Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

[Max]

They really need to lift there customer service game. Back to overseas shops for me. Better service and quicker delivery.

Never once have Cell answered any of my pre-sales questions. It's like emails sent directly or via the contact page go into some giant black hole.

Despite my experience with pre-sales help, the actual sales and post-sales process has been OK for me, for the most part. Except for my most recent order, other Cell orders have been shipped the next day after placing the order. When this most recent order was on hold "awaiting fulfilment", I knew there was no point sending an email about it. I decided to just wait it out. A week later, it was shipped and with me the next day.

I try to support local online businesses, but unfortunately the pre-sales experience I have had with Cell is not uncommon. I've lost count of how many times I've sent emails to businesses asking if such-and-such an item is in stock, never to get a reply.

I've had generally good experiences with Wiggle. The only time it's taken more than a week to arrive was in January, due to the flooding. I can cope with that

Max

[Comedian]

The problem I've had with Cell is that often they don't include all the goods in the order. You send them an email and they send what they forgot without hassle but it's a little annoying. I'm still using them though.

[toppity]

They really need to lift there customer service game. Back to overseas shops for me. Better service and quicker delivery.

Never once have Cell answered any of my pre-sales questions. It's like emails sent directly or via the contact page go into some giant black hole.

Despite my experience with pre-sales help, the actual sales and post-sales process has been OK for me, for the most part. Except for my most recent order, other Cell orders have been shipped the next day after placing the order. When this most recent order was on hold "awaiting fulfilment", I knew there was no point sending an email about it. I decided to just wait it out. A week later, it was shipped and with me the next day.

I try to support local online businesses, but unfortunately the pre-sales experience I have had with Cell is not uncommon. I've lost count of how many times I've sent emails to businesses asking if such-and-such an item is in stock, never to get a reply.

I've had generally good experiences with Wiggle. The only time it's taken more than a week to arrive was in January, due to the flooding. I can cope with that

Max

I placed an order with them a couple of weeks ago. Got the ol' "awaiting fulfilment" line and sent them an email cancelling the order. They accpeted the cancellation and sent a seperate email to advise the credit. So I can't complain about their communication.

[Mustang]

Ordered a small size TDU jersey from "Cycling Central". It was too tight, they accepted the return at their expense & will send another asap.

[Matt72]

Www.this link is broken
Ordered helmet, shorts and gloves Sunday last week and they were delivered today(Sunday). Awesome service by them and the local courier.

[HAKS]

My replacement bars are on the way back to c r c for a refund. Lack of communication between departments was the likely root of the stuff up. Regarding the refund had I chosen to accept the replacement bars, well according to them I was supposed to cop it on the chin. There reasoning was "if we had given you a higher spec model we would have covered the price difference, likewise we expect you to cover the difference when a lower spec item is sent out as the replacement". Even though it doesn't matter as I am seeking a full refund I told them politely what I think about that . Now to wait another few weeks while the bars make the trek back to the UK

[Phill_B_34]

http://Www.this link is broken
Ordered helmet, shorts and gloves Sunday last week and they were delivered today(Sunday). Awesome service by them and the local courier.

Another c r c tale.

Ordered some cleaning stuff and lube on 26/1/11 and delivered today, 7/2/11. 12 days. Not as fast as Wiggle, but not bad.
Packing was very ordinary, brushes and tubes/containers were just put in a box with no packing so they just bounced around in there, nothing could brake but still a bit of newspaper or foam wouldn't go astray.

[Matt72]

Got some shorts and a jersey from Jensen.
Everything was perfect but the sizing is wrong. I stupidly read reviews by Yanks saying to go up 2 sizes.
Anyways it cost $20 in shipping to me and will be about $40 to send it back so rather than do that I was thinking I will sell them on ebay or here. Is it against rules to offer items for sale here?

