pichote

So here's my story:

I ordered an off the peg vigorelli from BobJacksonCycles.co.uk on May 22nd. I promptly received an order confirmation and a charge to my debit card for the total amount (frame + shipping), followed closely by a second charge for something like $18, but we'll get back to that.

As noted on the custom/off the peg page, Bob Jackson specifically mentions "All frames in all sizes are kept in stock 99% of the time so you only need to choose the colour and the frame will be painted and ready for you in 5-7 working days."

A week or so goes by with no tracking number or even confirmation of shipment email. Speaking to friends who have ordered bikes from the UK before, they explain that a lot of that stuff is sent via airmail which has no tracking numbers, and can often arrive before it even enters the system. Just to be super sure, I send a polite email to shop@bobjacksoncycles.co.uk (because replying to the address my PURCHASE confirmation came from results in MESSAGE DELIVERY FAILURE: NO ACCOUNT EXISTS) asking what the status of my frame is, and if I can get a rough estimate of shipment date.

Hours, days, 2 weeks pass. No reply whatsoever. Finally I decide that I'm going to have to eat the cost of an international call on my cell phone, wake up at the crack of dawn (because of the time difference) and figure out how to dial the shop. After a couple of rings, I get somebody at the register who somewhat rudely informs me that while he doesn't really know anything about what happens at the factory, that I'm at fault for "forgetting that the site and order clearly say there is a 6 week waiting period for off the peg frames. You'll get an email before we are ready to ship." I immediately assume that I've been an idiot, apologize, thank him, and hang up.

Since then, I've scoured the confirmation email, and the ENTIRE bob jackson site. As far as I can tell, there is no mention of a 6 week waiting period. In fact, the only time reference I can find WHATSOEVER is to the above quoted paragraph suggesting that "5-7 days" is the anticipated wait time.

It has now been almost 7 weeks exactly to the day (this wednesday is the landmark). I have yet to hear a single thing from them, and have actually placed two emails that have received no responses. I haven't had the chance to call again because of my work schedule, but I fully anticipate getting the same snooty response if I bite the bullet and eat the expensive phone call. I also can't get anyone to explain to me why I received that second charge on my credit card.

Up until this experience, I've heard nothing but good things about Bob Jackson. I know that they are a small shop, and that it is customary to bill prior to shipment for semi-custom work. But this is ridiculous. Can anyone give me advice on where to go from here? I stupidly sold my only bike in anticipation of moving to New York and this new frame arriving "shortly," and am simply too poor to not have the 700 some odd bucks in my bank account.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Well, apart from "don't order from bob jackson."

Grasschopper

Hmm I will be following this because I am interested in a custom Jackson...please keep us up to date.

morbot

this site could be outdated but it has on it
may be worth a shot

fixiation

it took about 7 weeks for my frame to get to me from the time i ordered it. when i asked if they would provide me with a tracking number, they said that they were unable to do that. i found that they replied to my e-mails fairly promptly, within a day or so. a few times they did not reply, so i resent my message and again, i received a prompt response. they must have a spam problem or something filling up their mailboxes because it seems like some messages get lost in their system. if you only e-mailed them once or twice, you need to be a whole lot more persistent. i received my responses from factory@bobjacksoncycles.demon.co.uk and factory@bobjacksoncycles.co.uk

i dont think that they know how to use computers. but they do build a fantastic frame.

piwonka

they build a fantastic frame.
i had a custom one, it took about 3-4 months.
i was able to get a tracking number from them, it should come via royal airmail parcel force or something like that..and they hand it off to the USPS...
most of my emails were responded to within a few days.

pichote

thanks for the replies guys. I'm fully anticipating that the frame is the best thing I've had to date. I just wish I could get some form of reassurance from the people who so quickly took my money.

I'll be sure to keep updating here as I delve further. I'm planning to call again at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

ireligious

looks like you have about another 5 weeks to wait.... i ordered mine may 8th and it finally shipped last week... i can't wait

pichote

am I the only one that thinks a non-disclosed wait like that is UTTER BULL****!?

drewcifer

i think thats bs too. they cant just take youre money and say yeah... we'll ship the frame whenever we feel like it.

hey pichote, if you dont mind me asking, how much did it come out to in USD including shipping? i know theres some kind of tax that they take out of the price?

pichote

BobJackson Cycles
------------------------------------------------------
Order Number: 602
Date Ordered: Tuesday 22 May, 2007

Products
------------------------------------------------------
1 x Vigorelli Track (Vigorelli Tr) = £251.06
Lug Lining Colour Black
Sizes 22.5" Frame
Colour of Transfers Red
Frame & Fork Colour ENAMEL Ivory
------------------------------------------------------
Sub-Total: £251.06
Shipping to US : 18 lbs: £60.00
Total: £311.06

google says: 625.417236 U.S. dollars

automatic_sheep

I've received several bikes from the UK&Ireland via parcelforce to mainland europe and tracking numbers were ALWAYS possible. There's no real reason why it can't be provided. Delays should be announced of couse IMO. Though I've had no dealings with jackson personally, they seem to have a great rep?!

Ninju

I have ordered a frame myself from BJ and before placing the order I asked them on the waiting time for a vigorelli and got the reply that it takes about five weeks to finish it. To bad that they haven't written it on their site though.. The only problem I've had with my frame is the f***ing swedish mail. They sent the frame from England in the end of may and when I still had not received it a couple of weeks ago I called BJ up.
They were really helpful and Donald in the factory told me that if I didn't have the frame in my possession by last friday he would build me a new one. Then later on friday I get a mail from him saying that the damn mail here in Sweden had it but sent it back to England because of the one month time limit had passed. They didn't even bother to contact me for a delivery and just sent it back to Leeds. So now I hope that I will get it by this week.. It sucks to have all the parts for a bike at home, but no frame to attach them to........

