Anyone else gone off CRC a bit lately?

DubVelo

I had something off them recently and as usual no problems, quick and all that and I'd rather keep using them because they're Irish and I've had some great bargains and service off them over the years.

Lately though I'm finding they just don't seem to have the stuff that I want, the prices aren't that great, the new website is a backward step, horrible to use and they don't give you a free little pack of Haribo!

Amz

I've found the new site awful too. It wasn't working properly for me at all over the weekend (iPad and tried both safari and chrome). None of the menus loaded properly and links on homepage didn't work.

As a result of that I went to Wiggle and found what I wanted for a lower price than I'd seen it on CRC. I've had no issues with CRC in the past, but the new site is a pain.

FirstinLastout

The first few orders from them they'd send out little samples of energy drink tabs etc but now, many orders later, it has been quite some time since I last received any freebies from them.
I was as almost as impressed with my little bag of Haribo as I was my new saddle when I ordered from Wiggle a month ago.
I'd still prefer to support the local business but the new website seriously sucks balls.
Images won't display, crap search functionality "No results found for Garmin" etc and it's just plain nasty lookin' & unfriendly.
They'll need to sort it asap.

route66

And I thought it was just me. Seems they forgot the maxim - "if it aint bust, don't fix it".
And on the subject of their stock - went looking for some common Shimano disc "B01S" pads earlier; nowhere to be seen. Wiggle and Evans had them...

C3PO

Haven't bought anything from them for ages and I was a regular!! I find the German sites are just much better value for all the consumables!

loinnsigh

Still use them, and would give them preference over Wiggle, but one thing that really annoys me is that the site doesn't remember what's in your shopping cart between sessions, even if you're logged in. grrr

Planet X

Got a Jacket off them last week.
Have to Log In each time as they won't "remember" your log in details. So what. Takes seconds to log in.
Still the best online shop around.
A bag of sweeties wouldn't sway me.

buffalo

I've never used them since they were hacked and didn't inform anyone that their credit card numbers might potentially be compromised. Thankfully my bank were more sensible about the new wardrobe and Apple computers that somebody bought.

Planet X

Did you get stung?

buffalo

Planet X wrote: »

Did you get stung?

No, the bank took care of it. When I talked to CRC, they gave me a £25 voucher, but refused to contact any other customers to let them know what was going on. There was a big thread about it here when it happened, and same on other bike forums.

BadCharlie

I only bought a few bike items the last 6weeks. Used this site & it was fine. Though the prices was good also. Used 4 bike online shops and all delivered fast and what i ordered, cant ask more then that (no free items from any of them)

ericzeking

Sweets you say? Don't think I ever got a freebie until the last consignment I got came with a Bikepure bracelet

smacl

I use them occasionally, mostly for bit for the kids bikes which they're pretty good on. Got hit with card fraud myself very recently, though nothing to do with CRC as I'd only use PayPal with them. Funny enough, I do tend to use Bike24 more often and they don't accept PayPal. Hmmm....

pelevin

C3PO wrote: »

Haven't bought anything from them for ages and I was a regular!! I find the German sites are just much better value for all the consumables!

Could you recommend one or two of the German ones you use?

Plastik

The new website is absolutely terrible. It has turned me off even browsing on it.

Cee-Jay-Cee

Their search function is rubbish and the pages are laggy and slow to load. The reviews haven't been transferred from the old site on the vast majority of products which is also a balls.

They really should revert to the old site if that's possible as the new one is a disaster and as a result I've bought everything recently from wiggle and the German sites.

PerrDub

German sites such as bike-discount and bike24 are my favs...

Though I usually try and get my LBS to price match the cheaper sites.. which works if you develope a good relationship with them....

Raam

New site is rubbish on my mobile devices.

hueylewis

I should probably be shopping around a bit more, but I've always found their service to be reliable and fast. The new website is indeed slow and the missing reviews is a really poor oversight, but I like that they're prepared to ship a relatively small order by 24hr courier for free - often on the same day.

Squidgy Black

I've had some problems with Wiggle, I'll never order from them again. One order took nearly two weeks to arrive because they didn't dispatch it for nearly 5 days and never told me, and then the other came extremely poorly packed. All the packaging was open and the box it was in not sealed, so all the little parts had fallen out into the padded envelope, and they had no protection. I've also never gotten any Haribo from them either.

Evans and bike-discount.de are the best in my opinion, price wise and customer service wise.

BadCharlie

The german sites are a bit costly when it comes to postage ?
I did a bigish order on one of the german sites i think bike24? and they charged €10 for postage. After postage factored in i say i made no savings.

Squidgy Black

BadCharlie wrote: »

The german sites are a bit costly when it comes to postage ?
I did a bigish order on one of the german sites i think bike24? and they charged €10 for postage. After postage factored in i say i made no savings.

