Today I decided to take a stand (although a lonely one no doubt) at bike stores here in Australia. I have decided that I will NOT visit a bike store in this country for an entire year.
This means I will not get a service, repair or even buy so much as tube at the prices at which these guys charge. More and more I hear about how people want better pricing for there goods, be it cycling equipment, running gear, books, bluray movies etc etc. However what are we doing to make a stand. Nothing. People will continue to charge us these crazy prices because they can.
So I encourage others to do the same, buy your stuff from online sources, such as chainreaction.co.uk , wiggle.co.uk , bookdepository.co.uk , jenson USA the list goes on and on. I really want to support my local dealers and suppliers but I can no longer justify the markups that they crave.
I will keep you all updated on what I buy, where from and the savings over local prices, even taking into consideration postage and any taxation from Australian Customs.
Looks like I have had a small windfall today in the way of a 250 pound voucher to spend at my favourite cycling store www.wiggle.co.uk , all for writing a small review.
Those of you who read will know by now that I am a HUGE fan of Wiggle and there quality of products and also there prompt and efficient service.
So as mentioned the voucher came about due to the website having a review competition, I usually do write reviews on most of the stuff that I buy, not just from Wiggle but anywhere, I personally like reading reviews from real users of products and therfore like to give something back to the community.
I will continue to review products that I buy from where ever I buy them, this voucher just means that someone somewhere gets something out of the stuff that us reviewers/bloggers write.
Last night I managed to get some tickets for the Ben Lee concert at the Perth Concert Hall were he was playing with the WASO.
I was interested to go and see this as I heard the arrangements of his music were very good and I was not disappointed. He played most of his hits, and all backed up superbly by the WASO.
It was not a pop concert in the true sense of the word, mainly due to the conservative venue. There was no people up dancing, shouting out etc, it was just a evening of sitting down and enjoying some good music.
Not sure if I’m getting old but I loved it. There was a great element of friendly banter with the audience, with Ben taking the time to chat a young girl who was celebrating her 11th birthday.
All in all a great night out, highly recommend seeing Ben when he is back, after the birth of his baby due in around 4 weeks. On a side note he is also releasing a free album with his original band which is available as a free download from his website in the next week or so.
As anyone who reads this blog regularly, if there are any such people will know last Wednesday I ordered a new bike from Wiggle.co.uk. I have been toying with the idea of replacing my aging Giant for a while now. A trip to Fremantle last week got the juices flowing even more when I almost purchased a bike from Bikeforce. Not wanting to commit without shopping around I put it on the back burner until more research could be undertaken.
I was shocked with the high prices and relatively low spec models that are available on the market here in Australia at the moment. Understandably the A$ had taken a beating in recent months, however there had to be a better way. Move over for Wiggle. As most of you know I have ordered from them in the past and found the service, cost and delivery times to be out of this world. A friend of mine @scottdaivs had also bought a bike recently from them and he was impressed, testament enough to give them a try myself.
I had a few concerns, oddly enough non of them were down to wiggle, the first was customs, would this hold the buying process up much. Secondly, assembling the bike. So here is the story of ordering a bike from overseas.
Wed 19th August
Bike ordered from wiggle.co.uk. Order acknowledged and processed within 12 hours of the order being placed.
A few hours later I received an email asking which side I would like the front brake fitted. I responded to this immediately as I have push email on my phone. Wiggle were equally as quick thanking me for my information and actioning the request.
Fri 21st August
Bike arrives in Perth.
Tuesday 25th August
Receive letter from Australia Post that Customs have held the bike for GST etc to be paid. I filled out the relevant forms and faxed them across to Customs. I then followed up to make sure they have been received, no issues.
Friday 28th August
Call from Customs, payment is ready to be made and then Australia post will release the bike. I chose to goto Customs directly and pay over the counter and pick up the bike the same day, I was keen to not be without a bike for the weekend.
All in all really quick and awesome service from all concerned, simply cannot find fault with the whole experience.
Assembling the bike was equally as easy. I have never seen “anything” packed up quite so well as this bike. It came in 2 boxes, 1 for the wheels and 1 for the frame. The amount of protective wrapping was unreal. Every single thing even down to the seat and post where packed with loving care.
The bike was completely set up apart from having to attach a few things such as the wheels, handle bars and rear derailier. Another win for me as this was something I was getting nervous about.
