Noahs Ark in Stroud were real good when I took the other half to get a bike to go on the trails with. Spent loads of time with her and made her feel welcome.
and CRC and Superstar have been good with orders ive done recently.
Noahs Ark in Stroud were real good when I took the other half to get a bike to go on the trails with. Spent loads of time with her and made her feel welcome.
and CRC and Superstar have been good with orders ive done recently.
This year,
Hope
Evans cycles
Planet x
my LBS, Cyclopedia Watford
Totally opposite to my experience - slow, forget to order stuff, never have anything in that I'd want (XT rear mech or cassette, SRAM chain - hardly exotic), incompetent servicing, and just trying to pay for something on a Saturday takes an age. Oh, and they're invariably more expensive than anywhere on the Web, which wouldn't necessarily be the biggest of problems, but there's a persistent response of "ooh, we'll have to order that...it'll take about a week". If it's got to be ordered in, and I have to make a special trip there on a Saturday, to take an age to pay more than I would with Wiggle/Merlin/Chain Reaction, what service is the LBS providing?
I've spent a chunk of money there in the past, but never again.
The best customer service I have had is from you crazy lot!
I only started this off-raod lark about 10 months ago and in that time you have supplied me with bits to build up a bike, kit/spares and knowledge of how to do repairs/maintenance.
I've also been on a ride-out (SDW in a day) which was brilliant fun.
I've posted some pretty daft/weird questions and always, without fail got a reply that has helped solve the problem (and/or made me laugh).
Can't fault that really.
Smudge/mtbbatteries.co.uk:
Bought one of his XML T6 lights & the battery pack died half way through it's second outing. Emailed him when I got back (~11pm) & had a reply in 5 mins to say sorry & that a replacement battery pack was boxed up & ready for the post office the next day. Arrived with me the day after & in plenty of time for the weekend's evening outing.
In stark contrast to my 2 friends who've bought the £30 ebay jobbies from china/HK. The charger exploded 10 mins into the first charge for one and the other's battery pack died. He's still not heard anything r/e warranty well over a week later.
I've thus-far restrained myself from pointing out that the slightly higher price from good UK sellers means a decent warranty & inspected chargers.
Planet X
Specialized - forks from a spesh allez elite had a hairline crack in the steerer. This was almost two years old but still under warranty.
They couldn't give me a matching allez elite fork due to the change in paint finishes since I got my model so they sent me the closest match they could find which was an SL2 fork.
Billy Bilsland sorted me out when i'd just started cycling and had tried to adjust the gears on my bike without having a clue what I was doing and totally kackered the indexing.
He fixed it up for me and I asked him if it needed anything he said "oil and a scrubbing brush" but wouldn't take any money
Trevor and Barry at Evans Cycles Croydon...
...not really
By the way, guys that haggle for every last penny need to get a reality check.
A friend of mine used to have a wee bike shop and had no end of punters coming in with their several hundred pound bikes arguing that they could get GT85 50p cheaper on line.
Fair enough, buy on-line or for a high cost item may ask for a price match or a bit of discount - if the shop can't do it then fair enough but for bits and pieces it is downright ignorant IMO
I had a couple of nightmares with CRC at the start of the year but the 2 items I've bought recently have arrived in less than 24 hrs.
UK Bikestore - bought several items on 3 different occasions recently and all arrived next day except one which was a special order Hope item and arrived in less than a week. There was a problem with that item and they got it sorted with Hope very quickly. They need to sort out their phone though - it is always engaged.
Used these people recently and they just did what an online shop should do and sent the stuff out quickly, kept me informed and the prices were great and free postage.
http://www.cyclesportsuk.co.uk/index.php
Picked up 10m of SP41 outer for £19, Shimano stainless inners for £1.50 each and HTII pre-load bolts for £1.60 - they often do an extra 10% off all orders which is what I used to get those prices.
Best "customer service" I experienced was on last week's tuesday night ride, we were sneaking out along a private lane, one which has a sign at the other end declaring "No right of way" when we met the farmer at the gate.
Expecting a bollocking we had a really nice chat where he informed us that the sign was not a keep out but just to make sure no one claimed right of way (he'd had some trouble with a now dead Centre Parcs development plan in the past or something), anyway he said, I'm just the custodian of this land while I'm here, you're welcome to ride through anytime you like.
Absolutely lovely bloke, wish more people were like that.
USE - ultimate sports engineering, quick and easy to deal with, helps they have incredibly good products.
and Alpkit has to get it for me. Never ever ever had a problem. If I can, will always buy from them, and regularly look for things to buy because I know the service will be great!
