Today’s delivery from CRC of a pair of Sun Ringle 27.5 wheels was great. Apart from the minor detail that we ordered one RaceFace rear 29er boost and a pair of inserts to match. LiveChat (FFS) is how customer service is done – and they need 3 days to confirm the images we sent of the wrong box, and then need the wrong items back before sending it replacement.

Radon has be a total disaster, not fixing two major warranty issues.

I won’t use Rutland, they ignored me and then flat out lied to us over warranty issues not once but twice.

I’ve ordered loads from one one a few years ago, but thier idea of customer service is live chat and saying Brant three times, while delivering wrong items.

I won’t use superstar, they don’t answer emails and seem to upset as many as they get right.

The last two things I tried to order from Merlin were out of stock, despite showing as in stock.

Similar with Tredz – half the order came, half was delayed a fortnight.

So Comrie Croft Bikes, Roots Cycles and Stirling Cycles well be getting my money onwards I think.

Just me?
(Yes I am a grumpy bigger).

For bike stuff?

If my LBS’ can’t get hold of a thing, I’ll order online.

It’s very rare my LBS’ can’t get hold of something.

I live in the highlands, I don’t have any real choice.

I do tend to pick and choose who I order from. There are people I trust and they get my money, not necessarily the cheapest though…

I’m increasingly using my LBS, because it won’t be there if I don’t. Maybe it’s me getting older and appreciating value more than just cost.

I would use our local shops more, but their stock of parts is limited. Loads of bikes in, but typically I’m in there to buy bits to keep current bikes working.

I’ve never been bothered by the proliferation of standards, but I’m sure it is making things harder for bike shops to keep the bits you need in stock.

I find Merlin are usually superb, I’d prefer to give them my cash if they are there or thereabouts on price.

I’d love to do that but my LBS usually costs twice as much as buying stuff online. To be fair the only major issue I’ve ever had buying online is with Canyon not shipping a bike.

Almost exclusively shop at my two LBS these days. Internet shopping has dumbed down what we’re prepared to expect in terms of quality, returns and customer service, and I’m willing to pay a little more to see something in advance and have some advice when buying these days.

Recent LBS experiences have soured me, have gone away with the genuine impression that I know more than the staff, and on the rare occasions I’ve asked them to order stuff they didn’t normally stock, they’ve ballsed it up in embarrassing fashion.

Also, returns and customer service from Wiggle, Merlin, Rose, Bike24.de and Bikediscount.de have all been above and beyond.

Will still order fully built bikes from LBS though, if only because of Cycle-to-work…

OP – have you tried Synergy in Auchterarder for LBS stuff? Mostly road & gravel stuff there, but their service is really good.

I use them most of the time nowadays.

One of my lbs’s is great for odds and ends to sort bikes out (im a rubbish customer though, most ive ever spent in one go was £20). The other, the guy behind the counter actually looked embarrassed when a set (f+r) of brake pads came to £35, i know they have overheads that uberbike etc dont, but at that price I can order each of my bikes a set of race matrix pads, and a set of organic pads as spares so I dont run out. Not just one set of organic pads!

Online, bought quite a few bits from evans this year as i can collect stuff. Ditto halfords.

On one are their usual selves, some stuff is a genuine bargain, like odd coloured bar tape for £1.
Other stuff is just cheap.

Crc/wiggle, youre buying from a warehouse run by venture capitalists.

I live in the highlands, I don’t have any real choice

This, basically. Whether it’s bike stuff or anything else from Amazon I can have it on my doorstep normally within 48 hrs, often sooner. I have almost infinite choice too. Its not even a cost thing.

I couldn’t afford any of my bikes if they were from a shop, or any of the bits.
Never had a problem TBH.

I never pay RRP so mail order takes 90% of my hard earned, plus a hate wasting my time and walking out of bike shops empty handed, what are the odds of your LBS stocking any of the items on your list, I have two decent bike shops several miles away but still have to order online then collect a few days later. Years ago I tried to use my most local shop, they kept me on the hook for over a week, lying to me and they weren’t very knowledgeable either, gave up and ordered from CRC, arrived two days later, could have saved a weeks wait.

