Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

marckietan
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2010 1:18 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby marckietan » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:36 am

Great to see Cellbikes active on this forum. I live in Sydney and have been bought from both Cell and BikeBug before. To be honest, both shops are pretty good for Australian shops (i still think that Wiggle, incredibly has great customer service...their online engine is the best, always giving you updates on the status of each order).

The one thing I would suggest that Cellbikes might want to consider is buying orders online for pick up in store. BikeBug offers this so it makes small and cheap orders really easy...at no extra charge. Also a the BikeBug online sales team have been very friendly and helpful everytime I have spoken to them. given that at the moment, Bikebug is currently my preferred Sydney online retailer. The other crazy thing is that for some of their stuff....they have the same prices both on their online store and in the shop (not everything but check first).

I know this has never been the case for Cellbikes but something you might want to consider.

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:40 pm

marckietan wrote:Great to see Cellbikes active on this forum. I live in Sydney and have been bought from both Cell and BikeBug before. To be honest, both shops are pretty good for Australian shops (i still think that Wiggle, incredibly has great customer service...their online engine is the best, always giving you updates on the status of each order).

The one thing I would suggest that Cellbikes might want to consider is buying orders online for pick up in store. BikeBug offers this so it makes small and cheap orders really easy...at no extra charge. Also a the BikeBug online sales team have been very friendly and helpful everytime I have spoken to them. given that at the moment, Bikebug is currently my preferred Sydney online retailer. The other crazy thing is that for some of their stuff....they have the same prices both on their online store and in the shop (not everything but check first).

I know this has never been the case for Cellbikes but something you might want to consider.
Hi marckietan,

Yes! you can actually pick up orders at our Stanmore store! However, we need to do a much better job announcing this.
http://site.this link is broken/help-centre-article?id=65" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BikeBug seems like they got their stuff together. They have a really funny and engaging Facebook page as well (same as us), instead of just using it for the 'hard sell'.

I hope more bike shops can join us and B.B. to usher in a new golden age of competitive prices and great customer service for you guys! Gone will be the days of some cranky, grumpy bike shop owner who charges you $2 just to get off his arse to go look for something he may or may not have (this person has now just gone out of business btw).

-website mgr Mark
What do you think about our Sydney Bike Shop? Let me know! Help us improve!
http://www.this link is broken/contact-us

brit_in_oz
Posts: 189
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 9:04 pm
Location: Mount Waverley

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby brit_in_oz » Sun Mar 17, 2013 10:03 pm

Hey Cellbikes guys,

i recently bought some of the skins gear on special with you, great no problem when they arrived, but i added some other items that took forever - 2-3 calls over 2 weeks to find why my order had not been dispatched. One item was not in stock (a spoke key) and had no idea when it would arrive, and the tub glue was non stocked item, so had to be ordered. I don't have this problem anywhere overseas, you really need to keep everything you list in stock, or clearly state its XXX days to get it. I would have bought elsewhere had i been aware of this, its just poor customer service to list items you don't have available to send (And I had to chase the order, no communication that it may be late)
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:49 am

brit_in_oz wrote:Hey Cellbikes guys,

i recently bought some of the skins gear on special with you, great no problem when they arrived, but i added some other items that took forever - 2-3 calls over 2 weeks to find why my order had not been dispatched. One item was not in stock (a spoke key) and had no idea when it would arrive, and the tub glue was non stocked item, so had to be ordered. I don't have this problem anywhere overseas, you really need to keep everything you list in stock, or clearly state its XXX days to get it. I would have bought elsewhere had i been aware of this, its just poor customer service to list items you don't have available to send (And I had to chase the order, no communication that it may be late)
Fair enough brit_in_oz, I'm going to show your feedback at the Monday mgr meeting tomorrow. Apologies for the stuff around. By no means are we perfect, but we need to do a better job of stocking things that we say are in stock! We may be long overdue for a stock-take.

