Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

[boss]

Me too. I got the wheels at a really great price, and I knew stocks were limited, so I had to move.

Having said that, I've had other bits and pieces that I ordered around the same time come through within usual timelines. Something seems a little fishy about the 'economy' shipping. Ah well, live and learn.

It'll all be forgotten when I'm rolling on my dreamy Dura Ace wheels climbing up stupid dumb steep hills... hating and loving every minute of it simultaneously!

[queequeg]

I just did another CRC Order yesterday. It has shipped today with the free shipping option via DHL Express and is already in the air on-route to Sydney.

Update: Order arrived at home first thing this morning. According to tracking it arrived in Sydney and cleared customs on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, ordered a new laser printer lady week. Processed today and yet to be shipped. Delivery is $32 and it only needs to come from Sydney.
How does DHL Express cost $9.99 from the UK, including the local delivery, but a local delivery only costs three times as much?

[boss]

I'm of the belief that CRC, Wiggle, PBK, etc all subsidise their shipping. For instance, if you pay $10 for postage there is every likelyhood it cost more than that, but they just absorbed that cost.

Their profit/revenue margin isn't huge, so I believe their businesses are conciously geared to move LOTS of orders but only making a little bit on each one.

That and whoever is shipping your printer is nowhere near as efficient as DHL.

If you walk into a post office in the UK (Royal Mail - CRC often use Royal Mail, not just DHL) and your sending an item under 500g that is worth GBP50 it costs GBP13. GBP19 for 1000g. GBP32 for 2000g. So on and so forth. Those prices go up if the value of the item is increased, too.

[orbeas]

I just did another CRC Order yesterday. It has shipped today with the free shipping option via DHL Express and is already in the air on-route to Sydney.

Update: Order arrived at home first thing this morning. According to tracking it arrived in Sydney and cleared customs on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, ordered a new laser printer lady week. Processed today and yet to be shipped. Delivery is $32 and it only needs to come from Sydney.
How does DHL Express cost $9.99 from the UK, including the local delivery, but a local delivery only costs three times as much?

sorry to say it, but when ya buy somthing its recomended retail price, thay can charge what ever somone is willing to pay

[queequeg]

I just did another CRC Order yesterday. It has shipped today with the free shipping option via DHL Express and is already in the air on-route to Sydney.

Update: Order arrived at home first thing this morning. According to tracking it arrived in Sydney and cleared customs on Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, ordered a new laser printer lady week. Processed today and yet to be shipped. Delivery is $32 and it only needs to come from Sydney.
How does DHL Express cost $9.99 from the UK, including the local delivery, but a local delivery only costs three times as much?

sorry to say it, but when ya buy somthing its recomended retail price, thay can charge what ever somone is willing to pay

Huh? The price I paid for the printer was pretty good. Well below RRP, plus I get another $50 off due to a promotion.
The issue is just one of shipping costs. I found they varied wildly between online stores (all in AUS). Best was $10, worst was $35. In the end I went for lowest total cost, which meant paying the $32 shipping. The shops with $10 shipping had a price $50 higher and did not qualify for the extra $50 off.

So, my only question was in regards to the economics of shipping from CRC. My order from them qualified for free shipping, but it still came DHL Express. It still had to be delivered by Australia Post at this end. Obviously someone paid for it, but it wasn't me.

[orbeas]

seams like some online shops want your bizzness more than another

[danny the boy]

Cycling Express now sending computer generated emails in response to sales enquiries.

As a result of a large number of orders over the Christmas period and
the close of some suppliers we are currently experiencing delays
responding to email inquiries. We apologise for this inconvenience; we
are currently spending all of our efforts dispatching orders.



We appreciate your patience and once again apologise for these
unforeseen delays.



Best wishes for the New Year and thank you from the Cycling Express Team.

If they are still on holidays then put a notice on your website letting people know. Top of my bike shop death list for 2013.

[orbeas]

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.

my order was prossed 10/12/2012 two weeks before christmas...its only comming from Brisbane,
rang perth end of courier company the garmin is lost or stollen at melbourne..there was no need for it to go via melbourne... filled out and fired off a fair trading form,might get some real action instead of email ping pong
Am i asking to much

[scirocco]

Approx $200 order from Chain Reaction. Placed order 28th Dec, dispatched 29th Dec, arrived 7th Jan. All items complete and correct. Not bad considering Christmas/New Year break.

Would be nice if some local stores could get their product across the Nullarbor as quickly as that.

[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.

Arrived - 7/1

speak of the devil.

[silentbutdeadly]

Ordered two Shimano MTB (Deore and SLX) cranksets, Cannondale MTB stem and some SRAM headset spacers from Bike24 on the 21st December. They were despatched the same day and arrived at the PO Box last Friday (4th January). Finished up close to AU$250 delivered - very happy, both with the price and the delivery time!

[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.

It did indeed arrive yesterday! Good job Cell

[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!

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!

