Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 97 total)
  • Think twice before using ChainReactionCycles.co.uk
  • huddini
    Free Member

    I must say, that CRC service has met a low point for me… Ordered some boxes of protein bars. Got em 2,5 weeks before exp date!!!! Paid full price… Wrote CRC, they offered money back og new box. Fair enough! Got another box (not the preferred taste, the others were out of stock). The replacement box was just 6 weeks from exp date! (Ordered around 10th of Dec 2011 exp. date Jan 2012).

    I still have a few bars left from US bought in Aug 2011, they have exp date in July 2012, which means the bars CRC are shifting were in stock for almost a year!

    CRC doesn´t accept me writing this in the review.They filter it, that is why you only see 4-5star reviews!

    Fair enough lot sell products close to exp date, but less then 12 weeks should come with a 50-70% discount, not full price!

    njee20
    Free Member

    They offered you a refund or another box, so that’s basically a 50% discount, and they’ll be fine for a long time after the expiry date. A bit rubbish, but not the end of the world really is it?

    paulosoxo
    Free Member

    They have offered to make good on an issue you have. I’d say that was a perfect example of why you should use them in future.

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    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Be careful in supermarkets too, some of the stuff they sell has less than a week before it goes past it’s sell by date! And they have the cheek to charge full price!

    huddini
    Free Member

    nope u are right, not the end. Dont know about protein bars…. Normal energy I would mind, but ithink proteinbars can get harsh. Would be better if they just shipped out fresh goods.

    huddini
    Free Member

    Tom: Yup, but there u can use your eyes and check it out. Not an option online. Cool eBayers always put exp date in description, CRC should make a system that would do it.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    CRC doesn´t accept me writing this in the review.They filter it, that is why you only see 4-5star reviews!

    I hate when they do this. I only feel the need to write bad reviews about things, but they always dissapear on CRC’s page.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    FFS this place sometimes it is just about having ago at a poster

    Is it the end of the world? No
    Does the OP claim it is ? No
    Would anyone want lots of stuff that close to best before date? NO – unless you plant to use it before this date
    If he was in the shop would he have bought them? NO
    Did CRC offer to sort it? Yes
    Did they do this? Not very well at all and only marginally better and not what the OP wanted
    Have the OP got a point to be peeved?Yes
    Is STw becoming a sad sad place where no matter what someone types the hive mind attacks the OP? Yes

    Would not be impressed myself frst time and second time they really should have realised personally i would send them back

    paulosoxo
    Free Member

    Junkyard, do you think the op’s thread title is a fair statement to make? If it was your business, would you feel that he comment was justified?

    njee20
    Free Member

    Would not be impressed myself frst time and second time they really should have realised personally i would send them back

    Which they’ve offered him.

    It’s a defamatory post, unnecessarily IMO. The crap part is the inability to leave negative reviews.

    They are a huge operation. The particular item isn’t popular, so stock hangs around, they don’t check best before dates, they offer a perfectly reasonable alternative. Warehouse monkey still doesn’t check, or because it’s an unpopular item doesn’t have much choice.

    nope u are right, not the end. Dont know about protein bars…. Normal energy I would mind, but ithink proteinbars can get harsh. Would be better if they just shipped out fresh goods.

    They have a Best Before date of a year away, what do you think will happen after an additional couple of months? The stock is fresh. If you want brand new then they’d have to order more in, I imagine you used them because they were cheap and in stock? Why not just order from your LBS?

    moocow76
    Full Member

    I was about to post something similar tbh.
    I ordered various bits from them (brakes, tyres, bar and stem)last friday. A week later I’d heard nothing and received nothing so I dropped them a quick email to ask them to give me a rough idea of how long it would be….wasnt a complaintm just a question.
    I heard nothing so gave them a wee call.
    On hold for years, then got cut off…..finallyspoke to someone who was very nice and helpful and advised that the tyres were holidng up the order and they were waiting for them to come in stock. He couldnt give m a timescale.
    I called the next day and was told the same thing so decided to cancel as I was losing faith that I’d ever get the bits I wanted. I asked them to email me to confirm I had cancelled……checked my email at home and found an email saying the order had now been dispatched!
    So I now have no idea if they’ve actually sent it, cancelled it or if the parts are gonna turn up just as the money goes back into my account!
    Good prices alone dont make a successful business – they badly need to look at how they communicate (or dont) with their customers.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    It is OTT and not what I would have said just like this is in the opposite direction 😉

    They have offered to make good on an issue you have. I’d say that was a perfect example of why you should use them in future.

