Chain Reaction Cycles

Really poor customer service. We made a mistake and ordered the wrong size tyre, their return policy is difficult to follow and when our return was lost in transit we lost our money. Our own fault I know as we failed to keep the tracking number however the attitude from their customer service staff was terrible it is basically "computer says no". They didn't offer us anything, even a discount on a reorder or any sort of solution. Would never deal with them again. They did not communicate with us at all, it was up to us to keep contacting them to see if the return had arrived. Prices are cheap for a reason. No care and no responsibility.

I bought an very expensive Schwalbe tire. Schwalbe told me they would gladly have exchangrd it since after installing it I had 3 blowouts in three short rides. The bead was bad. Because I am in the US and Chain Reaction is in the UK, Schwalbe U. S could not honor the warranty. Something to do with taxes They said the exchange should not be a problem with Chain Reaction. Chain Reaction has a very archaic warranty process. I cannot process the warranty from a mobile device. Even though I sent all the correct information and a photo by email, they insist I print out the form, fill it out by hand, somehow magically attach a photo to it, take a picture of the form and send it back to them via email. Wait! I already provided all the info via email. What is their problem. Stay away. Not worth the bad service

Do not get fooled by the 9/10 score from trustpilot. They HAVE MANY PROBLEMS
First of all they do not care at all about how they send their items and how you receive them.
Forks are being sent in a plastic bag literately and I ordered 5 so far and only 1 of them did not came damaged.
Their LOGISTICS is bad as well, got a parcel sent by royal mail to a Collect Plus delivery point which was not accepted by the delivery point and I lost the item because it is out of stock and still did not receive a refund and they do not want to do anything about it!
They do not exchange products, so be very careful if you are working on a bike project because you will have HUGE DELAYS. They block your money for 2-3 weeks until you get a refund so be careful with your BUDGET.
They have processes which contradict their own terms and conditions.

Yes they have good deals can't argue with that, but the time wasted, money blocked and crappy customer service does it worth it?

Hello, my name is Martin and would like to tell you about my experience with CRC.
The worst company I have ever dealt with. So here is my story:
I ordered new bike and padles to go with it on Monday morning. I paid with card so the money was taken from my account basicly immediatly. I got an email next day saying the order was just shipped. But afer reading the email properly I realised they shipped only the padles. So I contacted the support asking when is my bike going to be shipped. Appart from the typical copy - paste nonsence talk about the bike being prepared I was assured that the bike was allocated to my order. This is part of the actual response from CRC Virginia:
As far as I can see on our system, the bike has been allocated to your order and should ship in the next few days.
That was on Tuesday. Since I wasn't getting any reply for a while I also tried to contact them through Messenger. I got a reply from CRC Claire this time claiming exactly the same:
The bike looks to have been allocated and going through its pre dispatch inspection.
Today is Friday and since the online system was still showing PROCCESING I decided to contact them again. I even managed to catch someone on the live chat but couldn't believe what the guy - this time Richard - was telling me. To be exact I was told the bike is no longer available and they are canceling my order and sending money back - it will apparently take ut to 10 working days to appear in my account. And if didn't tell the Richard guy that the amount is not correct he wouldn't send me the shipping fee back (EUR 120).
So the result of this is: the padels for the bike I will not be getting are waiting for me at the post office, they keep my money for the bike for over two weeks and the biggest joke is the fact that their website claims they have only 5 of the actual bikes in stock and I should order soon.
To be honest it all looks to me like a total scam and way how to gain profit from customers money while not actualy having the bikes in stock.
Supposedly I will get an email from Richard CRC explaining why he canceled my order for stock issues at the same time their website claims 5 pieces in stock.
I have to say I'm very frustrated. I was expecting to go on a trail trip with my daughter and now I don't have the bike (but I have the padels for it) and don't have the money I paid for the bike. WORST ONLINE BUYING EXPERIENCE EVER.

First time, I deal with them and that is definitely the last. I wanted to cancel my order minutes after the purchase, big problem, they did not answer their phone and their Chat service is a joke it does not work, so they make it impossible for you to contact them. Then I had no choice but to email them and they answered saying sorry, it is already in the dispatch process. Are you serious, it is just a paperwork mumbo jumbo, the item has not even been packaged and not left their premises yet and they cant cancel it? All that send red signals for me. No doubt their customer service is badly left to be desired. For me, they are definitely on the never again buying list. My bad, I should have checked their reviews before jumping in.

Well the order went out quick as promised and also delivered to the tesco in town as promised. Only once i was there did i find out that actually they sent it with the wrong courier and that although i can see the parcel i cannot get it. After speaking to them for ages they said i need to download an app on my phone, then edit a document they have sent me declaring that i did not receive the item before they can refund me. That was the only option. They couldnt get the barcode or anything else. Just a refund when thats pointless if you can see your order but not get it. $#*!test service ever! Use amazon which have brilliant customer service and can ship to any address and offer to ship a new order before getting the old one back.

