Manufacturer, Retailer, Survey and Consumer Feedback - Niagara Cycle Frustration

Two weeks ago, I e-mailed Niagara Cycle to find out if they can order an item they didn't have on their web site. I received a reply the next day saying no, they couldn't get that item. I sent a reply to their reply asking another question about the non-available item... no answer to that e-mail.

I also wanted some other items and I placed an order with Niagara Cycle via their web site last Monday. My card was charged immediately and I got an e-mail confirmation, not stating anything other than the items I ordered... nothing stating anything is back ordered or an estimated shipping date.

My concern is that they charged my card before the items shipped.

Two days later (wed) , I check my order via their web site "My Account". It stated my order status is "processing". I shot them a message via their web site form... no response from them. I then called them and left a message.

Repeat the checking order status, phone call and message on Friday.

Repeat the checking order status, phone call and message tonight (Monday).

I wasn't rude in any of my messages, I simply said I am wondering what is going on with my order and left contact info.

So they don't reply to their web based message form or phone calls. They also do not give information about back ordered items at their online store, via check out process, or post check out. This is assuming that the reason my order is still processing is because of a back ordered item.

I understand things happen, and hoping that some glitch is the reason for this... but I don't get the vibe that this is the case. I am thinking this is because they are a shoddily run business.

I hope I hear back from them or receive my order by the end of this week. I really don't want to follow through with all the hoops to jump through to get my money back and the hoops to let other people know what kind of business they run. I have some cash to lose, and they have a lot of hassle to deal with because they won't return a phone call. It's a shame, when I first came across Niagara Cycle a few months ago, I wanted to give them business. I guess it was fortunate that all the things I've ordered since then, I bought elsewhere for whatever reason.

I'll keep this thread updated.

Hi,

I've ordered successfully from Niagara Cycle several times. I have the impression (which I can not confirm) that a lot of the product that they stock they get from QBP, the big parts distributor. They don't have real-time inventory information, so it appears to me that sometimes they take an order, and then have to go out to QBP to get it. When they get it from QBP, they send it to you.

That's not as seamless as it ought to be - still, my experience has been that every once in a while I wait an unusually long time to get something, then it comes.

It's no excuse for not answering emails, however. Just hope this puts your mind at ease.

You should be aware that if you used a credit card and you're not getting communication from Niagara you can just call your credit card company and cancel the transaction.

BB

There's a whole other thread about this....let me sum up: Niagara Cycles has great prices/selection but their communication/shipping can be very slow. I bet if you wait a bit you'll get an answer.

Niagara Cycles is one of several places that I am considering buying from in the future. When I was looking through their site about a year ago I noticed that each product description had a link for the shopper to ask a question about the product (with the intent for the question to go to niagara cycles via email and the answer to be returned to the sender via email), so I used the link, ask some questions, and never heard from them. This did not inspire confidence. I'm thinking if they can't reply to questions why did they put this conspicuous question-link up on all of their product description pages, and it makes me wonder how reliable their service is overall.

Thanks for the info all.

800over, I did a BF search a few nights ago for "Niagara Cycle" and didn't come across that thread you speak of.

My order came today. My order is still showing as "processing" on their web site.

Everything turned out ok, but I will never send them money again. A simple one sentence e-mail or a 30 second phone call from them would have kept me as a customer.

Hello, I am the owner of Niagara Cycle. We value every purchase and every customer so when I hear of an issue like this I like to follow up. Unfortunately what happened here is that the customer mis-typed his email address into our order form, resulting in him not getting our order or shipping notifications. I performed an exhaustive search of our email and phone systems and the only record of communication I could find is the first email where we advised the customer that we could not get him the part that he was asking about.

The order did ship within our stated lead time and was received by the customer within 7 business days. We do regret the communication breakdown, fortunately this is a very rare occurrance. I've offered my personal apology and I hope everything has been resolved now.

In regards to our "ask a product question" we do try to answer every one, however we get hundreds and hundreds daily and we do get backed up sometimes.

