Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

[mdeshon]

I've purchased from Wiggle several times in the last year, with no issue at all. Admittedly, I only buy things that they have in stock, so I never wait long for delivery or get split packages.

I've also purchased from Rudy Project here in Australia (helmet, glasses, lenses) multiple times, and they've been great. Packages usually arrive the next day to Brisbane.

If you're after hard-to-find or vintage parts, check out Harris Cyclery in the US (harriscyclery.net). They have a minimum spend of USD50 for international orders, but they have an awesome catalogue.

[danny the boy]

Thought I'd give CyclingExpress another go, just a small order about $40 worth placed on the 16/12 and got despatched email on 19/12. Still waiting, and to give benefit of doubt, perhaps Xmas holiday rush at Aus Post is the delay but when I can order stuff from the U.K and get it 3 days later, yet a parcel that has to travel less than 1 hr by road takes longer, it makes it hard to believe it.

Another week gone and still not here. Never again.

[sdnelson19]

Thought I'd give CyclingExpress another go, just a small order about $40 worth placed on the 16/12 and got despatched email on 19/12. Still waiting, and to give benefit of doubt, perhaps Xmas holiday rush at Aus Post is the delay but when I can order stuff from the U.K and get it 3 days later, yet a parcel that has to travel less than 1 hr by road takes longer, it makes it hard to believe it.

Another week gone and still not here. Never again.

I ordered on the 28th and then emailed yesterday to see why it hadn't shipped yet; explaining that I understood xmas demands etc. Coincidentally it shipped yesterday afternoon. It looks like i've got a good couple of weeks wait on my hands going by your experience. I've ordered from these guys plenty in the past and was impressed by delivery speeds initially; it's certainly not been anywhere near as good of late. Perhaps demand is rising but staffing at their shipping depot is not.

[boss]

I ordered some DA 7900 C24's from Merlin. Was a bit hesitant because I'd never bought from Merlin before. But ordered from them, because CRC have these wheels listed as discontinuted, and they don't seem to be available anywhere else for a reasonable price.

And didn't want to go to DA 9000 because they have a narrower hub spacing to suit 11spd.

Anyway, ordered on 25/12 (Christmas present to myself) and they only left the shipping warehouse today.

To Merlin's credit, they were packed and shipped out on 28/12, but there seems to be a real delay in the TNT economy shipping service.

From now, it says there is a transit time of 6-11 days to Australia!

I don't really expect to get the wheels till 20/1... not far off a month from ordering!

Slowest shipping everrrrrr.

I should have paid the extra $10 for expedited shipping!

[jasonc]

And didn't want to go to DA 9000 because they have a narrower hub spacing to suit 11spd.

they are backwards compatible with 10 speed

[orbeas]

Sent them an email, 99bike blame fastway for sending the GPS to melbourne..
99 bikes sent a dead end traking number to track fastway courier...
yes a phone call will be soon

Udate: garmin edge 200 sent from 99bike 10/12/2012-to day 4/1/1013 fotitude valley store, not the moon( still not in my hot little hands) via fasttrack couriers (stand up comedy act name)
There reson,the artical was sent to melbourne! anyone heard of a city in melbourne called perth?
So i ring the perth office of slowtrack (with tracking number) couriers,their response we will look into it.FARRRK another week me thinks
99bike if your reading this, you are going on my SPAM list

[boss]

And didn't want to go to DA 9000 because they have a narrower hub spacing to suit 11spd.

they are backwards compatible with 10 speed

I know this, but the 7900 hub has a wider hub spacing as it does not have to accommodate an 11spd. Wider hub spacing = stronger wheel. I have no intention of going 11spd for a long time, the 7900 is the better wheel, and its cheaper, so I went down that path.

Discussion here viewtopic.php?f=63&t=59153

[Chef]

Hi,

I have bought from Aspire a couple of recently - http://www.aspirevelotech.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=SFNT&Store_Code=AVT - good range of products, and both times my order was with me within a week; highly recomended

[jasonc]

I know this, but the 7900 hub has a wider hub spacing as it does not have to accommodate an 11spd. Wider hub spacing = stronger wheel. I have no intention of going 11spd for a long time, the 7900 is the better wheel, and its cheaper, so I went down that path.

