Manufacturer, Retailer, Survey and Consumer Feedback - Bikesdirect After Purchase Customer Service

Hello everyone, after about a month of searching for a new road bike I decided to try BIKESDIRECT. I tried a LBS first but they just didn't have what I was looking for (KESTREL). To my suprise BIKESDIRECT has some KESTREL bikes.

I PURCHASED JULY 3rd.

RECEIVED JULY 9TH.
Bike was packaged in a slightly damaged box probably used 3 or 4 times before. Cool, recycling I get it and no problem. I accepted package as per website request.
BIKE PACKED NICELY IN THE BOX.

AFTER INSPECTION, NOTICED SOME OBVIOUS DAMAGE ON THE CARBON FRAME AND DECALS. :twitchy:
I am a little upset that the damage probably did not happen while shipping and is clearly visible. They should have caught it while they packed the bike.

EMAILED PIXS OF DAMAGE THAT SAME DAY. HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY RESPONSE YET.

I WILL KEEP YOU ALL UPDATED AS TO WHAT HAPPENS

After further review I decided to post a picture of part of my problem. what do you guys think?

I had to crop to fit as a JPG but I'll try to post full pix using a hyperlink.:twitchy:

http://blufiles.storage.live.com/y1pwKytv7QXoLjxyCk0uqap4DTLhe_zJ_HnedoXqi3Wbcir2ljVBPtsLLH3fTnlU4Un

Hello people, after almost three days and four attempts to contact BIKESDIRECT VIA EMAIL they finally responded. This is what they said so far.........
From:mike spratt (bd4alternative@yahoo.com)Sent:Fri 7/11/08 7:47 AM
.ExternalClass DIV{;}Hi
sorry for any delay in response - bd4servicecenter sent you an email about this yesterday
I will get them to send me a copy and then send it on to you

thanks

THEY NEVER SENT ANYTHING BEFORE THIS MESSAGE. HE SAYS THEY EMAILED ME BEFORE? "THEY DIDN'T"

Did you check you spam filter? Sometimes emails from businesses end up there.

Yeah I checked it but they are added as contacts in my adress book so that wasn't the problem. however this it what they responded with today.



----- Original Message ----
From: mike spratt <bd4alternative@yahoo.com>
To: J G <joseantonio1010@hotmail.com>
Cc: bd4servicecenter@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 1:19:15 PM
Subject: Re: Just received RT700

Hi

did you check your spam filter?

for legal purposes, Bikesdirect is a corporation and any legal issues are addressed to the corporate entity.
I'll copy bd4servicecenter again on this email but if you are not satisfied with the bike, we'll pick it up and refund you - not a problem we sometimes re-box bikes if the original box we get from the factory was not in good condition these come from a factory thousands of miles away so every now and then we have to do a rebox so that would explain the used but intact condition of your box you got you can see from the brake pads etc that your bike has not been ridden before in fact, our bikes are often more "new" than bikes you find in a shop since bikes in shops often have been test ridden by numerous other people

If you want to keep the bike - we can credit you $25 for the small cosmetic scratches

or - let us know and we'll pick up the bike and refund you when we get it back



thanks

Sounds reasonable to me. They'll give you your money back and pay for shipping too. What more could you want?

Sounds reasonable at first. I'm worried he didn't say full refund and they state that if you are not satisfied theY will pick up the pick. I am satisfied but they sent me a damaged product that should have been caught.

They also state that you get refund less shipping on the website. I hope thats not the case, since I paid for a brand new undamaged product. I sent the pixs to a bike shop nearby and they said the damage is into the carbon so send it back. Why do I feel I'm not the first person to get this bike who has had to make the decision to send it back? :mad:

Sounds reasonable at first. I'm worried he didn't say full refund and they state that if you are not satisfied theY will pick up the pick. I am satisfied but they sent me a damaged product that should have been caught.


