[Closed] Think twice before using ChainReactionCycles.co.uk

double post

After reading all the bad stuff about them, I didn't take the warning and ordered something from them for the frist time yesterday.

3 pairs of Hope pads
2 tyres

All Showing as in stock.

I then paid extra for the parcelforce before 12 express delivery.

I noticed my order was still processing this morning so gave them a call, apparently my order does not exist... BUT the money has been taken and I got an confirmation email 😉

No Explanation, they will investigate and call me before the end of the day. I find taking your money, including extra for specific delivery service, then claiming the order doesn't exist very poor service personnaly.

I probably should have listened to the warnings.

i ordered some stuff on tuesday morning, on wednesday morning I got a dispatched email at 11am, the stuff arrived on my desk at midday..

yawn.

use your lbs if you are that precious about delivery times.

or.. if you are trying to save a few quid by ordering from an online company in ireland, using an internet ordering service, accept that once in a while there might be a few issues.

tracknicko - Member

yawn.

use your lbs if you are that precious about delivery times.

or.. if you are trying to save a few quid by ordering from an online company in ireland, using an internet ordering service, accept that once in a while there might be a few issues.

Alternatively, a business could just provide the service that they advertise, and that the consumer is paying for. 🙄

If you can't achieve it, don't offer it.

Anyone else notice they set your order to "processing" as soon as you order?

Means you can't cancel/change the order online.....sneaky.

I think the OP's rasied a couple of valid points, though the level of outrage seems disproportionate. No harm in adding a Best Before date to the listings and deleting bad reviews makes the reviews utterly pointless.

The thing is, most people understand that people will only leave negative reviews, its what we expect in the days of Web 2.0. Being reasonably intelligent i'm sure most people can filter through the ones left by idiots and focus on the detail of the content to work out if they are liegitmate complaints (just like everyones doing with this very thread).

CRC are just very hit and miss at the moment. Some orders go through fine and it's next day delivery. Others get stuck in the "order processing" blackhole. When this happens there seems to be no mechanism at their end for picking this up or keeping customers up to date.

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

"CRC in "editing comments on their own website to favour them" shocker"

So yeah... turns out 4 of the 5 items I ordered are NOT in stock, despite them all still sayin in stock.

Offered a refund... took it, although I've heard that can be fun and they tend to sit on it and just send you the items anyway without refunding.

3 weeks later and i got my refund today after quite a bit of chasing, and many 'we're sorry we forgot to process it' statements.

I did manage to get the MDs email so I copied him in my email saying the credit card company were going to cloaw the money back themselves.

He apologised and admitted there was problems with they way they process things and it's being looked into.

Sent me a £20 voucher... ordered a set of hope pads, and two drinks bottles. Turned up the next day 😉

I've always had good service from CR. When they've made mistakes they've always sorted them, pronto.

Is STw becoming a sad sad place where no matter what someone types the hive mind attacks the OP?

The answer to this however, has to be "yes".

= :87(

I don't think it's about collaboration, or a "hive mind", though; just the result of some obviously quite bored people looking for an outlet.

I ordered from CRC in the early hours of this morning (04:34 on Mon 30 Apr 12). The order is currently (15:59 on Mon 30 Apr 12) showing as processing, I just hope my order doesn't fall into the black hole that some others seem to have.

I toyed with the idea of buying from Wiggle, as they're normally very quick to deliver (I find it very frustrating though that, even though Wiggle are less than 5 miles from my house, there is no option to collect in person) but was swayed by CRC's 10% off offer - I hope that's a decision I don't come to regret.

I need the item in question (a Hope headset) for a stag-weekend trip to Coed y Brenin at the end of this month, but it obviously needs to arrive in time for me to get the bike into the LBS and have it fitted. The reason I didn't order from the LBS (Cycle Surgery, Portsmouth) in the first place is that neither they or Solent Cycles had a gold Hope headset in stock and neither could even give a vague forcast of when they'd be able to get one in.

I presume you mean the end of may for needing your headset, otherwise you've no chance!

Yes, 25 May. Sorry, blonde moment!

Note to self: Do not order perishable/urgent/complex goods from CRC.

Thanks.

There is a reason why CRC have most of their goods cheaper than anywhere else. It's because of who else they own and who else they control or have exclusive deals with. There are also lot's of other places where CRC are selling but you wouldn't know it was them.

If you look hard enough you'll see that they are the only stockist of lots of items and for those items you can't find at CRC there are auction sites where you'll come across a seller who has every derivative of it with a selling record of 22900 items ! Look at Sram X0 crank sets as an example !

They are controlling the whole bike industry and making it uncompetitive for LBS's.

I'm surprised that nobody's pointed out* that CRC don't have to do anything at all for Huddini, the original poster.

They've sent him his order and it's all within Best Before - that's all they need to do. They don't need to make sure that it's a certain date [i]before[/i] the Best Before just so he can eat them all within that time.

*I've skimmed through some of the longer posts.

