Have used Planet-X/On-One, Merlin and Chain Reaction on a reasonably regular basis for a while now. I’d say that from a delivery point of view Merlin win hands down. They were getting me stuff next day that I ordered on the 23rd of December. Also their communication (conf of order, conf of dispatch etc) is superb.
That’s not to say that Chain Reaction is bad per se, but IME they don’t match up with Merlin.
On the gripe side, the new Planet-X website looks great, but a lot of the links either don’t work or take you to the wrong product. In addition, I upgraded the wheels on my road bike before Xmas with a rear from Merlin and a SRAM front wheel (at 75% off) from Planet-X. After five days I still hadn’t received the front wheel. I called Planet-X and eventually got through to a guy who couldn’t find my order (despite the fact that I had the order ref etc). Eventually we established that despite showing as available on their site and them taking my money, it was in fact out of stock. They had cancelled my order and refunded my money (no allegations of any funny business in that respect), but nobody bothered to tell me. Which I think was pretty poor, particularly as my decision to upgrade was based upon the two deals being available at the right price.
These things are very subjective. I’ve nothing against either On-One or Planet-X’s products, certainly their bikes are always well reviewed/commented about, but I think that their online operation could improve somewhat.
cbmotorsport – Member
Merlin…hmmmm.
I tried to buy a road bike off them the other day, asked them to supply mud guards with the bike and presumed they’d give me a great deal on the mud guards. They refused. I went elsewhere. Sure they could have knocked a fiver off the mudguards to ensure I bought a bike.
Perhaps I’m missing the point here slightly, but online retailers like Merlin already offer incredibly discounted products, representing (in most cases) extremely good value. Turning the deal down for the sake of a fiver is merely cutting off your nose to spite your face, no?
In truth, when it comes to haggling and getting stuff chucked into the deal as a makeweight, I think you’ll get much more satisfaction through a visit to your LBS.. 😉