The Bicycle Store - any recent experiences

[grt046]

I am considering an online purchase from 'The Bicycle Store' who claim to have warehouses in Sydney and Melbourne but who at the moment have no contact information other than an email address.

For a business to have no physical advertised presence, postal address or phone contact seems very unprofessional and I am wary to pull the trigger on purchases even though the prices are competitive.

Has anyone had any recent purchase history with the company or knows anything about "we are moving to larger premises" as advised on their web site. Any current information would be appreciated.

Graeme

[Tim]

They are hunky dory.
I've ordered small brake parts from them.
No problems.
Instructions on the Contact page says email them your phone no. and they will ring you.
Reviews here; http://www.productreview.com.au/p/the-b ... store.html, not all good on speed of delivery.
Sounds as though they are in a new owner transition stage.

[grt046]

Thanks Tim ...... it looks like it is as I expected

[AUbicycles]

I am trying to recall if I know them at all - if they were a big contender then I would.

Their claims of being "Australia's Favourite Online Bike Shop" and "Australia's most loved cycle shop" are questionable - there are a dozen online and offline Australian retailers who I would put before them in terms of turnover and popularity.

Concerning is the missing physical address. Every serious bike shop, online or offline needs to have an address and a phone number. If a customer can call them (and at least leave a message) then the customer has a massive disadvantage if things go wrong.

Perhaps they are ok - but after a quick review, I would be hesitant.


Christopher

[biker jk]

They used to have a physical store in Petersham which I had visited. I contacted them recently to see if I could pick up an item to save on postage and they said no which indicates they are yet to find another physical store/warehouse. To be frank, my first attempt at buying from them didn't go well. I rang and ordered a product but when I picked it up it was the wrong model and they tried to blame me for their mistake.

[grt046]

Thanks for the responses.

I emailed them with questions of availability of 3 items and expected delivery to Brisbane along with my concerns re lack of transparency and received the following prompt email response.

"We are the new owners of The Bicycle Store in Melbourne.
We purchased it from the Sydney company, which no longer exists.
As we are not fully up and running as yet, we cannot provide a full address for our Melbourne warehouse as we are not ready for Walk In Sales."

Two of the items were claimed to be in stock and the other unavailable. My question on delivery was not answered.

I will be looking elsewhere.

[rangersac]

I have used them a couple of times when items were on sale. No issues although this was prior to the store changing hands.

[slowK]

The Petersham/Leichhardt store on Parramatta Road closed down a few months ago.

[BicycleUser]

I purchased a bicycle rack from the Bicycle Store which immediately went into awaiting shipping status. 2 weeks later I still had not heard anything. After following it up via email (they have no contact phone number), they advised that they had none in stock but the supplier was still closed over Christmas break so they had put the order aside to follow up later and then forgot. They eventually shipped the order to me. When it arrived, the box was torn and covered up with tape, and the rack had clearly been opened by someone else before. The packet of parts was already opened, some were missing and a bracket was bent. It was obvious this was not completely brand new. I requested that I would like to return the product. By this point it was 29 days since I made my purchase. I had to follow up this email with them several times to which they eventually replied saying they would raise a warranty claim but gave no further information. Every time I followed this up they just said the same thing. When they would reply it would be at least 2 days or more later. I eventually raised a dispute case with Paypal. They did offer to send me replacement parts but after the whole ordeal I didn't want anything to do with it. They finally agreed I could return the product, initially stating I would just get a credit voucher. Their return policy states if within 30 days you could get a full refund so I requested this. They did not respond to paypal either, so paypal issued me the refund instead in the end. Their return policy states that you can also get refunded the postage costs of returning it. I never got a reply from them despite chasing this up several times politely. Thankfully paypal will refund you up to $45 in postage for returns as well, although this still didn't cover the postage costs.

I asked them to call me to make this process easier and provided my phone number but go response. When I did get an email reply it was from someone different almost each time too. I would not recommend purchasing anything from this business.

[Charliebristo]

Hi All,

I have just had the worst customer service experience with The Bicycle Store - very poor, sporadic communication,quick to take your money without acknowledging changes that you wanted to make to your order on the day of making it...

I will travel to their physical address to arrange a full refund as not responding to email,

Best Chris

[AUbicycles]

E-mail can be very unreliable - instead call.

Sometimes many people with a digital affinity feel that others are at the same level - and you can't always judge how up-to-date or organised a business it. However when E-mails are not working, the phone is often a better option as you get immediate clarity.

[BrisBoy]

I ordered from the on 6/5/20 and it was packed and sent the same day. Head unit, tubes etc. Arrived I think 14th so just about usual through Aus post at the moment. Everything as described.

[10speedsemiracer]

I've only ever ordered once from The Bicycle Store (apparently aka Velogear) and found half my order was out of stock (although the site allowed me to order it and they also processed the whole payment quick smart).

In attempting to negotiate a refund and cancel the backorder for the out of stock items I was met with massive resistance and very poor response times. Packed it all up, sent it back, did a chargeback on the card. Both websites direct you to email contact with no mention of a landline number that I can see.

A bit of searching, and I found the landline (03) 9587 8408 for Velogear, although when rung it answers as The Bicycle Store. Just the whole two business names at one location makes me nervous.

BicycleStore

Velogear

The address, if you feel like knocking on the door is Unit 4, 11 Urban Street BRAESIDE, although during Covid times I'm not sure they'll answer.

Yes it was only one transaction, but 10/10 would not recommend this business, I imagine there's a reason the reviews are so shabby.

Just use Pushys, BikeBug, Moruya Bicycles etc instead.

[Ivanerrol]

Ordered a crankset advertised as in stock - 52/36.
A couple of weeks later received email - no longer in stock. sent 53/39 instead.
Price was OK at least.


As an aside slightly off The Bicycle Store.

Cycling Deal in Dandenong South have closed their store front. Now online only.

[jinn]

Ordered tyres and tubes from this mob. They din't bother to send it till I emailed them 11 days later. Then they just said it was in dispatch. I got the Australia post notification soon after, confirming they just received the information. If I didn't contact them, they probably would send the order at all. Hope the right items arrive.