Buying on the net

DRS Wrote:
My current nightmare is with Performance. A while back I wanted to bu
som
stuff from Nashbar but didn't because they don't use USPS and that's
dea
killer because of the outrageous courier costs of UPS and FedEx. I rea
somewhere that Nashbar and Performance were owned by the same people o
organisation or whatever, so I asked Performance if they used USPS fo
international orders and they said yes. No worries. I ordered som
stuff
But the order confirmation email said ground shipping, which wasn'
righ
according to my understanding, so I went to Performance's web site t
try t
track my order status before checking with them, only the syste
couldn'
find my order. I duly fired off an email to customer service sayin
ther
was a problem with the system not finding my order and would the
pleas
check its shipping method

After much delay it turns out the *******s cancelled my order. Onl
the
didn't have the decency to tell me. If I hadn't queried them I'd stil
b
blissfully waiting for my package and that's just not right

It turns out they can't automatically verify my credit card billin
addres
with my bank. They didn't alert me to this problem. They didn't offe
t
work with me to resolve it. No, they just cancelled the order and lef
m
hanging. The *******s

Now they say if I want I can order again but I have to pay with a
international money order drawn in US funds. That costs me more and I'
no
ordering from them for the privilege of paying more. It's not the onl
option either. There is an alternative, one I've had to use onc
before
which is to fax a photocopy of my credit card to them. It's an undul
paranoid pain in the arse but it's doable. I will not use a mone
order
Stuff them. I have a perfectly good credit card issued by the secon
biggest bank in Australia and apart from anything else I'm not givin
up th
protection it offers me. When it comes to security it's not all abou
them


***********
I am in Perth and buy a few things from Performance (and from my loca
bike shop and Probikekit in the UK and .........). I had the same poo
service from Performance due to being an international customer (bu
they did email to let me know that they had cancelled the order).
thought I would be fine as I used a card with 'American' in it. N
way! Performance couldn't confirm my identity so cancelled the order.
However, I have found a way to short circuit the internationa
cancellation problem - it's not particularly difficult but it does hav
a couple of steps

1. get the merchant enquiries phone number from your card provider
The Aussie number is fine, Performance seem to be happy to rin
internationally, but you have to give them the number with th
international prefix etc as they seem to be incapable of working it ou

2. on the internet order form in the comments box I type "confir
address with Amex Australia 61292718678\" (this is the real Ame
number if that is useful

3. THEN, when they send an email confirmation of the order, I emai
back quoting the order number and reiterating my advice to phone th
card provider with provider details etc

This has worked for 3 orders so far. However I did have some recen
'discussions' with them about accepting orders for particular item
then not supplying them (especially while the website showed them a
being in stock at all the relevant times). The answer was that the
were in stock when the item was put on the website but that it migh
not be when it came time to fill the order. That did not explain wh
they accepted orders when there was no stock, but the discussion wa
pretty laboured and I did not think there would be much value i
starting a discussion about real time inventory systems

Also I have found the shippling charge and method on the orde
confirmation email is not the 'actual'. It is only an 'estimate'. Yo
should get an email from them giving you 2 options to choose from - tha
is when you find out the real charge and that is when you choose.

SteveA



--
SteveA

"Andrew Reddaway" wrote in message


[...]

I've had very good service from aebike.com and lumicycle.co.uk.

Right now I've got my hopes pinned on AEBike. They've got what I wanted
except obviously the Performance-brand item but that's OK, it's the least
important. I ordered online on Saturday and just checked my credit card
balance. Oh-oh, it hadn't changed. Eek! So, back I went to the AEBike
site to see how to contact them and it's a good thing I did too. Their shop
"...is closed on Mondays during the off-season of September through
February." IOW, nobody will process my order for at least another two
hours.

Geez, this business is making me paranoid.

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"SteveA" wrote in
message

[..]

I am in Perth and buy a few things from Performance (and from my
local bike shop and Probikekit in the UK and .........). I had the
same poor service from Performance due to being an international
customer (but they did email to let me know that they had cancelled
the order). I thought I would be fine as I used a card with
'American' in it. No way! Performance couldn't confirm my identity
so cancelled the order. However, I have found a way to short circuit
the international cancellation problem - it's not particularly
difficult but it does have a couple of steps.

