Shaylie

I ordered a bike more than 2 months ago and still haven't received it. Here is the story. I went to my local bike shop on 4/23 to purchase a bike. They showed me what they had in inventory but they didn't have what I wanted so I ended up having them order a bike for me. I'm 5' 2" so I wanted an extra small. I put down a deposit and ordered it. They said it would arrive in 3 to 10 days. Two and a half weeks later I finally get a call saying my bike came. I go down to the store to pick it up and its the small instead of the extra small. They had mistakenly ordered the wrong size. They said to call the next day and their manager would order the extra small for me. They also said they'd throw in a cage, bottle and kickstand for my trouble. I called the next day and was told the manager wasn't in but someone else would order the bike for me.

Three weeks go buy and I get a call from them saying they have a different bike I can ride until mine comes in. I get to the store and try it out but decided I'd rather wait for mine. They tell me Giant doesn't know if they're going to get the extra small again. So I say okay order the small. It wasn't a perfect fit but I can live with it. Again they say it will get here within a week. Three more weeks and I still don't hear from them so I called last Saturday and asked if they could track the bike. They said only the manager can so I ask to speak to the manager and they say he will be in Sunday.

I come Sunday and the manager isn't there. I ask them to look for my order info and it doesn't exist. It seems like the bike was never ordered. They looked through folders and on the computer but nothing was there. They called the managers cell phone but he didn't answer. The lady said she will put a note on the managers desk for him to call me first thing Monday. She tells me he will be in all day Monday. I tell her if he can't get the bike in this week I want to cancel my order and get my deposit back. I got no call yesterday so I went to the store again and the manager wasn't in. I was told he would call today but am pretty sure he won't. I asked if I could cancel my order but the guy at the store didn't know how.

At this point I just want to get my money back and go to another store. I went with the store because my father and both of my sisters bought bikes from there and had great experiences. Of course that was almost 10 years ago. Also the store is literally two minutes away from my house. Has anyone ever had an experience like this and what would your advice to me be? Thanks.

thumpism 

Get your money back and shop elsewhere. The shop has dropped the ball and you owe them nothing. They owe you.

When I was a rep we'd occasionally get calls asking if any of our dealers had a certain bike that other reps had dealers looking for. I have moved bikes around on request. This was pre-internet so eyeballs in a store was the best search engine. See if you can find out the name of the Giant rep in your territory and see if he can help you. Also, you might be able to find a similar bike from a different manufacturer, so don't be wed to idea of Giant only.

_ForceD_

How much was the downpayment? Is it significant enough to get the police involved? And, as suggested above...cancel the order. Heck, you could probably order directly yourself and save whatever LBS markup there would be. Let us know how everything works out.

Good luck

Dan

veganbikes

It sucks that happened but I would be curious to know the full story from the other side.

Watchdog

Wow, that is a really unfortunate situation. Hope you get a suitable bike before too much of summer passes by.

drlogik 

How did you pay for the deposit? Credit card, Debit card, check or cash? Do you have the receipt for the deposit? If it's a card and you have the receipt tell them point blank to give you your money back. If they do anything other than say yes and give you your money back, notify the Better Business Bureau and also notify your bank that you did not get what you paid for.

Shop elsewhere. This shop obviously doesn't understand customer service.

FWIW, on big purchases I always use my American Express card if they take it. If the merchant gives me a bad experience I call AMEX and all of a sudden the merchant is calling me back in a panic and apologizing and asking how they can help me. It's worth having that card for big purchases. I don't know what AMEX tells a merchant but whatever it is it works.

qcpmsame 

Questions, How come they got a bike in, wrong size for you but it came in, by your account? If they are saying you never had an order placed why did a bike arrive there and you were called? Something just isn't adding up about the whole thing.

Don't you have a receipt for the deposit? This should be your evidence that you had an order placed for your bike, you are going to need one if you have to fight with them about the deposit. Best of luck with getting things going your way.

Bill

CliffordK

Wow!!!

Do you have a bike that you're currently riding?

At this point, I'm with you, and I'd start asking for my money back, or perhaps talk to your credit card company and file a fraud claim (if it was done on the credit card).

What model of bike did you attempt to order?
For road bikes, have you tried 650c sizes?
City & State?

Perhaps someone here could suggest an alternative, perhaps used to get you back on the road. Used Bikes?

gregf83 

You're a lot more patient than me. I would have got my deposit back after the first screwup.

Shaylie

So I finally got a call from the manager yesterday. I was beginning to wonder if he really existed. He said he thought everything had been rectified after the wrong size was purchased and never purchased the small for me at all. I would have been waiting forever. Anyway he rush ordered the bike and it should get here today or tomorrow. Since no other store in my area has it. I'm gonna try it out when it gets here.

The bike is a Cypress DX. I was between that and a Specialized Crossroads but I liked the Giant more. I have another bike that I love but due to a recent neck injury I require a bike with a more upright riding position at least for now. I'll just be using it for riding paved trails and some minor commutes on pavement. Hopefully by next spring I'll be able to ride my other bike again as well.

