J E James

[sharpy]

Hi,
Just picked up a new bike from J E James in Chesterfield.
I own a 'Paul Hewitt' touring bike, which I love to ride, but wanted something a little sportier to blast up and down the hills of the Peak District.

Armed with a few ideas, I discussed my requirements with the very knowledgeable Alan Turner at the shop and he put together an excellent combination of frame and components to suit my needs, including price.

Top class professional advice and service from a retailer which, although a large cycling concern, is still able to provide an excellent personal service.

I recommend these folks to you unreservedly.

[pigman]

glad to hear things have changed .. her's some personal experiences

1. I walk into the chesterfield bike store, having just paid good money upstairs in the baby dept. the manager, who I knew vaguely says hello and asks if I want to buy a new bike and reels off some offers. i say "no thanks, ive got these 2 to pay for" and show him my kids. He just turns his back on me and walks away.

2. I'm in the market for a new bike and fancy a carbon trek thats been reduced. I go into the sheffield shop and the guy shows me one in a colour I dont like that's also too big. I ask him if they have one in the right size and in discovery colours. He says no. I ask if their other shops have one. He shrugs and says dunno. I ask if he can phone. He just gives me their numbers and says he's busy. to this day, Ive still not bought a new bike.

3. I want a mid range chainset and decide to support my LBS rahter than mail order. He quotes £80 for a veloce chainset in a wrong crank length. I go in armed with the knowledge that ribble et al can supply for £35ish. At this point, I feel he's taken advantage and try to get out by dwelling on crank length rather than negotiate an impossible price. He tells me that I shouldnt worry whether its 170 or 175mm as they're all the same, but if Im fussy I could phone their other shops to see if they have one or give him a call next week to see if he has one then. I exited and bought from ribble.

4. I was in the market for a folder and considered the cheapest Dahon, but was slightly put off by the unconventional rear mech. The sales guy told me that it was the same as any derailleur till I put 2 bikes side by side and clearly pointed out the differences to which he surprisingly exclaimed "oh yeah". I then asked about availability on replacing the mech if necessary and he gave an off the cuff "oh yeah, we can get them" without asking anyone and only just having realised that there was a difference.

In short, I have little confidence, altho' many friends who spend a lot there find them very helpful. I think theyre good, if you just present your goldcard and let them lead.

[robwa10]

I go into the JE James in Chesterfield as my LBS and also have mixed feelings. They are often over priced on many things but are actually cheaper than the Sheffield branch. I would also say that I find them far more helpful than the Sheffield branch.
If you go into the Chesterfield branch ask for Paul back in the workshop, I'm pretty sure that's his name, tall, slim with dark hair. I went in with an old 27 1/4" wheel frame and everyone just said I should buy a new bike (half expected that). When I talked to him though he was very helpful and said he had just rebuilt one and sorted me with some parts and knowledge.


Sharpy and Pigman if you're on Sheffield side of Chesterfield and fancy some rides after Christmas with company then I'd be up for some runs out.

[Hemipode]

My only experience with J E James, in February 2009, was a disaster.
I placed an on-line order & received a confirmation e-mail to say it had been accepted & was being processed.
After more than a week had passed I rang them about the progress of the order as I had not heard or received anything.
I was told that there had been some technical issues & though they had my personal details, they had lost the information on what I had ordered. I let them know & the chap said he would look into it & phone me back within a couple of hours. He didn't !
3 days later I rang to find out what was happening & was told that the order had been cancelled by them (it would have been nice to be informed of this). So I started to place another order looking at their web site whilst on the phone to them. I was annoyed to find that items showing as in stock were in fact not. Also when ordering an item for £35 I was told that the price was in fact 'about £58'.
At that point J E James lost my custom for ever.

[destry]

I tried ordering online from JE James. Rang to check stock, all fine. Rang again to check progress, all fine. After a week, got an email to say all not fine, don't have the item in stock.

They do not actually know what they have in stock until they look for it, so you cannot trust what the web site says. Obviously they can't be bothered to do a stock take, either.

So if you order from them, you are effectively giving them an option to supply the item if it happens that they have it....

Compared to others, they are also very, very slow.

Not for me, thanks.

