Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

[sportsfreakfromoz]

I've just made my first purchases from the UK, one from ProBikeKit and the other from ChainReactionCycles. One order arrived quite quickly, the other still hasn't arrived, and I'm wondering if others have had issues with recent orders. I've used Torpedo7 in the past with no real issues, delivery still takes a week though.

The order from ProBikeKit was for tyres, tubes & socks. I placed it on Tuesday 22/12 and had an email that they had been dispatched late on Wed 23/12 (daytime in uk). It met their $55 free delivery requirement and I think was sent via Royal Mail.

With xmas coming up, I expected a bit of a delay. However to my surprise, it arrived on Wed 30/12. Pretty good considering the public holidays. It was sent in just a plastic bag, and the boxes the tyres and tubes were in were a bit squashed, but thats not really an issue for me with these items.

Now the bad experience.
The order from CRC was for Oakley sunglasses, replacement frame & Polar bike computer). I placed it on Thursday 24/12 but didnt get the email that it had been sent till early Wed 30/12 (daytime Tue 29/12 in UK). Probably to be expected given the xmas rush. It met their $450 free delivery and was to be sent by ParcelForce. It seems here things have started to turn sour. I checked their online tracking system, and on 31/12 it was still in UK. This Monday (4/1) I checked their system again and no update. So I sent ParcelForce an email, and although I still haven't got a response, for 2 days running I've had the same tracking message added.

05-01-2010 23:55 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
04-01-2010 21:25 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
31-12-2009 01:04 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
30-12-2009 13:15 National Hub Sorted in hub
29-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online


Today is 2 weeks since I placed the original order. Last night I asked my brother in the UK to try to look into this for me. He rang ParcelForce and they indicated to him that there was insufficient information on the order (customs info perhaps - they didn't elaborate) and that CRC needed to recall the parcel and resend. He tried ringing CRC but they didn't answer their phones. I've emailed CRC today, and will try to ring them myself tonight, but needless to say, I'm a bit peeved i'm having to get involved in the delivery.

Has anyone else had this sort of experience with CRC/Parcel Force, or is it just bad timing with Xmas (and perhaps too much snow in uk)? Any suggestions on how to get this resolved (quickly)? Was I just lucky with the PBK order? Anyway I hope I get the stuff soon as I'm out of pocket and the TourDownUnder ride is approaching and I'm no longer confident the items will be here before then.

[nickobec]

Three purchases from CRC in the last couple of months. The 1st two took 8 days from dispatch to arrival, the third is 2 days into it's journey.

The parcelforce site showed for 2nd purchase, the 1st much the same except had a "Despatched from hub" entry 12 hours after "Left origin country" (note I did not cut and paste the Oz stuff)

23-12-2009 03:25 Delivery Agent - PERTH - PTT Arrived in destination country
18-12-2009 03:14 International Hub Left origin country
18-12-2009 01:28 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
17-12-2009 18:05 International Hub Despatched from hub
16-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online

5 days between leaving "the hub" and arriving here and nothing is reported on ParcelForce tracking site.

So if your parcel managed to miss being tagged "Left origin country" and has left the UK it probably will not arrive in Au until the 10 Jan or so.

Once it enters Australia use the AusPost tracker, you get more uptodate and more detailed results.

[Dr_Mutley]

i ordered from CRC on teh 27/12 and was processed, as yours was, on the 30/12. Mine has also left the UK with yours i would suspect as ihave similar tracking messages.

My experiences with CRC in the past is they are usually prety good with time of delivery. Maybe not quite as efficient as wigggle or PBK. Think the xmas thing, and the recent postal strikes in the UK could have influenced there a little slower than usual delivery times.

[EricAdams]

It maybe due to the weather in UK many items got some shipping delay. Wiggle has already put up news head line about that.

[biker jk]

If sent via Parcel Force then there should be a tracking number. Contact them and provide the tracking number to see if they have any reason as to why the package hasn't left the UK. My experience with CRC has generally been good with packages arriving around 6 working days after being sent, except for one occasion when it took weeks.

[sportsfreakfromoz]

If sent via Parcel Force then there should be a tracking number. Contact them and provide the tracking number to see if they have any reason as to why the package hasn't left the UK. My experience with CRC has generally been good with packages arriving around 6 working days after being sent, except for one occasion when it took weeks.