I would like to take the opportunity if I may to discuss our shipping lead times as I see this has caused some concern. Our average order processing time for 2008 is 2.7 days. We have thousands of items in stock that ship the same day. In order to offer 50,000 parts we leverage the inventory of multiple distributors in 17 different warehouses throughout the US utilizing a very sofisticated inventory management system. We get next day shipping from more of our distributors however some of the warehouses are 4 shipping days from us. If an order has an item from one of these warehouses, it may take 5 business days to ship. These items represent only 15% of our total inventory however our goal is to provide the most comprehensive catalog possible so we feel it is important to include those items. We do state on our website that it will take between 1-5 days to ship your order. If there is an immediate need for an item, customers are welcome to call or email for availability and lead time. We used to post the exact lead time for every item but this caused alot (I mean ALOT!) of confusion so we discontinued this practice.

Thanks to everyone from these forums for all your business, it is much appreciated.

If anyone has any questions or concerns about our business practice, please contact me directly at sales@niagaracycle.com

Sincerely,
Jennifer Tuck
Niagara Cycle

After my order arrived, I sent an messsage to Niagara letting them know I won't be ordering from them again and my reasons.

We then had a brief email conversation. I did in fact state that my account at Niagara Cycle was deleted. In fact it was not. I thought that was important to mention when they were asking me to delete my post here. I felt that if they are trying to resolve something, then they shouldn't have shut down my account.

This was my mistake because AFTER I received my order, I went in and changed my email address on my account so I wouldn't get ant emails advertisements from them if they send them out. The email address I changed it to was not a good address.

Anyhow, the thing I keep getting from Niagara, whether it was from the owner Jennifer, who replied above, or Renee, is that they think I am bugged out about shipping time. I was not.

I'll put this in bold so maybe they will finally understand: My concern was that the card was charged before the items shipped AND THE LACK OF REPLYING TO MY MESSAGES IN REGARDS TO THAT.

I do appreciate Renee and Jennifer making the effort to make this right. I am fine with everything; will I ever do business with Niagara Cycle again? No.

Oops - Jennifer here from Niagara Cycle.. I should have said "my husband and I" own the shop - he is always covered in bike grease so I don't let him near my computer...

I've always been pleased with my dealings with Niagara. They often have what I want, and at good prices, so I use them. But, I'm realistic. The operation appears to be more along the lines of a mom & pop operation than Performance or Nashbar. I don't expect them to have the sophisticated systems of those mega corporate enterprises that allow credit charges to occur at shipping rather than at order time.

I also realize that it requires knowledgable personel with the time to answer all e-mails related to products. Perhaps they make it too easy with that direct link to ask about a product. I too have had a question unanswered. OTOH, the one time that they sent the wrong item to me, my e-mail to them was answered quickly and I received the correct item with a return shipping label within a couple of days. At least they properly prioritize the e-mails that they answer.

Of course, a person could just order from their LBS. Drive there, pay upfront and wait for the order to come in. I did that recently for a Specialized saddle; it took 11 weeks and numerous telephone calls for the saddle to come in. In light of that, Niagara charging my CC a few days before shipping seems insignificant.

In all fairness to any internet retailer, it is worth mentioning that if they devote most of their time to answering every question in detail as soon as it comes in, then they probably won't get the real work done very quickly or very well.

I've done business with NC a half dozen times during the past year, and they've always shipped quickly for me. They also have been quick to answer questions, and (this is important) they have accepted returns from me for a timely credit without any hesitation.

I just received an order from Niagara Cycle - 5 days after I placed it. All intact, as usual. Thanks, Jennifer.

I'm always careful, and double-check, when I type in my email addy. That can cause problems sometimes if it were incorrect. Glad it worked out well in this matter.

Happy Trails!

It seems to me that Niagara is willing to listen to customers and work with them on any issues that do come up. That's appreciated.

It seems to me that Niagara is willing to listen to customers and work with them on any issues that do come up. That's appreciated.

That's not my current experience. I placed an order through Amazon to be shipped by them. I've recieved part of it, and have asked for status on the remainder since the part I did recieve has no use without the part that's missing.

In my original email I made it quite clear that I had recieved half the order and politely requested the status on the remainder. I got an original email that the item had been shipped - but it was the info for what I had already acknowledged recieving. An email with that response and subsequent emails have been totally ignored.