Thanks again for your feedback everyone. We will take it onboard and always improve.
-website mgr Mark
What do you think about our Sydney Bike Shop? Let me know! Help us improve!
http://www.this link is broken/contact-us

jasonc
Posts: 12170
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:40 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby jasonc » Mon Mar 18, 2013 8:34 am

brit_in_oz wrote:I don't have this problem anywhere overseas, you really need to keep everything you list in stock, or clearly state its XXX days to get it.
+1

brit_in_oz
Posts: 189
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 9:04 pm
Location: Mount Waverley

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby brit_in_oz » Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:47 pm

CELL Bikes wrote:
brit_in_oz wrote:Hey Cellbikes guys,

i recently bought some of the skins gear on special with you, great no problem when they arrived, but i added some other items that took forever - 2-3 calls over 2 weeks to find why my order had not been dispatched. One item was not in stock (a spoke key) and had no idea when it would arrive, and the tub glue was non stocked item, so had to be ordered. I don't have this problem anywhere overseas, you really need to keep everything you list in stock, or clearly state its XXX days to get it. I would have bought elsewhere had i been aware of this, its just poor customer service to list items you don't have available to send (And I had to chase the order, no communication that it may be late)
Fair enough brit_in_oz, I'm going to show your feedback at the Monday mgr meeting tomorrow. Apologies for the stuff around. By no means are we perfect, but we need to do a better job of stocking things that we say are in stock! We may be long overdue for a stock-take.

Thanks again for your feedback everyone. We will take it onboard and always improve.
-website mgr Mark
I will give you some credit for replying, at least i know someone listens. Thats a plus on your side. Just another example, you have had MET inferno helmets on special for weeks, but for weeks had nothing in stock. Frustrating as i wanted to purchase one, and you dont delete it when its never available. Not great to advertise something and never have it.

just a tip, your website is very 'busy', its cluttered and hard to find stuff sometimes. Perhaps you could review your webshop organisation, and clean up the page. Your going to live or die by your site, I know from experience if its not up to date people will go elsewhere.
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius

jasonc
Posts: 12170
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:40 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby jasonc » Mon Mar 18, 2013 9:55 pm

wiggle order 14/3. delivered BNE 18/3. :shock:

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:01 am

brit_in_oz wrote:
CELL Bikes wrote:
brit_in_oz wrote:I will give you some credit for replying, at least i know someone listens. Thats a plus on your side. Just another example, you have had MET inferno helmets on special for weeks, but for weeks had nothing in stock. Frustrating as i wanted to purchase one, and you dont delete it when its never available. Not great to advertise something and never have it.

just a tip, your website is very 'busy', its cluttered and hard to find stuff sometimes. Perhaps you could review your webshop organisation, and clean up the page. Your going to live or die by your site, I know from experience if its not up to date people will go elsewhere.
Hi brit_in_oz, thanks for all the feedback. All we can ask is for people to be constructive and fair in their criticisms, which you have been. I have brought up your previous post with the owner, and will also bring your latest to his attention as well.

I reply in forums to thank everyone for taking the time to tell us how we can improve, rather than being silent, and sticking our head in the sand.
-website mgr Mark

User avatar
Xplora
Posts: 8272
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:33 am
Location: TL;DR

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby Xplora » Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:07 am

Just a positive about Cell Bikes - Mark got an email from my good self and actually provided feedback to consider not purchasing something from them because it was not likely to meet my long term needs. I really can't praise that kind of service highly enough. Mark, send this feedback to your manager and ask for a payrise. I think people like yourself getting into the trenches is only going to help drive growth. The simple fact is that you need to deal with customers on their terms, not just your own, and you've done that in spades. I think it's worth a lot of store loyalty.

I want to say that jacks1071 from Pro Lite Oz does the same thing, and they will both always be my first online contact if they are reasonably price competitive.

