Yeah, I don't deal with them either. But BD knows who they're dealing with in bike assembly and has built a business around it. Those of us that don't trust the model don't have to use it.

For me, I don't buy bikes often, and I've decided it's not worth it to mail-order. I've done it once (back when Ibex was a thing), and the bike wasn't quite what I wanted. Since then, I browsed BD and got tempted. I looked at used high-end bikes and got tempted. Then I bought new at the LBS.

I have had great experiences with BD. I doubt very seriously this was a bait and switch. In today's connected world, consumers would be all over it if it happened too frequently. Ultimately BD made a happy customer out of this, and that's all that really matters.

I think that was the right choice. The Transonic is a good deal on a racing bike for the price you're paying.

I've never seen a similar issue from BD. At least they gave you lots of options including a full refund.

Also, I've purchased 4 bikes from BD over the past ten years, all were exactly as specified. In my dealings with BD they haven't exactly gone out of their way to be helpful, but they also have been 100% honest and upfront. I'm willing to give them the benefit of a doubt, this seems like an honest mistake. Also, as I said, the suite of options they gave the OP are pretty good, especially since they offered a full refund.

Bait and switch? No.

BD didn't ship an inferior product. BD contacted the customer, apologized for the inconvenience, offered a few alternate packages, or a painless no hassle FULL refund. There is no sneaky wording attempting to pressure the customer into accepting one of the alternate packages. And the Fuji deal is at a BIG discount if the customer wants to go that way.

I call it a goof, followed by a very professional attempt to make things right and easy for the customer.

It's a bummer, but BD isn't a thieving villain here.

sorry I had no input,
however, this quoted post I was highly interested in.

On BD behalf...It's nice to them give a heads up.

All other manufactures Cannondale/ specialized/ etc... all make changes and never disclaim it on website advertising bikes. even my $6,200 Supersix had changes. some better for me, some not. like the missing $200 seatpost.... swapped out for a cheap one. grrrrr! but the Missing red decals on hollowgram wheels, better!

So...The Fuji Transonic 2.3 arrived on Friday.
On Saturday it went from this:





To This!

Assembly went smooth. This is the second R8000 Ultegra groupset I have set-up, so it went quickly.
61cm frame size (I'm 6'3" / 185lbs)
Bike was 17.95 lbs out of the box, no reflectors, no pedals.
The Wheels and tires have some room for weight improvement, but not too bad. They feel solid and responsive.

Front Wheel Complete (no QR)-1096gI'll run it "as is" for awhile, the engineer in me likes a good baseline set of data points before I start making changes. but really it is more the operator that needs improvement at this point.
Sunday I did a 30 mile "shake-down" cruise. Fit still needs a few tweaks, but it is pretty comfortable to start with.
The boys were pretty clear they would prefer a saddle with a cutout, so that will get switched out.

All in all I am very happy with how this all turned out. BD stepped up and offered options for their mistake. I had developed a need for a more areo bike and the Transonic fit the bill. Win-Win situation in my eyes.

Most likely the last part. Either didn't have finalized contracts or their vendor couldn't provide at the contracted price. BD posted assuming those contracts could be fulfilled and then the issue arose.

They never say the bike retails for "eleventy billion dollar" -- It's always "Compare to $XXX". If you stop in an average LBS and look at a similar bike from a name brand with similar level of components, the MSRP will often be around that "Compare to" price. Is it apples to apples? No. But I haven't seen things that are wildly off. Yes, the name brand will often have a more aero frame or something different, but you're going to have a hard time finding a carbon frame bike at any LBS for $1k

That thing really is one sweet looking bike - nice choice!

Ok.