[JVN01]

Just wondering whether I’m just unlucky or whether others have had (are having) similar experience to me..

Ordered new Ribble CGR Pro Ti di2 bike back in May this year. Projected delivery then was early October due to supply chain issues which seemed reasonable in the circumstances. Due to how I wanted to finance the purchase myself I have already paid Ribble in full for the bike.

So the first delivery date early October was approaching when I received an apologetic email from Ribble advising me that due to component shortages my build was being delayed to late October. Fair enough I guess, everyone knows the bike component supply chain is screwed so I can live with that.

As late October approached I contacted Ribble via their support chat to confirm my ‘new’ delivery date shown on my live order tracking status page was still on track. Oh yes they said, everything is correct with your revised delivery date. This was the case right up to 24hours before the delivery date, at which point it suddenly jumped back to mid November… the same thing happened again a few weeks later when the promised dispatch date approached and got bumped back to 03 December…

I tried contacting Ribble customer service again to get some kind of explanation for why they no longer see fit to advise their customers when their bike orders are being delayed but was simply given some flannel about ‘supply chain issues beyond our control’ but no apology or explanation as to why my order delivery date keeps being bumped back a month or so at a time with no actual reason given or effort made to advise the customer.

So this time I waited again for 3rd December to arrive. A week before this date I contacted Ribble customer chat again who confirmed my order was still on track for 03 December dispatch… however again this week the dispatch date suddenly slipped back to 17th December just a day before the promised dispatch date of 03 December.

The bit that really pisses me off with this approach from Ribble is that they seem perfectly happy to take a significant sum in full payment up front for a new bike build and then repeatedly mislead the customer with continually slipping magical ‘dispatch dates’ (which they no longer even bother contacting the customer to advise have changed – it’s left to the customer to keep checking the fictional ‘order status’ on the website to discover the delivery dates just keep changing the day before promised dispatch).

We all know the bike supply chain is on its knees at the moment, and I can accept that my new bike build could be affected by that, but why can’t Ribble just treat their customers with some respect and admit they won’t be able to deliver when they promised, and instead give a realistic (and honest) projected delivery date? It’s just too easy to hide behind ‘supply chain uncertainties’ excuse and not actually engage in any honest dialogue with the customer.

Can’t help feeling that now they’ve taken my money they’re happy to just keep brushing me off indefinitely. Not impressed at all. Would welcome any advice as to how to get some honest communication out of Ribble?

Topic

[Steve K]

There’s a thread from earlier
There’s a thread from earlier in the year on delays with Ribble deliveries (Ribble Rant, I think it’s called). I didn’t start it, but my experiences are on there. I’d advise you to out a negative review of trust pilot – that seemed to kick them into gear for me.

[bobrayner]

Almost everyone in the

Almost everyone in the industry has supply-chain problems, but that’s not an excuse for bad customer-service.

I think Ribble’s customer-service people would actually find it *easier* if they were honest with customers and kept them updated; there would be fewer ranters to deal with, and a larger % of customers would be happy to sit and wait a little longer for an update. More repeat business, too.

I have a lot of nostalgia for Ribble; they built my first Really Nice Bike; but that was 24 years ago, and the world moves on, and goodwill gets eroded. I got my most recent bike in July from a Ribble competitor who also had delays (it was originally supposed to be March) but I never felt like they were cheating me. They ended up offering a sweet deal on some upgrade parts, and both sides were happy.

[Sriracha]

I bought my bike before covid
I bought my bike before covid appeared, mid 2019. I gave Ribble a good look, went to their showroom, and found their customer focus so totally lacking that I gave them a wide berth. They really did not seem to give a toss. I bought a Pinnacle from Evans, where the customer focus was excellent. And now, even after all the travails that Evans have been through, the customer service has remained top notch. So glad I avoided Ribble. Sorry for your experience, but it certainly makes me believe my radar was correct.

[IanMSpencer]

It’s not just you, but I’ve
It’s not just you, but I’ve only had second hand reports.

Their full payment at time of order policy certainly has our club members muttering. It was fine when they did that in normal days as they were committing stock to a build, but when their lead times are 6 months to a year… It stopped me from even considering them, and I was a happy Sportive user some years ago.

[Author]

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