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:36 am

Xplora wrote:I want to say that jacks1071 from Pro Lite Oz does the same thing, and they will both always be my first online contact if they are reasonably price competitive.
Hi Xplora, it's really great that you guys have a 'GOOD and bad experiences' topic. As we all know, there are sadly more bad experiences than good, so it's probably better to focus on who provides good service, as other shops can read what customers want, like and need in regards to service, and can follow suit if they wish.

I am a big believer in 'sharing is caring'. Some shops may feel they want to keep their service style 'secret' so others won't copy it, but....we (the shops) will always do things differently anyway. Great businesses don't simply copy...they study what works, then adapt accordingly, to suit their 'style' and available resources.

Hopefully any shops which have been given negative feedback from anyone in this forum, will be smart enough to take everything on board, after all, it's only your business and livelihood at stake.

The best way to compete with overseas competition is for us to provide the best service we can here.

One last thing I'd like to mention is that...the shops who feel it is necessary to rubbish other shops, to try and boost themselves up....it reflects badly on you, and will have the opposite effect that you are looking for. Customers don't need to always shop exclusively with you, it's not realistic, just provide the best service you can and talk about your best points, rather than rubbishing others and even flat out lying about the competition.
-website mgr Mark

brinkerz128
Posts: 17
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:16 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby brinkerz128 » Tue Mar 19, 2013 10:27 pm

I'm happy to report the following excellent transactions :

1) Deon (AT) Pro-Lite Oz - fantastic, patient assistance and advice pre sales and post sales. A1 in every regard.
2) Cecil Walker Cycles - purchased Speedplay's at a fantastic price and shipping was fast to BNE.
3) Wiggle - previous purchase tubes & tyres = no issues, delivered within 7 days.
4) Daniel (AT) Cell - have liaised with him a few times now when making purchases (usually in a hurry) and have found his email communications prompt and service / deliver spot on thus far.
5) Ally (AT) Velogear - help / explanation / communications have been spot on - currently awaiting delivery of goods! - This, notwithstanding they honoured a price match offer on their website that amounted to quite a few $$!

User avatar
Ross
Posts: 5742
Joined: Sat Nov 07, 2009 8:53 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby Ross » Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:22 pm

Great to see Cellbikes being active on this forum and addressing issues genuinely not just with a generic answer out of a procedures manual.

98octane
Posts: 59
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:28 am

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby 98octane » Wed Mar 20, 2013 6:10 pm

Another great Wiggle transaction.

Ordered a $220 bunch of things late Monday night last week. Tyres, tubes, pedals, chain, multi-tool, gloves and patches

Arrived very well packed at my office in Melbourne last Thursday morning. Plus the box fitted perfectly in my commuting backpack.

:grin:

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:10 pm

Ross wrote:Great to see Cellbikes being active on this forum and addressing issues genuinely not just with a generic answer out of a procedures manual.
Thanks Ross, I actually need to thank everyone here, as listening to all of you in the BNE forum saves us a lot of time by not having to hire a 'specialist' to tell us what they think we can improve.

We get it straight from the horses mouth! (Not that any of you are horses)

-website mgr Mark

jasonc
Posts: 12170
Joined: Thu Feb 24, 2011 3:40 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby jasonc » Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:14 pm

CELL Bikes wrote: (Not that any of you are horses)
speak for yourself

:mrgreen:

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Thu Mar 21, 2013 11:49 am

jasonc wrote:
CELL Bikes wrote: (Not that any of you are horses)
speak for yourself

:mrgreen:
lol, fair enough.
-website mgr Mark

User avatar
Xplora
Posts: 8272
Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:33 am
Location: TL;DR

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby Xplora » Thu Mar 21, 2013 12:46 pm

jasonc wrote:
CELL Bikes wrote: (Not that any of you are horses)
speak for yourself

:mrgreen:
I'd like to think I have horsepower... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Thu Mar 21, 2013 12:57 pm

Xplora wrote: I'd like to think I have horsepower... :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Image
I was thinking of you guys 'not' as horses in this way.

