Last Thursday I ordered a seatclamp and a £30 disc brake from CRC and got confirmation of my order. I was starting to get worried a few days later when I hadn't received confirmation of dispatch. Finally on Wednesday (6days after my order) I got the email:
"All of the items in this order have now been shipped. Track and Manage your orders…"

Great I thought, I can finish building my bike this weekend:) Came home yesterday to find a surprisingly small package with a seatclamp, and a note saying they'd cancelled my brake order due to a stock mix up. I was a bit annoyed they hadn't emailed me but assumed the brake was out of stock so looked up what they had instead. Turns out it *is* still in stock, they cancelled my order then put the price up £10!

AKRghhh!

Don't think I'll be ordering from CRC again, this is the second order in a row that has gone wrong. Last time I ordered nice roadbrakes, they sent me cheap DH bars… Then refused to send me the (more expensive) parts I'd paid for until I sent them back the bars I ahdn't ordered in the first plae. ttThey didn't even refund all of the (cheapest available) postage!! GRargghh!

How about picking up the phone and explaining the problem to them? I've always found the guys on the other end of the phone very helpful, friendly and keen to sort things out when they do go wrong.

Probably the best place to start.

I agree, call or email them and give them a chance to sort it out before you try dragging their name through the mud on a forum.

Call and order from you're …YES you guessed it !!! … LBS!! 😉

Call and order from you're your …YES you guessed it !!! … LBS!!

🙄

You all say to call, but she has called to try sort out their previous mess. And now they mess her around on the next order. It's not just that they cancelled the item and didn't tell her, it's that they claimed it's out of stock – but it's not, they've just bumped the price up £10 since she ordered! I'm not surprised she's annoyed.

"very helpful, friendly and keen to sort things out when they do go wrong"

This is my experience too, but not hers. If the brakes had just been missing they'd have sent them straight out. Instead she made the fatal mistake of telling them they'd sent some bars instead. They then decided to refuse to send the brakes until they got the bars back. But they sent out some brake cable that'd also been missing next day.

I know if I ever get a mixed up CRC order and get something instead of what I ordered, I'll now just be calling to ask where the missing item is and not telling them about the extra thing.

If the brakes had just been missing they'd have sent them straight out.

Hmmmm, not necessarily!

I've bought lots from CRC and had nothing but praise until the last 2 orders were messed up – 20" tubes instead of 26" (sorted out quickly) and the latest where I received 1 tube instead of a pack of 10. Faxed the delivery/order note back last week at their request (presumably so they can check the initials who picked/packed it – how that helps me I don't know 🙄 ) and when I eventually got through yesterday, after 4 hours of trying, they had no trace of the fax! I now have to send it again from work tonight but will probably do it again Monday morning as it is bound to disappear over the weekend.

They do not have a record of the postage cost on my item, which is the only way I reckon they could tell if a single tube or 10 pack was shipped. In the interim I am still 9 tubes short.

Not a good situation as at the end of the day it is my word against theirs. ❗

IA is bang on. Plus, how many folk actually manage to get through on the phone to CRC in a reasonable time?

In my eyes if they make a mistake they should bend over backwards to accomodate the customer. Not expect the customer be out of pocket or without the things they need because of CRC's mistake.

Customer service should not be measured buy how good they are when things go ok but rather how they look after you when they bollox things up. Would the people still be singing their praises if their order was messed about and they received the same level of service as the OP?

Actually, to slightly revise my post, I've received *excellent* pre-sales service from CRC (above and beyond what I'd expect for mail-order). But post sales my experiences have been negative. However I will big-up Extra, who more than took up the slack in CRC's operation, and far exceeded my CS expectations.

Also regarding dragging their name through the mud. Folk order from CRC due to their competitive pricing, and reputation for fast and helpful service. Even if they sort this out, and send her the brake (for the price she originally paid for it, I'm doubting they'll do this, but they might) and fully reimburse her postage costs for their previous cock-up (very unlikely, they didn't before and it was months ago now) is their behaviour still acceptable? Is this "fast and helpful service"? No it's not, IMO, and if they can't provide this, maybe they *shouldn't* have a reputation for it?

IA, the number of happy customers for CRC bust be 99 for every 100. They do make mistakes, but they have always resolved them for me.

We all make mistakes. Problems arise when folk refuse to take responsibility for them and rectify the situation quickly. My CRC incident involved some '26"' tyres which were actually 650b. They wouldn't pay for their return postage when I pointed this out to them.

And no, elephants never forget 😆

I've always had top service from CRC, they've made a few mistakes but put them right.

Can't recommend BikeTart.com enough, they even give you popping candy and stickers with your orders, plenty of e-mail contact letting you know what's going on with your order, seemingly willing to do everything in their power to make you a happy customer and get you out on your bike.

And no, I don't work for them.

26"' tyres which were actually 650b

Wonder if it's the same person who picked my tubes ?

I think the worst thing there is they stock 650B tubes! That'll only encourage "them"! 😉

I've tried phoning them a few times but haven't managed to get through to a human yet.

With the last issue I had I tried to get it sorted through CRC, and had it implied that I was lying to them, and that they wouldn't trust me to return the bars if they sent me the brakes first. Two days later I saw someone post on here and get a response from CRC within about 30minutes. Thought I was more likely to get a response here than on the phone…

I know CRC generally have a reputation for being cheap, fast and efficient, otherwise I wouldn't have ordered from them again after all the hassle last time (and still being out of pocket for a few quid through no fault of my own, not massive but not exactly great customer service). Everyone makes mistakes, it's not the initial mistake that's the problem but how they react afterwards that upsets me.

later I saw someone post on here and get a response from CRC within about 30minutes

Funny you should mention that as I've just had a call from CRC saying my tubes are on their way, so it's pretty obvious that they do take customer service seriously. It certainly won't put me off ordering from them again as prior to these orders the service has been excellent.

Thanks to Mark at CRC and whoever monitors t'interweb.

Yay, raced home from work as fast as I could to catch them before they closed (sitting around on hold not appreciated at work). They're going to send me the brake I ordered for the price I paid:)

Won't be able to finish building my bike this weekend but am relieved to have my trust in CRC restored, thank you CRC:)

Looks like you assumed wrong they weren't out of stock, could be many reasons. Maybe the order they've just taken delivery of cost more than the last batch so have had to put the price up.

Ooh all come good in the end.