The whole process took about an hour, most of which was making sure the packaging was removed properly and not scratching or damaging anything. The bike is just as I imagined it, it looks awesome its light as a feather and feels very well made, just as you would expect from a German Product.
I have had just a small ride thus far, when the weather clears up later I will start the fine tuning of saddle height etc but for now I am really happy and once again give a big thumbs up for wiggle and there service.
In my opinion this is another nail in the Local Bike Store Coffin. You can order a bike from 16,000km away have it delivered as quickly as it takes a local dealer to get a bike from the East coast. Not to mention you will get a MUCH higher spec bike for your budget or save a stack of money in the process. I have been unable to find anything locally or over East that even comes within a$1000 of this machine even after I paid for delivery and Customs fees.
If your in the market for a new bike, look at ALL your options before commiting.
Total Rundown of costs.
Bike a$2948
Delivery a$128.60
Customs Fee’s $514
Total cost a$3590.60
This is also including 5% duty which I have on good authority that I will get back.
Today I have had a response from Glen Parker in relation to the wheel issue. Dennis made the following comment on my original post. I thought it better to place it in a new post rather than just tag the comment onto the original so he could have his say. I have left it unedited so please excuse the spelling mistakes.
in response to the above cooments.my name is Dennis Lightfoot and i am 1 of the owners of glen parkers .i just want to try and clear a few things up if i can .no1 yes we did stuff up on the description of the wheels not to cheat anyone we just stuffed up .result we offerd him a full refund over the phone the wheels were never returned.no2 price for cleaning bike acording to the staff member who took his bike in he did tell him it would be best to clean the whole bike seeing as he was putting new wheels and chain on and he agreed .no 3 charge for swopping wheels again he was told their would be no charge for the wheel exchange again we stuffed up but in response we also fitted the chain which did create more work than qouted .result the $15 was refunded and no charge made for the fitting of the chain.no4 as for the garmin being messed around with no one on purpose messed with the garmin maybe we pressed a wrong button when lifting it on and off the work chains or when we cleaned the bike but we dont mess with other peoples stuff unless requested to .so in summery of your complaint the only grey area is whether or not you should off been charged for the cleaning off your bike .mistakes do happen and all off the above has come about by 1 off my staff not reading a label of which i apologise but all other matters were rectified or offerd to be rectified by us .i do think you may be a little unfair in what you are saying .we are human and stuff up from time to time and i know we cant please everyone and sometimes do make mistakes but we have owned the shop for 20 years and have a lot of happy customers and some which we have upset life is like that .i also would like to apologise for the treatment sarah had in the shop as it is not are normal way we have no gender biased policy in the shop the person who spoke to her obviosly made a mistake ,we have plenty of female customers of which we try are best to please but we are all men in here and can sometimes as in life in general stuff up it unfortunatly is a male thing and will probably happen to the end of time .please note i am writting this letter to give you a fair veiw of things that happend but admit we did and have before and will again stuff up it is a human fault that we all have of which i admit glenparkers staff and owners are no exception to it .hope this has cleared a few things up .
regards and apologies
Dennis Lightfoot
I thank Dennis for his comment and appreciate his response.
I have decided to keep the wheels I did report this offer from the store, again on the last post, as I simply cannot be bothered having any more dealings with Glen Parker, obviously I am not alone in this decision. I will however respond to a few points.
Agreement to clean bike. :- This was just mentioned to me briefly with no inclusion of a cost involved, there is no cost sheet or poster available in store. Maybe you should arrange for a system that allows for a document to show customers so there is no further issues for other customers.
Garmin :- Anyone who uses a Garmin Edge will know that the on/off button is located in such a position that it is virtually impossible to switch on by accident. I know the unit was off when I took it in as I remember when I was riding to the store that I was annoyed that I forgot to put it on and log the k’s. Then to have accidentally pushed enough buttons to get to the navigation options, select a suburb and then switch it off again all by accident is outside the realms of possibility.
You mention the only grey area is that off cleaning the bike. If you read the original post, I took reposnsiblity for the wheel issue. The issue that I have is transparent pricing and service. I wish you every success in the future and hope that the issues that have developed can be easily rectified and learnt from. Once again Dennis thank you for replying
I hope you enjoy my blog, mostly about cycling and fitness but sometimes I babble on about other less important things as well.
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