Image
But for those of you who are like this, yes, all that training has paid off, haha.

-website mgr Mark

dominicj
Posts: 666
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:46 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby dominicj » Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:44 pm

CELL Bikes wrote: Good news! PayPal is coming!
Mark, slightly off topic but in relation to payments... I see gear can now be purchased through Westfield.com.au with Westfield gift vouchers. I've managed to get my hands on some of these through work and was looking at putting them towards some new gear. Two questions:

1. Can you accept the Westfield vouchers directly or only through the Westfield site?
2. If only through the Westfield site then, is there any way that I can use promo codes with these vouchers (eg. extra 12%, etc)?

Thanks. Dom.

dominicj
Posts: 666
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2012 3:46 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby dominicj » Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:46 pm

Xplora wrote:I want to say that jacks1071 from Pro Lite Oz does the same thing, and they will both always be my first online contact if they are reasonably price competitive.
+1

User avatar
CELL Bikes
Posts: 273
Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 3:41 pm
Location: 148 Parramatta Road Stanmore
Contact:

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby CELL Bikes » Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:53 pm

dominicj wrote:1. Can you accept the Westfield vouchers directly or only through the Westfield site?
2. If only through the Westfield site then, is there any way that I can use promo codes with these vouchers (eg. extra 12%, etc)?

Thanks. Dom.
Hi Dominic, Westfield is a tricky one. Yes, we are on their website, however they are basically like a separate entity selling our stuff.

Anything we are doing on our site, will not work on the Westfield site, as they keep everything in-house.

Vouchers from us, will only work and are applicable to the CELL Bikes online store.

Hope that answered your question. If you are looking for anything in particular, or need any kind of assistance, I'm only an email away (mark@this link is broken).
-website mgr Mark

User avatar
g-boaf
Posts: 21318
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 6:11 pm

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby g-boaf » Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:35 pm

98octane wrote:Another great Wiggle transaction.

Ordered a $220 bunch of things late Monday night last week. Tyres, tubes, pedals, chain, multi-tool, gloves and patches

Arrived very well packed at my office in Melbourne last Thursday morning. Plus the box fitted perfectly in my commuting backpack.

:grin:
They can be slow to deliver at times. Parcelforce seems quite slow, but I've had other stuff from them arrive via DHL at very high speed. Otherwise, who can complain - great range at good prices. :)

User avatar
outnabike
Posts: 2455
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:53 pm
Location: Melbourne Vic

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby outnabike » Mon Mar 25, 2013 4:44 pm

Just into my inbox . Nice people to do buis with. no affiliations etc, etc. May not suite some purchasers.

http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=7a6 ... 13a8c155f3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

User avatar
DavidTomic
Posts: 421
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:49 pm
Location: Caroline Springs, VIC

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby DavidTomic » Mon Mar 25, 2013 10:49 pm

I'm in the middle of a pretty unsatisfactory transaction with bikebug at the moment.

Placed a $675 order with them on the 15th of March, with the website saying that all items were in stock at the time I placed the order.

The order was originally placed (late) on a Friday so I didn't really expect anything to happen over the weekend, but I logged onto their website on Tuesday afternoon to see if there had been any progress yet.

Order was still "processing" - which is fair enough I guess - but I noticed that one of the items that I'd ordered had just dropped by $40 on their website, so I sent them a message (using the contact form on their website) to see if they'd be willing to honour the reduced pricing on my order.

That was nearly a week ago now ... I still haven't had any response to my enquiry, and my order still hasn't been shipped yet.

I'll be calling them first thing tomorrow morning to cancel that order and make sure that the issue me with a full refund, because that's not an acceptable level of service in my books!

User avatar
outnabike
Posts: 2455
Joined: Tue Jan 08, 2013 2:53 pm
Location: Melbourne Vic

Re: Online Purchases - good and bad experiences

Postby outnabike » Tue Mar 26, 2013 2:29 pm

The site has a phone number and says open 7am to 6 pm. Have you tried it?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users