Road Cycling - Bad Experience with Bike Nashbar

Last Friday, I ordered a Saris Cycle-On hitch rack (2" receiver) from Bike Nashbar's web site with second day shipping. They cheerfully took the order. I ordered three tubes and a seat bag at the same time. Come Tuesday, no rack. The other items arrived and the invoice said status X for the Cycle-on, which is Not Available - we don't expect replacement for one month. Please reorder then. I called to see what was up, and was told the Cycle-on was discontinued. Strange, they didn't use the D (Discontinued) status code on the invoice. I called Saris and they haven't discontinued the hitch rack. Perhaps Bike Nashbar is not going to carry it any longer, although you would think they would have used the Discontinued status code if that is the case.

My peeve - the web site indicated the rack was available when I ordered. Given my choice of expedited shipping, they should have known I needed the rack and called or emailed me when it wasn't available rather than make me wait 4 days to find out.

I just thought I would let all know of their poor customer service. I certainly won't be ordering from them again.

Order from Performance then :D

Nobody is perfect. Or should I say nobodies computer system is perfect. I know it does suck to wait for something in the mail and not get but it seems like a fair enough mistake.

Performance/Nashbar/Supergo are all owned by the same people... and everything your order comes from the same warehouse in NC I believe. That would be funny if Performance has it in 'stock' but Nashbar doesnt. :D

I have had problems with them in the past, but phone calls to customer service have always ended up with satisfactory results, but time was always an issue. This is the trade off between ordering online and going to your LBS!

when one door closes....
http://www.sportworks.com/stdem.asp

I have had problems with them in the past, but phone calls to customer service have always ended up with satisfactory results, but time was always an issue. This is the trade off between ordering online and going to your LBS!

My experience with Nashbar matches this exactly.

Secondly, I have found that if you call the order in to customer service they will tell you if an item is in stock, the order will ship the same day (internet orders seem to ship the day after it was placed), and you will get an email indicating when the order shipped and what was included.

*never* had an issue with Nashbar--been a customer for over a decade.

*never* had an issue with Nashbar--been a customer for over a decade.
Me too. In fact I own a Nashbar bike that by brother had built up in 1983. Those were the old days when Nashbar was a small catalog company and they made a pretty decent bike.

The world is not perfect and never will be especially with computers in it. Somebody didn't update the site with the status of the rack and sometimes word travels slow.

I've shopped with Nashbar about three times a year for the past 10 years and can only remember one mistake which they sent a replacement item and refunded the original shipping. That's good business.

I mainly shop Performance. You can't beat the prices, frequent coupons, and the Buyers club gives you 10% back on every order plus and upgrade to 2nd day air shipping for just $20 per year.

Colorado Cyclist, SuperGo and Excel Sports are really good shops. I see these places as being for the do-it-yourself cyclist. Don't order from them and expect a shop to put it on though. Although, as a shop owner I would not turn down a customer who asked me to install something they mail ordered. I just explain to them that "I" can not warranty the item and you will pay the same install fee as if you purchased it in house. If you can get them in the door just once you stand a better chance of gaining them as a customer than if the never came in or you turned them away.

I know most LBS's really don't like these guys but if you go back 10 - 20 years ago most if not all of these shops started as a LBS. They just had the will to move forward when mail order started to boom and here we are today.

Ok, I think I just rambled on too much but it's been raining here for 5 days and I have not been able to ride. Yeah, that's my excuse for insanity.

On the other hand. I ordered a hard-to-get FSA compact crankset from wisecyclebuys.com. I got an email when the crankset came into stock and an email with a UPS tracking number when it shipped (that same day by the way). I was a little bit anxious about giving my credit card number to such a small operation, but I'd do business with them again in a flash.

I've always had good service from Nashbar.....but I never use their cheapest shipping option. I used it once and it took like 10 days to get it. I always up it to 2nd day.

Performance/Nashbar/Supergo are all owned by the same people... and everything your order comes from the same warehouse in NC I believe. That would be funny if Performance has it in 'stock' but Nashbar doesnt. :D

No not so! I ordered from Nashbar this week over the phone and asked the most sexy southern sounding southern voice what state they were in and she said West Vaginia.
I've ordered there a few times now without any problem.

Hitch racks are always drop shipped from the manufacturer. My dealings with nashbar have been perfect for almost 15 years.

