[David9694]

Coming up is a screen grab of the delivery tracker for an order I placed on Sunday night with one of the German bike shops. 

Topic

[David9694]

Probably got thrown off

Probably got thrown off course by rogue LTNs

 

[kil0ran]

Simple logistics mean that it

Simple logistics mean that it will only get worse from Jan 31st. I do wonder if we’ll see a resurgent local manufacturing sector for all things bike related because its going to be much harder and much more expensive to import things. With Wiggle/CR dominating the online market there’s certainly a risk of collusion and price fixing between them & Madison once we start paying duty & VAT on non-UK sourced goods.

[Dingaling]

Some sites offer a choice. I

Some sites offer a choice. I can’t remember how many I’ve used that do but one example is Bike-Discount.de who give free delivery on orders over 99€ or you can specify DHL at a normal/fair price.

[don simon fbpe]

World beating!

World beating!

[Nick T]

Meanwhile, the frame I

Meanwhile, the frame I ordered from a shop in Loughton Essex to deliver to me in north London supposedly yesterday by TNT, went from a depot in Enfield (4 miles away) to another depot in Dartford instead

[Grahamd]

kil0ran wrote:

Stock availability in the UK has been so bad over the summer that I’ve bought most stuff from Germany – Bikester, BikeDiscount, Bike24 etc. Hugely efficient delivery, and nearly always via DPD, and cheaper than UK prices in most cases. 

Agree entirely, UK stock levels abysmal, CO2, chamois cream, inner tubes, basic items either not in stock or with hiked up prices. If any of the reatailers read these forums then they need to wake up quickly before they risk permanent loss of customers like myself.

[mdavidford]

I don’t think I’ve ever been

I don’t think I’ve ever been offered a choice of courier when placing an order. You get whatever the seller is using, and most of the time they don’t tell you who that is until after you’ve ordered. You might be able to influence who they use in future by complaints (or compliments) about the service, but there’s no real way to choose.

Of course, it would make more sense if most of those vans/cars were replaced by cargo bikes…

 

[Rich_cb]

Because if you get bad
Because if you get bad service from one you can stop using them and choose a better alternative.

If you get bad service from a monopoly there’s nothing you can do.

I’ve had absolutely awful customer service from the royal mail multiple times in the past. I’m glad that I no longer have to give them my custom.

[David9694]

Hermes, DHL, Royal Mail, DPD

Hermes, DHL, Royal Mail, DPD – all visiting our little road variously every day, all coming from their different depots from all points of the compass. This makes sense how?

[Captain Badger]

In addition having to

In addition having to guarantee post throughout teh nation at a set fee. I don’t believe that their “free-market competition” has to meet this bar

[David9694]

yes, an anti-Brexit post –

yes, an anti-Brexit post – but not about the ideology or big picture stuff, but on changes to the lived experience for ordinary people doing ordinary things, which be will presumably be worse – eg slower, dearer, inconsistent and more complex  from next year. 

Goods arrived today. Plan is to convert my wife bike to flat bars. 
 

 

[ktache]

The Royal Mail was forced to

The Royal Mail was forced to have to accept bulk mail from rival companies and lose money doing the last part “to door” delivery.

That was never the “Free” market.

Set up to fail.

 

[kil0ran]

Stock availability in the UK

Stock availability in the UK has been so bad over the summer that I’ve bought most stuff from Germany – Bikester, BikeDiscount, Bike24 etc. Hugely efficient delivery, and nearly always via DPD, and cheaper than UK prices in most cases. 

[David9694]

Di, 29.09.2020, 13:25, EAST

Di, 29.09.2020, 13:25, EAST MIDLANDS, Großbritannien
Die Sendung ist im Paketzentrum eingetroffen

Touchdown! 

 

[Simon E]

don simon fbpe wrote:

It’s strange that the party that pushes competition as being the driving force for improving service and quality, is now pushing to limit the choices we have in the market place. It’s almost as if they’ve been lying all along.

Competition, yes, but their rules permit and often encourage unfair (and unethical) competition. The concept of a ‘level playing field’ goes against everything they stand for.

A free market doesn’t necessarily improve choice, quality or service while privatisation of public services (transport, utilities) is flogging off public goods cheaply and leaving them in very greedy private hands.

[Author]

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