Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)
  • Wheelies cock up, very poor service.
  • FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Ok really annoyed 😈

    Over a month ago I posted this.

    http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/faulty-brake-leaver-insurance-bike-through-wheelieswhat-to-do

    I rang them up initially (over a month ago) to say the lever was faulty. The response was it needed regular re-bleeds every 6-8 weeks and just needed a bleed.. wtf !? ie trying to fob me off. I took it to the LBS, who were great and they said yep definitely faulty lever and warranty job, which they could sort.

    Rang Wheelies who said ok, send it back and we will sort. I advised them that I needed it for a weekend away 1st June, and if they couldn’t be sure they could sort it I would just pay for a new lever myself. They assured me it would be sorted.

    Tracking confirmed receipt of the brake set at Wheelies, about 4 days later I got a call saying could I explain what was wrong with them, even though I had already explained over the phone twice, and had put a letter in with the brakes explaining exactly what was wrong.

    Heard nothing for a few days, rang them up, apparently they are waiting for a returns reference or something from Fishers. Few days later still not heard anything so ring back again, to be told Fishers have just sorted and will be sending the brakes back to Wheelies who would forward to me, but it would take some days. This is the Wednesday before I am supposed to be going away biking for the weekend.

    I rang Fishers and they were happy to send the brake back to me direct if Wheelies gave the OK. Wheelies said no! Weekend comes and no brake, and no weekend away for me on the MTB.

    Monday this week I ring them to be told the brake won’t be dispatched this week and I will get it early next week. I hit the roof with them and promised the ‘manager’ will ring me back. Some one does ring me back and does apologise for miss information (nothing about all the previous delays etc) and says will be posted out the next day.

    Today my brake is back 😀 . Just been outside, fixed it to the bike, align the calliper correctly etc, and pull the leaver…. And it pulls straight to the bar, and the wheel keeps spinning! 😈 😈

    The lever itself has been rebuilt with new parts, but I am pretty certain no fluid h as been put in the system, or certainly it has not been checked over once rebuilt. Now that is Fisher’s fault, but why did Wheelies insist on taking the lever back if they didn’t check it ???

    I need the bike for Mountain Mayhem next weekend, I have already lost a weekend away last weekend, and now I can see my only option is to hope my LBS can rebleed them before next weekend!

    brant
    Free Member

    Pump the lever several times. Zip tie the brake lever back to the bar overnight. Try it again in the morning.

    rob-jackson
    Free Member

    If it has new pads in it may need pumping to get the pistons set back in the right position

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    Konastoner
    Free Member

    I feel your pain brother, crap like this is exactly why I have not ventured near the shop for over 3 years now.

    Their CS is BS!!!!!

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Pumping the lever has made no difference at all..

    gravity-slave
    Free Member

    I had a very weird problem with them culminating in me never receiving goods I ordered. When I contacted them, rather than saying oh, that’s odd, sorry to hear it they were very defensive and reading between the lines, called me a liar and then did not reply to mails. I found their approach and tone shocking. Left me out of pocket but they’ve lost one customer for good. Not impressed.

    5thElefant
    Free Member

    Time to take control. Buy some brake fluid and sort it yourself.

    Bregante
    Full Member

    They offered me a £600 Rockhopper as insurance replacement for my sons stolen £300 Mongoose. I queried it but was told it was a straight swap. Three weeks after it arrived I had a call from them saying that they meant to offer me a Hardrock and I owed them £250.
    I offered them to collect the bike (we were out at delamere that day on the bikes) but explained I wouldn’t be cleaning it.
    Never heard from them again.

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Zip tie over night has made zero difference.

    Bloody Wheelies Direct

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    If you need it for the weekend then you have a couple of options, fix it yourself or take it to a bike shop to get sorted.

    Pay for repairs and see what will happen after the fact.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    you were given good advice sometime ago

    nickjb – Member
    Stick the brakes on ebay as one working, one spares/repairs and buy some Shimanos with the money

    POSTED 1 MONTH AGO

    Just do this and move on.

    coatesy
    Free Member

    Can’t comment on all the delays you’ve experienced, but we get this with every brake returned from Fishers (To be fair, we get this with just about every Avid), and bleed them all before handing them over to the customer.

    ajantom
    Full Member

    Wheelies are shite. End of. Took money for me for an order, lied about stock, promised a refund, didn’t reply to numerous emails, passed me around on the phone and cut me off at least 3 times, refund the wrong amount, and then denied all knowledge of the original order. Avoid if possible.

    leftyboy
    Free Member

    Had a new road bike from them via insurance with a stem bolt missing. Called and emailed to be promised a bolt was in the post, it’s never arrived!

    So do I ride the bike, have another big accident and then sue them? I’ve just sourced another bolt so it’s not a biggie but if the brake lever was buggered I suspect I’d still be waiting.

    BTW I know I would lose as I know it’s unsafe to ride.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    They’re supposed to be handling direct replacement on an insurance claim for me. The were nominated by the insurance co as ‘they specialise in verifying and supplying claims on custom build bikes’. Wheelies send me a pro-forma to fill in detailing every component right down to the grips, listing hubs, spokes and rims separately. Fine. Fill it in and supply photos to check against.

    …..

    …..

    ….

    A month passes. Nothing. I email a follow up. A week passes. Nothing. I email again. Nothing. Email the insurance co and they presumably put a banger up Wheelies’ arse and I get a call the next day giving a value and telling me to just pick something that price off their website.

    Browse their site and I’m looking at bikes with £100 forks and £20 brakes. Hmmmmm this doesn’t seem to tally with the list of hope components, adjustable travel forks and other jazz. So call them back and ask if they can email me a break down of their pricing as I’m not sure it tallys with what they are offering.

