Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

As bike sales surge Evans slammed for not telling customers about delays on ‘in stock’ bikes before they buy

Retailer says it can take up to 18 working days to deliver bikes ordered online - but customers say they weren't warned at checkout or at any point before...

Customers of Evans Cycles have criticised the retailer over the lack of warning on its website about extended delivery times at the point of ordering, after the company said today that it would take between 14 and 18 working days to deliver bikes due to current high levels of demand.

The update on delivery times comes as Evans, in common with a number of other bike retailers we have spoken to, are experiencing high levels of online sales during the lockdown as a result of people buying bikes for exercise, to travel to work and avoid public transport, or both.

The company has a link on the home page of its website to information about how COVID-19 is affecting delivery times and other issues, but (when this story was published) there was no information on the Evans homepage, nor the individual bike product pages regarding potential delays by contrast other online retailers such as Merlin Cycles has a prominent notice regarding likely delays on its homepage.

It says: “We are continuing to operate Home Delivery to the highest standards whilst following the government guidelines.

“We endeavour to build and test each bike as quickly as possible while maintaining our high standards but due to unprecedented demand, our current bike dispatch dates are 14-18 days.

“Demand to speak to our contact centre is also exceptionally high so please only contact us if you have not received your email notification of despatch after 18 days. At present accessory orders that are in stock are being despatched within 3 to 5 days.

The company has also produced a detailed breakdown of delivery times by product category and whether goods ordered are held in-store (where click-and-collect is available), at the company’s main warehouse or at a remote warehouses, as well as by postcodes in more remote areas.

However, after tweeting about the current delivery status this morning, some customers replied to Evans to say that they were not made aware of lead times when ordering products.

As Evans hints at in the information on its website, fulfilling online orders for bikes is more complicated than for many other product categories given that they need to be assembled and tested before dispatch, which then raises issues regarding the availability of staff able to do that.

An Evans Cycles spokesperson said: 'Due to unprecedented demand over the weekend, our current bike dispatch dates have been extended to 14-18 days.

"As soon as this decision was taken, it was communicated to customers at checkout, and then again in order confirmation emails. 

"We are continuing to operate Home Delivery whilst following government guidelines, and endeavour to build and test each bike as quickly as possible whilst maintaining our high standards.'

Meantime, Evans Cycles has today confirmed that it is re-opening nine further stores to provide servicing and repairs to key workers.

A spokesperson said: “In close consultation with colleagues, and following positive feedback from customers, we have seen there is a demand to offer essential maintenance work that will allow the country’s key workers to keep moving safely.

“With this in mind we are pleased to be able to expand the locations in which we have workshops open to the public.

“We would like to reiterate that maintaining the wellbeing of our store colleagues, who have each volunteered to return to work, and customers is essential.

“As such, stores will follow stringent measures on social distancing and cleanliness and we urge all customers to follow the government’s guidance and only travel to our stores where necessary.” 

The spokesperson added: “All of the staff at Evans Cycles would like to sincerely thank customers for their continued support in these uncertain times.

“Their patience and loyalty as we work through this rapidly developing situation is greatly appreciated.

“The team is doing everything possible to maintain high customer service standards.”

The following Evans Cycles stores are currently open: Kingston, Cheltenham, Gatwick, Reading, Guildford, Sheffield, Clapham, Notting Hill, Kings Cross, Edinburgh, Nottingham, Sutton Coldfield, Chester, Deansgate, Cambridge, Plymouth, Havant and Bristol.

Four stores are also open for order collections by appointment only at Maidenhead, Brighton, Cardiff and Milton Keynes. 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

9 comments

Avatar
zeeridesbikes | 4 years ago
0 likes

Got to say the service from Merlin has been great. Granted I ordered shoes not a bike but it came within three working days and when I returned them was processed in one. Sigma have been a little slower but still great all things considered. 

Avatar
Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
0 likes

Not just Evans that are pulling this stunt. I bought a musical instrument from PMT and they had 'order by 3 for next day delivery' and no mention of delays. I ordered it and then get an email saying it would be 3 to 5 days. At least tell people ordering before considering I'd just dropped £900 on it. 

I snapped my derailleur hanger and it also chewed up my derailleur and getting a new one is proving challenging. Loads of places are out of stock or pretending they have stock with really long delivery schedules. Having to ride the MTB on the road and it sucks. It even sucks on the direct drive turbo as well. 

Avatar
matthewn5 replied to Rick_Rude | 4 years ago
0 likes

Try ebay for derailleur hangers. Got a replacement for my bike in 3 working days from a seller in Spain.

Avatar
crazy-legs | 4 years ago
0 likes

That's a very Daily Mail style headline. You missed the true tabloid impact by not writing in bold capitals. But you got the gist of the negativity so well done for that.

Evans SLAMMED for...

[translation: a couple of customers have moaned slightly on social media]

I mean, what do people expect?! Most of their stores are closed, most of their staff are furloughed, there are supply chain issues right across the board and I imagine the few staff that are there are working their best to cope and someone has simply not updated the delivery times published on the website for a couple of days.

A more useful headline might have been "we were made aware of some complaints around delivery times being longer that stated so as a concientious consumer website, we got in touch with Evans on behalf of our readers and asked them to update it while also praising them for the work they're doing during these unprecedented times". You know, positive like!

Avatar
mdavidford replied to crazy-legs | 4 years ago
0 likes
crazy-legs wrote:

A more useful headline might have been "we were made aware of some complaints around delivery times being longer that stated so as a concientious consumer website, we got in touch with Evans on behalf of our readers and asked them to update it while also praising them for the work they're doing during these unprecedented times". You know, positive like!

I'm not sure that would really qualify as a 'headline'. Generally speaking, brevity is considered a qualifying criteria.

Avatar
check12 | 4 years ago
2 likes

Road.cc slammed for click bait headline and duplicated tweet in body of story 

Avatar
AlsoSomniloquism | 4 years ago
0 likes

Come on Road.cc, I'm not sure if you are paid extra for the larger articles or have to include so many a day but a story labelled

"As bike sales surge Evans slammed for not telling customers about delays on ‘in stock’ bikes before they buy"

and includes the line below

" However, after tweeting about the current delivery status this morning, some customers replied to Evans to say that they were not made aware of lead times when ordering products."

And gives and example of the same tweet twice and it turns out that is the only (public) complaining tweet on the thread. ....... you can't really say customers (plural) are slamming them.

Avatar
JPKD | 4 years ago
0 likes

You only have to look at Evans' recent TrustPilot reviews to see that they are not the place to buy a bike right now. Customers are unsure if their order has been received and waiting days for an email in reply. Their website now tells you to wait 18 days before emailing to see where your bike is. 18 days. Plus that 18 working days which means you aren't going to see that bike for nearly a month after parting with your hard-earned cash.

Avatar
Toffee | 4 years ago
3 likes

Two weeks doesn't seem that unusual for bikes to be honest. Yes, I know, some places can do it in a day, but Canyon took a couple of weeks for my girlfriend, Sigma Sports took about 10 days for my Cervelo. Didn't mean the bikes were out of stock, they just take time to assemble I guess.

Latest Comments