The details I posted were retrieved via the tracking number. As per the original post, my brother called them from London last night for me. His email back to me was

"Parcelforce say that it looks like there was insufficient information on the item being sent, so chain reaction cycles need to initiate a search (and probably re-send). I've tried to call them once but the phone is engaged. Ill try again shortly. They are probably snowed under. The country has ground to a halt today."

and then later

"Chain reaction cycles are just pushing me straight to a recorded message and there seems to be no queue.

I think that they may well have a closed office today cos of the snow. Ill try a few more times."

He couldn't get through to CRC, and I'll try again tonight. Have no idea why there would be insufficient information on the item being sent. Is CRC customer service easy to deal with once I do get through, or can I expect the run around. Seems like they are hard to contact at the moment. Although I've read others having good experiences with their customer service team. Hopefully I'll get the same treatment.

[sportsfreakfromoz]

i ordered from CRC on teh 27/12 and was processed, as yours was, on the 30/12. Mine has also left the UK with yours i would suspect as ihave similar tracking messages.

My experiences with CRC in the past is they are usually prety good with time of delivery. Maybe not quite as efficient as wigggle or PBK. Think the xmas thing, and the recent postal strikes in the UK could have influenced there a little slower than usual delivery times.

Given you ordered at a similar time, I'd be interested to hear what your tracking messages are currently saying. Perhaps everything has ground to a halt over xmas and everything is still at the international hub (Coventry I think). Or maybe its just my order that is stuffed up.

[Dr_Mutley]

i ordered from CRC on teh 27/12 and was processed, as yours was, on the 30/12. Mine has also left the UK with yours i would suspect as ihave similar tracking messages.

My experiences with CRC in the past is they are usually prety good with time of delivery. Maybe not quite as efficient as wigggle or PBK. Think the xmas thing, and the recent postal strikes in the UK could have influenced there a little slower than usual delivery times.

Given you ordered at a similar time, I'd be interested to hear what your tracking messages are currently saying. Perhaps everything has ground to a halt over xmas and everything is still at the international hub (Coventry I think). Or maybe its just my order that is stuffed up.

very similar.. if i get 2 secs i will post them...

EDIT:

Track & Trace

Parcel tracking details

Progress of the parcel you've enquired about is displayed below.


Parcel number: EE086xxxxx3GB
Status: In progress

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event

06-01-2010 11:30 International Hub Despatched from hub
06-01-2010 00:32 International Hub Left origin country
05-01-2010 04:54 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
03-01-2010 21:15 National Hub Sorted in hub
30-12-2009 19:20 Belfast Central Depot On route to hub
30-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online


Another order, made 3/1/10:

Track & Trace

Parcel tracking details

Progress of the parcel you've enquired about is displayed below.


Parcel number: EE0860xxxxxxGB
Status: Advised

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event

06-01-2010 00:00 WDM Online

[Baalzamon]

Well I've got an order with CRC and it is still saying processing and it has been almost 2 weeks now, I think they may get a phone call soon.

[sportsfreakfromoz]

Track & Trace

Parcel tracking details

Progress of the parcel you've enquired about is displayed below.


Parcel number: EE086xxxxx3GB
Status: In progress

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event

06-01-2010 11:30 International Hub Despatched from hub
06-01-2010 00:32 International Hub Left origin country
05-01-2010 04:54 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
03-01-2010 21:15 National Hub Sorted in hub
30-12-2009 19:20 Belfast Central Depot On route to hub
30-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online

Looks like your order(s) are making progress. With a bit of luck you'll probably have it on Monday.
Mine must be standing in the wrong queue and is stuck in the International Hub.

Not long now and I'll be making a few calls to the UK to get things moving again.

[tripstobaltimore]

do we really need another thread on online shopping experiences?

[sportsfreakfromoz]

Now the bad experience.
The order from CRC was for Oakley sunglasses, replacement frame & Polar bike computer). I placed it on Thursday 24/12 but didnt get the email that it had been sent till early Wed 30/12 (daytime Tue 29/12 in UK). Probably to be expected given the xmas rush. It met their $450 free delivery and was to be sent by ParcelForce. It seems here things have started to turn sour. I checked their online tracking system, and on 31/12 it was still in UK. This Monday (4/1) I checked their system again and no update. So I sent ParcelForce an email, and although I still haven't got a response, for 2 days running I've had the same tracking message added.