No not so! I ordered from Nashbar this week over the phone and asked the most sexy southern sounding southern voice what state they were in and she said West Vaginia.
I've ordered there a few times now without any problem.

I don't know about Supergo but Performance and Nashbar are definatly under the same umbrella. btw those sweet southern acents are all over the place down here and quite frankly bieng a yankee they drive me nutz :D




I know most LBS's really don't like these guys but if you go back 10 - 20 years ago most if not all of these shops started as a LBS. They just had the will to move forward when mail order started to boom and here we are today.


My old Nashbar bike has Arnie Nashbars signature on it. I believe he was an old time racer that naturally went into the business. He got sucessfull and sold out good for him I hope he's riding one of his bikes wherever it may be that he chooses.

Same here with the good service. Only once had a missing item in a large order, which customer service cheerfully sent when I called. You are right about those old Nashbar bikes also. One of my best thrift store finds was an early 80s Nashbar sport touring bike with double butted chrome moly frame & Shimano ARX derailleurs. $9.95 & it was in new condition. Just had flat tires & lots of basement dust.

Call them up and say you will not order from them again and you will tell all your buddies the same thing plus if you dont get anywhere with customer service ask to speak to manager and then send a letter to someone higher up

nashbar has never done the dirty to me... perhaps their biding their time... i guess just complain and try to get something good out of it

Call them up and say you will not order from them again and you will tell all your buddies the same thing plus if you dont get anywhere with customer service ask to speak to manager and then send a letter to someone higher up

If that problem hasn't been resolved sometime over the past 21 months, it probably never will. :rolleyes:

Colorado Cyclist, SuperGo and Excel Sports are really good shops. I see these places as being for the do-it-yourself cyclist. Don't order from them and expect a shop to put it on though. Although, as a shop owner I would not turn down a customer who asked me to install something they mail ordered. I just explain to them that "I" can not warranty the item and you will pay the same install fee as if you purchased it in house. If you can get them in the door just once you stand a better chance of gaining them as a customer than if the never came in or you turned them away.
I've been wondering about this. Is it common practice to always buy the component at the same shop where you plan to have it installed? The reason I ask is that sales and service at every LBS I've been to has been separate - I pay the component separately, and then I pay for the service to have it installed. Not a single LBS I've ever visited has had a problem installing a part that I've bought elsewhere, whether it's from another LBS, eBay, or mail order - they still make the profit on the labor fees. Obviously, I don't expect to get any discounts on the labor, but then again I know what I'm paying for - my LBS has a posted list of services and their respective fees - and none of them have a different pricing tier if you buy the component from them.

Most, if not all, car mechanics and dealerships do the same thing. They don't care whether or not you buy the parts from them. I've brought my car in for and oil change and I've brought my own oil and filter, for example. I've never been turned away.

:)

Well ... here's a timetraveling update: As of 7 months ago they were still doing business this way, which is why Nashbar will get no more business from me.

For anyone who thinks these phantom checkout items are "oversights" -- be assured that when an outfit the size of Nashbar continues to have them year after year they are not oversights. They are business practices.

Nashbar knows that many customers are looking for one primary item (like the rack in the first post) and buy little essentials to ride along with the order. They also know that if an item shows up as out-of-stock, the entire order is likely to go to another vendor. I have dealt with other vendors who don't have real-time web inventory, and they at least have the decency to e-mail me to let me know about an out-of-stock item before they proceed with the order.

Nashbar was a great outfit 25 years ago (called Bike Warehouse back then).

I recently ordered a pair of diadora shoes from performance that were roughly $180. I also ordered a set of tubes and some socks. About 1 hour later, I received an email like the following:

Thank you for your recent order; it is currently being held because the shoes you requested are no longer available. Please contact us if you would like to substitute for a different item. Your order will be shipped with the available items if a response is not received within 48 hours.

I cancelled the order, no problem.

Thats what happened to me yesterday...except I didn't get an email. I had ordered two bibs online (from Performance). Both appeared on the e-mail conformation I received, but when I opened the box yesterday it only had one pair in it. "What the.."

I looked on the invoice and it said the other pair had been discontinued. (The good news is that although both pair were indicated as being charged to my C/C in the order confirmation, only the pair I actually received had been.

I know LBS has been getting a lot of bad press in the forums lately, and I also know that they are more expensive, but
%8@!, at least I can see the item I'm considering, touch it, feel it, and purchase & use it get it today rather than be surprised and disappointed 7-10 days later...