Cycling UK Forum

Evans Cycles is again featured in a newspaper consumer column for its poor customer service and its failure to provide goods paid for in advance. Observer page 52, 4 October, relates sorry tale about NHS worker who did not receive a bike paid for. Earlier this year a similar tale was related by The Guardian https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/money/2020/jul/20/i-feel-ive-been-taken-for-a-ride-by-evans-cycles Buyer beware.

To give them credit I have always found the shop at the Velodrome to be very helpful. But I wonder why their service has dipped? Could it be anything to do with their recent takeover by.....?

I've seen quite a few stories about poor customer service in recent times because shops couldn't get stock in a timely fashion. No excuse for Evans not to deal with the situation fairly and offer refunds but they certainly aren't alone in failing customers. Slightly off topic I see some of Evan's bike brands are appearing on the Sports Direct site, Pinnacle etc.

It is unlikely to improve:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... dApp_Other

One thing I think they are getting wrong is their move to "own brand". Everybody knows they don't manufacture e.g. cycling shorts, nor anything else; they just pay somebody (probably cheap) to print their branding on the product. I see it as about profitability which means buying cheap and selling expensive. So you are paying a lot for something built to a low price.

Last time I tried to get something from them (ordered online, delivery to shop) it didn't turn-up so with more and more own brand I don't even bother to check their web site any more.

Ian

It's a tough time for retail. whatever the size. I feel so sorry for the staff, I'm not sure which is going to be worse, being kicked out or remaining on an awful contract.

I do not even look at the Evans website if considering a purchase of anything cycle related. An episode a few years ago when I thought I was in a sub-plot of an Ealing comedy whilst endeavouring to get cycle delivered put paid to that. I see though by all accounts they have got worse, although I thought at the time that would have been impossible.

https://uk.trustpilot.com/reviews/54477 ... 0002ae20f5

My review of the situation is above.

K

Wow had a look through some of the reviews and they are the worst i have ever seen, looks like this company is on borrowed time to be honest.

I fear that, as ever, everything Mike Ashley touches sooner or later turns bad.

To their credit, my local store has re-opened after a few weeks closure due to unpaid rent. They decided that that their rent (on a store barely open a few months) was too high, and stopped paying. So the landlord locked them out. Unfortunately customers bikes in for servive were also locked in and they were unable to access them. Anyway, seems they saw the error of their ways and paid up, as they are now open again.

Not quite sure why it is noteworthy or creditable for a tenant to pay their rent!

Sarcasm that Evans thought they shouldn't!! Just another example of the shoddy outfit or maybe a reflection of their owner?

They do unusually badly on Trustpilot among other cycle shops.

I've only used Evans once - bought a crankset and crank puller for an old MTB I was fixing up before I sold it on.

The zip-ties holding the crankset in the box had both been cut, so the assumption would be that it was either a customer return or they had had it out of the box for something. Not a big deal but for some reason it annoyed me that they'd left the cut zip-ties in the box. That and I got the impression that it should have been advertised as either a return or open-box.

The packaging on the crank puller also had a big hole in it - part of the plastic was completely missing and it wasn't in the bag so one would assume it was like that when they packed it. The crank puller has a magnetic bit on the end which was plenty small enough to fit through the hole - fortunately it was still attached but it could very easily have not been.

Hardly a tale of life-and-death I'll grant you, but it didn't exactly inspire confidence. I generally go to CRC now.