05-01-2010 23:55 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
04-01-2010 21:25 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
31-12-2009 01:04 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
30-12-2009 13:15 National Hub Sorted in hub
29-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online

Update:
Just checked ParcelForce website and it now shows
07-01-2010 11:30 International Hub Despatched from hub
06-01-2010 21:37 International Hub Left origin country
05-01-2010 23:55 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
04-01-2010 21:25 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
31-12-2009 01:04 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
30-12-2009 13:15 National Hub Sorted in hub
29-12-2009 00:00 WDM Online

Woo hoo! Maybe its on its way. And I haven't event rung them tonight yet to stir them up. Maybe posting on here gets the job done!

Update 2:
09-01-2010 13:23 Delivery Agent - MELBOURNE - PTT Arrived in destination country

I'm guessing I'll have it here in Adelaide on Tuesday....

[nickobec]

Me too!!!!

Parcel number: EE086****3GB
Status: In progress

Parcel tracks

Date Time Location Tracking Event
07-01-2010 18:05 International Hub Despatched from hub
07-01-2010 03:02 International Hub Left origin country
06-01-2010 22:35 International Hub Arrived at outward Office of Exchange
06-01-2010 13:50 National Hub Sorted in hub
05-01-2010 00:00 WDM Online

[queequeg]

I've just made my first purchases from the UK, one from ProBikeKit and the other from ChainReactionCycles. One order arrived quite quickly, the other still hasn't arrived, and I'm wondering if others have had issues with recent orders. I've used Torpedo7 in the past with no real issues, delivery still takes a week though.

I think it just depends. I had two orders from Wiggle recently. One shipped on Dec 16th, the other on Dec 24th. The first parcel went via Royal Mail, the other was sent via Parcelforce (due to the size of the package I am guessing, since it was two wire-beaded tyres). The Parcelforce one showed up on Dec 31st, but the other one did not arrive until Jan 2nd. This was longer than usual, but I figured this was because of the holidays, plus the postal strike on both the UK and Australia. The guy who delivered it to the door said Aust Post had a huge amount of parcels to get through.

I would not be too worried unless it has not shown up after 3 weeks.

[Baalzamon]

Well I just rung CRC and my parcel hasn't left yet, last known whereabouts was the warehouse and that was it. I'm now waiting an email back about an search for it.

[WonkyWheels]

I’ve received 8 Shipments from wiggle. All available items processed for shipment on same or next day. Delivery within 7 days except for one that took around 2 weeks over the Christmas period. If something isn't in stock they ship what they have right away.

DealExtreme Bike light. Over a month wait for delivery. That was a real pain.

I would have never bought so much stuff if I had to pay LBS prices.

[nickobec]

I would have never bought so much stuff if I had to pay LBS prices.

Amen

I would have far less if not for the CRC, Wiggle, PBK, Jensons, eBay etc.

[nickobec]

Just heard a "woo hoo" from work colleague his rear wheel from CRC has landed in Perth

[yurl]

I've ordered from CRC before and the experience was good.
order tracking wasn't that informative, but I did get the stuff within 5 days of dispatch.

[BigVin]

I placed an order for some Lake CX330c's this morning from Wiggle. Let's see how long it takes.

[brauluver]

Havn't ordered from UK yet, but that will change soon.
Torpedo7 have been prompt and good communication.
Ordered from Cell once and susequent phone calls left me frustrated,as to the vagueness and lack of knowledge/dealing with multiple staff.Never again.

[BigVin]

My order's been processed, so should hopefully be dispatched today or tomorrow, which means I may see it sometime next week!

[queequeg]

My order's been processed, so should hopefully be dispatched today or tomorrow, which means I may see it sometime next week!

Depends how much snow there is blocking the way!

[Baalzamon]

My order's been processed, so should hopefully be dispatched today or tomorrow, which means I may see it sometime next week!

So has mine. In fact in the past 2-3 weeks I have placed orders with Evanscycles, Wiggle, CRC, sjscycles and Probikekit. Of those 4 I have only received Evanscycles and Wiggle. I have called CRC and sjscycles and both haven't be shipped yet, and I'm thinking the snow has something to do with it.

Anyhow my phone call to sjscycles got me half my shipping refunded

[BigVin]

I'm not fussed if my order doesn't show up this week.. I snapped my second BB30 / FSA SLK crank in 2 weeks on this morning's group ride, so I won't be riding till the adapter (to convert to std screw in crank) and my Ultegra 6700 cranks arrive at the bike store...not where I bought it from!
FSA BB30 SUX!