CRC, has their service gone down hill?
Discussion
I've made a couple of orders with Chain Reaction over the past few weeks, they seem to take days to dispatch the goods. When I first used them they were really good, often next day delivery.
Most recent order was on Monday, still awaiting a confirmation that the bits have been dispatched. Is it just my orders? Or are CRC now delaying the free delivery orders in the hope customers will pay for a faster delivery?
Most recent order was on Monday, still awaiting a confirmation that the bits have been dispatched. Is it just my orders? Or are CRC now delaying the free delivery orders in the hope customers will pay for a faster delivery?
megaphone said:
I've made a couple of orders with Chain Reaction over the past few weeks, they seem to take days to dispatch the goods. When I first used them they were really good, often next day delivery.
Most recent order was on Monday, still awaiting a confirmation that the bits have been dispatched. Is it just my orders? Or are CRC now delaying the free delivery orders in the hope customers will pay for a faster delivery?
Nope, I have had the same from them in the past as well as Wiggle - I guess it is an underhand way of getting us to pay for shipping if we want it in less than 4 days.Most recent order was on Monday, still awaiting a confirmation that the bits have been dispatched. Is it just my orders? Or are CRC now delaying the free delivery orders in the hope customers will pay for a faster delivery?
ORDERING
I recently placed an order for five items 'out of hours', free delivery and including some items from the January sale plus a 10% discount code.
The next day all items were marked as dispatched.
Two days later one item arrived.
The day after that the other items arrived.
Great price, good communication, fast delivery.
I would imagine they are really busy at this time of year.
RETURNING
I've ended up sending two items back (incorrect size) using the free postal+ service.
Three days later they emailed to confirm that they have received the items and are processing a refund.
Assuming the refund amount is correct they could only have improved this end of the service by confirming in the email what the returned items are & what the refund amount is - purely to keep the customer fully up to date.
I recently placed an order for five items 'out of hours', free delivery and including some items from the January sale plus a 10% discount code.
The next day all items were marked as dispatched.
Two days later one item arrived.
The day after that the other items arrived.
Great price, good communication, fast delivery.
I would imagine they are really busy at this time of year.
RETURNING
I've ended up sending two items back (incorrect size) using the free postal+ service.
Three days later they emailed to confirm that they have received the items and are processing a refund.
Assuming the refund amount is correct they could only have improved this end of the service by confirming in the email what the returned items are & what the refund amount is - purely to keep the customer fully up to date.
Ordered a front mech yesterday at 1.30pm on free delivery and got a dispatched email at 8.50pm.
I use them for a lot of bits like chains and cassettes because I find their prices hard to beat when they have a sale. Always use the free delivery option and never have to wait long for them to arrive.
I use them for a lot of bits like chains and cassettes because I find their prices hard to beat when they have a sale. Always use the free delivery option and never have to wait long for them to arrive.
I just ordered some new forks this morning and already had shipping notification. This on standard, 'free' delivery.
However, they can, or have been at times, a little bit 'variable' on despatch times and, on one occasion, ordering some spare guts for Hope hubs, stuff they said was in stock was, in fact, not in stock but on back order and so I had enough bits shipped straight away to do just half (i.e. none of) the job.
I've used their returns a couple of times and found nothing wanting.
I had an issue with a (astonishingly crap) Lupine light with Wiggle a while ago and decided never to use them again. I'd returned the item as faulty, very shortly after purchase (and those things are not cheap!) and they elected to make me wait weeks while the manufacturer faffed about and, ultimately failled to sort the issue.
However, they can, or have been at times, a little bit 'variable' on despatch times and, on one occasion, ordering some spare guts for Hope hubs, stuff they said was in stock was, in fact, not in stock but on back order and so I had enough bits shipped straight away to do just half (i.e. none of) the job.
I've used their returns a couple of times and found nothing wanting.
I had an issue with a (astonishingly crap) Lupine light with Wiggle a while ago and decided never to use them again. I'd returned the item as faulty, very shortly after purchase (and those things are not cheap!) and they elected to make me wait weeks while the manufacturer faffed about and, ultimately failled to sort the issue.
Last bit on my new bike build was a front mech. Got mucked by someone of a forum stating he had one. Turns out he didn't know what he was selling , so ordered a new one from CR on Wednesday morning. Paid paypal and still no confirmation of despatch. So that's now 2 weekends I haven't been able to ride the new bike...... I should have stuck to Merlins. Have always had great service from them, without fail.
Just to bring this back up. Still no mech, still no conformation. Called them yesterday and was told ' we are too busy to send it out' Nice to know that. Will make sure they have less business from me from now on. Also emailed them again today and no reply. I was told yesterday, I might see it by Friday, but couldn't say if. If I don't get a confirmation in the morning, I am cancelling the order, as 9 days from CR is just not good enough.
I have used CRC (along with others) for years and I have to say that on the whole they are very good. No better or worse than the other similar retailers (Merlin/Wiggle/PX etc..). I can recall one time where I had an issue (the common issue where apparently in stock at the point of order but then went out of stock by the time I had gone through the payment) However I have had that with other internet retailers.
They seem to be victims of their own success though and recently average times from order to dispatch seem to have increased.
In this video: youtube video of CRC order process
they say that their maximum throughput in their warehouse system is 24 orders a minute. During busy periods I bet they exceed that so you end up with a backlog...
If you are lucky you hit a lull and time from order to dispatch can be super fast. With my last two orders over the last couple of weeks one was dispatched within an hour of the order and the other, ordered about the same time the next day (forgot something!) took nearly two days to get dispatched.
With internet purchases I usually go for the free postage option if available as I am normally not in a rush to get something. With CRC recently, order to delivery has still occurred within 7 days, which I am happy with.
They seem to be victims of their own success though and recently average times from order to dispatch seem to have increased.
In this video: youtube video of CRC order process
they say that their maximum throughput in their warehouse system is 24 orders a minute. During busy periods I bet they exceed that so you end up with a backlog...
If you are lucky you hit a lull and time from order to dispatch can be super fast. With my last two orders over the last couple of weeks one was dispatched within an hour of the order and the other, ordered about the same time the next day (forgot something!) took nearly two days to get dispatched.
With internet purchases I usually go for the free postage option if available as I am normally not in a rush to get something. With CRC recently, order to delivery has still occurred within 7 days, which I am happy with.
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