They also state that you get refund less shipping on the website. I hope thats not the case, since I paid for a brand new undamaged product. I sent the pixs to a bike shop nearby and they said the damage is into the carbon so send it back. Why do I feel I'm not the first person to get this bike who has had to make the decision to send it back? :mad:

Do you have any reason to think that they wouldn't give you a full refund? They also said that they would take care of the shipping. It sounds to me like you are just trying to work yourself up over what it really small potatoes. Things get damaged in shipping, and sometimes even wrong or damaged parts are sent. That's life. You can either order a discount bike over the internet and receive the lower lever of service that comes with it, or go to a proper bike shop, pay more, and get the higher level of service that comes with an LBS. You can't have both deep discounts and a high level of service.

It also sounds like you are the type of person who needs to go to an LBS to buy his bike.

Hi

First - thanks for your order

Second - this is the first I heard of it; however some responses are made on e-mails that automatically sign my name

Thrid - We would issue the call tag to pick that bike up; no cost to you; you would just need to repack properly and tell us when UPS can get it

Forth - assuming you can pack it in its original condition and you have not had it for months or ridden it a lot; we will give you a full refund

Last - I am very sorry you are unhappy. We do not want unhappy customers. I have no idea how this occurred; but we handle such matters for customers in the most professional way that I know of.

If you would like to PM me about this with your phone number; I can call you and see if there is any other solution you would prefer which is also something we can do [as you might guess - I can not get an extra bike if we are sold out]
__________________

Nothing against trying to save a few bucks, but I would NEVER buy a bike online (that I expected any level service from). I did the right thing and bought from my LBS. I paid a fair price and now have a group of folks that know me and my bike. I recently had a problem with my carbon fork on the bike I bought over 2 years ago. They contacted the manufacturer and I had a new fork in a week. I will continue to buy bikes from them. Period.

I'm an optimist, but I highly doubt any online store would or even could do anything remotely close to that. If its a beater or a commuting bike that you want to fiddle with yourself, then by all means save a buck and buy online. Times are tough. But if you like riding and count on it for your hobby that takes you away from work and life worries and it a source of joy in your life, never rely on people that do not know you at all. I haven't even gotten into issues of bike fit. I mean, really...

They sent you damaged goods. Even though they are offering to cover everything (possibly in response to the saga being documented here), repacking and all that is a pain in the butt. You are now working for them - fixing something they screwed up, and they are acting like they are doing you a favor. One scary part of the online store's response is here: "Forth - assuming you can pack it in its original condition and you have not had it for months or ridden it a lot; we will give you a full refund" -- so they are going to rduce your refund just because you cant perform bicycle origami? I returned a lamp to target, there was no way I could get all the parts back in the box that it came in like when it left the factory in Taiwan. The lady didnt say "Sorry, you didnt insert tab A into slot B. We'll give you $10 back instead of the $20 you paid". And what's "ridden alot"? It all sounds fairly subjective to me, which is a tough sell when you have lost trust in this online "bike shop".

Finally - It also sounds/looks to me like you were sent a damaged carbon bike. That is VERY dangerous. They should feel grateful that you didn't just go out and ride the thing and kill yourself on it.

There are thousands of pages of posts that echo this point: DONT BUY A BIKE ONLINE.

There are thousands of pages of posts that echo this point: DONT BUY A BIKE ONLINE.

Actually - there are hundreds of posts buy industry types that benefit from the LBS sales model that have posted "dont buy a bike online'

And thousands of posts by actual customers that have purchased on-line that are delighted not only witrh the bike they got - but also very happy about saving 40 or 50 percent on their purchase.

In fact, the sales on bikes on-line is increasing much quicker than the sales of bikes in stores. And in our case; the number of repeat customers we have is huge - so these people are happy enough buy again and send friends.

Buying on-line is not for everyone; but many love it and benefit from it.