    “we don’t do that – we don’t send you a breakdown”
    “well I’m looking at your site, using your valuation and I’m seeing nothing thats even in the same ball park as my bike”
    “well lets see – on the list your bike had an SLX rear mech”
    “yes”
    “well those bikes have SLX mechs”
    “well apart from the mech are you considering the rest of the bike?”
    “you see the thing is, its a custom build”
    “well thats why the insurance co uses you – you specialise in claims for custom built bikes”
    “its not really worth our while, we don’t bother with that any more”

    So after a month and a half of them sitting on the claim them plucking a number out of the air its back to square one.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    ^update^ turns out I was at less than square one. After being chased daily by the insurance co for a week (and continuing to not correspond with me at all) Wheelies have informed the company that they ‘started looking at the breakdown today’. 8 weeks after they received it. So it looks like they lied when they said they ‘can’t be bothered’, seems they can be a little bit bothered eventually. Time will tell if they can continue being bothered. Not filled with glee at the prospect of dealing with a recalcitrant vendor.

    wwaswas
    Full Member

    just ask for the cash from the insurance company – they can’t force you to use wheelies.

    chakaping
    Free Member

    Oh dear, sounds like the custom builds guy (Carl?) has left.

    He was hard to get hold of (overworked I’d hazard), but did know his stuff and I had no complaints about his valuations.

    Wish you the best of luck with your claim. Personally I’d take the cash settlement if I were unlucky enough to be in the same situation again.

    gonzy
    Free Member

    just ask for the cash from the insurance company – they can’t force you to use wheelies.

    that’s what i did…they never even sent me any paperwork to fill out…just asked for the full bike spec over the phone…i did have to chase them up on the valuation though and even then they undervalued by £800…was not happy at all…refused their offer outright though and told them i didnt want an off the peg bike as a replacement for a bespoke custom built bike….
    told the insurance company i wasnt prepared to pay a 4 figure sum for a bike without testing it first and i wasnt prepared to travel all the way to Swansea to do that, also that i didnt want to take a bike from them and then have to sort out postage at my further expense if something went wrong and finally that they had nothing that could replace what had been stolen from me (custom build vs factory build)…they accepted my reasons for refusal and paid me the cash instead…

    jairaj
    Full Member

    wwaswas – Member

    just ask for the cash from the insurance company – they can’t force you to use wheelies.

    yeah they can. you need to check your terms and conditions it can vary a lot between suppliers.

    Some will have exact new for old, some will have comparable new for old from their nominated supplier, some will have cash etc …

    But saying that the insurance company have to deal with your claim in a reasonable length of time. If they are not doing that then you can complain to the appropriate ombudsman who may force the insurance company to deviate from their terms and conditions to get the issue resolved.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    Well have some movement. Having been compelled to actually look at the components and tot them up they’ve come back with a valuation almost exactly double their initial one. Baffling – I’m sure they’ve got a responsibility to their client not to over-value claims but they were prepared to let an additional £1.5k sales slip by (and get ear ache from both ends from the customer and insurance co) for the sake of half an hour with some price lists and a calculator. Almost all of the components are ones they stock or stock near equivalents of, and now they’ve corrected the valuation the prebuilt bikes make sense too.

    Lets see where it goes from here. In what few claims I’ve needed to make over the years they’ve usually gone smoothly where direct replacement has been concerned – 5 days from loss to a completely settled claim in one instance, which was great relief as it was linked to an event that I was in no small hurry to forget. The only time its gone wrong – the replacement of some power tools which dragged out for 9 months – turned out to be the last bit of direct-replacement work that company ever did.

    maccruiskeen
    Full Member

    [update]

    Dicks

    [/update]

    couldashouldawoulda
    Free Member

    #Edit. Bastards.

    I thought we could leave tags on here once we’d posted. But even that seems to have disappeared.

    Anyway, that’s a proper poor show from wheelies.

    Lastly – can we no longer leave tags? Wheelies review. Wheelies fair. Wheelies scam, etc.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    For balance, I had a bike nicked and within 14 days had claim in, wheelies call me, valuation agreed via email, bike ordered and shiny new bike arrive on my doorstep.
    Excellent.

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member

    That’s a direct sale Matt, slightly different. If you had an issue with the bike after then you might see what people are talking about.

    michaelmcc
    Free Member

    If you’re talking about Wheelies in Swansea, I always thought they were a bit funny in there and just keen on getting you to spend more money. Schmoos is a much better shop IMO, the guy in there is really sound too.

    matt_outandabout
    Full Member

    That’s a direct sale Matt, slightly different. If you had an issue with the bike after then you might see what people are talking about.

    No it was not, I had a login code given to me, it was a custom Niner that was nicked. They also made up the last few quid of valuation with a mech hanger and a couple of pairs of brake pads.

    Junkyard
    Free Member

    That is a direct sale and not a warranty issue

    ChunkyMTB
    Free Member

    🙄

    That’s a sale!!!!

    Even the worst customer service shops can have the best sales experience.

    This is about warranty not a sales transaction which of course they will jump at.

    bomba
    Free Member

    Wheelies are absolutely attrocious. Sent some pedals back on warranty, got two left pedals on return. Sent them back and they lost them. Sent some wheels back, phoned them to chase up; similar story, “We’ve not received them”, etc, etc…
    “They were signed for on this date by this person”
    “Er… oh look, here they are”

    On the upside, I ordered a tube of High5 zero tabs and they sent me so many, I’m still working my way through them two years later 🙂

    Just incompetent shysters.

Viewing 30 posts - 1 through 30 (of 30 total)

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