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Bought a disk mount adapter from Rutland Cycles. Heard nothing for a week then get an email saying they'll have it in a couple of days and despatch in another 2-3. Is this taking the piss?
If a shop says they have something I assume this means 'in the warehouse' rather than 'we go order it from somewhere else who may or may not have it'.
Never happened with CRC - who's customer service appears exemplary - but they didn't have the bit on this occasion.
Am I being a miserable old git or are they out of order?
Caveat Emptor
Think they are known for it and based how long they've been doing it I guess it must be legal.
no!
Of course it's acceptable.
Do you think CRC/Wiggle have all that stuff in stock all of the time?
Some sites will give an indication of "in stock" or "with us in a few days".
From the Rutland site
TBH, it woud be better if they gave an indication at time of purchase, or next day.We aim to deliver your order to you in 2-3 working days. If there is a hold-up delivery may take a little longer, but most of these orders are dispatched within 10 days.
Acceptable, well sure. Annoying? Also yes. Stock indicators on the website are a good move, or failing that a quick notification after ordering. But what you actually seem to get is no comment at all, til you chase them 2 weeks later then they say "Yeah, we'll have it by the end of the week", then 2 weeks later you chase them again...
TBH Tredz have been bad enough for this lately that I don't think I'll be shopping with them again. Still better than the accursed Mark Anthony Bikes/ Activesport though, a pox upon them.
LOL- yep, had the same problem with some on-line retailers recently. They list their stock as the importers/distributors stock. A royal pain when you need a part quickly.
I'm still a fan or CRC as they do hold stock and have been good to me.
Tim
Leisure Lakes do it a lot. Ordered twice and had to cancel both times as was OOS. PITA. No plans to try again!
Well OK, so it is legal, an they did say it - somewhere. But, the comms are poor. Why should I wait for a week to hear they are having trouble? They have my email address. Other shops (like CRC) are better. Or even better, say in the advert 'not in stock but can get in X days'. Just be open I guess.
Happened to me the last few times with CRC and it's trying my patience with them......definately tailed off in terms of what I order from them
better than the accursed Mark Anthony Bikes/ Activesport though, a pox upon them.
+1000
may they burn in the deepest pits of hell for all eternity
Oh dear. Shall give them a miss then.
It's on every product page.WillC9999 - Member
Well OK, so it is legal, an they did say it - somewhere.
shouldn't be allowed
Didn't Dave Hinde used to be the king of this amongst other bad habits.
i have a feeling doing this to excess is prohibited as bait selling. but i'm not up to speed with the qualifying criteria for it to be an offence.
There's the law, and then there is being nice.
What is a shop? A room full of stuff with price tags, or an empty room with a guy in the back internet shopping on your behalf?
this is current position: (CPRs = Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations):
Thirty-one practices are deemed to be unfair in all circumstances. A trader carrying out any one of these will have breached the CPRs, whether or not it had any effect on the average consumer.In addition to pyramid promotion schemes, bogus sales and "doorstepping" consumers at home, the blacklist includes:
"Bait advertising" - advertising products at a specified price without disclosing that the trader has reasonable grounds to believe he may not be able to supply them or their equivalent at that price for a reasonable period or in reasonable quantities.
etc.
possible OFT case against any online retailer shown to be doing it.
UKbikestore, i don't think they have anything in stock! you attempt to buy off them the the send the boy out to try and buy one.
pants
Get real folks. Do you actually believe that all online retailers should only be allowed to advertise/take orders for stock they are actually holding?
That would be all sizes/colours of clothing, all sizes/models of bike of the manufacturers they sell?
Same thing happened to me with JeJamescycles.
Ordered a joplin lever from them, because they advertised it as in stock. I even phoned them to check this was true, and then paid extra for their priority delivery because I wanted it before I left (7 days later) for a holiday in Wales.
Recieved a text from them 10 days later saying they'd just despatched it, and I needed to be at home the next day in order to sign for it. I was now on holiday, so had to re-arrange for it to be delivered the following week and take more time off to recieve it.
