Anyone deal with them before? I plan on making a $700 purchase from them. Are they good? Thanks
Anyone deal with them before? I plan on making a $700 purchase from them. Are they good? Thanks
well i just placed an order. I'll let everyone know how it goes.
In my opinion their just as good as PBK, I've bought groupsets and wheelset from them no problem at all with shipping to Australia.Originally Posted by Jynx
Any feedback Jynx? Just ordered a wheelset yesterday.
I purchased a Shimano Ultegra group from them on 3/4/08. (It was a better price then PBK, you are able to configure everything which sometimes you cant do with PBK, and they had everything in stock which PBK didnt.)
They billed me, shipped it out and emailed me the tracking information today 3/7/08.
Not sure how long it will take to get to the east coast of the US from the UK but I will keep everyone updated. They do claim 2 - 4 days for shipping so well see.
They have a really lousy return policy.
I bought a pair of rain pants from them. The first time I used them (the day after I received them) I noticed that the stitching was coming loose from the waistband and an ankle zipper was getting caught in poorly stitched loose lining. I was told that as the item was used (I rode for about 8km in the pants) it would have to be taken up with the manufacturer of the item. How could I know it was a bad item if I didn't actually try it out? So off to CR it went to be sent on the the manufacturer. It's been several weeks and I still have no idea what is going on. I wrote to them last week asking for an update (I still don't know if they even recieved the pants from me yet) and didn't get a reply. Pretty lousy customer service if you ask me.
Their shipping rates are rather high too. Anytime I put more than three items in my cart the shipping automatically jumps from 10 to 20 pounds, regardless of the size of the item. (Two Park Glueless Patch Kits - 10 pounds shipping, three Park Glueless Patch Kits 20 pounds shipping. WTF?) The exception for this is tires (including folding tires), one tire costs 10 pounds to ship, two tires 20 pounds! What a rip off!
Last edited by Ziemas; 03-09-08 at 11:26 PM.
I have to agree with some of this. I got free shipping because it was over $300USD but yes it is very expensive for smaller items.
Also I did email them a couple of times before I ordered and I never recieved a response.
As long as everything is the correct part and there ill be happy.
I have recieved two emails back from them. One when I asked a question about cassette/chain/wheel combination b4 I ordered and then another when I asked if the wheels came with a spacer after I ordered. I have been following the tracking and my wheels say they are received in New York right now, so I'm hoping to see them in the next day or two.
Well I just got the order today. 6 days total. 3 for them to ship it and 3 to get to me.
Here are some pics...
Box was a little beat up so I was a little concerned at first.
Pulled everything out of the box. It was packaged pretty good. Minimal stuff moving inside the box when I shook it.
Almost everything came in an original shimano box. The cassette, bottom bracket, brakes and front deraileur were in bags not that I really care.
Checked over all the sizes and made sure everything was correct. I checked cassette size, short cage rear derailleur, english thread bb, crank gearing and arm length. The bottom bracket seems awfully dark. Like Ultegra SL "ICE" color. Hard to tell from the pic but I could take a pic if you need. It is marked SM-FC6601. Is this the regular Ultegra one or the SL version? It is much darker then the other ultegra parts but I dont recall what color a regular bb is. Other then that all of it was correct which is what I was worrying about. Also everything is new and unscratched. Sometimes I have heard from other places some of the stuff is new but still slightly scuffed. Overall I am very happy and would do business with them anytime.
Last edited by Jynx; 03-10-08 at 01:31 PM.
Got my wheels this morning. Ordered on 3/6 received 3/11, which includes the weekend. No pics but everything looks great. Just imagine a pristine set of Mavic Aksiums and aon my face.
Wow, the CS at Chain Reaction has gotten even worse for me. They finally received my defective pants and refunded the cost of them, although they didn't refund the full shipping cost as promised. I called and was told they would now refund only half of the shipping cost, which still hasn't happened.
To make matters worse the SECOND pair of rain pants I ordered from them had the zipper fall apart at week three. (I paid shipping on both the original AND the replacement pair, 16.50 GBP or $33 not including the cost of me sending them the defective pair back) So I called up Chain Reaction again and was told to send the new defective pair back. When I explained that I need a pair of rain pants for the daily commute, and this is the second pair in less than a month I bought from them which have fallen apart I was told too bad, the only thing I could do was to send them back at my cost and wait the three weeks or so for another replacement pair. They refused to accept photos of the defective zipper as temporary proof of a faulty product and to send me a replacement pair so I could use the defective pair until the replacement arrives, at which point I would have returned the faulty pair. It was also mentioned by the fellow at Chain Reaction that all this must be karma. WTF?
So at the moment I have no rain pants with a working zipper and am out of pocket over $40 on shipping defective pants back and forth to Chain Reaction. I also have no option from Chain Reaction if I would like to have rain pants to use in the meantime short of me buying (and paying $20 to ship) another pair of rain pants and sending the broken ones back when I receive the new ones. This is exactly what I had to do with the first defective pair, and as it's very costly I wouldn't like to do it again.