    If someoen complained about Best before dates and staff said they would sort it and then did this, Personally I would be worried about my staff in the business more than a little piece of hyperbole on here.
    I dont think CRC will go bankrupt because of this but there increasingly poor customer service might affect the bottom line.

    Which they’ve offered him

    you mean they have to under the distance selling regs …they have done what they have to and have offered nothing.

    smell_it
    Free Member

    Junkyard – there are other forums…

    user-removed
    Free Member

    I’d be a bit peeved the first time, but to send out replacement stock so close to its sell by date would feel like a real slap in the chops.

    Perhaps an ill thought through thread title, but the OP is entirely right to feel miffed IMO.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    Junkyard – there are other forums.

    thanks there are other shops
    What is your point caller?

    huddini
    Free Member

    njee20: Why not just order from your LBS?

    U can´t get the brand where I live.. Mule bars are £3,5 a piece…. XTR 970 Cassette is £200-250, XTR970 chain is £50, Race King SuperSonic £80….. Need moore reasons for me not using LBS?! 😯

    Jase
    Free Member

    Agree that title is a bit OTT but I’d be miffed about their solution to 1st complaint.

    If you worked at CRC and someone complained about short shelf life why on earth would you send a replacement offering not much more – are they thick or what!

    huddini
    Free Member

    BTW: To the 2nd topic CRC erasing reviews: My friend bought a pair of Titanium Rotors for his XC bike. They are not Ti, but normal steel, even though CRC claimed they were Ti. They erased his review, offered him nothing in compensation. Now they have changed description: Now its only w Ti bolts!

    I used to get a lot from CRC, but prices are going up, they have a poor or false description, on frames they dont even have geometry table!

    I am happy with Merlin Cycles…… but mostly I get my stuff from Germany

    kaesae
    Free Member

    I don’t think the heading is OTT at all, this thread is a warning to those thinking about using crc, a company that has become too big to give a shit!

    Out of 10x orders I’ve placed with them over the past 2 years 6 have been wrong, they know about a lot of these issues and yet do nothing to sort them.

    Those of you taking CRC’s side in this, going on about them being a company and not deserving to be bad mouthed, how has the truth and individual riders sharing their experiences with a company become an excuse to defend a company?

    Companies should be judges on the service they provide, if they’re causing riders hassle and stress then those riders have the right to warns other riders and too raise awareness of what’s going on.

    If I speak about CRC I also warn about the amount of mistakes they make, do they offer to fix the problems that they cause, of course they do they have to by law, however that doesn’t reduce the hassle or stress it causes, it also doesn’t mean that riders don’t have the right to vent their frustrations or raise awareness of companies that are out of order.

    The OP has every right to have a go at CRC, it’s not his shit, it’s not even his fan, but he’s the one cleaing up the mess!

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    I think the vast majority of us have good experience of CRC, but that doesn’t get reported to anything like the same extent.

    andy7t2
    Free Member

    CRC doesn´t accept me writing this in the review.They filter it, that is why you only see 4-5star reviews!

    thing is as far as i can see the review is of the product and your reviewing the CRC service so to be fair to the product your review should not be included in the product review.

    bigG
    Free Member

    To bring a bit of balance here., I’ve placed lots of orders to CRC over the last few years. I’ve never had an issues with stock, pending orders, or having to return bits and pieces. I find their pricing very competitive, and their despatch and delivery very quick.

    All in all a very efficient and trustworthy outfit based on my experience.

    And before anyone says it. I have no affiliation with CRC as a business, I just like the way it just works, everytime.

    darrell
    Free Member

    to bring another bit of balance I stopped using them after the credit card fraud because of the lack of “giving a frak” about their customers

    my business has gone to Germany

    skywalker
    Free Member

    Merlin FTW, CRC are crap.

    hilldodger
    Free Member

    Just checked my CRC order history, 61 orders over last 8 years – all on time, all correctly filled, no problems with pricing or delivery 🙂

    pitduck
    Free Member

    +1 kaesae and the op 🙁

    takisawa2
    Full Member

    Bit of hassle OP, & hope its off your chest now. Titles a bit daft though.
    Never had an issue with CRC. Will use them as the default online source before checking Wiggle, Merlin etc.