I will not use them again.
Yes/NO.
Rememeber the good old days of " Wait 28 days for delivery" ???
I ordered and paid for a new fork recently expecting to receive it 2 days later, when i called to ask for the tracking number, i got told they wont have it in stock for at least 3 weeks. yet they were happy to take my money.
i promptly cancelled my order, got my money back and went elsewhere.
it cost me 10% more then the first place had offered me it at, but i got what i wanted and when i wanted.
If they havnt got it in stock then they shouldnt take it your order without warning u first.
And my order was placed speaking to a person on the phone and not over the net,so no excuses for that really.
If they say it's in stock it should bloody well be IN STOCK. Otherwise its fraud and I dont use them again. And I'm a reasonable guy btw! Of course there will be the odd error / shoplifting discrepancy etc, but some online shops are just plain dishonest.
I appreciate some stuff is special order etc - and happy to order on that basis and wait. But in 2012 - "in stock" means "I can despatch as soon as I can get someone to get their asses down to aisle 3b and stuff it in an evelope".
I'd agree that UKbikestore and JEJames are crap. I'd go so far as to say they dont carry one single item in stock (IME) - everthing has to get shipped to them first and then wait around in some lockup before they find it and send it out snail mail.
The Rutland Cycles website doesn't say if it's in stock or not.
Mail order can be so frustrating sometimes!
I've not had a problem with UK Bike Store, have used them a few times.
Currently waiting on two packages including some replacement clothing, from over a week ago. Would have expected the clothing (cold weather garment) to be sent promptly as they do have it in stock. 🙁
On a more positive note, Merlin continue to be brilliant to order with.
Top customer service.
If they say its instock it should be.
druidh - Member
The Rutland Cycles website doesn't say if it's in stock or not.
I've made it my mission to always post on these threads about how sh!te rutland are in this department.
The difference with wiggle etc is you know before you pay whether it is in stock or not.
Crap service and just "sorry but thats how it is" when you complain. Must be a ball ache working there and having to deal with irate punters all the time.
Get real folks. Do you actually believe that all online retailers should only be allowed to advertise/take orders for stock they are actually holding?
No, but if the website gives no indication to the contrary then I think you're entitled to assume its in stock.
Online ordering is great but a bit odd.
I ordered a large shirt (in stock according to website-TJ! )from On One one evening.After rechecking the sizes elsewhere I e mailed them the next morning to ask if I could have a medium instead. E mail reply received saying sorry but order had already been completed and dispatched and that there were no mediums left anyway and I should return it on receipt for a refund.
E mail received next day, sorry but no large in stock would I like a medium instead?
Postman delivered the medium shirt 30 minutes later!
nick - that is funny - frustrating maybe - but funny. At least OnOne try and reflect stock levels online. Some retailers do not. I think that's what the general whine here has become.
If Ruthlands /Uk Bike Store et al had a great big honest "We NEVER keep any stock" on their website it would do less harm to the rest of the online bike industry.
It's a pain as a consumer, and a pain as a competitor... So we now have....
Charlie’s Stock Promise...
If the website says we have it in stock, we actually have the product here in the shop to send out to you straight away.
I understand that you are ordering the cycle component because you need it, not because you sort of perhaps want it... you need it. Many other shops give the impression that they have stock, take your money, and then what?? Often the importer does not have the stock, so these shops can’t even get one in for you.
The only exception is our frames and complete bikes. We do keep stock here, but can’t possibly cover every option. Take the Surly Long Haul Trucker, a great touring bike... 10 frames sizes, 2 colours, disc or canti brakes, 26” or 700c wheels, frame or complete bike... that is well over 100 variations.
Frames and complete bikes are ordered in especially for you; this often only takes a day or two, and allows us to offer you the full range. If we expect delays we will let you know.
At Charlie The Bikemonger we are all (yeah all three of us) cyclists, we’re nice guys, and we’re not here to rip you off.
Honest chaps, good honest service.