I spent many hours on the internet researching and choosing two pairs of sports training shoes which Chain Reaction Cycles advertised on their site as being in-stock. They were ordered so as to be delivered in time to be given as Christmas presents.
I had read mixed reviews about the company and oh how I wish I had listened to the negative ones! Upon completing my order I added on numerous pairs of sports socks to be worn with the shoes. A few days later I received an email to say that my order had been part-dispatched! I emailed the company to question why only part-dispatched? as they were advertised as being in-stock and would surely arrive as one complete package? A couple of days later they replied to say that an item (but did not state which) could not be included due to "fulfilment" reasons? and had therefore been cancelled! and that a single delivery package may not occur as items are gathered from many distribution centres and warehouses from around the world. I requested to know which item had been cancelled and was informed of it being one of the two pairs of training shoes! A further couple of days later I checked the progress on my "part-order" to see that the second pair of trainers had been cancelled by the company without any notification! a couple of days later they get back to me to apologise and blame "fulfilment" reasons? and that they were including a complimentary 5 British Pound e-voucher (which can only be spent at Chain Reaction Cycles!). I have had no true explanation of this goods dispatch failure and act of false advertisement. I would say that this company orders it's "copy/fake/replica" products from illegal Chinese manufacturers! BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!!!*******

How the hell did this thread get resurrected 8 months after it was started.?

Some disgruntled spammer.

Some disgruntled spammer.

Garys73.

Who sounds like he probably works for the competition 🙂

sc-xc, you can say that again.

Oh you did. 😀

and that a single delivery package may not occur

Glitchy disgruntled punterbump

Why the name calling - seems like a reasonable complaint about CRC

Only problem I had was I ordered a grease gun and it was out of stock and about 5 months later one arrived - no e-mail or anything and they charged me- by now I already owned one

The cost of returning said item was about the same as the price of it - at least now you can post back for free

For urgent items either order very early [ so not urgent] or physically go somewhere and pay a higher price

As for calling the poster mental - rather harsh as it is a perfectly lucid post - and he probably found the post via google so added his comments to warn us /others etc

Some stuff was delayed/cancelled and suddenly CRC are buying up all the sweat-shop goods? That's a bit of a leap of logic.

As above - this is a peculiar thing to say...

I would say that this company orders it's "copy/fake/replica" products from illegal Chinese manufacturers!

Only problem I had was I ordered a grease gun and it was out of stock and about 5 months later one arrived - no e-mail or anything and they charged me- by now I already owned one

But did you Join bike forums specifically to make complaints about it ?

Why would it make me mentally unstable if i did ?#
Wow he joined a forum to comment on a thread where they had some personal experience - your right release the hounds
Thankfully we are the stable ones who talk crap on here on a daily basis interspersing it only with personal digs 😕

Hang on - I said he sounded like he worked for the competition 😐

Meaning that joining a forum specifically to resurrect an 8 month old thread to complain about a specific company sounds like the sort of thing a rival might do.

I am not letting the facts get in the way of ......

Sorry 😳

If he is a rival and it took 8 mths that would explain why CRC are the best and they are crap then 😉

If he is a rival and it took 8 mths that would explain why CRC are the best and they are crap then

A good point well made 😉

In defence of CRC, I've been using them for years without any issues.
In fact, I ordered some parts (8 different items) at about 09:00 on Friday morning & they arrived just after 10:00 on Saturday. There was a slight issue with the order and, despite them having no obligation to fix it, they did so happily.
The package also included a discount voucher, as an added bonus.

I do feel that they dealt with the OP's power bar situation in a way that was beyond any obligation that they have as a retailer.n

I would say that this company orders it's "copy/fake/replica" products from illegal Chinese manufacturers!

Prove it.

Other than when they got hacked I've never had any issues with CRC. Delivery has alway been pretty good and they're ability to deal with warranties and faults has been great.

TBH I personally have no time for folk who have a bad experience and then commence to go over the top with negativity as in "BEWARE, DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY" I'll make my own mind up thank you 🙄 ..I ordered a cassette, chain, bashgaurd, chainring and tensioner last week, 3 days later it all arrived, which is the only experience Ive ever had with CRC ,or wiggle for that matter, folk need to learn to chill sometimes.

Only issue I've ever had with them was not refunding postage on 2 warranty returned items. But me not chasing them up.is partly to blame.

I was offered quite a lot of boxes of torq with about 6 or 8 weeks left to go. I whacked them out at a silly low price, as I got them at a silly low price... and was clear about the expiry date. Everyone was happy.

When the last box had a week or two to go, everyone who visited he shop was given one free.

OP go for a ride with a bunch of mates and feed them all.

Or eat them out of date, I think about 90% of the bars I eat are a bit old, not died yet.

I'll make my own mind up thank you

folk need to learn to chill sometimes.

Your right them not having stuff in stock when they sy they have, not telling you and you not getting XMas presents they said they had is the kind of thing you should chill about as it not like CRC could have done any better

OP go for a ride with a bunch of mates and feed them all.

They are now 8 months out of date.

As is this thread.

They must've turned to powder by now. Drink them? ;O)

When your whole beef is "They didn't send me something I ordered because they didn't have it", concluding that the thing they didn't have must be a fake is just plain nuts.