Me too. I got the wheels at a really great price, and I knew stocks were limited, so I had to move.

Having said that, I've had other bits and pieces that I ordered around the same time come through within usual timelines. Something seems a little fishy about the 'economy' shipping. Ah well, live and learn.

It'll all be forgotten when I'm rolling on my dreamy Dura Ace wheels climbing up stupid dumb steep hills... hating and loving every minute of it simultaneously!

Wheels just arrived, stoked.

Ordered 25/12 and arrived 9/1. What's that, 15 days. Not fast, but not unforgivable at this time of year.

[MarkG]

Ordered some Reynolds Assaults from Nashbar USA last Thursday morning, arrived today.
That's 6 days from the USA people.

[orbeas]

And my Garmin turned up from Brisbane in "drum roll"! 32 days because the sender hant put the suburb in the address
99bikes credited $50 to my account for "inoveinience," ok im cool with that 88 dollar garmin edge 200...

[Comedian]

Anyone got any guesses on Ribble times at the moment? Ordered Wed next week and got the receipt saying "shipped" last Friday night. What do you think of my chances of getting it by this coming Friday?

[RonK]

Anyone got any guesses on Ribble times at the moment? Ordered Wed next week and got the receipt saying "shipped" last Friday night. What do you think of my chances of getting it by this coming Friday?

Don't you mean Royal Mail delivery times, since the order has shipped?

An order I placed with Wiggle last Saturday was shipped the same day and arrived Thursday, thanks to the efficient Royal Mail service.

[gabrielle260]

Anyone got any guesses on Ribble times at the moment? Ordered Wed next week and got the receipt saying "shipped" last Friday night. What do you think of my chances of getting it by this coming Friday?

I would give you evens....

[brit_in_oz]

Ordered ribble a week friday ago, arrived today.

Ordered cycling express same day, still waiting.

Ribble win by ~12,000km......

[Dave R32]

My experiences from the last 3 and bit years of online buying:

Competitive Cyclist = great service, prices are a higher than elsewhere, shipping is expensive.

Bike 24 = Great prices at times, shipping is slow, allow 3 or 4 weeks.

Cell Bikes = Very good service, shipping has been overnight recently and they will price match with other aussie online stores via their online customer service which I think is great.

Cycling Express = Prices can be very good at time, shipping is slow, customer service is non existent

Wiggle = Always good shipping (7 days), prices a little higher than others, great customer service

CRC = Shipping is ok, prices are good

Evans = Prices are ok, customer service is great, shipping is 14 days at least.

Torpedo 7 = less said about this company the better.

Ribble = Very good prices, shipping is good but can be expensive, transit is usually approx 10 days

PBK = Specials are great, shipping is about the same time frame as Ribble.

Assos Store in Australia = great shipping, prices are pretty competitive

Rapha Store = shipping is 5 - 7 days, customer service is great, prices are Rapha.

Cheers
Dave.

[Comedian]

Ribble order placed the evening of the 9th. Despatched the 11th. Here today 16th. That's less that 7 days from order to delivery.

[warren.suen]

Would like to just share my experience with Cycling Express.

Queried them about their helmets for the aust standards.. super fast response!
Went ahead and thought i would throw in a couple other items 17th Dec
besides the automated response no other correspondence was sent called through my thinking oh its the xmas new year time i'll check again in jan
Jan 8th emailed all of their emails for an update - no response
Called their phone number and got through and got told all their suppliers were closed over xmas but they are starting up again.
Jan 11th gloves not in stock and a refund was done
Jan 16th called up to see how the order was going and they still do not have the helmet in stock and they think it will be in by the end of the week to be sent out next monday

I'll keep you updated but dont hold your breath!

[Philipthelam]

My experiences from the last 3 and bit years of online buying:
Torpedo 7 = less said about this company the better.

Why? I have always had good experiences with torpedo 7. When they have their storewide sales (which is quite often) their prices are often the cheapest compared to other online stores.

[Dave R32]

My experiences from the last 3 and bit years of online buying:
Torpedo 7 = less said about this company the better.

Why? I have always had good experiences with torpedo 7. When they have their storewide sales (which is quite often) their prices are often the cheapest compared to other online stores.

It's a long story involving 2 sets of faulty wheels (Fulcrum racing 3's and Shimano RS80's) and 3 months of waiting for a refund. I cant fault their pricing or shipping but their returns, warranty and customer service were terrible.

Cheers
Dave.

[jules21]

Cycling Express now sending computer generated emails in response to sales enquiries.

If they are still on holidays then put a notice on your website letting people know. Top of my bike shop death list for 2013.

i bought a whole bike off them on Dec 25! they claim it has been "dispatched" since before NYs, but 2 weeks + and i haven't seen it yet. this is BS. they haven't responded to my email either.

i was starting to wonder if they've gone under and taken my money, but warren (few posts above) says they refunded him for OOS gloves, which is not something an insolvent firm would tend to do. so i'm a bit more relieved. but still, this is BS.