Being given the runaround by a bike shop

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
Read up on the law most retailers won't have a good understanding of your rights so if it turns legal it's best you do. You are protected under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
Except they aren't and if you don't understand the reason why perhaps you shouldn't be quoting law which has no relevance.
Exige260 there is a national shortage of bikes at the moment. You will get nowhere with all these threats of solicitors, demanding your rights, trading standards etc. etc. Best you will get is your money back, lots of stress and no bike, then will have an even longer wait. Despite what Andy-Mat says in the real world you are unlikely to get solicitor's cost repaid.
Take the advice that zoros and spitz have given, pop into the shop, be nice and talk to them. These bike shops are run by real people and you will get much further being nice than nasty.
 

TedG

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2017
466
494
73
Lisburn Co Antrim Northern Ireland UK
Except they aren't and if you don't understand the reason why perhaps you shouldn't be quoting law which has no relevance.
Exige260 there is a national shortage of bikes at the moment. You will get nowhere with all these threats of solicitors, demanding your rights, trading standards etc. etc. Best you will get is your money back, lots of stress and no bike, then will have an even longer wait. Despite what Andy-Mat says in the real world you are unlikely to get solicitor's cost repaid.
Take the advice that zoros and spitz have given, pop into the shop, be nice and talk to them. These bike shops are run by real people and you will get much further being nice than nasty.
Been using this method for most of my 70 years on many transactions.
IMO a sledgehammer rarely works, subtlety has worked though. Get the deal sorted hopefully to your satisfaction and only then do the shredding.
(In my first life, 32 years man and boy in auto engineering dealing with lethargic suppliers)
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
So the bike shop says yesterday that they have contacted Cube ( now bear in mind the bike was ordered in Feb and allocated a build slot of early June ) and they have said oh sorry the production of the model ordered has been cancelled and there will be no more available EVER and there are NONE out there in bike retail land . 2021 models may be available in August and you may get one of those , maybe.
To add insult to injury the first payment via the cycle to work scheme has been deducted from salary as the voucher had been issued .
Im absolutely fuming and someone is lying to me and i will find out who it is and they will pay .
The whole thing is a massive cluster ****.
 

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
So the bike shop says yesterday that they have contacted Cube ( now bear in mind the bike was ordered in Feb and allocated a build slot of early June ) and they have said oh sorry the production of the model ordered has been cancelled and there will be no more available EVER and there are NONE out there in bike retail land . 2021 models may be available in August and you may get one of those , maybe.
To add insult to injury the first payment via the cycle to work scheme has been deducted from salary as the voucher had been issued .
Im absolutely fuming and someone is lying to me and i will find out who it is and they will pay .
The whole thing is a massive cluster ****.
Wouldn't surprise me if the bike shop is telling the absolute truth. There seems to be few Cube e-bikes currently available anywhere in the UK.
Anyway why bother pursuing a fruitless journey to "and i will find out who it is and they will pay"? Why not move along, obtain a bike from somewhere else and get out enjoying the sun?
 

TedG

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2017
466
494
73
Lisburn Co Antrim Northern Ireland UK
Wouldn't surprise me if the bike shop is telling the absolute truth. There seems to be few Cube e-bikes currently available anywhere in the UK.
Anyway why bother pursuing a fruitless journey to "and i will find out who it is and they will pay"? Why not move along, obtain a bike from somewhere else and get out enjoying the sun?
I suspect I will get slated for this but my experience for what it is worth is that my "less than able" sister in law did a bit of local searching for less than two weeks and came up with what appears to be an excellent Raleigh Motus off the shelf in a local company who had just taken delivery of a decent amount.
Don't laugh as she is very pleased and unconcerned that it isn't the most popular make anymore.
 
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Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
Wouldn't surprise me if the bike shop is telling the absolute truth. There seems to be few Cube e-bikes currently available anywhere in the UK.
Anyway why bother pursuing a fruitless journey to "and i will find out who it is and they will pay"? Why not move along, obtain a bike from somewhere else and get out enjoying the sun?
Because i will not tolerate poor service , ever . By doing nothing and getting my belly tickled the retail sector will continue to churn out this mediocre ****.
Im raging as im currently paying for something that im not in possession of and with no firm date when i will be , this isn’t some intangible up in the ether , spiritual Claptrap , this is cash. , hard earned cash .
Seven months to get a pushbike. , Jesus , the waiting time for a high end sportscar isn’t even that .
 