    Best online service I’ve ever had was mtbdirect. Superstar are the only ones I’d think twice about, but thats more down to the bloke on the phone – really unhelpful; the actual service was fine.

    bullandbladder
    Free Member

    Support your local shop. Simples. 🙄

    bruneep
    Full Member

    I use the .com site, will I be ok?

    shorn
    Free Member

    I have always enjoyed fantastic service from CRC.

    johnhe
    Full Member

    Luckily for me, CRC is my LBS, so I can go in any time and try on or check out any of the thousands of bits of kit on their site before deciding to buy. When you visit the place, you quickly realise that it’s a real big operation though. Apparently they have over 300 staff and more than 10,000 bikes in stock. For me, as long as I bear in mind that it’s a big company with huge stock and huge resources then I accept that there are some trade-offs unfortunately. I accept that there are pluses – generally top notch prices, huge variety. But when you call up, it quickly becomes obvious its not a 10 person operation where everyone is on first name terms.

    Having said all of that, when I shop there in person, the guys on the counter are the most down to earth, helpful, knowledgable types you could ever wish for in an LBS.

    If I were the OP I’d be a bit bummed. However, complaining about CRC in your product review is not the right place to do so, and has no place on the site as a product review. The replacement was probably dispatched by someone who never saw the item. I’d be really surprised if another call wouldn’t have sorted it out. Again, unfortunately, I think this is part of the downside of dealing with such a large company, and I’m afraid I’m in agreement with those guys who feel this isn’t the end of the world.

    Apart from the large boxes they send 2 screws in (which means postie can’t get it through the letterbox so can’t get my stuff till the following weekend on my day off) I’ve got no issues with crc. Think the deleting of negative reviews is shocking though and that alone has made me think I should shop elsewhere

    I hate false advertising – which means all advertising

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    +1 for deleting reviews that review crc rather than the actual product. It isn’t the fault of the products that crc haven’t met your expectation, though crc have always been ace for me. Also, do people actually read reviews on shop sites? Don’t you do your research on sites independant from the place that is trying to sell it to you? And being shocked by them deleting bad reviews, your lbs wouldn’t tell you the product you wanted to buy was toss, save to sell you a more expensive one, why would an online shop?

    maxtorque
    Full Member

    I’ve used CRC a lot and never (yet) had an issue. Recently they handled the warranty return of my Reverb quickly and painlessly (over the phone).

    RE: No negative reviews> Tricky one this. The simple fact of the matter is that generally, in the vast majority of cases, people only leave a “review” if it is negative. if you buy say some wheels, which just work and you ride around on them, very very few people will spend their time putting this in writing. But if you get said wheels, and you snap the hubs out the first time they turn, then you can bet you’re gonna get onto the site and leave a review! What’s the answer? Well i don’t know. Maybe give “credits” for leaving proper reviews of the stuff you have brought. i.e. everytime you leave a review you get £1 credit or something. That way the reviews will actually reflect the bias towards “good” or “bad” that they currently don’t if you open up the system completely.

    Personally, considering how quick it is to google something, anyone who buys anything online without refference to any other 3rd party info is frankly a bit naive imo !

    It’s easy to poo poo the “big company = poor customer service” ethos, but no one on here likes to pay over the odds for something. Effectively the choice you make when you opt to buy the cheapest possible is that other intangable benefits might get degraded.

    tomhoward
    Full Member

    Maxtorque

    Nail. Head.

    pitduck
    Free Member

    i tried to leave a less then glowing review for poc gloves,it wouldn’t let me,and there was no mention of crc.

    stufield
    Free Member

    I think CRC are great, ordered a reverb post it came quickly, it was the wrong size in the correct packaging not their fault, phoned them they checked stocked as soon as I’d e-mail them a pdf of postage receipt they dispatched replacement and refunded me all my postage.

    Personal call to check everything was ok. have been using them for many many years, always faultless

    I have some of the biggest, well stocked LBS in the country on my door step, but if they don’t have it I normally have to wait a week to get things in, CRC will always get things to my door quicker than that even with issues.

    They may not be perfect but their not that bad, just relax a little.

    neilsonwheels
    Free Member

    Never had a problem personally.

    thegman67
    Full Member

    their doing nothing wrong when i buy stock for my business at the cash and carry i have to check the dates all the time as they will sell boxes of crisps with only three-four weeks left in among boxs with three months left at least CRC are offering you a refund we just get nae luck ya daftie should have checked the codes

    nealglover
    Free Member

    ….Wrote CRC, they offered money back…

    Happy days.

    So why are we still discussing this non problem ?

    .

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 97 total)

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