[mw3230]

Similar experience for me too - I ordered a Pearl Izumi windproof jacket shown on the site as available and £10 cheaper than Wiggle! Two days after ordering I received an email telling me that in fact the item was out of stock. It's good that they told me quite promptly, but in view of the comments on this and other forums, I don't think I'll bother with J E James again

[bossman23780]

All in all, theres a handful of competent helpful staff at the Chesterfield branch, Dean, Paul the mechanic, the wheelman and theres another mechanic i believe called Steve thats helpful aswell, if they arent there if you do need to go i would recommend asking when there are in next and come back then.

Best advice i can give is learn how to repair youre bike yourself (it really is easier than you may think) and buy from some of the more wellknown nationwide retailers, such as Wiggle, etc.

[julk]

I ordered some 'bulk' chain on-line late on Friday.
Got an e-mail on Sunday saying the order had been processed.
The chain just arrived today, Tuesday, although I had opted for the slower free postage option.
Excellent service and price for me.

[san0]

I wanted to buy some shoes here and other stuff as they were a few quid cheaper than other online bike stores. But their stock system on their website is rubbish. 2 of the items including the shoes were in stock on the web page, but they told me by email after waiting 5 days that they were out of stock! So much for free delivery - it takes over 7 days.

[robwa10]

Called the Chesterfield branch yesterday inquiring about 44cm Specialized Pro Road Ergo bars. Gave the man on the phone the product number from their internet site and he checked their system. Said he had it in and went and found it on the display and removed them and put them in the back with my name on them. Commented that they had been labeled as 40cm but were in fact 44's.

Went down that evening when I got home. Had to wait about 20 to 30mins as there weren't many people on the floor working. Got the bars and was also getting some cabling and other things. Asked if I could measure the bars as they were in fact labeled 40cm and just wanted to be sure. They were labeled correctly and no others in stock.

Left without buying anything.

[Super.Niki]

I ordered 2 pairs of shorts and a pair of pink mitts form JEJames and had a whole list of other things I was going to get (can't get them all at once as the bank balance wouldn't stretch that far!!). Orderd them on the Monday afternoon and on Saturday I got an email saying the shorts were out of stock I could order some others, all of the others were about £20 each more expensive! I sent an email saying I was very unhappy and unless they could apologise I wouldn't be reccomending the shop to the rest of my group. I never had a reply, my mitts arrived the next Tuesday with no note or anything just a delivery form. Quite unimpressed, I'll be eBaying it next time!

[monkey]

I orderred a pair of gloves back in November. They sent the wrong size. I returned them and they then sent the wrong colour. I returned these and then heard nothing for over a month. I tried ringing, but getting them to answer the phone requires huge amounts of patience, at least twice the phone was picked up and put straight down. After sending two emails and finally getting through on the phone they sent another pair of gloves last week, again the wrong colour, in fact exactly the same pair of gloves they sent me in December. I returned these and finally gave up and insisted on a refund, and orderred from Chain Reaction (the gloves arrived the next day, right size and right colour). One thing to note their returns policy states they'll refund you the postage, I have seen no sign of that.

I actually used the Chesterfield shop often when I went home and was more than happy with them, but their online store has cost them my business.

Don't use their online store I would recommend Wiggle, Chain Reaction, Ribble Cycles, or St John Street Cycles all of who'm I have not had problems with. JE James are sadly a joke.

[Griv3l]

Definitely would NOT recommend JE James online store; delivered the wrong product completely and there was absolutely no apology -just send it back ( they did offer pre-paid postage ) - referred to returns dept who did not reply to Emails or message left on their answer phone so gave in and just hope refund turns up . Appalling service -will never use again . I would recommend Chain Reaction and Spa cycles in particular plus Wiggle or Evans all of whom I have not had problems with. JE James are sadly a joke and do not deserve the sales when the above competitors offer a true service to their customers .

[CREPELLO]

Yeah, the online store is pants. I ordered a NOS Deore hub, albeit at a reduced price. Nothing in the description said it lacked the QR and that it'd become scratched, probably from sitting at the bottom of the bargin bin for the last 5 years. After a few phone calls they did send me a non-matching QR.

[reohn2]

I've ordered two items from them both(at different times)took almost a fortnight to arrive,terrible service,never again.