At no time did I recieve *anything* from them regarding the status of anything ordered.. In this day and age it's not that freaking hard to do. Not only that, but I paid for expedited shipping and two weeks later have no parts and no status.

I'm totally unimpressed.

Looks to be not an isolated incident. Caveat emptor. Recent feedback through Amazon:

"I ordered a package which included Profile Design base bars, and Profile Design Aerobars. The base bars shipped, but the aerobars are still missing and all requests for status have been ignored. Totally unimpressed with this seller and would NOT deal with again. Advise others think long and hard before spending their $. Search internet bike forums, this appears to not be an isolated incident. "
Date: July 17, 2009 Rated by Buyer: Teresa D.

"I received the wrong bicycle seat on 7/10/09. I emailed Niagara's customer service on 7/10/09 and have not been able to find out when I will receive the seat I ordered a week later. "
Date: July 17, 2009 Rated by Buyer: John

"Dreadful - they failed to ship two items, one because they forgot, the other because it was out of stock. As for the out of stock item, they have not responded to my queries for weeks. "
Date: July 17, 2009 Rated by Buyer: R. P.

I ordered several items July 7th. Order status still shows as "processing" when I log in.

I called Niagara about it on the 17th. Got an answering machine, left a message. They called back and said the order would be shipped right away.

Just got an email today that says that my order was shipped today (July 22nd) UPS.

The good news (?) is I'm pretty busy with other stuff... but I *am* anxious to get my parts.

Niagara Cycle customer service fails in several areas, but the most objectionable to me is that the online order status seemed not to be working. Or maybe it was working and my order was "processing" for two weeks...?

I guess they are a small outfit and are probably busy with their brick and mortar operation. :(

This outfit won't be getting any business in the future from me.

I made an order 5 weeks ago and received a confirmation of the order.
I checked the status about 3 weeks ago and noted that the status had changed to "Shipped". It still says that. No email was sent.
I hadn't received it as of yesterday, so I inquired about it and was told that it was canceled. It was suggested that they told me that via email, but I have no email from them in that time frame or any indication this was the case.

communication is poor.
order history page provides disinformation.

I have no quarrel with them canceling the order. Most likely, they believe the price offered was in error.

Well, mine went from bad to worse. Even though the description of the sale said base bar and aerobars, they claimed the aeros weren't included and blamed Amazon for the error. No intent to make good. I can have a refund. Yet they think I'm so dumb as to believe that Amazon did the product description for their online store obviously.

So they sat on several hundred of my dollars for several weeks (and I have no refund yet) for something they never intended to supply... even though their invoice said it also. I finally got a response out of them when I filed a complaint with Amazon.

Caveat Emptor. Never again here.

I feel the same frustration. It has been 5 business days and I did order 2 day shipping and yet no product. It's funny as I've read over Niagara's comments after poor reviews and it's always the same excuse and try to say that the customer did get feedback from them. Well, I've called numerous times, never an answer and always a machine. I've emailed 4 times and never had a reply and they say make sure you spell your email right and we'll send you a verification. I've ensured it numerous times and yet no reply. I imagine I'll get my stuff sometime next week which is an annoyance, but I can deal with slow shipping. What will keep me from returning to this company is absolutely awful communication with their customers. I never even received a confirmation email, but my credit card has been charged for the stuff.

I ordered cranks and cups from them and had no problems.

I've purchased components from Niagara on several occasions, and never had a problem. Most of the time they offered the best prices on the stuff I was looking for.

I've purchased components from Niagara on several occasions, and never had a problem. Most of the time they offered the best prices on the stuff I was looking for.

Weren't you the one with the wheel issues?

Weren't you the one with the wheel issues?

Rim issues, and that wasn't from Niagara. I shall never mention that retailer, or rim brand again.

BTW, Sun makes some really high quality, reasonably priced rims that don't cause me any psychotic episodes.

Rim issues, and that wasn't from Niagara. I shall never mention that retailer, or rim brand again.

BTW, Sun makes some really high quality, reasonably priced rims that don't cause me any psychotic episodes.