As from today I won’t use BikeInn again. A week late with a pair of tyres they claimed to have in stock. The Royal Mail tracker was still saying “we’re expecting it” 3 days after BikeInn claimed to have dispatched them.

gave up on crc years ago.

I couldn’t afford any of my bikes if they were from a shop, or any of the bits.

I bet you could if there was no internet.

My LBS can get anything.
As an aside I went to Spa Cycles in Harrogate (9 miles away) when I was after a Sturmey Archer gear cable for an old Raleigh bike my stepson had left behind when he moved out. Guy said, ‘you might be able to get one online’, phoned my ‘LBS’, Bike Scene in Guisborough (35 miles away) who said, ‘aye, can get you one for Thursday, I’ll post it out. Bosh, job done.

SJS cycles were good to me, fairly big setup without the flashing banners of crc.

Just me?
(Yes I am a grumpy bigger).

And unlucky as well !!!

I’ve ordered from all of the companies you mentioned (apart from Radon) loads of times over the last 15+ years and never had an issue apart from one with Evans where I ordered one of the bargain Madison jackets about 3 months back, got the run around for 2 months and eventually told no stock so card refunded. No big deal, in fact they did me a favour. It was just another jacket I didn’t need 🙂

SJS cycles were good to me

+1. Also used SJS for 15 yrs now. Never a problem. Got to walk the entire warehouse nearly 20 yrs back to view an Ice Trice recumbent. Really old-school setup with sliding wooden ladders and (to memory) endless stacks of shelving that towered up into dusty darkness. I was like an overgrown kid in a bike shop. Nothing new there then 😋

Not giving up, but mail order companies who don’t put a returns form in with the package, why is this so difficult? Why make me download and print my own? I don’t have a printer at home and I’m not in the office much. It can be on the same bit of paper as the invoice/ delivery note for goodness sake. First world problem I know, but it’s frikking annoying! Pedalon, Sigma and Planet X are the most recent culprits.

I’ve got no choice really.

My lbs is, well, just not very good. That’s not a reflection on all lbs, just mine ok?

Im prepared to put up with the odd mail order issue as I find that preferable to putting up with dealing with said lbs.

I’ve also made a concerted effort to buet most of the tools I need to service and repair things. It has saved me a fortune and I enjoy tinkering anyway so it’s a win win.

I’ve found Planet X to be good at sorting stuff out. Twice I’ve had problems with an order, and both times it’s been resolved on live chat in just a couple of minutes.

Obviously it’s better if mistakes aren’t made in the first place, but as long as it’s sorted quickly I’m ok with that.

I purchase around 95% of everything by mail order/delivered (including food).

Shops don’t tend to have the items I need so why get them to order it when I can order it?

As for bike shops, they know less than me about my specific bike and choice of bikes so not even any staff experience worth paying for.

Not giving up, but mail order companies who don’t put a returns form in with the package, why is this so difficult? Why make me download and print my own?

Returning something is rare overall I’d imagine. Leaving it to the customer saves paper/ink/power, excellent idea imho.

So all these folks that only use their LBS. Presumably you also use the local butcher, baker and candlestick maker too right? 😉

@roger_millie because it’s another way to save costs, however small. Also I’d bet you get less returns that way.

I would love to use my LBS except it’s basically a store front for Giant and stock almost nothing else (nor do they seem keen to order stuff for you). Other shops are more than an hours round trip and more often than not don’t have what you want anyway.

If the LBS needs to order something then I’m quicker, cheaper and easier to order it myself. On the (let’s be honest – very rare) occasion it goes wrong it’s a pain but 9 times out of 10 it doesn’t.

No, I’ve had no problems with Merlin, Winstanleys, Sprockets, SJS, Ribble, Bike-Discount, Rose, High On Bikes, PX and many others. Some minor gripes with CRC customer service but that’s about it.
I’ll still do most of my purchasing online and maintenance myself but have started using an LBS (CJ Performance) for bits and bobs and it is nice to chat with a human about bike stuff now and then

I am struggling.