Discussion here viewtopic.php?f=63&t=59153

so for 11-speed, don't go the 7900 (look at other than shimano)

[boss]

I know this, but the 7900 hub has a wider hub spacing as it does not have to accommodate an 11spd. Wider hub spacing = stronger wheel. I have no intention of going 11spd for a long time, the 7900 is the better wheel, and its cheaper, so I went down that path.

Discussion here viewtopic.php?f=63&t=59153

so for 11-speed, don't go the 7900 (look at other than shimano)

7900 can't take 11spd.

Narrower hub spacing is an inherent draw back of having more gears, I would have thought.

[jasonc]

7900 can't take 11spd.

Narrower hub spacing is an inherent draw back of having more gears, I would have thought.

brain still on the bike. for 11-speed compatibility, don't buy the 9000....

[Shpox]

Does anyone know of a shop that will sell inflator heads and CO2 Cartridges in Australia?

Wiggle no longer sell to Australia, nor do Evans Cycles. Most places I've checked will not longer ship here. Is this a customs issue? It only seems Cellbikes sells them and that comes with a $10 shipping fee which negates buying it in the first place.

[gabrielle260]

Go online... There is a cake decorating Australian online retailer who sells the cartridges at about $1 each. Then just buy the head from Cell or Cycling Express.
Andrew

[boss]

CO2 cartridges tend to be super expensive in-store.

I think it's probably an airline or shipping company regulation that has stopped sending cartridges O/S. That's just a common sensical guess.

I consider between $1-2 a cartridge including shipping is good value.

Also try ebay. The last time I checked there were lots of sellers doing great deals on bulk packs of cartridges.

[jaseyjase]

Evans Cycles - 3 x caps, about $50 worth with postage

Ordered - 17/12
Dispatched - 18/12

still waiting, nearly 3 weeks =(

guessing its holiday season, also noticed lower value items will never arrive in a week in my experience.

[stinhambo]

Bought a bunch of stuff from Cell Bikes.

Order completed and shipped on Monday 31st Dec, arriving today in Cairns on Monday 7th Jan.

Not bad considering the New Year and distance.

[orbeas]

iv asked 99bikes for a refund on a garmin edge 200 because its been a month and it isnt here in Perth,
iv been ringing fastway couriers and just getting the on its way bum steer!
99bikes wont do a refund till i return the garmin which i havnt got, and donnt know if i ever will..
is it possible to get a refund for goods paid for but not delivered in a resonable time? thanks

[boss]

iv asked 99bikes for a refund on a garmin edge 200 because its been a month and it isnt here in Perth,
iv been ringing fastway couriers and just getting the on its way bum steer!
99bikes wont do a refund till i return the garmin which i havnt got, and donnt know if i ever will..
is it possible to get a refund for goods paid for but not delivered in a resonable time? thanks

How did you pay, through Paypal or just a credit card directly on their website?

If you paid through Paypal, you can lodge a dispute.

If you paid through a Visa card through their website's payment gateway, there may be an option for you to dispute the transaction with your bank. I'm pretty sure through Visa you can dispute a transaction where a good or service hasn't been rendered.

I would get a wriggle on with disputing the transaction as there is usually a 45 day limit from when the transaction was made.

Your other option would be the Department of Fair Trading in the state which 99Bikes operates.

If they are being jerks, pull out the big guns and watch how quickly they begin to squirm.

[orbeas]

iv asked 99bikes for a refund on a garmin edge 200 because its been a month and it isnt here in Perth,
iv been ringing fastway couriers and just getting the on its way bum steer!
99bikes wont do a refund till i return the garmin which i havnt got, and donnt know if i ever will..
is it possible to get a refund for goods paid for but not delivered in a resonable time? thanks

How did you pay, through Paypal or just a credit card directly on their website?

If you paid through Paypal, you can lodge a dispute.

If you paid through a Visa card through their website's payment gateway, there may be an option for you to dispute the transaction with your bank. I'm pretty sure through Visa you can dispute a transaction where a good or service hasn't been rendered.

