ChainReactionCycles Customer Service

Tau

Has anyone ever phoned ChainReactionCycles - the number on their website isn't working for me?

I ordered a BeOne Storm, and I got it, and it looks great, but the front wheel is completely out of true. Such is the problem with buying online...

AstraMonti

I 've phone them multiple times with no problem. From my little experience and from what i 've read in here, there won't give you any hassle in exchanging the wheel with a new one.

mfdc

Send them an email and they'll get back to you quick enough, I've found their phone is nearly useless though. Every time I've tried calling them it was engaged - spent a couple of days calling non stop last year (every 15 minutes or so while at work, had nothing better to do ) when they sent me a dodgy order and only got through on the 3rd morning. I tried calling again last week to ask a question and gave up after a couple hours of the engaged tone, got a mail response before the end of the day though!

CheGuedara

Generally I've found them to be excellent, but I have found customer service sometimes slow to get back to you (could just be a refelection on how busy they are). I'm waiting to see if they'll replace an order I placed on the 13th of Dec that never arrived at the moment...

I've e-mailed them before about problems ordering stuff and not only did they get back to me, they followed it up with another e-mail a week later to see if I was still having problems.

penexpers

About a year ago, I e-mailed/phoned them a few times. Never got through on the phone and the e-mail was not answered for three weeks.

colblimp

This is interesting. I tried to ring them for about an hour yesterday to ask them questions about a BeOne Storm 1.0 I want to buy off them, but no-one answered. With a poster receiving a bike with a knackered wheel and someone else not being responded to for three weeks, I'm having second thoughts...

IM0

Its a busy time for the online bikeshops at the moment (christmas sales, pre xmas orders, jan sales) its a backlog basically, generally their customer service is pretty good...but as like everything in life...dont mess with the help! when you contact any customer service be civil or else! - you treat them (the help) like crap - then they can easily return the favour, its ok to be firm and cordial, but aggressive and getting on high horses gets you nowhere...really slowly

thats probably why for one person it takes a few days to sort, but takes 3 weeks for another. ..think about it.

also if memory serves me (no offence) but the Be one bike are relatively cheap (at least the wheels) so it might be worth bearing in mind that they might have come out of true while in transit in the box. All cheap wheels need re-truing after a couple hundred km anyway..just FYI.

Tau

I'm ok with the wheels being out of true - I'd just like to get them to pay for the retrueing.

I've emailed them and I'll see what happens.

There's a review on the same bike saying that the wheels were out of true and they did pay, which is what gave me the idea!

AfternoonBlue

I ordered a BeOne storm and some accessories there last thursday. I don't know what they were doing, but it only got dispatched today, without one of the accessories.

Phone number was next to useless, but the emails got through and they were very polite and apologetic, admitting that the order had been lost and keeping me up to date with the current status of the order.

They say it should arrive tomorow, i'm excited now, I just hope that wheel won't be a problem.

The tax man

Can anyone that has ordered stuff from them answer me this. Ordered tyres last night,paid via paypal,got order I.D but when I view my CRC account it says I've no orders. Should my order not be visible on my account fairly quickly, like you get with most on-line retailers?

AfternoonBlue

TBH my CRC account was quite slow to update too. I recieved an email from them saying the order had been dispatched and the tracking number on it and it was only a few hours later the status changed from processing. Maybe they update the accounts manually not automatically when you order. They're quite busy at this time so maybe they just haven't got to your order yet.

Signal_ rabbit

I find them good for ordering stuff and it gets here pretty quick, bhe problem arises when you send stuff back. The answer I always get is 'we haven't received it' This has happened to me on four occasions, the last time was sent recorded delivery and they still maintained that they didn't receive it despite me getting a copy of the signature that signed for it and forwarding it on. After a lot of wrangling I got a refund (only on the forth item not on the first three). I use them very rarely now as they have got way too big. I generally use PBK or wiggle now, both have free P & P to Ireland and have very good back up.

StudentC

I had a mixed experience with them recently.

I had been planning to buy one of the Beone bikes (like everybody else on this thread ) and, as I am a newby, emailed them ahead of time to ask about buying it at the warehouse instead of online. They told me that if I went to the warehouse shop somebody would be able to help me size the bike and get the fit right.

So I went up to Antrim, and found that it was just like Argos - ask for your product from the catalogue and pay. They happened to have a bike assembled for somebody else so I was able to look at it, but that was just lucky. Admittedly they were busy (22nd December), but I only went up because I had been told I would get help. The guy who served me was very pleasant, but said he didn't have time to spend with me, couldn't take items out of stock for me to look at, and his sizing advice was of the 'what height are you' variety.