Yeah they only use DHL or DPD. Last order I placed with bike-discount was for a pair of Shimano m088s, 82 incl postage which was still 20 quid cheaper than anywhere else.

Surveyor11

Used bike24, new pair if wheels which were cheapest from what I saw. Delivery took two weeks with very little updates. So if not in a rush, they're fine.

CRC - never a problem, even with the new website. They replaced a faulty back light, no questions asked. Got a new pair of tyres on the way - ordered last night, dispatched today so would expect them thurs / fri by standard delivery

BeepBeep67

I had a great experience with 4thebike.de, ordered wheels on the Saturday hoping to get them the following weekend so I could use them at the weekend.
Replied to the order conf email to try and expedite and I received an email each from a customer services rep (Frederike) each day until they arrived on the Friday morning.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I ordered a Wheelset from bike-components.de on Saturday morning and had them by 11am on Tuesday morning! Excellent service and even paying €20 shipping they were still €40 cheaper than everywhere else.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I ordered a Wheelset from bike-components.de on Saturday morning and had them by 11am on Tuesday morning! Excellent service and even paying €20 shipping they were still €40 cheaper than everywhere else.

PerrDub

BadCharlie wrote: »

The german sites are a bit costly when it comes to postage ? I did a bigish order on one of the german sites i think bike24? and they charged €10 for postage. After postage factored in i say i made no savings.

Not sure if serious?

So you put in a big order online and waited 5 days or whatever, just to save a tenner! :eek: :rolleyes:

Surely the whole idea is to save a lot €€€€ more money, or just order from your LBS for a the sake of 10 quid!?

Sinbad_NI

CRC just to handy for me. My commute takes me to within 1/2 mile of their flagship shop... Handy for dropping stuff back etc.

Still prefer my LBS for most stuff though.

joxerjohn

I have been a big CRC fan and bought a lot of stuff over that last two or three years, however I am amazed at how things appear to have deeterioted recently.

Web site upgrade is a disaster (not too bad on ipad but crap on PC)
Prices not as competitive anymore, wiggle often now cheaper
No real good buys / very few bargains
No discounts code no longer work !
Annoying Emails daily - so will probably un subscribe soon.

I called up customer service to complain about the new website disaster and they didn't seem to be bothered, nothing was wrong, nothing needed to be fixed and I was being overly sensitive. I don't really know why I bothered.

It is amazing too see a good busines shooting themselves in the foot like this.

Squidgy Black

I don't really have a LBS, the one near me is mainly just repairs and stuff like bar tape and that, so it's either a case of going into town or just ordering the stuff online.

codie

C3PO wrote: »

Haven't bought anything from them for ages and I was a regular!! I find the German sites are just much better value for all the consumables!

Me too

mloc123

buffalo wrote: »

I've never used them since they were hacked and didn't inform anyone that their credit card numbers might potentially be compromised. Thankfully my bank were more sensible about the new wardrobe and Apple computers that somebody bought.

Yup bad form. Debit card was done for about 4000e at the time, bank was quick to sort it once they realised I did not want two macbooks and some cameras. CRC handled the whole situation very bad.

at1withmyself

Agreed with most on here about poor pricing and website design. Now its German shops all the way unless its something small or the price is competitive. A big change from when they first opened and I used to be able to get items shipped before paying I was using them that much I knew them all by first name, pre internet days!!!

I liked the old site but for me the emails are terrible. They rarely email when there is a discount promotion and the current ones are pretty much spam with no sensible offers, generally just current on sale items. I look forward to the Merlin cycles emails as always some nice bargains.

joxerjohn wrote: »

Annoying Emails daily - so will probably un subscribe soon.

petethedrummer

route66 wrote: »

And I thought it was just me. Seems they forgot the maxim - "if it aint bust, don't fix it".

Yeah the old website was pretty near perfect. The new one is terrible.

SpaceGerbil

My big issue is the unrealistic RRP they advertise on their site. They inflate the price, then say 50% off one ,then change the price the next month. A little frustrating as you can never really trust the discounts.

I have also found wiggle cheaper recently and have bought more product from them.

Hope they sort out the issues as I would like to support them !!

OldBean

I find the new website terrible too, but in general, I find CRC's stock to be way too 'carbon fibre racey' for what I cycle. Wiggle has a slightly better choice, and much the same service.

If, however, a reasonably priced version of Velo-Orange was available, however...

hueylewis

Purchased some more stuff yesterday from them and pleased with their quick shipping again. Bit annoying that they've split the order and shipped two packages - one containing pedals and most of my order by 24hr courier, the other just containing shoes by Royal Mail INTL. Would have been nice to actually be able to use the shoes when I had the pedals, but can't really complain with it being free I suppose!