1. get the merchant enquiries phone number from your card provider.
The Aussie number is fine, Performance seem to be happy to ring
internationally, but you have to give them the number with the
international prefix etc as they seem to be incapable of working it
out

Heh. I just received an email from Performance requesting a number for the
issuing bank, which in this case is the CBA. Unfortunately I can't find the
merchant enquiry number on their web site. If anyone knows it it'll save me
some time, otherwise I'll have to try to get it from the bank myself.

In the meantime I got a confirmation email that the CBA has received my
complaint. It says I can expect "a response" within 4 days. I wonder what
their excuse will be and how much they'll put their fees up for not
providing a necessary service yet again?

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DRS Wrote:
In the meantime I got a confirmation email that the CBA has received my
complaint. It says I can expect "a response" within 4 days. I wonder
what
their excuse will be and how much they'll put their fees up for not
providing a necessary service yet again?

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Sitting back here, having a bit of a chuckle, and notice with surprised
interest that Capt. Bike drops in for a chat. You know something's
seriously wrong when Mr Brown attempts to right the world on it's axis
. . : roll eyes: But he does have some interesting stuff you can't
get anywhere else, such as granite saddles . . .

Yes, it's a wonderful new toy, this Internet whosamajiggy, but does it
help you to ride your bike? No. Does it alert you to incompatibilities,
or attempt to use a bit of ingenuity and face-to-face persuasion to get
things resolved? No. Does it rely on mountains of regulations,
protocols, lack of discrepancies, things out of your control and
uncaring blandness wrung from the dripping brows of transnational
financial serfs chained to their desktop boxes, who might as well be
selling toasters or fertiliser for all the interest and aptitude they
bring to your treasured cycling purchases? Well, shortly, yes.

Sitting here reading this thread, my feelings segue to pity, or sorrow,
or . . . (other undefinable emotion), but mostly just annoyance, that
once again, the means is running over and road-killing the ends.

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathological hatred
of bike shops, or bike shop employees (and I'm (sob) hurt ), that you
trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly, and the people
you can actually TALK to not at all - so the pursuit comes down to the
acquisition of objects, and not what they're for, or using the objects
(even in the action and process of researching/choosing/budgeting
for/buying them) in a pleasurable and interesting way. WHY? WHY can't
you make the locally available product (whether mid or high range, last
year's model or this years, black or silver) work as well as the thing
you lust after on the other side of the world, then get all petty and
peevish when the magic piece of plastic fails to deliver? (that
indefinable emotion again). Sheesh. What a load of consumers.

M " go buy a Volvo, you closet volvo-driver control freaks" H


--
mfhor

mfhor wrote:

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathological hatred
of bike shops, or bike shop employees (and I'm (sob) hurt ), that you
trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly, and the people
you can actually TALK to not at all

For me it is a matter of trust. It took me years to find an honest
motorbike mechanic and now he's the only one I will ever use. Same thing
would apply to an LBS if I could find one where I got consistently good
advice. But it seems to be too dependent on who's there on the day. I
certainly don't trust Internet providers to give good advice. But if
I've got an LBS I don't trust and an Internet provider I don't trust I'm
going with whoever has what I want at the cheapest price.

If I absolutely have to have advice or fitting that's a different
matter, the LBS always wins out, but I might go to a couple of LBS's if
I'm not convinced I'm getting the right advice (and I do buy from them,
not use their advice to buy from someone else who is cheaper).

It's unfortunate, but it only takes one piece of bad advice to turn you
off an LBS.

DaveB

DRS wrote:

Right now I've got my hopes pinned on AEBike. They've got what I wanted

I had good experience. Fantastic range - lots I couldn't get here.
The only thing was that the postmark showed it took them a week to
actually post the order. So be a little patient.
From Kalamazoo to Aus, its a long way down the track :-)

mfhor wrote:

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathological hatred
of bike shops, or bike shop employees (and I'm (sob) hurt ), that you
trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly, and the people
you can actually TALK to not at all -

But it IS a real bike shop, and you CAN talk to them. The world is
getting smaller.