The bike at issue here would be about $2000 more in a store. Simple from my point of veiw

Actually - there are hundreds of posts buy industry types that benefit from the LBS sales model that have posted "dont buy a bike online'

And thousands of posts by actual customers that have purchased on-line that are delighted not only witrh the bike they got - but also very happy about saving 40 or 50 percent on their purchase.

In fact, the sales on bikes on-line is increasing much quicker than the sales of bikes in stores. And in our case; the number of repeat customers we have is huge - so these people are happy enough buy again and send friends.

Buying on-line is not for everyone; but many love it and benefit from it.

The bike at issue here would be about $2000 more in a store. Simple from my point of veiw

I'm considering a purchase of one of your new 2009 bikes. But is it true they will charge my card before they ship or even confirm stock? That's my only concern at this point.

I'm going to chime in here with my experiences. I recently purchase a BD bike. I took it to my LBS to have them assemble it. No one noticed that there was a problem with the bike, the shifter was broken, once I got in the big ring, I couldn't get back out. Not catastrophic, but annoying....but I got home, shot an email to BD on a Thursday, got a response Friday and had the new shifter in hand yesterday. To me, that's service.

But I also realize that while I have saved money on the original purchase of the bike, I know that I'm not getting any complimentary tuneups, or adjustments at my LBS, no matter how nice I am to them. I am just another paying customer. I didn't buy the bike there, but I paid them to assemble it, I paid them to make adjustments. I have my other bikes serviced there. The difference is just in how you buy it, and how much money you lay out up front. For the record, I like my LBS, but I'm going to buy my next bike online too. I'll just keep buying accessories and service down the street. Oh, and the Motobecane Fantom CX.....very nice bike

Just ordered an Immoral Pro for triathlons. Ordered Wednesday morning. Decided to do a lot more research and decided I probably chose the wrong bike for triathlons. So late Wednesday night I started panicking. I was afraid they would ship my bike before I was able to cancel, and had no idea what kind of nightmare that would entail. So I sent them a bunch of emails urging them to cancel the order before it shipped. Then early this morning I get all their shipping email notifications and start panicking more. I figured this train was unstoppable. Then the phone rings about 9:30am and it's a rep from Bikes Direct telling me they cancelled my order. She even gave me a number I could call if I need to follow up about anything. She then sent all the email notifications of the cancelled order and refund. No problem.

I don't know. Maybe the only reason I panicked is because of all the horror posts I see in forums. I do wish they had a phone number I could call for emergencies like this, but maybe that would require a lot of new employees and result in higher bike prices. If that's the case, I hope they don't. At this point I wouldn't hesitate to order from them again.