Transporting

I have used CRC for years and always found it really easy and a good service. Like many others the new web-site was launched and I could not navigate to where I needed to get to at all, on a PC. So I contacted CRC and to be fair they took the time to try and identify why I could not navigate.
There is something called a Compatibility View feature (I'm not too IT savy) but if that is in blue and you click on it, (see attached image) it changes and the site works perfect for me now. Might be worth a shot for people using windows based PC, I havetn used it on MAC yet.

dfdream

Agree with at1withmyself. I too have bought a few bits (wheels, jacket etc) recently from Merlin and found them excellent. While I have no issue with CRC I do notice that Im buying less from them and mostly using Wiggle (mostly for DBH stuff), Merlin for offers and Bike24.de for spares (tubes, tyres, air cartridges etc and virtually nothing from CRC unless its something under €10 where you get free post and fast delivery.

Also I notice on CRC that more stuff especially on offer is only in 1 size generally small. Not much of an offer for bigger sizes. Where as on Merlin any specials are generally in all sizes and all colours...

G rock

OldBean wrote: »

If, however, a reasonably priced version of Velo-Orange was available, however...

Freshtripe.co.uk for VO stuff. Good guy to deal with

BadCharlie

Just used CRC again last night found it good and the price better then Wiggles for what i wanted.
I only know of the site they have now "as i only order my first bike parts a few weeks back".

Surveyor11

Ordered a pair of Grand Prix tyres Wednesday evening, arrived today in post (normal delivery). Can't complain with that.

WillyFXP

At least crc actually do offer free delivery, wiggle on the other hand incorporate higher prices to be able to claim free delivery. Do a comparison on products for delivery to Uk and then Ireland, prices will always be different, and it's not just the VAT difference. Was looking at getting a new helmet last night and the LAS victory price "free delivery" to Ireland is €132.12, but the "free delivery" price to the UK is €107.41........so the parcel motel price is still over €20 cheaper

EDIT: sorry folks, didnt realise there was zero VAT on helmets in the UK, my mistake.

OldBean

G rock wrote: »

Freshtripe.co.uk for VO stuff. Good guy to deal with

I've seen that site online before, but haven't used yet. Must try for a few small bits.

The other half is from Annapolis, so I'm hoping to pop in to VO itself this Christmas. And spend everything.

dited

WillyFXP wrote: »

At least crc actually do offer free delivery, wiggle on the other hand incorporate higher prices to be able to claim free delivery. Do a comparison on products for delivery to Uk and then Ireland, prices will always be different, and it's not just the VAT difference. Was looking at getting a new helmet last night and the LAS victory price "free delivery" to Ireland is €132.12, but the "free delivery" price to the UK is €107.41........so the parcel motel price is still over €20 cheaper

Helmets are zero-rated for VAT in the UK, but Wiggle add on the 21% Irish VAT if it's being delivered here, hence the differing prices. AFAIK some smaller UK retailers don't apply the VAT on helmets when delivering to Ireland, eg Slane Cycles.

cython

WillyFXP wrote: »

At least crc actually do offer free delivery, wiggle on the other hand incorporate higher prices to be able to claim free delivery. Do a comparison on products for delivery to Uk and then Ireland, prices will always be different, and it's not just the VAT difference. Was looking at getting a new helmet last night and the LAS victory price "free delivery" to Ireland is €132.12, but the "free delivery" price to the UK is €107.41........so the parcel motel price is still over €20 cheaper

Actually in the specific instance of the helmet here, I think you'll probably find the VAT difference more significant than anything else, since helmets are zero-rated in the UK, while we pay a decent chunk of it on them, possibly even in the highest band which would make up virtually all of the difference!

aktelmiele

What annoys me is that the prices aren't consistent over sizes. I see something that has 50% off but when I click into the item there is 50% of XXS and the rest have 5 - 10%,

Very hard to research :mad:

pelevin

I've bought a few things over the last year from them & all purchases went well. However just had a bit of a look at the new site & it's bloody awful all right.

TonyStark

Rear mech delivered today, a day late. I had paid for 24 hour delivery.Some unknown problem with the shipping company. Anyway they were good enough to refund the fee. Can't say I was happy or sad about the experience, just glad to get the mech which was on offer.

Encrypted Pigeon

Since the new site launched I miss that the order history wasn't brought over, I only seem to see 2013. Was handy for remembering sizes and stuff but probably for the best so that I cant add up how much I have sank into this hobby of mine.

ashleey

CoderDozer wrote: »

Since the new site launched I miss that the order history wasn't brought over, I only seem to see 2013. Was handy for remembering sizes and stuff but probably for the best so that I cant add up how much I have sank into this hobby of mine.

Hobby?