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Anybody have experience of Totalcycling.com?

by Jack Osbourne snr
Mon, Jan 12, 2015 20:33
15

Last week I ordered a set of hubs from Totalcycling.com who are apparently based in Northern Ireland.

It took over 24 hours to get a confirmation and since then... Nothing... 5 days later my order is still "Processing".

Anybody got experience of buying from these guys? I'd quite like to be able to build my wheels up soon, so would like to know if I should just buy the hubs elsewhere and get the bank to chase my money!

An Internet search seems to be mostly old US reviews, so some more recent, local views would be greatly appreciated!

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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15 comments

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Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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Final update...

Order status changed yesterday to "complete".

The hubs arrived this morning, RM Signed For. Contents of box was two well padded hubs and a delivery note, all in pristine condition.

Automated Email despatch confirmation received at 1215 today

Total time from when they would have actually received my order to me receiving it was 7 days... A good bit more than the 1-2 day despatch on their website but not the end of the world.

I'm still waiting for a reply to the email I sent them.

Verdict?

Good pricing - I saved a tenner on the next best price. Delivery a bit slow. Comms and ecommerce also slow.

Would I use them again?

Yes... Now that I know to expect my order to take a little longer than average, but otherwise be fine.

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Jack Osbourne snr replied to Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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Well... Here's a story that ultimately ended badly.

When I started the wheelset build I discovered that the front hub sent was a 28 rather than 32 hole as ordered. Emailed them and agreed to send it back for exchange (return postage refund promised).

10 days later a replacement hub arrived. Not a branded Ambrosio Zenith, but something that looked similar and had a code sticker on the bag that said 14 171 32.

Several emails later, I finally got confirmation that this unbranded hub was a Novatec A171, so in essence the same hub, although not Ambrosio branded as I had paid for.

10 days and several more emails later, I'm still waiting for the return postage costs that were promised and are stated clearly in their T's & C's.

As it stands, I've paid extra for the privilege of having a set of mismatched hubs - one branded, one not... And wasted a huge amount of time in the process.

It's only a few quid, so that's not the issue... It's the principle and the all round crap service that bother me.

Would I use Totalcycling.com again after this?

NEVER.

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leqin | 9 years ago
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in addition - CRC or Chain Reaction Cycles - are absolutely brilliant just like Wiggle and those who do carry stock and let you know in real time what is on their shelves so that you can order confident that your order will be fulfilled. I have been caught out myself several times with this 'in stock' and then you place your order only to find that in reality no stock was in stock and I am stuck waiting for what I ordered.

It is very frustrating. I have myself decided to not place orders with online retailers who do it, because in this day and age it just shouldn't happen.

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leqin | 9 years ago
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Yes I do.

I ordered a FFWD F4R front wheel from TC to match a rear that I got from Wiggle at a bargain price, but later on was told that they didn't have the wheel in stock and I would have to wait and did I want to cancel the order... I did a bit of searching and found the same F4R carbon wheel available elsewhere and luckily checked my email and saw that TC had now sent me another email saying that my order had shipped... I emailed back asking is it shipped or is it not in stock and they confirmed it shipped and the day after the box arrived and I opened it and they had sent me the next wheel up in FFWD's range instead... quite a few online retailers carry either zero or very little stock... me I just kept what they sent me, seeing as it was worth a tad more money.

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SB76 | 9 years ago
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I'd suggest they dont actually hold your item in stock. Some retailers do play that game.

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AWP | 9 years ago
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I ordered some gloves from TotalCycling on Sunday night; paid 99p postage. They were delivered on Tuesday.

I'm happy.

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Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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Update: No change...

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OnTheRopes replied to Jack Osbourne snr | 9 years ago
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Jack Osbourne snr wrote:

Update: No change...

I think you need to be pro-active.
Call them by telephone, ask them for an update on your order. If they tell you its on its way or will be expected on such and such a date ask them to confirm this by email.
If you don't get the email then email them and ask them to confirm your conversation.
If still nothing then give it a few days and and call them again with exactly the same always confirming with emails.
If nothing again then call them and ask for a refund they are a UK based company and as such you have statutory rights. Once again always confirm this by email.

You will get a refund but you may have to work a bit for it.

It is reasons like this why now I stick to ordering from well known reputable companies such as Wiggle, CRC and Merlin.

Also worthy of note is that Wiggle and CRC return policies are both very good with free postage which is worth quite a lot in my opinion

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matthewn5 | 9 years ago
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I've used TotalCycling once in the past, no probs at all.

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OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
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If they are anything like another site from Northern Ireland I have used then they have little stock and there is no indication of stock levels when you purchase. So if it is not in then you have a long wait.
In my case I called their customer support and after several calls and emails when they promised me it was on its way I eventually got a refund.

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mike the bike replied to OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
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OnTheRopes wrote:

If they are anything like another site from Northern Ireland I have used then they have little stock and there is no indication of stock levels when you purchase. So if it is not in then you have a long wait.
In my case I called their customer support and after several calls and emails when they promised me it was on its way I eventually got a refund.

If you mean CRC it's not an experience I recognise. They are cheap, quick and have a great returns policy. They are, at least until they make a cock-up, my favourite retailer of the moment. And I'm hard to please, or as my wife would say, a crabby old git.

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OnTheRopes replied to mike the bike | 9 years ago
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mike the bike wrote:
OnTheRopes wrote:

If they are anything like another site from Northern Ireland I have used then they have little stock and there is no indication of stock levels when you purchase. So if it is not in then you have a long wait.
In my case I called their customer support and after several calls and emails when they promised me it was on its way I eventually got a refund.

If you mean CRC it's not an experience I recognise. They are cheap, quick and have a great returns policy. They are, at least until they make a cock-up, my favourite retailer of the moment. And I'm hard to please, or as my wife would say, a crabby old git.

No I didn't mean CRC, I do use them and never had a problem.

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big mick replied to mike the bike | 9 years ago
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mike the bike wrote:
OnTheRopes wrote:

If they are anything like another site from Northern Ireland I have used then they have little stock and there is no indication of stock levels when you purchase. So if it is not in then you have a long wait.
In my case I called their customer support and after several calls and emails when they promised me it was on its way I eventually got a refund.

If you mean CRC it's not an experience I recognise. They are cheap, quick and have a great returns policy. They are, at least until they make a cock-up, my favourite retailer of the moment. And I'm hard to please, or as my wife would say, a crabby old git.

I use Chainreaction lots and find them really good aswell.Returns for free and next day delivery most of the time.Great prices too

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DanTe replied to OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
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Re: Northern Irish Online
I think I know who you mean. They sold me an out of stock fork, tried to fob me off with an inferior model then made out they couldn't get the refund to me despite me giving them clear instruction from my bank..
Bad people.
Sl...

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therevokid | 9 years ago
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used them in the past and yes delivery can be somewhat longer than we're
used to these days !

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