But by the posts here it seems the waiting will be worth it, hope you get your frame soon and that it will only get one transatlantic trip

pichote

THANK GOD, I have an update:

Today I received an email out of the blue from Paul@bobjacksoncycles.co.uk saying:

Hello,

Sorry for the delay in replying due to my holiday.


Your frame is in colour awaiting the decals and the final laquer. Its due down to me next week. We were having a slight delay in the factory due to a member of staff having time off due to an accident, this has made your frame turn around slightly longer than we would normally like. Trust me there is no need to freak out! We dont report to customers every significant move in the the building of the frame as this would mean we wouldnt have time to build any frames. In this case no news is good news!

I'll be in touch with in a week or so to inform you your frame has been dispatched.

Regards.

Paul.

-----------

Considering how hard it was to get information prior to posting on bikeforums, I can only thank you guys for drawing enough attention to this matter to get it taken care of. I won't consider it resolved until I have shipping confirmation, but I couldn't have gotten here without you. Thanks again.

exfreewheeler

That is a great price for such a sweet frame!

Nice color scheme dude!

You're in Philly? Love to see that!

d2create

Damn, I hate having to deal with european holidays when I'm so impatient.. but i sure do wish that we had holidays like that here in the USA!!!!

pichote

here is my response email. after closer examination, it seems that paul@bobjacksoncycles.co.uk is actually just the "name" associated with sales@bobjacksoncycles.co.uk. Just to be sure, I addressed it to both.
-----
Paul -

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my email. While I was not looking for a report of "every significant move in the building of the frame," I would have liked one basic reassurance from my first email that you guys were at least aware of my order.

After not receiving word from my second email, I posted this information to bikeforums (thread located here: https://bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=319045) and it seems that this type of turn around time isn't all that unusual. I completely understand that you are a small shop, and that answering emails isn't priority, but I think it would probably be a good business practice to update your site with more realistic wait times. It might decrease your overall order number, but it would also lower the number of emails like this that you would have to reply to.

I am very much looking forward to receiving my bike frame, and can't wait to tell everyone that the wait was worth it. Thanks again for replying, can't wait to get the shipment confirmation email from you. I've been dreaming about this bike for a while now.
--------

pichote

yea, I was really psyched about the price, although that shipping rate was almost a deal breaker. I wish I had known about them when I was in the U.K. because I would have scheduled it so that I could pick it up in the shop.

I'm digging the color scheme, although I'm wondering from the last email if I could have requested they just leave the decals off to speed up the process. Is that rude bike etiquette? I'm not a big fan of branding. Whatever, I just excited that its actually coming to me.

I was expecting to be in Philly when it arrived. At this point, I am now in New Orleans working for a non-profit on a couple projects, and then I'll be in Brooklyn. Thankfully, my friend offered to let me have it delivered to her house, which is just a short hop from my bike shop. I'll be a chinatown bus ride away from my new bike!

Needless to say, I'll post pics when its all built up.

ireligious

heres my new whip... i just got her in yesterday...finally!

pichote

sick ride, dude. i really like the color choice. is that a new brooks, or have you already broken it in? i've been checking out the selle anatomica just b/c i'm a broke *******.

deathhare

So when one guy goes on holiday they blow off all the customers until he returns?
Good plan.
So the 5 days or whatever on the site was just a joke and it was meant to be 7 weeks?
What was the extra 18 bucks?

ireligious

yeah i think that description on the turn around time pertains to local customers... i believe in the summer turn around time should be more or less 8-10 weeks pretty much....


yeah the saddle is a brooks...its not broken in yet but it still pretty comfy... i finally got a bottom bracket tool today so i finally got to take her out for a ride...and my o my is she fine

pichote

The turn-around time should not matter whether you are local or not. Having parts in stock is having parts in stock, the only thing that could differ is shipping, although they obviously haven't gotten to that stage in 8 weeks.

Now that we are 1 and 1/2 weeks from Paul's last email and I still haven't received a shipment confirmation, I took the liberty of writing them again. Since my order, I've moved to a different city: thats how long this has been going on. I was forced to change the mailing address, and I SINCERELY hope that that won't cause my order to be delayed even longer.

This is absolute madness.

Ninju

At last, got mine last thursday after a long wait. Ordered the frame in mid-april and after at the shipping company screwed up the delivery I finally have the frame. Soon I will be riding away in the sunset on my Bob..

pichote

Can't wait to see that built up. Be sure to post back!

pichote

Update:

A day after my last post, I got another reply from Bob Jackson saying that despite their previous email, they had gone ahead and sent the frame, no shipment confirmation to be found. Because it was too late to change the shipping address, they said that I had to deal with Fedex and that they were done with the process. Thankfully, Fedex is way more accomodating than BJ, and they were willing to intercept the package in the mid-atlantic, and re-route it for me. It even arrived a day earlier than they anticipated, making them the only shipping company I will deal with if I'm given the choice.

My frame currently waits for me at the Fedex facility, and I'm totally psyched to get it all put together. I'm planning to drop it off at my lbs on Saturday, where it will be re-united with my Chris King headset, Sugino 75 cranks, Jaguar stem, chopped bars, and deep v's.

I have to say that after this experience, I cannot recommend going with Bob Jackson unless you are willing to sit on them during the order process, or they update their website to have more realistic expectations about their customer service and waiting times. Even if the frame is the best thing I've had to date (which I fully expect), the inconvenience caused by building my schedule around their promises forced me to spend a significant extra amount of money on temporary transportation solutions. I'm all about supporting small companies that do quality work, but I cannot support companies that are not transparent about their resource availability or work procedures.

See you guys in a bit with pictures.