Taken from my t&Cs at http://www.charliethebikemonger.com/terms--conditions-16-w.asp
I would never buy online unless the retailer is telling me it's in stock, or I know in advance that there will be a wait and I'm prepared to accept it.
If, as has happened, the shop tells me it's in stock, takes money from my card, then comes crawling back a couple of days later to say actually they didn't have it after all, and it will be a couple of weeks, then I cancel and don't use them again.
All I want is some indication of delivery times before I order. Not unreasonable really.
Pretty much ditto what Charlie says. It boils my piss when I try to order something and it doesn't arrive for weeks. The reason I'll never be a massive Internet web store is that if we don't have it on the shelf, you can't order it from the site.
I really do need to figure out a way of knowing what people are trying to order though, so I can get a bit more of it next time. However, it's much nicer to have a little discourse with a customer, either email, phone or over a coffee...
Unfair ? - Yes.
Legal ? Probably, but they should tell you I think.
However, it's situations like this which determine how their business thrives or falters. Although it takes a few in your situation to point out the issues, that's plain annoying for you.
My experience online, so far, for bike stuff is pretty good.
" Out of 5 " for delivering to my expectation I have...
Merlin 5
Wiggle 4
Superstar 5
CRC 3
CRC seemed to go through a sticky patch just before Christmas.
Wiggle have that irritating ( but just maybe understandable ) clause which seems to tell you that if you want free delivery you go to the back of the queue.
They're probably too busy shredding the gnar that is the Rutland Water perimeter trail to worry about stock.
A certain medium-size online shop does this all the time. Their website is basically a list of the items they [i]could[/i] get if somebody placed an order.
OK as long as they make it clear I think. Not OK to pretend they do have it in stock.
In defence of Active Sport, they have been the cheapest for Rohloff stuff in the past when I've searched.
If, like me, you like to keep a spare sprocket in stock your self, they're OK.
If I need a new sprocket, I will fit the one from my own personal stores, then order a new one ready for next time, so it doesn't matter if it takes three weeks to turn up.
I wouldn't use them for anything I needed urgently.
For a disc adaptor why didn't you just pop into an LBS, and if they haven't the right one - Hope (for example) deliver next day.
In defence of Active Sport
First time anyone ever typed that, I reckon.
Worst retailer ever.
OK, well Rutland order cancelled (still delays, and frankly unimpressive interpersonal skills), now trying UK Bike Store who clime to have it 'in stock'. We'll see...
In defence of UKBikeStore, ordered some Sealskinz liner socks mid-afternoon on Tuesday, arrived yesterday. Can't argue with that for service.
Quite frankly its bollocks. Why spend money attracting customers, taking money, just to not only refund them, but also piss them off.
Cycle consumers (that is us lot) tend to be fairly clever... "prosumers" and should not fall for this nonsense.
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Merlin every time. Pretty much everything I've ordered has arrived the next day and been the cheapest as well so double bonus. CRC stuffed up an order so I had a moan and they gave me a £25 voucher which is lovely but I still won't order from them if I need stuff quickly.
First time anyone ever typed that, I reckon.
I just remembered, they were the cheapest for Renthal chainrings as well.
I don't know if they really had them in stock though. I used CRCs price match. 😛
FWIW with Activesport it wasn't just that they didn't have the item in stock despite telling me they did... It was that they then repeatedly lied about it, and not even good lies.
Did it to me twice (didn't realise Mark Anthony Bikes and Activesport are the same company...). First time was a set of salsa bars, which they claimed were in stock, then would take 2-3 days, then had been posted, then must have been lost... Then when I finally complained to Ebay, they cancelled the sale, and announced that it was my fault as I hadn't specified the colour. The bars only came in black.
Second time round was a stem... Again, promised it was in stock, then oops, sorry, will take a few days... After 2 weeks of that, some snow arrived, so then "Well it's not our fault, we'd totally have had it with you by now except for the snow!". I mean, don't get me wrong, I've lied to customers but they've always been good lies! Don't treat me like an idiot, don't act offended when your obvious lie turns out to be obvious... But most importantly takes some pride in your work damnit! Be the best liar you can be!