Mike Wrote:
mfhor wrote

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathologica
hatre
of bike shops, or bike shop employees (and I'm (sob) hurt ), tha
yo
trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly, and th
peopl
you can actually TALK to not at all

But it IS a real bike shop, and you CAN talk to them. The world i
getting smaller.
**
I buy from the bike shops via the internet but I also buy much mor
from my LBS. I don't go to my LBS, try something for size, and the
buy it somewhere else - that would be just plain rude. I know an
trust (and maybe even LOVE) my LBS mechanic and the guy who owns th
store. When something new is about to come onto the market, the LBS i
the first port of call. BUT there are some things which I go to the ne
for - I am a big bloke and it is very hard to get bike clothing tha
fits. US clothing comes in sizes to fit big buggers like me. And the
sometimes only the net can satisfy that carbon fibre and titanium fetis
without mortgaging the children

I'm about to restore an old treadly, I've scoured my LBS (I have acces
to the old/spare parts bins) and I can't get the bits I need - so it
off on the net I go

And sometimes it is the bloody-minded challenge of actually getting th
internet bike store to give you what you want (Performance usuall
provides this challenge

And the aim of all this? To get out on the bikes and ride

So, its raingear on for Perth this morning, and I'm off to pedal to th
day job

Steve

--
SteveA

mfhor wrote:

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathological
hatred of bike shops, or bike shop employees (and I'm (sob) hurt :
),
that you trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly
and
the people you can actually TALK to not at all - so the pursui
comes
down to the acquisition of objects, and not what they're for, o
using
the objects (even in the action and process of
researching/choosing/budgeting for/buying them) in a pleasurable an

interesting way.

I think for me it's about value. If the local bike shops (and yes,
have bought a significant amount of stuff from my local bike shops ove
the years) add value to my purchase, whether by having the item I wan
when I want it, or else by offering advice, or having a range of item
that I can look at in person and choose from, then I'll buy locally.

However it's not often the case (especially more recently) that a loca
shop will have what I want. I don't particularly care for Shiman
mountain bike parts, so when I do buy locally, it invariably means
don't get to see what I'm buying, have to wait for it to arrive, an
then pay a premium for the "local" service. Not to mention all t
often being treated like an idiot by some pimply teenage kid, simpl
because of my gender.

At least buying on the net in such circumstances, I get to save
little money, and I find (gross generalisation here) that the advice
get from online shops, like Sheldon, Peter, and John, is much bette
than the advice that I'd get from the LBS.

The ultimate example of this sort of thing is framebuilding stuff.
Once (quite a few years ago) I rang the local agents for Reynold
tubing, to ask if they could sent me a catalogue, so that I could bu
some frame tubes through them. They refused my request, saying tha
they only deal with professional framebuilders. I gave up on the ide
of building a bike frame then, and it was only much more recently (onl
after finding the Ceeway site on the web) that my interest wa
rekindled. My attitude now is that if the local guy can't (or won't
give me what I want, then stuff them, it's a big world, and there'
always someone who can.

Regards,

Suz

--
suzyj

"mfhor" wrote in message


[...]

Sitting here reading this thread, my feelings segue to pity, or
sorrow, or . . . (other undefinable emotion), but mostly just
annoyance, that once again, the means is running over and
road-killing the ends.

You're being ridiculous again.

It sounds, from what I'm reading, that y'all have a pathological
hatred of bike shops, or bike shop employees

Not at all. I just hate being stuffed around. And since I'm being stuffed
around by bike shops it's a legitimate topic of discussion in here. You
don't like it, don't read it.

(and I'm (sob) hurt
), that you trust someone on the other side of the world implicitly,
and the people you can actually TALK to not at all - so the pursuit
comes down to the acquisition of objects, and not what they're for,
or using the objects (even in the action and process of
researching/choosing/budgeting for/buying them) in a pleasurable and
interesting way. WHY?

I'm not after information, I'm after specific items no Australian vendor
with an online presence is making available (there was only one Performance
brand item in my list). Do you carry what I want? I have no idea. And
even if I was able to buy them here there would be no "pleasurable and
interesting" interaction between myself and the merchant, it'd take me just
long enough to walk in, grab what I wanted, pay for them and leave. There's
no added value here, just a commodity transaction.

WHY can't you make the locally available
product (whether mid or high range, last year's model or this years,
black or silver) work as well as the thing you lust after on the
other side of the world, then get all petty and peevish when the
magic piece of plastic fails to deliver? (that indefinable emotion
again).

Is there a local alternative to the "Winwood Instep Pedal Insert--Shimano
SPD"? I don't think so. If there is then it's a well kept secret and I'm
not interested in stuffing around.

Sheesh. What a load of consumers.

Welcome to John Howard's globalised free trade agreement Australia.

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