Planetx - Poor Feedback - any recent experiences?

[Blue Hills]

I'm not sure whether it's strictly a customer service issue, but I got annoyed with them late last year.
My wife and I had decided to buy a budget turbo trainer, and I ordered a half price one in a sale on PlanetX, on a Sunday evening. I went downstairs to tell my wife, to find she was coming up to tell me she'd just agreed to buy a (better) one on Facebook marketplace! No problem, I thought, I'll cancel the PlanetX order (as is my right) - the order status was still at the earliest stage.
Several problems:

• There's no way to cancel an order, and sending them a message via the website was the only way to contact them.
• You have to pay for postage if you return an item for any reason. That costs a small fortune for a turbo trainer!
• When I finally got in touch with them, they basically said "Tough - you can't cancel an order - you have to wait for it to be delivered then pay to send it back". By then, it had arrived, so was too late. I probably should have rejected the delivery, but I expect getting a refund would have been difficult in that case!

I probably could have contested it, as I'd instructed them to cancel the order way before they were close to shipping it, but it didn't seem worth the hassle. It's put me off using them, though, as they showed no flexibility and, frankly, I don't appreciate the attitude of "Don't care - those are the rules".

That sounds bad.
Could you have quoted distance selling regs at them?

 

[cougie uk]

Hi,

I was going to pull the trigger on a bike with Planet X but I happened to notice they are getting shocking reviews atm -

- https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.planetx.co.uk

Has anyone used them recently as its put me right off buying from them.

Thanks

As far as I can see the entire first page was positive apart from one bloke who ordered something at Xmas and waited until February to let them know it hadn't arrived. That's his look out - PX can't sort things if they don't know about them.

FWIW I have three PX bikes - last one was from last Autumn and I'm very happy with their service.

 

[GoodLifeSpud]

Some of their clothing items aren't described very clearly, padding vs no-padding for example, so I resorted to asking a question via the website. They don't advertise a number so it all feels a bit faceless. Having said that I wouldn't not use them. Some websites have removed reviews, so I often look on planet x and shop elsewhere - assuming I can find the right item on another website.

 

[Milkfloat]

I had some problems in the past where they would only give a refund for damaged goods in the form of a voucher rather than my money back. It took quite a while to even get them to reply to my emails. It has put me off using them a bit, so I only go back for real bargains. I find the postage rates crazy as they often don't match the weight / size of the products. I wish they provided far more information on each product as it is quite often a punt on what you will get.

 

[Blue Hills]

I had some problems in the past where they would only give a refund for damaged goods in the form of a voucher rather than my money back.

Isn't that illegal?

 

[Milkfloat]

Isn't that illegal?

I told them it was, certainly took a while to resolve, but I got there in the end.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

No, nothing, except to note that I'm old-fashioned, so I simply 'buy' or 'order' stuff. This modern pulling of triggers has passed me by

 

[Sniper68]

Head office number
01709 838175

They used to have shops, looks like they've closed them all...so maybe there isn't a person to talk to

I was within 10 mins drive of both the Barnsley and Rotherham shops before they closed them.I haven't used PX since I bought a RT58 Carbon from them in 2014.There were two big issues with the order that was sorted out quickly in store but I had to ask for a full refund to get it done.It used to be my go-to LBS(s) for many years but having had dealings with the owner and friends who were unfortunate enough to work for him I no longer use Planet-X on principal.
The poor reviews are not surprising.Most of their stuff is pretty good though!

 

[gcogger]

That sounds bad.
Could you have quoted distance selling regs at them?

I'm sure I could have done something but, these days, I can't be bothered to put in the time and effort (unless it's a lot of money). It was taking several days just to get a response, so could have dragged on for weeks I just chalked it down to experience and I've been buying my gear from somewhere else instead.

 

[matticus]

No, nothing, except to note that I'm old-fashioned, so I simply 'buy' or 'order' stuff. This modern pulling of triggers has passed me by

Some people just "pick up" stuff. I never know if this means stealing :O

 

[vickster]

@Mardlinboy new bike seems to have arrived quickly and efficiently from PX

 

[Mardlinboy]

Yes I ordered it online last Monday and arrived today.. Service throughout has been great. No complaints what so ever.. And the bike is a cracker.

 

[Mardlinboy]

Yes I ordered it online last Monday and arrived today.. Service throughout has been great. No complaints what so ever.. And the bike is a cracker.

Also bought other things over the last month or so and same great service.. Speak as you find I guess.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

I'm on my 4th bike from PX. Until recently had little issue, the seatpost was poorly made and cracked long before it was torqued to spec but they wanted the entire bike back in order to investigate.

Didn't trust them, so just bought a new post they were still selling for another model.

 

[shnjmsn]

Ordered a new bike a few weeks ago, great service start to finish. E mail to tell me build date once I'd placed the order....... that was 5 days ahead.... email at the end of day 5 to say it was built and was shipped the same day. Bike arrived the following day in a big box, £25 delivery. Job jobbed for me......