An endorsement from you is a big deal then. As I recall, you're rather, um, demanding.

An endorsement from you is a big deal then. As I recall, you're rather, um, demanding.

Here's another endorsment: Today I received an order that I placed with Airbomb. Shipping took a bit longer than I expected, but I got what I ordered, in good condition. The price was very good, and the shipping charge was reasonable.

You see, treat me right, and I'm your friend. Treat me wrong, and I go a little funny in the head. You know, just a little funny.

They suck.

I would recommend in this order:

Jenson USA

AEBike

Loose Screws Bicycle Small Parts

They suck.

I would recommend in this order:

Jenson USA

AEBike

Loose Screws Bicycle Small Parts

I've done business with all three. All 3 are OK, but AEbike's prices tend to be a bit on the high side.

Here's another endorsment: Today I received an order that I placed with Airbomb. Shipping took a bit longer than I expected, but I got what I ordered, in good condition. The price was very good, and the shipping charge was reasonable.

You see, treat me right, and I'm your friend. Treat me wrong, and I go a little funny in the head. You know, just a little funny.

Hmm. You're not such a bad guy after all.

Now, I hate to give this guy any more free press, but since it's in the interest of saving other cyclists money, let me point out that qbike (http://www.qbike.com) is one of the easiest ways to find items and compare prices.

Update a month later... Ordered a bunch of stuff from Niagara July 7th. Got the stuff in late July. Poor packing had caused one item to put a hole in the box and two small items were lost.

Emailed Niagara, they said they would make it right.

Then nothing.

Emailed them again yesterday.

My verdict: flakiest customer service I've ever dealt with in mail order.

I had a bit of trouble with them a while back, too. They advertised a bar on Amazon as a carbon one, but turned out it was an aluminum one. They didn't offer to pay shipping for the return until I went through Amazon to complain.

However, in the end, I did get a full credit for my purchase, but I didn't really have any reason to put them on my short list of places to order from.

I am a newby, and had some questions about finding a new 5 speed Shimano UG freewheel for my 1981 LeTour. I used the "ask a question" link on Niagara's website, and they responded in a couple days. Not only did they give a perfect answer, they explained a six speed would not work (and why) , and they did not have a 5 speed. However, they gave me a link to one of their competitors (Harris) with the exact one I needed.

I must say I was very impressed that they wanted to help me find what I needed and would refer me to one of their competitors like that, and I will certainly make sure to go to them the next time I need something they sell.

Finally got everything from my July 7th order a couple of weeks ago. We're cool.

I've ordered with them and exchanged emails with them a few times, with no problems. I placed an order today, lets hope i don't have to wait 2 months for everything like the previous guy.

I've ordered from Niagara Cycles several times through Amazon and I have never had any issues. Shipping times were decent and I always got what I ordered exactly as advertised. No complaints here.

Adam

I swear to god, every time I think it might be fun to open a bike shop, I see a thread like this where people are going completely bonkers over tiny little things (especially when they're partially to blame, like the OP who entered in his e-mail address incorrectly), and I'm glad I have a quiet job in a cubicle.

If a company takes your money, or ships you broken parts, and doesn't make good, THEN embarrassing them online is one thing.

But whining about every little inconvenience generally reflects more poorly on you than it does on the business you're working with.

I swear to god, every time I think it might be fun to open a bike shop,

Do you know the easiest way to make $1 million in this industry?

Do you know the easiest way to make $1 million in this industry?

I know, I know. I'd just gotten excited again after reading Platypius's thread http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?596400-Help-me-start-my-new-bike-shop

There's a whole other thread about this....let me sum up: Niagara Cycles has great prices/selection but their communication/shipping can be very slow. I bet if you wait a bit you'll get an answer.
+10 My experience exactly. I have ordered at least a dozen times from Niagara. As long as you go in knowing their limitations (poor communications, slow shipping), you can score some really good deals.

broken boxes, slow shipping, no communication, okay prices.

Sometimes Niagara has some fantastic sale prices--a couple of weeks ago they had the DuraAce bar end shifters 9-speed for $50. A couple of months ago they had Tektro road brake levers for $12.

