After 10 years of not riding, ( I turned into a hiker ) I decided it was time to get back in the saddle. Did some homework and settled on a Merlin Malt 1 with a fork upgrade as the steed I needed. Have currently been waiting 2 weeks for delivery of said machine and wondered if this is normal and what other peoples experiences of ordering a bike from Merlin are. Have been told it should arrive Tuesday, see you on the trails when you zip past me.
Did they say it would be Tuesday when you ordered?
They build all the bikes to order so I assume this takes some time and they have a back log.
They are my LBS and I find them to be great and dont have a problem with them.
Cheap as can be.
Great shop, great service, great prices.
But my god the shop staff need to learn how to smile.
Bike was ordered via email so didn't actually speak to a human being at time of order. Website contains no details on bike delivery but does mention that parts are despatched same day. I was charged 30 quid for next day delivery which seems a bit of a cheek.
Give them a ring
Merlin are usually very good, but they do seem to have brain farts now and again. I wouldn't want to be paying £30 for next day delivery though.
Such are the options available, they usually build their own bikes to order ie only when you have ordered it.
Not sure about the 'overnight delivery' on a built to order bike though...
£30 post for a bike isn't outrageous really though is it? Thats about what you would pay to courier a bike if you sold it on the classifieds. I think a lot of shops' 'free' delivery on bikes must just be absorbed somewhere else in the retail, errr, process.
According to their web site bike builds take between 7 to 10 days during off season and longer during the summer. Explains all [url= http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/mountain-bikes-online.html ]here under bike builds[/url]. Hope this helps.
But my god the shop staff need to learn how to smile.
That's once you've got them to open the front door. Last time we went a customer got so pissed off with us ringing the bell he came all the way down to open the door for us. Customer service might be great for on-line trading, but face to face it's joke. But then you can tell from the set up that they don't really want callers at the wharehouse, I refuse to call it a shop.
Can't fault merlin overall.
Great kit, great bikes, great wheels and good prices.
I have two of their bikes and have recommended their Tig SL to several friends/relatives.
They have always stuck to the agreed build time for me, but they are very busy.
They are also great at answering emails (well John is who I dealt with).
I agree that the shop staff look a little serious, I put this down to it being 6pm last time I went in person to collect a bike.
It costs £15 to courier a bike. They are taking the piss.
[i]mudpup - Member
It costs £15 to courier a bike. They are taking the piss.[/i]
Would be interested in knowing who will courier a bike for £15 that is fully insured (i.e more than £50 or £150)?
I phoned to see if they had a bike advertised on their site in stock, which I was told they had. Drove an hour to get there, (straight after the call) only to be told they were sold out, even though I offered to put a deposit down. They told me the bikes (2 of them) were being prepped for shipping, one to Switzerland. I suggested they **** off the Swiss dude as I'm a local, but wouldn't do it! 2 hours wasted. £10-£15 of fuel wasted. Not good. No excuses for that kind of s**t!
Ask for your delivery money back Buddy. I wish I'd demanded a credit note for my wasted fuel.
I phoned to see if they had a bike advertised on their site in stock, which I was told they had. Drove an hour to get there, (straight after the call) only to be told they were sold out, even though I offered to put a deposit down. They told me the bikes (2 of them) were being prepped for shipping, one to Switzerland. I suggested they **** off the Swiss dude as I'm a local, but wouldn't do it! 2 hours wasted. £10-£15 of fuel wasted. Not good. No excuses for that kind of s**t!
I had a similar experience with a large, well known bike shop in Leeds. Saw a Tomac Snyper in a Magazine ad AND on their website at a bargain price. Rang them to check the price and they confirmed it. Asked if they had it in my size and they said they did.
Drove the 50 miles that very morning as it seemed too good to miss. Got there and they didn't have ANY of the bikes in stock at all. Okay, I said, can you get me one.
"Yeah no problem, that will be at the full rrp" (another £800).
I queried this and showed them the advert.
"Oh that's a misprint" I told them the ad was on their website, showing the bike at the same price.
"Oh, we can't access our website from the shop - but we can do you a good deal on a discontinued Heckler"
I walked out - muttering expletives as I left
Heres one mob that are pretty good value http://www.senditnow.com/whatwedo.html but try phoning FedEx/Tufnells/Nightfreight or similar - £30 is way too much. I work for a bike distributor and we get charged about £7 - obviously we ship thousands so we get a deal though.
Privately, my recent sale of a road bike cost me £25 to deliver, and that doesn't weigh as much as a mtb.
1 - its not a ****ing steed
2 - its not going to kill you to wait til tuesday
3 - they don't smile much its true
4 - I have always had great service from Merlin
I got my Meta from Merlin; couldnt find it any cheaper anywhere else.
Delivery was good and well packaged and the bike arrived in good nick in good enough time. (about a week i think)
No awards for bedside manner but everything arrived as it should!
plumber, true, it won't kill me to wait until Tuesday, the problem is that I've already been waiting 2 weeks for it. If I want to call it a steed, surely that's my decision.
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I'd call them bought shed loads of stuff from them over the years and always found them brill.
Would be asking for my £30 back though!!!!
Merlin have been great for customer service over the years even when my spokes broke on my new wheel.
They were not super pleased but they did sort it quick.
[i]steeds[/i] obviously take longer to build.
bikes on the other hand....
They have always been great with me, yes they can mess up, doesn't everybody now & again? My last order that was showing stock turned out to be out of stock, but they discounted the upgrade & sent me an email within minutes of my call to them to say it had been dispatched.
The time before that when they could only find one (of a pair of tyres I oredered) they offered an upgrade for free.
I just can't fault them, TBH I don't know how they put up with all the winging gits.
Surely it takes time to disassemble and package up a bike? So £30 doesn't seem that unreasonable to me. But what the hell do I know?
Only ever bought odds and ends off Merlin but always been good for me (and quicker than anybody else I've bought off of too)
I'm going to have to call them as I ordered a jacket for my wife and a couple of days later I got an email letting me know there would be a weeks delay. 1 month on and still no jacket nor has there been any reply to my emails.
A little disappointed really given the reviews I've read regarding their customer service.
Moan moan moan.....