I was about to buy a new set of wheels and a groupset from DAVE HINDE but have held on after reading several of the threads on here regarding his customer service.
A lot of the posts are a few years old (2003-04) so is there anyone out there with recent experience (good or bad) of shopping from him?
dont know about anyone else but i dont go past merlin cycles as far as wheels go(or much else for that matter).buy most of my kit off them and had no problems so far.prices are good too.
" A lot of the posts are a few years old (2003-04) so is there anyone out there with recent experience (good or bad) of shopping from him?"
Hopefully the complaints about DH have been reduced on Bike Magic because people have heeded the warnings. There are some more recent moans about him over on RCUK (who actually take money from DH for advertising!) if you fancy reading them. Just take our advice and leave well alone, you'll be glad you did.
Their negative feedback isn't as bad as probikespares which I think is no longer a member. I'm sure I've seen other stuff listed under different names which comes from "cheshire, United Kingdom" & is presented in a very similar fashion.
I had a problem with some shoddily built wheels from them about 3-2 years back. There'd already been some delay in sending them, so in order to speed things up, I got my Local Shop to rebuild them. I complainded to Dave Hinde about their wheel build and offered them the chance to compensate me. I got an abusive letter back. They described themselves as the "Rolls-Royce" of wheel builders and my Local Shop as a dodgy back-street garage. It was clear from comparing the wheels I got from Dave Hinde with the re-built versions from my Local Shop that the situation was the exact REVERSE of what Dave Hinde had represented in his letter.
That's why he has to proclaim himself to be the 'UK's Number One Wheelbuilder', no one who's bought one of his wheels would think he's anything other than a rank amateur. I amazed no one's burnt his shop yet!
Other forums will have similar threads, and the one you find on here about him gets resurrected every few months by some poor soul who gets stung or wants to warn people off.
Bllody hell. I've just spent best part of 2 hours trawling through all the bad things people have to say about him on the Internet. How can they possibly still be in business?
In a moment of madness I sent an email asking for their side of things. Be interesting to see if I get any response!
But, having purchased a front wheel from them years ago I know I'd never buy anything like that from them again. Although I did get ok service for a rear mech and cassette.
When I say 'ok service' I mean the stuff arrived eventually. This was also a while ago (long before I really discovered the joys of the internet). The wheel was crap though.
Having been stung twice buying mail order from him, which involves paying then being bombarded with so many strories that even Enid Blyton would be proud, you just dont g there again. A google on the words Hinde problems will take up the best part of anyones vacation to read the results.
A search of credit on the business will say enough and he even pops up on the trdaing standards websites