Non dispatched Items

Non dispatched Items - No satisfaction from CRC
Recently ordered 3 items from CRC. One item arrived as part delivery. The remainder did not arrive despite my having received dispatch notification email with a tracking number included.
I checked the tracking number with the delivery company but they had NO MATCHING NUMBER.
Trying to contact CRC was difficult as their chat system seems to be usually in UNAVAILABLE status, and on those rare occasions when it is AVAILABLE it is usually BUSY and when I was finally able to get access it took quite a while to progress in the queue.
I did eventually get through and the CRC operator told me to fill out a 'lost in the post form'. Which he emailed to me. The form was in a proprietary format so I was unable to open it. Next day he sent the form as an email and I duly completed it. I did not receive any prompt response and when I emailed a status enquiry next day the same operator told the form was not filled in correctly as I had not signed it. I should mention here that I am only temporarily at this address and have no access to to printer or scanner. I explained this to the CRC operator, and also sent him the original dispatch email I had received from CRC with the item tracking number, and also a link to the delivery company's tracking facility where CRC could verify that they had not in fact really dispatched the item at all. No response from CRC.
The whole episode has been very frustrating and aggravating for me.
Thankfully the items in question were not of great financial value. I have learned that
1. CRC's dispatch processes are problematic (items not sent)
2. CRC does not seem to understand it's own dispatch process (unable to verify dispatch locally with tracking number).
3. CRC has zero interest in resolving the problems that it causes (customer obliged to do all the investigation and declare they are not a thief)
4. CRC is very comfortable in alienating customers ( unhelpful ad slow-or-non-responding staff)

I won't be using or recommending CRC again.

I have recently bought a 2015 661 Evo AM MIPS and was happy with the purchase until I recieved the product and found out it isn't what i was expecting. I have been using 661 for years and is quite familiar with their products. As soon as I took the helmet of the boz I immediately notice how different the strapping material is and it also does not have the fidlock magnetic closure system,(the box says it does) which is a standard feature of the helmet. Upon further inspection I noticed it didn't have the usual markings/stickers you would see on a 661 helmet. I emailed them and they insist they sent me the correct product and that they dis not advertise the product as having the Fidlock Closure System which just doesn't make sense because it is a standard feature on 661 Evo AM and it is printed on the box. I have not heard from 661 so I just decided to return the item and get all my money back. And hopefully it will turn out well.

Have bought many cycle parts from here and have always arrived on time and well packaged. Recently bought two tyres but one had a slight dent in the steel bead. They immediately said they were sorry and offered an immediate replacement. That is how you look after your customers. Just also bought some more parts and they were better packaged than the bike i bought from that terrible company tredz.in all chainreactions is a great company and highly recommended.

As. Both a brick and mortar retailer and online retailer I would like to make people aware of Why they can sell items cheaper than most. The are a UK company that is not governed by the same rules as US retailers. Most of the manufactures set what are known as minimum advertised price or MAP rules. What that means is no matter what I may want to sell an item for online I am restricted by the MAP rules. If I am caught selling below the MAP price set by the manufacturer they have the right to discontinue selling their products to me. Unfortunately companies based outside of the US are not governed by the same rules. Please think about this the next time you are thinking of making a purchase. Support US based business and keep America working.

Brought a Vitus Vee 1 City for my son. Within 3 days of light use the crankset threaded and both pedals fell off while he was riding on the road. First we were told we must of put the wrong size pedals on, we fitted the pedals provided with the bike. We were then told we put the pedals on the wrong sides which wasn't the case. In the end chainreaction adviser claimed their products are fautless and the only way the cranks could be damaged was if they were fitted incorrectly by ourselves. Both me and my husband are keen cyclists and more then capable of basic bike maintenance. Insulted judgment could be make without even inspecting the faults. Beware! Apparently crank sets are not under warranty with any chainreaction bikes. They refuse to except any responsibility. Was only offered a small discount on a brand new set of cranks costing around £60 in addition to the £214 already spent on the child's bike.

I spent many hours on the internet researching and choosing two pairs of sports training shoes which Chain Reaction Cycles advertised on their site as being in-stock. They were ordered so as to be delivered in time to be given as Christmas presents.
I had read mixed reviews about the company and oh how I wish I had listened to the negative ones! Upon completing my order I added on numerous pairs of sports socks to be worn with the shoes. A few days later I received an email to say that my order had been part-dispatched! I emailed the company to question why only part-dispatched? As they were advertised as being in-stock and would surely arrive as one complete package? A couple of days later they replied to say that an item (but did not state which) could not be included due to "fulfilment" reasons? And had therefore been cancelled! And that a single delivery package may not occur as items are gathered from many distribution centres and warehouses from around the world. I requested to know which item had been cancelled and was informed of it being one of the two pairs of training shoes! A further couple of days later I checked the progress on my "part-order" to see that the second pair of trainers had been cancelled by the company without any notification! A couple of days later they get back to me to apologise and blame "fulfilment" reasons? And that they were including a complimentary 5 British Pound e-voucher (which can only be spent at Chain Reaction Cycles!). I have had no true explanation of this goods dispatch failure and act of false advertisement. I would say that this company orders it's "copy/fake/replica" products from illegal Chinese manufacturers! BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!*******