50Cycles

[Walklikegump]

Last year when looking for a bike I visited three localish dealers.

One had pretty low end bikes but was around the corner, the other two had larger operations and had the kind of bikes I was looking at.

I choose a Focus eMTB from 50Cycles for the following reasons.

Local Dealer (easy 11 mile ride)

Very Very helpful Salesman. He showed me the bikes , setup the seat for a test ride , explained the differences to normal bikes etc. Overall a very good demonstration.

He even mentioned where the bike was not as good as it could be (rubbish tyres) . This honestly was the clincher.

I duly ordered the bike and it arrived to their showroom without issue.

This is as far as the good news went.

The bike seems to be pretty good (unable to do a real review of it as I have only done 70 miles on it. Soon after I bought it, I came off my motorbike and stayed off two wheels for a while)

So this review is solely about the dealer.

I collected the bike at the agreed time, very excited but was met with a poor experience. The person who gave me the bike didn’t seem prepared or really that interested in the handover. I had to ask the questions and the replies were short and uninformed. There was no offer of assistance to adjust the seat or really any explanation at all. He did run back in and get a little toolkit when I asked if there was anything else to handover.

Since then I have not been riding but have charged the battery etc. and noticed that part of the decals on the battery were missing. They (or the manufacturers) had put half the decals on the battery but not the bottom half on the battery holder.

I filled in web form to ask and got a call soon after to explain that they the decal is not available but a 2016 version should be , and it will be sent. A month or so later I emailed to say that nothing has arrived but have not received a reply.

So review so far ?

Sales team – very good attitude, knowledgeability, communication

Product - so far so good

Aftersales - not very good , leaving me a bit concerned if any real issues occur with the bike

My nephew is about the buy a similar bike and in all honestly, I can’t recommend 50cycles right now.

There are similar bikes (Haibike with a dealer 3 miles away) and I would probably tell him to go there.

This is a shame as so much of the experience was good and the new range of bikes from 50cycles look exciting.

 

[Wander]

You bought this bike in June 2015.

When did you contact them about the missing decals?

 

[flecc]

This experience is not uncommon, their inconsistency often reported and it's not necessarily in the order you've experienced. Sometimes the sales experience falls short but after sales service extraordinarily good, and I've experienced this myself.

It seems in the lap of the gods which one gets!

However, from 2003 they are one of our longest trading suppliers, not only outliving numerous other companies in this business but expanding as well, so overall they must be getting it right somehow.
.

 

[Walklikegump]

You bought this bike in June 2015.

When did you contact them about the missing decals?

February and again in March .

Why? Should it make a difference?

 

[Walklikegump]

This experience is not uncommon, their inconsistency often reported and it's not necessarily in the order you've experienced. Sometimes the sales experience falls short but after sales service extraordinarily good, and I've experienced this myself.

It seems in the lap of the gods which one gets!

However, from 2003 they are one of our longest trading suppliers, not only outliving numerous other companies in this business but expanding as well, so overall they must be getting it right somehow.
.

Which is why it's a shame. Too much of what they do is well. Unfortunately the last thing that happens is often the the one that stands out.

 

[Wander]

February and again in March .

Why? Should it make a difference?

Well please see this from the retailers point of view.

Customer collects their bike, no doubt inspects it on collection, takes it home, rides it ...................... then 8 months later says that something is missing.

What would be your thoughts if you sold something then 8 months later the purchaser came back & said it wasn't complete?

 

[Walklikegump]

Well that depends on how the customer approaches things.
If the customer comes in saying
" you sold me a dud ! It isn't as advertised ! I demand a refund!"
They would probably be inclined to see it as you suggest."

If the customer asks politely if they can supply the missing decals
Then I as a business would be thinking
" Oops , we missed a bit from the initial order so lets see what we can do"

Even if they come back and say they can't do anything , it leaves a dialogue open for a customer to suggest getting ( where the customer would pay ) some ordered from the supplier .

The issue isn't the decals , it is the month long silence.

This thread is a review my experience with the company . That includes good and bad , which is what a review should be.

As for the decals , I did receive some in the post a few days after the review but they don't look like the right shape. I will talk to 50Cycles when I next get a chance.