My deposit was payed with cash and I just had them print me another receipt Sunday because the original one is now just a sheet of white paper. It completely faded. I work 10 hour days so most bike shops in my area aren't open when I leave for work and are already closed when I get home. They're the only shop that's open Sundays and after I get off work on weeks days. There are 6 shops within 20 miles of me and four of them are owned by the same people as the one I purchased my bike from. If I like the bike and they'll give me some kind of deal for my trouble I'll probably still purchase it from them. Thanks for all your advice. I'll keep you posted on how everything goes. Hopefully I'll be able to go for a ride this weekend.

thumpism 

Sounds like things are being ironed out. Good. Hope it all works, and happy riding!

kevindsingleton 

Find a copier, and make a copy of the receipt, just in case. Thermal printers don't produce "permanent" records, but photocopiers do. You could scan it to a PDF file, or something, too. Given your history with this shop, so far, I wouldn't take any chances!

veganbikes

I have never understood certain people's like of the Cypress? Why anyone would want to spend extra money on a suspension fork that you wouldn't go off-road on and that adds a lot of extra weight always has baffled me. I would rather put that money towards a more comfortable frame that can fit wide tires and nicer components so I can avoid the suspension and save some weight.

CliffordK

It sounds like a rough work schedule.

This seems to be an XS version of the bike in Tacoma.
https://takomabicycle.com/collection...-cypress-xs-dx

And there may be some NOS step-through Giant Cyprus bikes available. You'd have to call the shops.
https://www.liv-cycling.com/us/cypress-dx-w-2015

I'm not quite sure what bike I would choose, but would probably look at 26" or 24" wheels rather than 700c.

Anyway, it sounds like your bike is finally on the way. Perhaps all it took was complaining here
I hope it all works out for you.

Shaylie

I've ridden my sister's Cypress DX a few times and it was very comfortable for me. The only other bike they had in stock with a more upright riding position was the Specialized Crossroads which I didn't like nearly as much and it was more expensive too. I don't really care about the suspension and there may be cheaper options out there but not locally. This isn't my main bike but I think it will still allow me to enjoy riding while my injury is healing.

I got copies of my new receipt as soon as I got it. I'm not gonna take any chances. It seems the guy who took my original order actually works at a different store. They were able to find my original order and it definitely said x small but for some reason they still ordered a small. I guess they never placed an order the second and third time they said they would.

Shaylie

Giant lists the XS as limited stock which means there are several stores that have them but Giant is no longer shipping them out. The closest store to me is almost 200 miles away.

Shaylie

It's so hard when you're short. The stores just don't carry many small bikes and I've never seen an extra small in a bike store.

Milton Keynes

See if they'll knock something off the price for your trouble. And get the cage, bottle & kickstand too.

John_V 

You could be shopping at the wrong LBS.

DomaneS5

BikesDirect has plenty of bikes at good prices in extra small or 50cm, 47cm... depending on what type of bike. Ordering online has it's advantages, but you would still have to pay the LBS to assemble and tune the bike if you can't do that yourself.

Ogsarg

So the other employees never told the manager about your earlier troubles? Sounds like a really poorly run shop with a manager that doesn't empower his employees to satisfy customers and also doesn't spend enough time there to make sure it's being done. I wouldn't assume they will follow through this time but for your sake, I hope they do.

Garfield Cat

Maybe you should go straight to the Distributor in the USA and complain there.

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/us/about-us/office/usa

Address: 3587 Old Conejo Rd, Newbury Park, CA 91320
Phone: (805) 267-4600
Hours: Open today · 9AM–5PM
Suggest an edit · Own this business?

linberl

Hope you get your bike. Following up on what another poster said, always use a credit card for anything you don't receive on the spot. That's sometimes the only leverage you have (a chargeback). And, most credit cards double the warranty on items you purchase using the card in full =).

Shaylie

It's been crazy I've spoken to a different person every time I've called or walked into the store and it took me 2 months to even get to speak to a manager. I was told he would be in 5 different times and he never was. I guess the employee told him they ordered the wrong size the first time and were going to order the correct size. When they tried to order it Giant told them there were no more XS. I then told them to go ahead and order the small but no one ever did until I went down there two more times this week. I'm not brave enough to buy a bike online that I can't try first.

CliffordK

There are plenty of small bikes available. The problem is that manufacturers aren't differentiating between the needs of children and short adults. I have some 5-footish adult friends who are very happy riding small 24" MTBs.

Our local road shop had a 24" wheel Giant road bike, and I've seen both Fuji Ace 650 and 24 bikes at the local Performance shop.

Perhaps this is also where the Lexa, Dolce, and WSD designations will backfire. I'd have put my nephew on a used Lexa, but decided I couldn't do it to him. It could be brutal if anybody ever found out it was a "Girl's Bike". So it encourages one group in market, while making them unavailable for another group.

Many manufactures have also chosen not to make extremely tall bikes, with anything larger than say 62cm being hard to find.

It is all great for the "average" rider.