. If there is a delay in customs I hope it was just a temporary glitch. Although my friend is still waiting on his tires from PBK that he ordered at the end of July. He was pretty pissed when my Wiggle and CRC stuff showed up first since I ordered about two weeks after him.

[kbbpll]

Hope it was a temporary glitch then, post office said customs was taking a long time, this was a couple months ago. Got tires from PBK about 6 months ago and arrived less than two weeks, but I don't use PBK that much. I guess I resist blaming the retailer in some delivery situations. On the "negative experience" topic, Wiggle uses really flimsy boxes and doesn't secure small parts within. I had a crank tool disappear out a hole punched in the box. To their credit, Wiggle sent a replacement no questions asked.

[Wingnut]

For me so far Wiggle and Rapha are excellent to deal with when it comes to returns...JensonUSA have been good...Ribble not too bad...

[Sykes]

I have had good experiences with returning incorrect items to both Wiggle and PBK. Both refunded my return shipping costs. PBK did take a little more work, but they always reply to emails within 24hrs and I never felt like I was being given the run around.