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Didn't realise they have started doing this, £4.99 for some £20 gloves to be delivered to my local store
Always liked the fact that store delivery was free, i could pop in and pick up my order which would cost the same as other places that offer free delivery on orders over £20 and have a browse and maybe buy something else
Will prob stop using them now which is a shame as my local store dont seem to carry much that im interested in and you cant even check on the website if an item is in stock at your local store anymore
Cue the Mike Ashley bashing
Don’t look at the hourly labour rates then.
🤬🤣
Sports Direct is the same. Guess it's part of integrating the businesses, i.e. bringing them all down to the lowest possible cost.
I thought that as you say getting you into the shop is worth money as when you pop in for your gloves you'll buy that inner tube that you forgot about and browse the shiny expensive stuff and maybe tempt you back in.
I thought it weird when I wanted some swimming Google's from Sports Direct. Result was that I went somewhere else.
If your normal LBS has gloves or whatever they'll often put them 'behind the counter' for you for a day or so no charge if you ring or email them.
This can’t be a real cost, stores must have regular stock deliveries where they can combine.
Yeh bizarre. Thought the same recently. Idiots. Lost my business. I suspect that the reason is that people order stuff in and then prove match it, leaving them with little or no margin.
It's a sports direct thing. Mike ripoff maximising his take.
A couple of people I know who work for Evans are now buying stuff from the shop I work at rather than from Evans.
And the real shame is that they will either become just Sports Direct for bikes or close down altogether. It will be the staff that suffer and not Mike Ashley.
136stu
Full MemberThis can’t be a real cost, stores must have regular stock deliveries where they can combine.
Yup, it is about making you pay for their core business requirements rather than you paying for a service
The only reason I use my local Evans is for click-and-collect. That will be stopping now. Was perfect for picking stuff up on the way home from work of if I couldn't get to the LBS for whatever reason.
Just another reason to use online stores instead now I suppose.
A couple of people I know who work for Evans are now buying stuff from the shop I work at rather than from Evans.
Being part of a great shop with exemplary service also helps keep your customers loyal Simon 😀. Not sure where you are but my LBS always gets my trade compared to Evans now.
So if you went to a store now and tried on gloves (if that is a thing in covid world) and they didn't have your size in, would them getting them in for you cost you £4.99? Or is it just online generated orders?
cheeky boogers
still, theyve probably sold out of most things like every other shop has, its the only way to put the price up. Supply & Demand.
Wont catch me shopping there. I like to use the local independent shop wherever I am when I need something,
swimming Google’s
Wow, I knew they did Glass, but one that can be used underwater, that’s amazing!
Mike Ashley has a bee in his bonnet about free delivery - absolutely hates it.
A couple of people I know who work for Evans are now buying stuff from the shop I work at rather than from Evans.
I spent more with each of SJS, Wiggle and Merlin this year than Evans, and I work at Evans. Staff discount got reduced when our stock system was changed to use SDs. It's often cheaper to just shop around. We do get the same discount across all company shops though, not just Evans.
Yeah same here Jameso, 12% loyalty discount at Wiggle and paid a tenner for a year of next day delivery. With no stock in store £5 delivery is a tough ask.
Mike Ashley has a bee in his bonnet about free delivery – absolutely hates it
Funny I feel the same about any of his stored.
Absolutely hate them due to being owned by him
They've tried it before, putting costs on getting stuff to store, at least a deposit. It helps stop customers ordering loads of bits, trying them on then wandering off and buying them online which just leaves the store with loads of extra random stock - most of them have extremely limited storage space.
It was always crap for the staff on the shop floor having to explain this to customers though (yes, another former Evans employee here!). As usual, the decisions made in the back room were consequence free for them; it was the people on the coal face who got it in the neck.
We do get the same discount across all company shops though
Great if you like dressing head to toe in Slazenger and Adidas, I guess 🙂
The whole thing baffles me slightly: I can’t see how the Sports Direct model is going to work in the cycling market. But I guess Mike knows how to line his pockets handsomely with the proceeds of shit businesses better than I do.
Not bought from Evans since the take over. Was a regular customer till that point as they always had a sale on and I got 10%discount through a staff rewards scheme. Mainly use merlin cycles or wiggle now as they have all I need.