The final touch was when I left them negative feedback, and they emailed me with a bribe to try and get me to withdraw it.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Amazon. Sure they have loads of developers and are huge but they are honest about if something needs to be ordered and it's on the product page. It's not a stretch to say "We can get this in a few days but it's not in stock" as a middle ground between yes we have it and no we dont.
For me, Wiggle and CRC have been mostly fine. PX were a bit shit in telling me they didn't have the stuff I ordered and needed to send me black wheels and wait for some other bits (but they made it up to me so I still love them). Merlin have always been great. Charlie has done me proud, even answering my idiotic questions.
I'd deal with any of the final three before the first two and then look at other websites.
I've bought a few things from ukbikestore and always been delivered promptly.
I have had issues with Rutland before.
A mate of mine works there. I will send him a link to this thread. I know that they are working to try & improve things.
Had this happen twice with Rutland, but never was contacted by them, both times i had to contact them to chase it, shouldv'e learnt the first time. However a purchase via their ebay shop couldn't have been smoother
To wrap this up - UKBikeStore delivered as promised. Won't use Rutland again. Will be more careful at reading small print.
I don't really mind if they're saying it in good faith- they have no reason to think their supplier will let them down and so it'll be with you when they say it will.
If they know that's not going to happen or they have no idea when it might show up then they need to make that clear. If I ordered, chased it up and then found out it was all on the never-never I'd be pi$$ed off.
Tredz do this and seem to get a email a few days later saying they are ordering it in. when it said on stock on there website.
Holy thread resurrection. I just got caught in this
I got an email to say one of the parts I ordered was out of stock with the distributor and would follow next week and they would hold my order.
Phoned up and discovered nothing I had ordered was actually in stock - everything comes from the importers just this one Item we out of stock with the importers as well.
I expressed by irritation with this and was told it was all explained on their website - it is - away in "delivery times" or something similar saying if dispatch was greater than 1 day then the item would have to come from the distributors and could be a day or two
Simply not acceptable to me - entire order cancelled and fortunately no quibbles with the refund.
Thats a shop off my potential shopping list.
Does the site actually say "in stock" against any item, or does it just quote delivery timescales?
Lets add JE James to the list. Order Shimano bleed kit funnel on Feb 22nd, site says in stock.
Call on March the 6th to see where the item is. "it's on order, will be with you this week", great.
Call today, "where's my bleed kit then?", site still saying in stock. "not sure let me check, oh yeah we have three of those, i'll call the warehouse, oh the lines are down to the warehouse I better mail them. Should go today" Brilliant!!
Cost of item £3.50, cost of postage £3.20........delivery time, approaching 3 weeks so far.
Off the list, should have just got a refund!
On the page you order from it says estimated date of dispatch today or tomorrow - go to the delivery times page and it explains that a date of tomorrow actually means " we have to order it from our suppliers"
One assumes if they are selling it and take your money that they actually have it to sell.
I don't mind the ordering in - I object strongly to the deceit
everything comes from the importers just this one Item we out of stock with the importers as well.
I do sometimes wonder why importers refuse to deal with the public, why not just do a superstar/CRC and sell direct, even if at full RRP to give LBS's a chance to stock it too.
hopefully if enough clued-up consumers reading forums like this one, get the message
these money-grabbing muppets (i.e. small shops posing as on-line retailers with stock warehouses) will be driven out of business as their constant lies about "stock levels" does no one any favours whatsoever...
I had it out with Tredz and I published their respone on [url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/tredz-poor-performance-chaps ]this[/url] thread
I ordered some Knee Pads from Dainese-Central (MOTO-CENTRAL).
Two Days later I received an email to say they where out of stock and discontinued, I immediately requested a refund which took 2 days.
What is even more annoying is that they still have them on their website 7 days later, although they don't have any, and can't get any!!