Chain Reaction Cycles

[gbnz]

Placed two further orders this week (A tyre,following pot hole damage and pedal's, following my accepting that only having one remaining set of functional pedals and three bikes was a bit absurd )

Both order's were delivered correctly, carefully packed and within 24 hours of the order being placed. Pretty impressive

[gbnz]

Placed an order for two new BB cartridges. Both at a two thirds of the price of the nearest competitor, delivery within 24 hours of order being placed, order correctly picked, dispatched and received ok. Couldn't do betterr

[al_yrpal]

Ordered Crankset, cassette and chain for Chain Reaction Cycles late Monday afternoon (12th) and paid £4.99 for next day delivery. Today they said they hadn't despatched it because of the BANK HOLIDAY - what bank holiday? 12th July!!!

No warning on their website, they didnt even send it yesterday 13th, and when I phoned them today they said they would TRY to get it sent!!!

I need this fast because its for my son's bike and he is going on holiday on the weekend. "Sorry, we will check on this and TRY to send it!

Absolutely not good enough - what person in the UK apart from NI know that 12th July is a Bank Holiday - no warning on the website

Not the sort of company you want to deal with!

Alan Goswell

[Si]

Ordered Crankset, cassette and chain for Chain Reaction Cycles late Monday afternoon (12th) and paid £4.99 for next day delivery. Today they said they hadn't despatched it because of the BANK HOLIDAY - what bank holiday? 12th July!!!

Orangeman's Day - CR is based in N.I.

[meic]

Ordered Crankset, cassette and chain for Chain Reaction Cycles late Monday afternoon (12th) and paid £4.99 for next day delivery. Today they said they hadn't despatched it because of the BANK HOLIDAY - what bank holiday? 12th July!!!

No warning on their website, they didnt even send it yesterday 13th, and when I phoned them today they said they would TRY to get it sent!!!

I need this fast because its for my son's bike and he is going on holiday on the weekend. "Sorry, we will check on this and TRY to send it!

Absolutely not good enough - what person in the UK apart from NI know that 12th July is a Bank Holiday - no warning on the website

Not the sort of company you want to deal with!

Alan Goswell

Maybee it is time to learn that the UK is comprised of four different countries and not just one
and that they have their differences.
I dont see warnings on Scottish, Welsh or English websites every time they have a bank holiday.

[reohn2]

I've nothing but praise for CRC, every time I've dealt with them they've been quick,cheap and accurate.
On the one occasion that I had a problem (which wasn't their fault but Royal Mail's) the people who dealt with me on the phone were courtious and helpful.I'd use them again without a second thought.

[sc99cs]

I've used CRC more times than I can remember and have only ever had problems once - I paid with Paypal for something out of stock. The money was taken immediately (by Paypal) and I had to wait for it to go through the system before I could get a refund. Took about two weeks. CRC, along with UKBikestore.co.uk are my two favourite on-line retailers. I would not hesitate to recommend both of them.

[Wildduck]

Generally sound and reliable with competitive prices. One of my usual shopping stop-offs when after kit. Recommended.

[MikewsMITH2]

I ordered a pair of tyres in May. They sent (slightly) the wrong ones, so I complained. They responded very propmtly apologising and saying they would sort it out. Still haven't heard anything (mid July). So I fitted the tyres, as I needed to ride the bike! I think they have a problem

[aek]

I have bought multiple items from them in the last 4 months and they were always spot on.
Very quick delivery no questions asked. They always respond to my email really fast, the order status checking feature is always accurate.
Funny thing is that on Monday i order 3 bits that required Parcelforce 48 hour delivery and i still haven't received them today. When i check the status, the order was still processing.
After i sent them an email, i got the confirmation for shipping so i'm sure i'm going to have them tomorrow

I'm a very satisfied customer so far and i love the fact that i never have to pay for postage. I'm also a fan of SJS Cycles, however even though most of the products i buy from them have the same price as CRC, they always charge separately for postage. I only use SJS when CRC haven't got the item in stock.

[meic]

I am a regular customer of CRC and think that they offer some of the best buys around.
Delivery is absolutely fantastic.

However I find their descriptions of goods to be so inaccurate that I have ceased to buy things that I dont already know in the flesh.