I just happened to stumble upon these good deals. Presumably there are many more that I never find out about.

Presumably Niagara would sell more stuff if people knew about their sale items.

So why can't they keep their regular customers informed of what's on sale?

I was planning on driving down to Niagara Falls to do a bit of shopping, and a few days before I emailed Niagara to see if they had a certain item I had in stock. They replied:



Yes, we do have the SRAM S300 1.1 170mm 48T Black GXP Cranks English Threaded (pn# 405688) in stock. Please give us a two business day notice so we are sure your item is boxed and available for you on time.


So I get there today and they don't have it anywhere in their store, nor have they ever apparently. BUT they can order it! It's exactly two days away!

Now, I was totally prepared for them to be sold out of the item when I got there - that was fine. I wanted to take a look at it before I bought it, and so I didn't want to order it ahead of time, so I was prepared to take that risk. But for a salesperson to say that an item is "in stock" when it clearly is not is extremely dishonest, I think.

I am 95% sure their credit card service isn't secure and has caused me to cancel 2 cards in 12 months. The first time it happened, the only purchases on that card were Nashbar and Niagara. My brother also had his card number stolen, and had made virtually identical purchases. A year later, I ordered another tire from Niagara. Two days later...credit card number stolen...

I am 95% sure their credit card service isn't secure and has caused me to cancel 2 cards in 12 months. The first time it happened, the only purchases on that card were Nashbar and Niagara. My brother also had his card number stolen, and had made virtually identical purchases. A year later, I ordered another tire from Niagara. Two days later...credit card number stolen...

Have you told them about this? What was their response?

I ask because I have noticed that their site checkout seems less secure--but I didn't pay that much attention . . . does it not go to a https secure site?

Do you know the easiest way to make $1 million in this industry?

Start with 2 Million?

I can assure you that our checkout process is secure. We use the latest https:// protocols and are fully PCI compliant. All credit card transactions are sent securely to our gateway which is one of the largest and most trusted gateway companies. We don't store credit card information anywhere on our servers, our website does not store any credit card information. In addition, none of our employees (incuding myself) have access to any credit card numbers, they are all stored in the gateway and we can only see the last 4 numbers.

You can tell if a site is secure by the "https:" in the url and there will also be a lock displayed in your browser.

If you do feel your card has been compromised, please do notify us and we can check it out. As far as I know, we've never had a customer tell us that their card data was compromised after using our site.

Sincerely,
Jennifer
Niagara Cycle

I am 95% sure their credit card service isn't secure and has caused me to cancel 2 cards in 12 months. The first time it happened, the only purchases on that card were Nashbar and Niagara. My brother also had his card number stolen, and had made virtually identical purchases. A year later, I ordered another tire from Niagara. Two days later...credit card number stolen...

Didn't Nashbar admit to that recently?

There is an entire thread on Nashbar and their shady credit card policies

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/nashbar-c190400.html

You guys gotta stop bashing Niagara - they offer a good service, at a vary good price.

If they are not what you are after, take your business elsewhere - entirely your perogative.

They have been timely, honest, informative, and have served me well, over many transactions.

The only thing better, for me, would be to have them in my neighborhood.

Thanks Niagara - you have saved me money.

You guys gotta stop bashing Niagara - they offer a good service, at a vary good price.


No they don't, that's not the purpose of this section of the forum ;). You're free to express whatever you want.

That said, I have nothing but good things to say about Niagara cycle - I've ordered 7 times this year and only once had any issue - which was solved promptly by their customer service.

(Shrug) - I plan to order some tires from Niagara in a couple of months.

I bought a Nitto Technomic stem from them (Niagara) early this summer and had no problems whatsoever. They delivered the product in 3 business days.

I've also done business with JensonUSA a lot this summer and not one problem from them, or Nashbar or PricePoint.

What's the fuss about the credit card charge mumbo jumbo? Every company I've ever done business with deducted the money from the credit card BEFORE they shipped the product...what's the problem? I use to operate a business myself, and we always got the money from the credit card BEFORE we shipped as well, it's just standard operating procedure.

I think you just like to complain about nothing.