[m@]

Got some shorts and a jersey from Jensen.
Everything was perfect but the sizing is wrong. I stupidly read reviews by Yanks saying to go up 2 sizes.
Anyways it cost $20 in shipping to me and will be about $40 to send it back so rather than do that I was thinking I will sell them on ebay or here. Is it against rules to offer items for sale here?

Not at all... in fact there's even a subforum for classifieds - linky

[Matt72]

Got some shorts and a jersey from Jensen.
Everything was perfect but the sizing is wrong. I stupidly read reviews by Yanks saying to go up 2 sizes.
Anyways it cost $20 in shipping to me and will be about $40 to send it back so rather than do that I was thinking I will sell them on ebay or here. Is it against rules to offer items for sale here?

Not at all... in fact there's even a subforum for classifieds - linky

Thanks for the tip

[queequeg]

More good service from c r c.

Ordered on Friday, despatched on Monday, arrived today. 6 days total.

[gururug]

Another cell order - "awaiting fulfillment" for 10 days. On the upside, delivery is swift and reliable once they are packed.

No contact from them and no response to an email/ticket in 24 hours.

This will be the last purchase I make with Cell.

Cell, it will serve your business well to notify customers of delays and ETA for delivery.

You should also update your policy as from my experience you do not separate items and ship backorder equipment separately as you claim. You obviously have some staffing and technical issues that are bringing down your reputation and effecting sales.

$528 spent with you this year so far and no more, sorry.

[gsmith]

Another cell order - "awaiting fulfillment" for 10 days. On the upside, delivery is swift and reliable once they are packed.

16 days awaiting fulfillment here...

[neomoz]

c r c = bad experience with a return

- bought set of FSA carbon handlebars in Feb 2010. In early Dec I noticed cracks around the stem mounting area. Sent photos to c r c who forwarded them to FSA, then said return them for inspection at my own cost.
- took over a month to get to the UK, not their fault though.
- notified 2 weeks ago they had arrived and had been sent to FSA. Could take up to 3 weeks to hear back from FSA but they would keep me in the loop.
- I hear nothing for 2 weeks, only to arrive home today and find a FSA box from c r c on my doorstep. Open it up and there is a set of lower spec'd FSA bars in there. Problem is they are a) not the shape I prefer b) do not have flat tops which I prefer and c) do not have internal cable routing (don't really care about this one). The whole reason I bought the FSA bars in the first place was for points a and b above. They have been the most comfortable bars over the past year and hence I am not happy with the replacement model.
- To make matters worse, there is a 25pound difference in my favour between the original bars and replacement ones, to which I have not seen a cent of yet. They even state on the invoice I am owed 25pounds yet have no bothered to contact me since dispatching the replacement bars last week nor has my paypal account been refunded.
- I also clearly stated on the returns form I wanted either the exact same model or a refund in the form of c r c vouchers so buy another brand but with similar features. They have ignored both of these options.

Anyway, waiting for their reply now but overall not a satisfactory experience from my point of view and at a minimum looks like I will be without comfy bars for another month at best.

Pretty crappy story, but to be fair this is again another case against carbon handlebars, I've heard and seen to many stories of cracks and failures with carbon bars, don't see the point really when you can get a decent alu bar at close the same weight with vastly superior durability.

[tallywhacker]

just had a surprisingly good experience with Comcycle in the US. Ordered a nice shiny set of 700c rims, yesterday I received one 700c and one 27" rim. Emailed them last night, got a quick reply. They will send a replacement 700c rim no charge and dont worry about sending the wrong one back, just send a photo of the sticker. They said consider it a present for their stuffup, us it on another build or sell it.

[HAKS]

Pretty crappy story, but to be fair this is again another case against carbon handlebars, I've heard and seen to many stories of cracks and failures with carbon bars, don't see the point really when you can get a decent alu bar at close the same weight with vastly superior durability.

I agree, however I can't get the shape/features I prefer in Alu . Waiting for my refund then going to Wiggle for the parts I need + new bars.