The most extreme example of this is the Stronglight Impact Chainsets where you dont have a clue what you will end up with if you order one.
However the website is riddled with such examples, I think they need a person with some subject specific knowledge to give things a checkover.

Often you feel you could make an educated guess using the little information that they do provide but unfortunately it just can not be relied on to be accurate.
Inner tubes are simultaneously described as 20" and 26" for example.
Yet I want to know if it will fit a 406mm rim.

I feel that if I was to phone I would just be wasting my time and would have little confidence in anything that I was told.

Of course this cuts both ways and you may end up getting quality gear at cheap junk prices.
However some people think that is theft if you know that is what is happening?

Maybee if I get it off my chest here and others have the same feelings we could invite them to read this thread. They could decide that the answer is to streamline their range to the more mainstream components though!

[thirdcrank]

... Of course this cuts both ways and you may end up getting quality gear at cheap junk prices.
However some people think that is theft if you know that is what is happening? ...

If 'some people' is me (are me? are I?) then I don't think what you are talking about amounts to theft. I.e. it sounds as though they are selling stuff very cheap, sometimes exceptionally cheap. It only amounts to theft if you know they have made a mistake. (in both the cases I commented on, on here, a knowledge of the mistake having occurred was included in the original scenario.)

As a recent example of something that happened to me. Having been messed about by an alarm installer and preparing to go on holiday, I wanted a dummy alarm box as an interim measure. I ordered one, retail price about a fiver. When it arrived it was a complete alarm box, retail price something like £70 quid. The delivery note was for the genuine article. If I had just kept it the ingredients would have been there for theft. I emailed the vendor and they replied that their supplier had been out of stock so had sent the working alarm instead.

On a purely practical note, there's a huge difference between theory and practice. IMO, All those people who implied that I was talking through the chamois were referring to various versions of the difficulty of proving guilty knowledge, especially if the suspect were to be somebody who knew what to say.

I've only ever bought two things from Chain Reaction. One was a corrosion resistant chain I'd been unable to find elsewhare and the other was a (deeply discounted) Goretex Paclite jacket - the whole point of the Paclite being missed because it had a heavy lining. Service was excellent.

PS Good to see you back on the forum - I had been missing you.

[gbnz]

Have to report the rapid and correct delivery of ordered goods, AGAIN.

3-4 deliveries, all delivered within 48 hours using the free delivery mode. Tyres, tubes, top peak pump spares, all ordered seperately at very competative prices, all delivered precisely as they should be.

[tabwoodbridge]

I have to say this is quite simply the worst web ordering experience I have ever had. Ordered bike Monday 3rd Jan. Expected to arrive as stated within 48hrs. Took day off, nothing arrived. CRC did mot reply to e mail, on the phone was told I would get a call back but have not, although was promised delivery 6th Jan, so again took day off work, again nothing arrived. Sent e mail complaint without reply, still have no bike Jan 7th - quite how that is free next day or even 48 hrs delivery I do not know. However what has appalled me most is the shear lack of any customer service, and in fact shows they just have no care to delivering on their promise.

[Malaconotus]

I have to say this is quite simply the worst web ordering experience I have ever had. Ordered bike Monday 3rd Jan. Expected to arrive as stated within 48hrs. Took day off, nothing arrived. CRC did mot reply to e mail, on the phone was told I would get a call back but have not, although was promised delivery 6th Jan, so again took day off work, again nothing arrived. Sent e mail complaint without reply, still have no bike Jan 7th - quite how that is free next day or even 48 hrs delivery I do not know. However what has appalled me most is the shear lack of any customer service, and in fact shows they just have no care to delivering on their promise.

Monday was a Bank Holiday all over the UK, and Tuesday was a Bank Holiday in Scotland, through which the bike would likely have had to travel, so it was unreasonable to expect it to arrive within 48 hours of ordering. All retail businesses will have a huge amount of catching up to do after the Christmas and New Year break, but given how very good Chain Reaction's service has been in my experience, I wouldn't be at all surprised if the bike turns up today. That said, the delivery services do really seem to be struggling, especially Royal Mail. I had Christmas cards in the post this morning which had been sent a week or more before Christmas.

Graham