Ooooo I could tell you a few stories bout Evans though will refrain from doing so.
Not bought from Evans since the take over.
Same.
Also use CRC much less because I've had way too many things from them with ridiculously poor QC and/or failed within warranty including frames and forks, not cheap stuff either!
Great if you like dressing head to toe in Slazenger and Adidas, I guess 🙂
Comfort.. benefit of working from home with SD discount innit? : )
It's a bonus for many across the company. Flannels sell posh stuff and Game is part of the group but neither are much interest to me. I'd rather swap that group discount for the trade price bike stuff.
Ooooo I could tell you a few stories bout Evans though will refrain from doing so.
Bet you couldn't..
I’m not a betting person so yh but no but yh
Evans are again featured in a newspaper consumer column for poor customer service. This time an NHS worker paid for but never received a £700 bike. Today's Observer (p52) consumers' columnist tried to get it sorted for customer but Evans refused to respond. Trust Pilot rates Evans as "poor". Avoid.
Still waiting for a Brompton from Evans. Paid in store in July gave all delivery details etc, was told by email it had arrived in warehouse on September 17th when their stock was due in. So far so good. Then I get an email headed ‘Your order does not exist’ to say it’s been dispatched to me but because ‘you hadn’t supplied an address’ it was being returned and the order cancelled. Rang the shop who were great and said they’d look in to it but rang me back and said there was nothing they could do it was in the hands of whoever sends out orders centrally. Emailed “customer services” to say I’d actually quite like the bike and here’s my details and a copy of the receipt and ‘can you now just post it to me please?’A few ‘computer says no E-Mails’ (no telephone option) back and forward and then try Facebook Messengering them and this time computer says yes they will deliver. Hooray. Chased up again yesterday and now been told it’s ‘in a holding warehouse’ and Cesar is chasing it for me. I am counting on Cesar now, hopefully he will stick around in the chaos long enough to sort me out.
Back in the late 90s early 2000s I always said Evans was like McDonalds - dirty, but it's good when you need some lard.
now it seems they are like the shady kebab van outside the bus stop. You think it's a good idea when drunk, but you spend three days spraying liquid out of your bottom.
Seen a few places start charging for store delivery lately, including Wilko 🙁
About 5-7 years ago most of what I bought came from Evans. Lots of good deals, plenty of stock, interesting brands, often first to get in new products. Then the deals dried up, they started getting greedy with postage, nothing I wanted in stock (this was before Covid), boring products, every time I went to Gatwick and asked for something from the warehouse they'd hand me the wrong item. Haven't bought anything there in years.
Just had a quick look and the website is full of errors, also doesn't seem to say if items are in stock or not? I never see their products in Google results anymore which can't help sales either.
Once upon a time I applied for a job at the Gatwick store. They basically had a room full of schoolkids (presumably to save labour or because the job centre told them to apply) to choose from without any interest in the sport or knowledge of bikes, and as it turned out almost all without a way to get to work each day. This could have been picked up from CV's or a quick phone call before wasting everyone's time. I know there's decent people work for Evans but a few too many give off this vibe. I got the distinct impression from the manager interviewing me that he was set on hiring a roadie for whatever reason, which may have derailed my application.
Anyway, I hope they sort themselves out.
Annoyingly I have an Evans voucher to use 🙁
Haven't used them for months now they never have anything and always at full price.
@mutepoint, I was just being a prat - 'you couldn't' ie can't do one and not the other, was all I meant.
I thought our local Evans had closed, but its just moved. I thought they were pretty good pre chav-direct take over; not used them since as their old store closed and I'd thought they'd shut for good. Wonder if they still stock Castelli, bit up market for SD....
How long before we see the return of Reebok mountain bikes?
To be fair, if they did start selling that kind of BSO they'd only be dropping to the same level as Halfords with their Indi bikes: I genuinely thought they didn't do these any more!
As said above, sports direct do this and they will be trying to amalgamate the businesses.
I always thought the send to store option was a convenience thing rather than cost saving as people in the office wouldn't be around to receive the parcel and it would mean driving to the courier depot on a Saturday morning trying to find the parcel rather than popping to the store at lunchtime or on the way home.
They could make everything £4 or £5 more expensive and offer free postage but then you'd lose out when buying multiple items.