I would get a wriggle on with disputing the transaction as there is usually a 45 day limit from when the transaction was made.

Your other option would be the Department of Fair Trading in the state which 99Bikes operates.

If they are being jerks, pull out the big guns and watch how quickly they begin to squirm.

Thanks Boss ! paid through visa card direct to there web site, will look into visa dispute action on line, also fair trading in Brisbane

[boss]

Yeah, give your bank a buzz. They should be able to dispute the transaction / get a 'chargeback'. I did a little research just then (to satiate my own curiosity) and they can chargeback for 'merchandise not receieved'

This link is for NAB, but you will find that all banks have very similar policies. This is because they actually must abide by the rules that VISA sets out.
http://www.nab.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/n ... 3/#dispute

I would lodge the dispute with your bank tonight, make a complaint to the DFT in QLD ( http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/onlin ... t-form.htm ) and then email 99bikes and inform them that you've disputed the transaction and complained to the department of fair trading.

I'd hope that 99bikes come to the party fairly promptly and send another unit for you. I assume that you'd probably rather the unit than going through the process and getting your $$$ back.

[orbeas]

99bikes creited my account $25 for the inconvienence so far, and that im getting the unit at cost price..
maybe their is a more sinister thing going on with fastway and the garmin has been stolen during transit and there just waiting for me to go away..
Said to them this morning for the inconviniace they fly the garmin over, their expence.
Tried getting a straight foward answer this morning from the Perth end, and got the" we will ring you back" (they dont), every time i try to ring them im getting the phone is bizzy, so they have put my number into ignore mode.
If and when it arrives what state is it going to be in?
the thing is im not forking out more cash till this is sorted
99bike recon they arnt going to refund unless the unit is returned to them.

[orbeas]

I ordered some DA 7900 C24's from Merlin. Was a bit hesitant because I'd never bought from Merlin before. But ordered from them, because CRC have these wheels listed as discontinuted, and they don't seem to be available anywhere else for a reasonable price.

And didn't want to go to DA 9000 because they have a narrower hub spacing to suit 11spd.

Anyway, ordered on 25/12 (Christmas present to myself) and they only left the shipping warehouse today.

To Merlin's credit, they were packed and shipped out on 28/12, but there seems to be a real delay in the TNT economy shipping service.

From now, it says there is a transit time of 6-11 days to Australia!

I don't really expect to get the wheels till 20/1... not far off a month from ordering!

Slowest shipping everrrrrr.

I should have paid the extra $10 for expedited shipping!

Hind sight sure is handy for next time

[MarkG]

With regards to Merlin, it's usually the slack as all hell, unionised rubbish that is Australia Post.

I've ordered heaps of stuff from Merlin, always dispatched within 24 hours, and arrives in Australia a day later.
It then takes 7 days on average to get to my office.

[boss]

With regards to Merlin, it's usually the slack as all hell, unionised rubbish that is Australia Post.

I've ordered heaps of stuff from Merlin, always dispatched within 24 hours, and arrives in Australia a day later.
It then takes 7 days on average to get to my office.

In this case it is TNT that is holding things up. The item was stuck in the Netherlands for seven days prior to being shipped out. I ordered 25/12, Merlin shipped 28/12 (in a perfect world they could/should have shipped 27/12 but it's Christmas so no big deal) and TNT sent it from the Netherlands to Australia on 3/1.

On a positive note, it just arrived in Australia today. 4 days, not the 6-11 days that they quoted initially.

I'd love for the wheels to arrive before the weekend, but I'm really not holding my breath given the lag so far.

I don't believe that TNT links in with Australia Post, they have their own couriers, warehouses, etc (like DHL). I could be wrong though.

I'm not really blaming Merlin for this - although I did expect their shipping to be on par with CRC. Unfortunately it isn't!

[MarkG]

I usually wait a few weeks min in to the new year, after the xmas rush, delay, congestion period etc before I order from OS.
Tho in saying that, I ordered some clothes from J Crew in the US last Monday and they arrived today.