[whitey]

Another cell order - "awaiting fulfillment" for 10 days. On the upside, delivery is swift and reliable once they are packed.

No contact from them and no response to an email/ticket in 24 hours.

.

Shame, I was just about to order some tires and stuff. Well back to Wiggle then

[BigVin]

Ordered from Cyclestore.uk Sunday nite (Perth time) - goods dispatched UK Monday morning, landed in Perth on Wed, got them today.
UK service was awesome - Aussie service was typical pathetic Aussie style. 3 days from the UK to Australia, another 2 days to travel 40ks down the freeway.

[backslashio]

I got an email from Samewood saying my order has been shipped and at the bottom of it, it says:

"PS:if you have not checked out yet,please ignore this message"

I have not checked out as I was merely trying to see what the final total would be before I submitted payment. Now I'm wondering if I should just wait and see if I receive something Seems slightly clumsy to get a shipment notice for something that hasn't been shipped

Also I had to swap something with Cellbikes and their communication was "okay" but not great. Usually very long delays between emails (like days) and was annoyed they didn't accept bank deposit/paypal if you realised you wanted to buy something additional to add to your "yet to be shipped" order. I wanted to add a $5 bottle cage but they told me I'd have to make another order (which would cost another $10 for p&h). Not good enough imo

[esky64]

Yep I'm now waiting just over a month now
Never never will I buy from them again
I love Wiggles and PBK most times if you order Sunday I have product by friday good on the to stores
If you need something soon DON'T buy from c r c

c r c order with free postage:

Ordered Tues 23rd evening AEST
Order dispatched Tues 23rd UK Time
Order Received Mon 29th AM AEST

c r c order

Ordered Tue 16th evening
Order dispatched Wed 17th UK Time
Order not yet received

Have just sent them an email. Have made numerous orders with Wiggle and all have taken only week or just over to deliver.

PS. They have now stopped replying to emails

[}SkOrPn--7]

Yep I'm now waiting just over a month now
Never never will I buy from them again
If you need something soon DON'T buy from c r c

Holy crap bud you must be the unluckiest one around and many of the other folks here as I have in the last 2 months received 5 boxes from c r c all delivered under 8 days bar one box it took ten days and when I signed for one box I asked if the other big box in the van was mine and it wasn't. Made me smile thinking someone close by me making big orders from them as well and I guess it was a set of rims this other person purchased.

[GaryFM]

Had an Wiggle order that went missing in the post. I emailed and they re-sent the order without issue. Of course two days later the original parcel arrived.

I advised wiggle and they said send the 2nd parcel back to them when it arrives and they will credit any postal charges back. Did so and within 24hrs they had credited my cc.

I could have just kept the first parcel and kept quiet but believe in honesty. Wiggle did the honest thing by sending the 2nd parcel just on my word.

Any company can do the right thing when things go right. Great companies shine when things go wrong.

Thumbs up for Wiggle (I have written previously on a negative Cell experience)

Gary

[gururug]

wheelbuilder.com - their reputation stands, can testament to their quality and service. Simply outstanding if you must have a custom wheelset. 9 days turnaround and they had to order the hubs!!!

wiggle - great speed, good prices, good communication, good service
ribble - pretty quick too with great prices
c r c - great range but packing / stock delays
pbk - pretty good, good communication, slow shipping at times
cell - still no reply

[nickj_d]

Ordered gatorade powder mix in bulk from gatorade.com.au. Order emailed off thursday last week, delivery arrived today. Price comes out to 80c/Litre. Very happy

[alexf]

Another thumbs up for Wiggle.

Parcel ordered early January. Hasn't turned up, they offered a prompt refund yesterday.

Ribble: Fast, courier delivery. They responded to one of my enquiries quite quickly as well.

Cell: Two orders, both dispatched within a few days and at my door the next day.

Velogear: No problems as well.

Torpedo7: Pretty good customer service, fairly quick dispatch.