Hi folks,
This is my first post, been a cyclist since 1968. Ahem, on the subject of Bikes Direct it appears that you could go a long, long way to get the CEO of any company to get involved with customer service as Mike has done. I'm impressed, genuinely.
I currently ride a 1990's SR Prism (the little blue dots on the double wishbone seatstays it says SR Litage, Japan). It has Campy Ergo shifters, Campy Racing Triple with Campy front and rear deraillers, brakes are Suntour, wheels are Mavic with Shimano 600 hubs. I need to upgrade and was considering a Giant OCR from my lbs. Money is not my primary concern but a nicely equipped comfortable ride that can fly is.
Consequently I have been cruising ebay as well as several large city Craigslists nearby, specifically Atlanta, Columbia SC, Charlotte and Asheville. What I found is the used cycle market is fairly flooded with used Giants, Treks and Cannondales all of which are pretty much 1/2 of the original purchase with some less than that. Many of these bikes are less than 2 years old.
My lbs is a Giant dealer who has been servicing my bikes for nearly 12 years, very knowledgeable, friendly and, quite frankly, an incredible mechanic. I was considering a new Giant but in order to get the components I would like I'm staring at well over 3k with no ability to ride the machine (just like ordering on line) as it's a small shop that simply can't afford to have a top end on the floor for demo's. I'm not sure I or anyone would be able to do much more than ride the bike in the parking lot of ANY lbs so getting a true "feel" for a higher end roadie at say 3-5mi and using all the gears is pretty much impossible. I also just can't get myself to fit into the "Small", "Medium" or "Large" mindset.
I saw the Bottecchia on ebay and was duly impressed with the bike overall. Full Carbon Fiber with all Dura Ace for $1750? Yes I was impressed. So, like I always do, I started doing my on line research (which is how I came to this forum) reading many forums concerning where bikes are made, who makes them, customer service, pros and cons, etc., etc., etc. and found the posts that made me nervous.
Upon close inspection I found the negative responses, though, seem to come from people who have more of a problem with the "re-badging" thing than the actual bikes themselves. None of the negative responses come from anyone actually owning one of the Bottecchia's or the other "rebadged" bikes. hmmmm. In my research it comes out that there are primarily three manufacturers of massed produced Carbon Fiber bikes in Asia (ok maybe 4) with the Giant manufacturing plant apparently making bikes for several other brands including Trek! at least that's my understanding and those here who have more data please gently correct me. So why not get miffed at Giant, Trek, Schwinn, etc (and much more than several etc's) for not using the name of the factory where they are built? Is that not "rebadging"? just seems a bit more like discrimination than any kind of valid argument, at least to this old hand, especially since many other things are done the same way: TV's, computer screens, VCR's, Refrigerators, on and on.
Hey, anybody have a problem with Giant and have their CEO send you a personal email? I'd bet not. Anyway I have no relationship with either Bikes Direct, Bottecchia or any of the other online bike dealers but I can tell you this: every thing I buy these days is bought online. I find that any time (ANY TIME) I have had a problem (which is few) the online dealer backed their product in record time with courtesy and genuine interest. Why? Because all of us have that gnawing fear that someone we can't see and pretty much can't pressure will be less likely to take care of a problem and that translates into diminishing sales. As far as me "working" for them by re-packing and shipping the item back I typically save so much, not only in the initial purchase but in the mileage I don't have to put on my car to go get it, or return it (in case you don't know, the ACTUAL cost of one mile in your car approaches $1.00 a mile) I don't mind the effort at all.
I currently pay my LBS for any work that he does on my bikes, I love to pay him, it means I don't have to buy and store a gazzilion dollars worth of tools, he's a mile and a half from my house. Yes I can change a tire but he's so fast (changed tires and tubes on my roadie AND my tandem in 20 minutes including friendly conversation and a pleasant atmosphere) I'll pay him anytime. Do I care about "complementary" tune ups? a resounding no, glad to pay for a tune up, check spoke tension, cables, brakes, shifters, chain all in a nice air conditioned, clean environment not the floor of my garage. If I change out my crank, again I could do it, I'll gladly pay him as he'd nearly do it for less than the price of a Park crank tool. In short he's going to get nearly all my business except a new bike (well I did by my wife's Giant Cypress new from him just to help her get into cycling). Why no new bike? After all the research it's likely that the carbon frames from Bottecchia, Motobecane, etc. are made in the same factories that many "name" brand bikes are made in (tell us more Mike). And with customer service like Mike provides (and Dave too I understand) I have NO fear of them and a similarly equipped Giant will run me nearly 4K.......
Brick and morter stores of all kinds are folding due to their inability to compete with online warehouse dealers as overhead (store rent, phones, advertising and marketing costs tagged on to merchandise by the manufacturers) is just becoming prohibitive.
Sorry for the awfully long post. You can bet I'll be seriously considering Bikes Direct for my next bike, or even Bottecchia-USA, sure look like a lot of bang for the buck......glad they're there and not surprised their customer service is beginning to look like gold......I sincerely hope I haven't offended anyone (not my intent) and also would hope my completely unsolicited post offers a more positive perspective of online sales, not that the lbs thing doesn't have it's own merit for many riders.....

I have yet to see an issue with BikesDirect that Mike did not take care of. Not saying they're perfect, or that they have 100% satisfaction, but Mike truly puts the extra effort in to take care of his customers.