CRC being absolute shits.. advice needed!

You’re right, the damage is a red herring but the point remains. They were very clear, return and refund, there is no agreement in any of what you posted to anything different on their part.

I think a medium would suit you better anyway.

Longer is the new black etc…

I’m more just surprised about the complete lack of goodwill from CRC.

They’re cheap because they sell online and ship directly from a huge central warehouse. They aren’t setup to provide personalized service. If you want that, you need to go to a local shop and pay for it.

AFAICS it is no skin off their nose to swap the bike

It probably is. They just aren’t set up to do stuff like that. They take orders online, those are processed automatically and sent to the warehouse, then the stuff is shipped. Returning stuff means cancelling the order and putting in a new order. Setting up a system to swap stuff would not be worth the expense because it’s not how their business model works.

I noticed crc don’t do exchanges any more on return form, presumably for this reason too much scope for confusion. I know it’s a big ticket item but they suggest on the return form (from memory) you buy the correct item and send back the incorrect, so you don’t havd to wait for refund / exchange first. Usually refunds are no quibble.

To be fair, having now re-read it for the nth time I can see how you’d justifiably interpret it the way you have. I mean, it’s still one of life’s “take it on the chin” moments given that it’s ultimately your own error and that this is about ambiguous communication rather than actual business practice (I suspect the returns section of their site may offer some clarity*), but I see where you’re coming from.

* – Edit: hmm, no, it doesn’t.

if the bikes they have in stock are suddenly worth a grand more then the bike I’m sending back is also worth a grand more – it’s zero sum

Unless that’s subsidised by the supplier. I don’t deal with bike retail but, used to deal with supermarkets, often the “sale” price was taken off the unit by us after the sale, so if they sold 30k boxes in the week long £1 off offer we’d refund the cost of 30k afterwards. The supermarket’s margin never changed, the sale is swallowed by the supplier.

It sounds like I’m contradicting myself here sorry as I’m missing the important bit.

They make the same £ profit on the sale at full price or reduced. ifand it’s a big if, they can restock and resell at new price, the £ number stays the same but the return is lower.

For argument sake:

At full price the bike is 5500.
Crc make 1600 ish on that.(40% markup)
That’s a return of 30%

The bike was reduced to 4400
Crc make 1600 on that
That’s a return of 36%

That % figure is very important. Much more important than the £ & pence figure.

To be fair, having now re-read it for the nth time I can see how you’d justifiably interpret it the way you have.

@Bez Nah. It’s already been spelled out that he’ll have to be refunded and re-order (no exchange). He then asks for a swap – which he’s getting (bike for original money back). Chat bod never agrees to replacement/exchange. Defo case of suck it up.

I do have some sympathy with you but CRC have made up their mind so you aren’t going to get your way. I say get your refund and spend your money elsewhere.

Yeah it’s annoying when you miss out on a mega deal by screwing up 🙄 I’m sure we’ve all done similar at some point.

you are in effect costing them though – if you return then they have two bikes to sell at +£1100, one of which they would like to be to you. It’s a bit rude but it’s £1100 extra compared to doing a swap for no extra, and if they feel they can sell both again….

Maybe see if they will do a deal somewhere between, if it’s the bike you really want

At full price the bike is 5500.
Crc make 1600 ish on that.(40% markup)
That’s a return of 30%

The bike was reduced to 4400
Crc make 1600 on that
That’s a return of 36%

That % figure is very important. Much more important than the £ & pence figure.

You’re looking at it backwards.

The cost of goods remains the same, so they make less on the sale.

The only time COGS wouldn’t remain the same is if the manufacturer/distributor is doing a rebate on the SKU, which is possible to be fair but impossible for us to know.

I have just come good with Wiggle. I bought a bike in their sale.
Now it’s £1100 more!
I reckon I can get that back on ebay tomorrow!
Free bike!

But I’m rather disappointed about a camera I bought 3 weeks ago, it is £100 cheaper now.
Do you think I can send it back and get a refund?
If not, do you reckon I can sue them, as they never told me the price was going down.

I’m with CRC. You ordered the wrong thing and they’ve agreed to refund it. Get the money back and buy something else.

Should have just refused delivery and they would have taken it back to CRC.

“Absolute shits” is a bit strong, really.

Bit frustrating I’m sure, but maybe get the refund and wait until they discount again.

Did you accidentally click the wrong size or not look at the geometry?

Absolute shits” is a bit strong, really

True.. clickbait though 🙂

Ask yourself what am I really pissed off about, CRC’s approach to this or myself for ordering the wrong size. You seem to me, and I speak as a man of much experience in these things, to be desperately trying to do anything but face your own stupidity. If it’s any consolation the feeling usual passes after a few months and then only comes back every so often to totally reduce you a self loathing wreck.😊

I’d get a refund and then go and see a nice local bike shop.

I’m in the process of building up anew bike for my son and bought a new SRAM groupset off eBay and once I started fitting it realised that I preferred Shimano.I couldn’t return it but did manage to sell it on again for a few quid more and recover my costs.

I’ve now ordered a new Shimano groupset from a local shop and paid a bit more for it in the process. However the whole shopping experience was nicer and I know that i’ll be looked after on all the other bits and pieces that I will no doubt need and when I do need those bits it is only a 20 minute drive.

I get you are pi$$ed off, i would be too but it was your error.

I booked a flight last year and accidentally booked the tue rather than the wed. I got that changed to wed but had to pay the extra £159 the wed flight was. I didn’t expect to get the wed flight for the tue price.

So I can see why CRC have said they can either refund you or you pay the difference for the different item. Annoying/frustrating even poor customer care but you have to suck it up.

You still haven’t answered the important question of what you ordered, I just spent 10 minutes reading this and the only bit I was interested in was the bike, can you exchange the 10 minutes I wasted for the information we all really want please

AFAICS it is no skin off their nose to swap the bike –

Apart from two extra courier fees, the time for staff to check over returned bike, put back on shelf and on system for sale again, having lost a sale of a small frame as someone had mistakenly ordered it and agreed to the delivery at thier cost then changed their mind…

It probably is. They just aren’t set up to do stuff like that. They take orders online, those are processed automatically and sent to the warehouse, then the stuff is shipped. Returning stuff means cancelling the order and putting in a new order. Setting up a system to swap stuff would not be worth the expense because it’s not how their business model works.

They can if they want and do … I had a whole conversation and email basically just buying a thru-axle their website had specs 2 different incorrect (impossible) ways.
I had a basket of 2 small items already ordered without the thru axle they could see and I asked if they could ship it all together to come in over £20 for delivery… they cancelled the unshipped order and created a new one with all 3.

Even better than the non-paired wheel one.

you screwed up, move on