dksix

While shopping for tires last week for a hybrid bike I'm building up I came across a deal on tires.What seemed like an pretty low price but it was from, what I thought, to be a reputable seller ( Niagara Cycle) through Amazon. These were an off brand tire ( Vee Rubber ) in a odd size ( 700c x 38 ) but for the price I was willing to give them a try, hoping my bike would handle the size even though it's only rated for up to a 35 mm tire.

The price was listed as $1.51 with $5.xx listed for shipping with 3 availible. Granted $1.51 for a new 700C tire may sound too good to be true but with the shipping bring the cost up to about $7 each, not unheard of for an odd sized off brand tire on closeout. I ordered some Hutchinson Equinox 2 tires from Nashbar this weekend for $7.99 each with free shipping and they had 2 other tires that were even cheaper. I've seen similarly priced closeout tires from places like Ribble and Back County as well, it's not like the price was incomprehensible.

Then today when I check my email I have an email from Niagara Cycle claiming that the tires were no longer available. Which would have been fine, close out items sometimes sale out quickly but I looked yesterday and to check the status of the order and considered buying the 3rd, it was still showing available. I, doubting the "no longer available" I checked NiagaraCycle.com and they aren't showing "unavailable" but rather 20 in stock. It seems that only the ones priced too low are not available.

I wouldn't have been upset had I gotten an email that said there was a mistake in the listed price and they can't sell them at that price. I wouldn't have like it but at least I wouldn't have felt lied to but no, they just blatantly lied about, which pisses me off to no end. And to make it even worse, I needed the tires by Friday for a bike I'm building up for a planned ride Saturday. Had Niagara Cycle not had this mistake in their listing I would have included a set for that bike with my Nashbar order that tracking shows will be here Thursday.

I did some screen captures, notice the date that I was sent the order confirmation (4/13) then the notification of the tires being out of stock 1:49 PM (today) and then date and time on the screen shot showing 20 to be in stock (5:17 PM today).

cb400bill

Thread moved from General Cycling forum to Manufacturer, Retailer, Survey and Consumer Feedback forum.

Troul 

Its not just them but a variety of "sellers" on Amazon do it... Amazon continues to allow it too...

IslandTimePE

But are the tires in question still available on Amazon?

I realize it is the same seller on both sites, but my general assumption is that the seller is under no obligation to offer the same deal through all their web sales channels. If the advert is still up on Amazon, then there is definitely reason to be suspect; otherwise it's apples and oranges IMHO.

Same way a hotel may offer different rates on the corporate website versus a hotel "discount" website. The cheap rooms on the discount site may be sold out even though there are still room available on the corporate site, but at a higher price.

dksix

The tires are now listed as out of stock on Amazon but obviously the tires aren't out of stock. When I placed the order Niagara Cycles showed the quantity available on Amazon as 3, I ordered 2. I didn't just place them in my cart, I ordered and paid for them. The charge showed up as pending in my account, allocating the funds. Over the weekend I even started to order the 3rd and last tire but really wasn't sure that the 38mm tires would fit my bike. It wasn't until today that I was notified by Niagara Cycles that the tires were out of stock but according to Niagara Cycle's site the tires are not out of stock, just not available at the Amazon price.

My issue is that the tires aren't out of stock as I was told. You use the cheap rooms as an example. We're not talking about seeing a $300/night room advertised for $100/night and then when you try to reserve it you're told it's no longer available. We are talking about finding the the room, reserving the room, paying for the room, getting confirmation of the reservation and 2 days before checking you are told it's no longer available to you unless you want to pay the $300/night by going through the hotel instead of the travel agent.

Niagara Cycles sent me a message canceling my order due to the item being out of stock and right now I can go to NiagaraCycle.com put 2 of these tires in the cart and checkout. The difference being ~$20. If I posted something for sale here for $20, agreed to sale it to a member and even took payment only to tell the buyer days later that I had to cancel the sale, refunding the payment because they were no longer available. What would you think of me if you saw I had the exact item listed on eBay for $60?

Except for I'm not going to be able to go on a planned ride this weekend it worked out for me. Nashbar is running free shipping with no minimum, so I was able to order the set of Continentals at the same cost as they would have been if I had of ordered them with the rest of the stuff.

wipekitty

I had a strange (but somewhat similar) experience with Niagara Cycle Works - maybe 4-5 years ago now.

I was also trying to order some tires online - some cyclocross tires in a 27" size. I placed my order through them on Amazon, and within about a day, it was cancelled because the product was unavailable. So, I checked out their website. It said the product was available, though forget how many were listed. In this case it was the same price, so I ordered and paid through the website.

A day later...order cancelled, due to unavailability from the distributor. Apparently they do not keep all items in stock (which is also why their shipping can be horrendously slow compared to other companies, including those that ship from the UK.) And, apparently, the product listing on the Amazon store and the website do not automatically sync with one another.

So, in short, I don't think they're intentionally scamming anyone - they're just very disorganized (not surprising, given that they list many products that they do not have in hand.) I suspect that the distributor either raised their prices or ran out of stock, and Niagara forgot to update the Amazon page and, possibly, their website.

dksix

That's a completely plausible scenario but I don't find incompetence anymore comforting than dishonesty from someone I'm giving my debit card number to, lol. It's completely possible that had I completed the checkout from their website that I could have waited a few more days only to find that inventory is in correct too.

Something that would support your theory is that on the Niagara site it does list "current stock" at 20 and " In stock for shipping, 2-3 days - in-store pickup in 2-3 days ". I would think if they are "in stock" store pick would be available any time the store was open unless the store and warehouse is in different locations.

Either way, all's well that ends well. I ordered a set of Continental City Ride II from Nashbar for under $30 shipped, I have a preference for Continental tires. It was just hard to pass up a $20 savings on a bike I'm building up for well under $200. Lesson learned, I'll never try to buy from Niagara Cycles again.