I rarely post reviews and indeed this is my first post on CTC but after recently dealing with Certini Bicycles in Saltash I felt it was necessary to share my experience.
I normally live out of the UK but recently visited Plymouth to see my kids and as I was interested in looking for a new road bike I went to check out Certini's.
I first went into the Specialized store next door (also run by Certini). They young guy who served me (Gareth) was extremely knowledgeable about the entire range and keen to get me to try a number of different models around the local road to get a feel for the differences (I'm normally a MTB man so all the road bike stuff is new to me) and refreshingly there was no sales pitch trying to get me to buy the most expensive thing in the store. He also suggested that I go to the actual Certini store next door to compare some other brands (Cannondale, Scott) where I got talking to Rob (one of the owners I believe) and same thing...excellent knowledge, getting me to try the bikes out (even suggesting I take some demo bikes away for the weekend) and having endless patience. Despite maybe spending 4 hours with me in all and trying maybe 10 different bikes there was absolutely no issue when I said I wanted to think about it.
After some internet research that evening I decided which bike I wanted (a 2009 Specialized that was on offer at a very good price) and returned to the store the next day. This was my last day in the area and I was planning to leave around midday but again no issue...the guys unpacked my new bike, PDI'd it, set it up to my requirements and then packed it back up again for export all in two hours. Rob also went out of his way to ensure I had extra packaging and that all the paperwork was in order to export the bike (not something they normally do).
All in all I had a great experience...I now know a hell of a lot more about road bikes and I'm happy that I got the right bike at a great price.
Note that I have absolutely no affiliation with Certini (first time I'd been there) but I believe service at this level needs to be recognised.
Cheers
Andy