First Winstanleys, then Fat Birds!

[e-rider]

Is it just me or there a lot of crap online 'bike' retailers?

I ordered some stuff from Fat birds dont fly (in Norfolk) and after a few days emailed them to ask if the items were actually in stock - within 20 minutes they replied saying yes. So waited a 'working' week, emailed them again asking if they'd shipped the items. Got some strange e-mail saying they were sent to Scotland by mistake (The fat birds shop is 40 miles from my house in Norwich) and that they have refunded my money.

Why didn't they get the items sent back from 'Scotland'? My guess is they never sent them out or even had the items in stock in the first place (just like winstanleys)

I'll not try any other onliners! CRC, Parkers and Wiggle are OK (even Evans have good online deals)

 

[ohnovino]

Recently I've been moving away from traditional online stores and over to eBay. I've found the service seems to be better (presumably for fear of negative feedback killing their business) and you have the security of eBay/PayPal to fight your corner if something goes wrong.

My last eBay purchase: a pair of 750ml drinks bottles for £5.50 inc P&P, and they arrived just 20 hours after I placed the order.

 

[colinr]

I bought items that were "in stock" from Fat Birds. Took over two weeks to get one, after 3 phonecalls. The other I tired of waiting for and cancelled. Apparently their "in-store" service is very good though.

Aside from that, I've used loads of etailers and never had any issue.
Except for the shorts that Evans haven't sorted a return on for nearly a month now.

 

[dan_bo]

I go to the shop as much as remotely possible these days. If they don't have it, then I don't pay for it.

 

[vickster]

I have used Bikesyoulike and Life-cycles recently. The former were excellent, ordered Sunday, arrived Tuesday. Have sent something back to them for exchange, jacket was too big so just waiting for that now. Have to pay return postage as usual but them sending stuff is free, including exchanges

Edit - looked at their website, I sent it back Saturday and apparently they dispatched the replacement yesterday - that really is super service

I also ordered a water bottle from Tredz which took a bit longer but they did inform me of the delay and it arrived sooner than I anticipated.

Wiggle are pretty reliable but not the cheapest. Bought the odd thing from ebay but more shops on there rather than individual sellers

I tend to buy most stuff online unless I need something fitted, in which case I go to my excellent LBS. I did manage to fit a new bell which I got for a massive £1.25 from Tesco (cheaper than anything online) - very proud of myself as I am technically inept