Anybody think it would be a good idea to have a section on cycle retailers in the reviews section of BikeMagic? I think it would a good way of encouraging good customer service if we named and shamed when we get poor service and lavished praise where its due.
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 well ive had good support from hope...chain reaction and wiggle though they took a few days to get the bits{wiggle}and my new fire xc pro's{red} are gorgeous cant wait to test them on the last ride b4 the newnham90
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 i've had good support from Oakley. also Sigma Sport in Kingston has been good to me in the past and Yellow Jersey have been ace sorting out my new road bike, mainly as the guy there has one and knew all about them, measured me up a treat. Never had any problems with mail order from Stif and they built my E4 beautifully too.
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 I've had nothing but hassle getting anything from Yellow Jersey..the lads are cool and everything but their new ordering system sucks..it's all done through head office.
Like I ordered a pair of Fox shorts (last pair in the UK according to Fox), after 3 weeks I still hadn't heard anything, went in spoke to the staff, nothing had arrived. And then at the end of that week I went in again, one guy said" oh yeah, we got those in yesterday, sold them to some guy with a GT..Sorry we didn't know they were for you!"
This has happened EVERY time I order something special from them, they never get the order in, or no one rings me and it gets sold. I only live 5 minutes from their store too! I've ordered a bmx chainring from them, 2 weeks and counting...we'll see.
Now I just go to Yello J t say hi to staff, but go to Evans or Chain Reaction if I actually want to buy something. I reckon they've lost about £250-300 in my sales due to their shit customer service
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 The good - Stif, MCCcycles, Planet X
Merlin should make it, but for the Marzocchi 100mm travel conversion kit that I ordered in June and hasn't arrived yet. Apart from that they've always been good delivering very promptly.
The bad - Winstanleys delivered either several days late (new bike) or not at all (replacement Hub - didn't record the order and didn't charge either thank goodness). Non-existent support in face of warranty claim.
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hope they haven't done that with my bike! it's custom made, so it'd be a bit odd for someone else. i went there as the man had the bike i was after and i wanted a look and he knew about them. Normally shop at Sigma as it's close to home, or go online.
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 Mail Order wise:
The good - Chain Reaction , Race Doctor, Wooly Hat.
The expensive - Stif, but they were good...
The bad - Wiggle were very slow delivering.
LBS type thing wise:
The good - Nirvana Cycles (Dorking), Guildford Cycles (guess where), HR Cycles and M&P Cycles (Bridgend), Johns Bikesand err the mainly triathlon/roadie shop in Bath.
The bad - Evans, all of them, for arrogant and useless shop staff. Avon Valley Cyclery in Bath for their very odd policy on getting bits ordered in (they take your order and then never bother to place the order with the distributor, or they get you the wrong thing in and then take ages to replace it).
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 The Good
Chain Reaction :- fast, friendly, cheap
The OK
Merlin :- Cheap, relatively fast
Dave Hinde :- A good shop but mail order is erratic Conti Traction Pros took 7 days, Shimano W100 shoes took 1 day
Phil Corleys (Milton Keynes) :- Good but expensive
The Bad
Leisure Lakes (Daventry) :- Expensive, clueless apart from 2 staff, tend to break things eg speedo
Halfords :- Told sister in law that their £130 Apollo 18 speed was a better bike than the £300 Kona Blast as it had a "woman specific frame"!!!
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Ok here's my two penneth
Mail Order
Good
Chain Reaction
Mountain Tamers
Bad
Settle Cycles- run by a cowboy, had to threaten legal action to get a refund on a faulty heart rate monitor
Local Shops
Good
The Edge, Chester- helpfull, enthusiastic, will be patient and will give you the time you need to be absolutely happy with the bike you're buying, good aftersales service
Deeside Cycles- friendly, efficient and some good deals
Alf Jones, Wrexham
The Bad
The Bike Factory, Chester
Miserable patronising gits with clueless "Saturday boys" and they botched fitting a headset for me.
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Chain Reaction are doing it very well. The reasons being:-
1)Helpful knowledgeable staff
2)Loadsa stock
3)Very competitve prices
4)No postage charge
5)Prompt delivery every time, eg:- I ordered 2xXT cassettes & 2x chains 2:30pm and they arrived the NEXT day. How did they do that? And if they haven't got it in they WILL tell you.
Mail order companies need to have good stock levels and quick delivery, combined with competitive prices. Chain Reaction lead the way.
Other mail order outlets take note!
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i agree about Evans, very arrogant and mainly teenage staff, go in and ask for something specific and they look lost! Had some very bad dealing with wheelie serious who try and sell me a specialized when i just want brake blocks. They once offered me a part-ex on my Orange for one, as (according to them)theirs was a better bike. My reply can't be repeated here!
Orange themselves are tops as you normally end up talking to the person who built the bike, or painted it. My replacement dropout was sent special delivery and there was no hassle at all. it always helps if the product is home grown (another arguement from Wheelie Serious, but i won't go into that!).
the more i read this thread the more i can think of infuriating bike shop encounters and the blank looks of the moronic 'staff'.
why i oughtta...
in the middle of... dang, Diana Ross on my brain
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Does anyone know how Evans and Leisure Lakes survive in the mail order business?
Their prices are high, they charge postage on top and everybody says they're useless.
Yet lots of people must use them in preference to Chain Reaction, Merlin or All Terrain. Why?
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 Chain Reaction rule for everything Mail-Order..
Condor Cycles in Holborn are pretty good, as is the Cyclesurgery in Spitalfields.. Other than that, none of my other LBS are worth even mentioning...
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Oh.. And Stif offer pretty good service but are a little too expensive..
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If certain circumstances needed clarifying then the retailers could come on too so we could get their side of the story, that would be interesting
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 ok i've worked for a few shops up here so i know a fair bit of what goes on and y. the big ones survive because they were once good, friendly etc which made them big. they lose their roots and original loyal customers etc but this doesn't matter as they are big brash and noticed because of it.
ppl go to the big bright lights etc.
Orange are far from the most helpful company in the world, I once had Lester Noble hang up (!) on one of our customers all because the guy wasn't happy as the rim that had come on his bike was (well) dodgy and Orange didn't want to hear about it. in the end we had to bite the bullet and fit a Mavic from the shops own money.
Smaller places are ofter the best but it is very difficult for them to get bigger because if they put up their prices at all ppl go elsewhere, catch 22. need more money to expand, so put up prices but customers disappear. also means that they will find it very difficult to get into selling bikes due to lack of space.
anything else u want to know?
just dont start me on cannondale
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chain reaction are the diamond in mail order. Freindly, cheap and fast. OK I work at halfords so wadda ya wanna know. Yes there are some arseholesin our ompany who no jack shite. However some (well my one at least) will always try and help and I'm always honest as well and know most of my stuff and if not I'll say I'm not sure and ask aaron and wont just talk crap like some bike shops do. Unfotunatly all bike shops get in gear and then dont call to say it's cos they dont have a decent system i.e it's doen on paper and come sina d gets shoved in a box under the desk.whats needed is a computer where you bang in the code and it says it for mr bloggs at 09876543212. Replacment parts are unfortunatly slow unless there stocked as we have to go through head office but we are going to be holding frequently asked for replacments for X mas.
any uestions ask
ernie
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 Ernie - your grammer, spelling and general written English is on a par with my many experiences of dealing with Halfords.
In nutshell - diabolical in the extreme!
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thats why ive never take my bikethere oh btw avoid bike chain in redruth cornwall theyre terible!!!
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Sorry - In 'a' nutshell
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