LBS’s to here are costly in comparison to online and can lack stock. For example one local shop was £18.99 for set of disc pads (!) and didn’t have any men’s large lycra or inner shorts in stock…

That said, Comrie seems to be ace for stock now.

I’m just frustrated. I feel the world moved online, putting LBS at disadvantage and out of business, now online seems to have lost its appeal and a general lack of brilliance…

It seems you’ve just been unlucky Matt. Someone up there said mail order worked 9 times out of ten. I’d put it more like 99 times out of 100.

I had a brief engagement with a bike shop person on Twitter this week. She was complaining that customers were coming in to her shop with armloads of online-bought parts to have them fitted, without giving her a chance to compete on sales. When I suggested she just needed to make the workshop a profit centre, she said they’d then not come to thd shop at all. I think it’s pretty obvious that’s not a sustainable business model.

I can only recall one issue with a set of wheels I ordered from superstar some year’s ago, in what must be 1000’s of on line purchases over the year’s. I have even found that none cycling specific retailers like Blacks are offering decent prices on some bits I’ve needed lately and service has been good.
It was the poor service I received from a number of lbs’s over the years that led me to learn how to service my bikes and build them up, and I wouldn’t think twice if I never set foot in one again. As a concept I think it’s a shame lbs’s have such a hard time, and hopefully some are looking at things like customer experience in order to survive and prosper. Saying this, I have started to pick up bits and bobs from one near me over the last year, as it’s convenient and they are friendly enough, but we are talking small item purchases which I doubt will keep them in business. Truth be told I wouldn’t even consider them for purchase of bigger items and if I changed jobs and it was no longer convenient I would never go again.

Yeah, I reckon I’ve had a higher percentage of “issues” in shops than I’ve had online.

Not giving up, but mail order companies who don’t put a returns form in with the package, why is this so difficult? Why make me download and print my own?

To maybe save a few trees? Only a small percentage of customers want to return the item but everyone should get a piece of paper they throw away?

The returns form could be printed on the back of the receipt listing the parts included in the order? (Edit: Alpkit do this)

Back on-topic: not had a problem with CRC. I’ll use a LBS occasionally and don’t mind when the price differential is say 10% but baulk when it’s 50% or more but does depend on urgency of when I need the item. I’ll always buy shoes from shops.

To be fair you’re listing a group of companies that mainly sell stuff at barely any margin. You can’t expect to get consistently great customer service, hold all the stock they offer, and pay < 10% over cost – that is the trade off. Having said that you do also sound unlucky, Ive ordered from several of them many times over the years and had not one issue except for some SS wheels that needed retensioning which they did promptly.

Is this some sort of “LBS Owners Guild” funded post, care of Cambridge Analytica?

I’ve always had great service from the three online outlets I use regularly – Merlin, Wiggle and Cyclestore. Stuff arrives on time, and is cheaper than any LBS round here.

The few times I’ve ventured into an LBS in recent years the service has been atrocious. My last experience was calling up my local Giant stockist to enquire how much it would cost to replace some worn frame bearings on my Anthem. They were completely disinterested, couldn’t give me a price, couldn’t do the work for two weeks, didn’t seem to even want the business so I just bought the bearing replacement tool kit online (Cyclestore) and did it myself.

Another experience a few years before going in to an independent bike shop in Leeds with cash in my pocket to buy a new hardtail saw the shop assistant refusing to let me sit on two different sizes of the same bike (let alone take them for a spin in the car park) “because you’ll just go online and buy it cheaper once you’ve sized yourself up here”.

Been using Merlin as my go to for over 10 years now, up until the best stocked bike shop in Scotland opened 10 miles up the road.

Sprockets

gave up on crc years ago

Your loss really. Some amazing deals and good service overall IME.

When I suggested she just needed to make the workshop a profit centre, she said they’d then not come to thd shop at all.

I think the three week wait for workshop slot at Stirling Bike Doctor who only does repairs, minimal parts like brake pads, begs to differ. His workshop is hidden in a business park, and I’ve never seen him advertise.

You’re right, I may have been unlucky.

Exactly, but she just didn’t seem to see that this could be an option.