As this is the second defective pair they sent me in less than a month, and I covered all the shipping costs, I expect a bit better customer service, but they really don't seem to care.
Last edited by Ziemas; 03-19-08 at 12:51 AM.
Over two weeks later and they still haven't refunded the shipping charges as promised.
I finally got my money back for the second pair of defective trousers they sent me, but they never refunded any shipping as they promised to do several times.
All in all I'm out of pocket over $50 in shipping and have nothing but a chain to show for it. Needless to say I'll never buy from Chain Reaction again!
We Are Not Amused!!
Chain Reaction Cycles appear to have a huge range of cycling products. Many of them at very competitive prices! That's why I ordered a (supposedly) highly regarded floor pump from them last month.
My order was processed and received promptly! Excellent!
However, the pump I received had a different type of head/nozzle compared to the picture shown at CRC website!? The pump seemed to pump very little air through the nozzle!? Also, the nozzle for Presta valves (a metal adapter which is attached to the Shrader nozzle) was nearly impossible to remove from Presta valve stems!!?
I then shipped the pump back for a refund, which I have yet to receive. By the way, when and how do you know that refunds have been received? Are you emailed? Does your account at CRC show refunds?
I don't know why this pump is/was highly regarded, it was the worst pump I've ever come across!!
Anyway, shipping charges are not (usually) refundable I believe, so I have made a loss of around $95 (heavy pump) for this order!
Undecided whether I'll order again from CRC, especially with their high(ish) shipping charges and policy of not refunding shipping costs.
Last edited by meeshu; 04-14-08 at 07:51 PM.
They explicitly told me they would refund the shipping charges for the defective rain pants they sent me, and I have a letter from them stating such. Still, they never did refund the money, even after a phone call about it.Chain Reaction Cycles appear to have a huge range of cycling products. Many of them at very competitive prices! That's why I ordered a (supposedly) highly regarded floor pump from them last month.
My order was processed and received promptly! Excellent!
However, the pump I received had a different type of head/nozzle compared to the picture shown at CRC website!? The pump seemed to pump very little air through the nozzle!? Also, the nozzle for Presta valves (a metal adapter which is attached to the Shrader nozzle) was nearly impossible to remove from Presta valve stems!!?
I then shipped the pump back for a refund, which I have yet to receive. By the way, when and how do you know that refunds have been received? Are you emailed? Does your account at CRC show refunds?
I don't know why this pump is/was highly regarded, it was the worst pump I've ever come across!!
Anyway, shipping charges are not (usually) refundable I believe, so I have made a loss of around $95 (heavy pump) for this order!
Undecided whether I'll order again from CRC, especially with their high(ish) shipping charges and policy of not refunding shipping costs.
As for knowing when they refund your money I checked my internet bank to see. I also received a letter in the mail about it around a week later.
If they sent you a wrong or defective part they should cover the cost of shipping as you are not at fault.
Anyway, I've found that this place, while not having the selection of CR, has very low prices on both items AND shipping, and top notch customer service. http://bike-components.de They ship worldwide, but you might have to email them for a quote to NZ.
Ziemas, let me see if I have a contact for anyone there.
On a slightly related note, I keep a pair of rain pants in one of the saddlebags on my motorcycle, just in case. The weather said we had a 30% chance of rain today, and I was feeling lucky. That's the 2nd time within less than a week that I got caught in the snow. I feel your pain. All we want is to be warm and dry.
CRC are a bit hit and miss. Some of the things they sent out don't seem to be in their original packaging (for example a brakeset and 2 pairs of chains), but their prices are really competitive. I think my postie must be sick of seeing that CRC logo by now
I have had to deal with CS twice though, firstly because the brakeset I ordered only contained a rear brake (with no nut...) and secondly to return a chain. They were very helpful with the brakes and I ended up having an email conversation with the guy on the other end for a few hours while at work
Again, they were very good with the chain as well, it was past the 30 days, but they still accepted it back.
The only thing I don't like is the website, I find it very hard to navigate, what with everything listed down the left hand side...
No response from them.
Thanks for trying.No response from them.
Sell it is Sunday and TBH I think it's quite a small operation. I think they're probably sitting at home watching the TV if I'm being honest.
But in a way, I like that, they're like an online LBS to me
What does that have to do with their lousy customer service, broken promises, and lack of a response to emails?Sell it is Sunday and TBH I think it's quite a small operation. I think they're probably sitting at home watching the TV if I'm being honest.
But in a way, I like that, they're like an online LBS to me
I just got off the phone with Chain Reaction. Again. They have now said that they will refund me 15 GBP. I wonder if it will happen.......
Got the replacement chain on Wednesday and they did a refund on the other chain as requested. Can't ask for much else
After many broken promises, a lot of phone calls, and several months I finally got GBP 15 back from them. It certainly wasn't worth all the hassle and horrible customer service.
Glad you finally received your refund as promised!
I just received a letter today from CRC which showed a refund for the pump (which I returned a month ago) ONLY. Shipping charges were apparently not refunded! I double checked refund details with my credit card bank to be sure. Shipping charges were definitely not refunded
I've made a loss of about $95 for shipping!!
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