I'm just the custodian of this land while I'm here, you're welcome to ride through anytime you like.
http://www.bikesyoulike.co.uk and their shop Thattos Cycles, our LBS but do loads on line through their website too. Paul who runs the shop is very good and will bend over backwards for his customers. Always get good deals, and if we need something he doesn't stock he'll get it in for us.
CRC - I've ordered a lot from them over the last few months, they've been excellent.
Wiggle - one order was late shipping, a very apologetic email and free Haribo. Apart from that they've been fine.
My LBS, Zero G in Downend Bristol - very helpful and friendly staff.
I have always had good service from CRC, on-one and Merlin. This includes hassle free orders on-line, ordering over the phone and when i have had queries.
Never had a problem with any to be honest, including DX queries.
Holiday-wise:
The White Room in the French Alps.
Always flexible and go out of their way to accommodate, plus launched a bike rescue mission on the side of mountain in pitch black after mine went 'sight-seeing'.
Specialized - replaced broken sworks shoes foc - amazing! also replaced broken sworks helmet! amazing service!
Formula - sent me some washers and bolts for aligning calipers FOC
Cyclestore - always amazing service whether in shop or online
Gore bike wear - replaced a alp x jersey due to ko'd zip
Silverfish - prioritised some formula spares for me to arrive at shop urgent as i was going on a trip away - it worked and they saved my bacon, also very responsive on emails and even naff questions about lubes etc
Darkside content; Epic Cycles. Popped in unannounced when they were flat out re-stocking etc. Then spent an hour with me talking road bikes (not my forte), really enthusiastic and encouraging. Bought a lovely Orbea from them and they then spent ages discussing every aspect of its spec (couldnt do me a "fit" without pre-booking but recommended a change of stem), upgraded the wheels at difference in cost price (Orange Hope upgraders take note).
Classy and welcoming shop, classy website (take their own pics dont use manufacturer stock etc).
Complete contrast to twentythreeC my local Orbea dealer, who acted as if I'd walked into a private club uninvited
Bike & Run in North London shire.
top shop(s).
On-One/Planet X. Lightning fast delivery, keeping you informed every step of the way.
I visited their showroom while I was up in t'Peaks on holiday last week and their customer service there was a cut above there as well.
Wight Mountain in Newport, IOW, for their can-do attitude and sensibly priced approach to fixing the bits of my bike that I've broke trying to fix. Incredibly quick turnaround, too. Great bunch of lads.
Biketraks in Gt. Ayton; emergency wheel build as I was going away on Saturday morning; dropped off the wheel at closing time on Friday and picked it up when they opened on Saturday morning...
Hope - I submitted an enquiry on the website as I thought the wear rate was a bit fast for sintered pads; 10 mins later someone had phoned me up and arranged to send out a new set FoC..
Err....Charlie Bike Monger gets my "big-up" Friendly & efficient service before & after buying a bike from him. I'd definitely use his shop again.
D.
Koobikes - fastest receipt of order to dispatch to delivery I've ever had online (sub 24hr) and for free with the option of free returns! Plus some excellent customer service (although don't like the online chat thing instead of just being able to ring them).
Also Withington Cycles in South Manchester - top lads, chock full of good advice re. press fit BBs (admittedly most of them are pants) and excellent pricing for work done on my road and MTB.
Big Up!
Also Basecamp Bikes at Laggan Wolftrax- agreed to order a Lapierre rear mech hanger direct from distributors for me so could collect when I arrived for a weekends riding. Was only a spare but he knew I'd be gutted if I came that far (from Manc) and wrecked mine without any replacement!
The Bike Chain - Edinburgh
Mark sorted me all the bits for my build, kept me informed about suppliers and got it shipped out in no time once it had all arrived with him.
Coombes Cycles - Hereford
Always friendly service, always helpful and definitely my favourite bike shop in the area. Reasonably priced too.
Wiggle
Wife ordered some running socks and they were faulty. Sent an email on a sunday lunchtime to the customer services expecting a response on Monday. But no Wiggle emailed back within 2 minutes asking for a photo which I sent and then within 5 minutes had arranged for a replacement pair to be sent. That's impressive customer service for a Sunday afternoon!
Hope. In the last year I have had an X2 calliper replaced with an M4, a set of rear bearings replaced and an alloy freehub replaced with a steel one all free of charge, freepost and within 3 days.
Freeborn. 1 frame replaced under warranty no questions asked then when that went wrong a brand new frame from a different manufacturer at <1/4 retail price and just paying the difference in price between the two.
Mark at Mtbbatteries, sent him an email at 11.15 last night (Sunday), not expecting a reply until sometime today, he replied in 10 mins. Pretty impressed with that
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