Anyway, I brought the bike home that day, and started to assemble it, but immediately had a problem (screwholes on stem not threaded properly, so screws wouldn't thread true). I tried to ring them but couldn't get through, ditto the next day (23rd, they were supposed to be open). So I sent an email and eventually got a reply on the 29th (having tried unsuccessfully to get through on the phone on the 27-29th), agreeing immediately to replace the stem if I posted it back to them.

I posted the stem on the 29th, got an email on the 31st saying they had sent me a new one, and it finally arrived on the 7th. Lo and behold, it didn't fit (it was a different stem, and appeared to be a cyclocross one rather than a road bike stem). I didn't bother trying to contact CRC, and went to a LBS to get the extra piece I needed. Eventually got to ride my new bike last Sunday - 3 weeks after buying it.

I appreciate that I was unlucky that it was christmas time and they were closed, slow postage etc, but overall I wasn't too impressed. They were very pleasant in all my dealings with them, but that doesn't make up for the misinformation they gave me, the long delays, and never, ever answering their phones!

short circuit

I've actually had very good experience with CRC ... maybe perhaps because I've never had to call them or return something to them.

I've e-mailed them once asking them about bike size ... and had a response in 2 days.

Also, I find CRC are much quicker to get an order to me than Wiggle .. Ordered stuff from both on the 4th Jan ... CRC delivered by courier on the 6th morning ... Wiggle only came in on the 9th.

Hope I continue never to need to talk to their customer service .. as they are usually cheaper than Wiggle etc.

alfalad

Similiar experience to short circuit have had no problems with them ordered on the 5th and arrived on the 8th as opposed to wiggle who i ordered from on the same day and it still has not arrived.:( Just went and bought the said item in a shop in town for 25% more as i want it for the weekend and will return the wiggle one it it does arrive!

dave.obrien

Just a quick question about the beone range, i'm thinking of getting one, a few on here seem to have one. how do you like them? is it just me, or does the sizing guide on chain reaction suggest they're slightly small, maybe a couple of centimetres smaller than average? maybe i'm reading it all wrong.

teevanke

I've actually had a mixed relationship - 1st order took over a week to arrive,
2nd arrived quickly, however all items ordered did not arrive, they did e-mail stating they had run out of one of the items so that's fair enough, 3rd order I'm still waiting on (ordered 6th jan), the customer service actually phoned me the other day asking me why I had returned it - I never received it in the first place, they apologized and said they would re-send it - still nothing !!

StudentC

dave.obrien wrote: »

Just a quick question about the beone range, i'm thinking of getting one, a few on here seem to have one. how do you like them? is it just me, or does the sizing guide on chain reaction suggest they're slightly small, maybe a couple of centimetres smaller than average? maybe i'm reading it all wrong.

I can't help i'm afraid - my first bike so I haven't really got a clue. FWIW, I'm 5'10 and inside leg 32" (I think) and the 55cm that I got seems ok - but I've only been out for one short ride so really don't know yet! Sorry

dave.obrien

Yeah, i've the same leg measurement. Let me know how you find it after a bit of a trek, it looks like a bit of a bargain!

Home:Ballyhoura

Has anybody ever bought from:

http://onyourbike.co.uk/
or
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

Came across equally good deals on bot, just never heard of them before!

72hundred

AfternoonBlue wrote: »

I ordered a BeOne storm and some accessories there last thursday. I don't know what they were doing, but it only got dispatched today, without one of the accessories.

Phone number was next to useless, but the emails got through and they were very polite and apologetic, admitting that the order had been lost and keeping me up to date with the current status of the order.

They say it should arrive tomorow, i'm excited now, I just hope that wheel won't be a problem.

That happened to me too. The whole "24hr" delivery thing is b/s, I doubt the majority of their packages actually ship in this time. Shame that they get away with putting it on their website.

xz

Home:Ballyhoura wrote: »

Has anybody ever bought from:

http://onyourbike.co.uk/
or
http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/

Came across equally good deals on bot, just never heard of them before!

A few of the lads in my Club have bought bikes from Ribble, They have some really good bikes at great prices

ednwireland

I use crc a lot (20 orders in last couple of years) most stuff arrives in the post in 2 days consider I don't think an post could deliver anything in 24 hours.
the only prob I've had is getting a right shifter instead of left rang them got through sent back had new bit in 2 days
so can't complain. Just had a prob with a chain being out of stock so emailed said could I change for a different one email back same day and a shipping confirmation.

Home:Ballyhoura

I just saw this thread and my original post is probably better here!A really nice gesture i think!