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
Because i will not tolerate poor service , ever . By doing nothing and getting my belly tickled the retail sector will continue to churn out this mediocre ****.
Im raging as im currently paying for something that im not in possession of and with no firm date when i will be , this isn’t some intangible up in the ether , spiritual Claptrap , this is cash. , hard earned cash .
Seven months to get a pushbike. , Jesus , the waiting time for a high end sportscar isn’t even that .
And all that will achieve is more stress for you, friends and relatives being bored by your war stories and you not getting a bike any time soon.
Give it 24 hours and reflect. Then concentrate on getting a bike, getting out there riding it and bringing down your endorphin levels.
Trust me the e-bike experience is great, once you get out there enjoying it this buying experience will fall to the back of your mind.
 

Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
I suspect I will get slated for this but my experience for what it is worth is that my "less than able" sister in law did a bit of local searching for less than two weeks and came up with what appears to be an excellent Raleigh Motus off the shelf in a local company who had just taken delivery of a decent amount.
Don't laugh as she is very pleased and unconcerned that it isn't the most popular make anymore.
No laughing here, the Raleigh Motus is a great bike.
 

nigelbb

Esteemed Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2019
332
307
Personally I would never have ordered & paid for a bike 4 months before the promised delivery. A week or 2 is OK maybe a month at a stretch but 4 months is taking the ****. At most I would have a small refundable deposit if there was no other way of getting the particular model I wanted.
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
And all that will achieve is more stress for you, friends and relatives being bored by your war stories and you not getting a bike any time soon.
Give it 24 hours and reflect. Then concentrate on getting a bike, getting out there riding it and bringing down your endorphin levels.
Trust me the e-bike experience is great, once you get out there enjoying it this buying experience will fall to the back of your mind.
Save your cod psychology please and for your information raised endorphin levels ward off pain and perpetuate pleasure . If your re gonna do cod at least make it semi informed / educated cod.
 

Samcycles

Pedelecer
Apr 26, 2020
68
50
Northern Ireland
Because i will not tolerate poor service , ever . By doing nothing and getting my belly tickled the retail sector will continue to churn out this mediocre ****.
Im raging as im currently paying for something that im not in possession of and with no firm date when i will be , this isn’t some intangible up in the ether , spiritual Claptrap , this is cash. , hard earned cash .
Seven months to get a pushbike. , Jesus , the waiting time for a high end sportscar isn’t even that .
Hi Exige260
As I said in my previous post you must talk to your C2WS provider urgently. You said that the voucher has been issued, but has it been redeemed?
If not they can change the details and you can shop elsewhere. If it has been redeemed by the LBS then you need their involvement. It's complicated because legally there are several contracts in play involving you, your employer, the C2WS provider and the LBS.
Regarding your deposit it could be referred to by the LBS as a non refundable reservation fee but as they have told you they can no longer supply the goods reserved they are in breach of contract and should return your deposit.
I know how angry and frustrated you must be but your C2WS provider is best placed to help you.
I hope you get a resolution quickly.
 
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Wander

Esteemed Pedelecer
Aug 8, 2013
586
429
Save your cod psychology please and for your information raised endorphin levels ward off pain and perpetuate pleasure . If your re gonna do cod at least make it semi informed / educated cod.
You are clearly someone unwilling to listen to others. Maybe I don't understand endorphins but quite frankly I don't care. The underlying message is true. Good luck with your stress levels and quest for 'justice' because you feel you have been wronged. In my world there's more important things to worry about. Just off for a ride on my bike, cause I've got one.
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
Personally I would never have ordered & paid for a bike 4 months before the promised delivery. A week or 2 is OK maybe a month at a stretch but 4 months is taking the ****. At most I would have a small refundable deposit if there was no other way of getting the particular model I wanted.
The payment is via the CTWS , voucher was issued because the bike shop confirmed the build and delivery date , it was only when the bike was 3 weeks late that the shop came up with The story of Cube cancelling production of my bike.
What i seek to do is to get a timeline of the decision making / correspondence etc and ascertain why ( if this whole charade is true ) the shop failed to know and keep me informed of any changes to my order.
When the bike was ordered i could of got the bike from numerous other outlets ( who had the bike in stock ) but i chose to go local ( and small ) for various reasons ,all of which seem spurious now .
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
Spoke to the CTWS yesterday , voucher not redeemed but payment starts on issue of voucher .
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
You are clearly someone unwilling to listen to others. Maybe I don't understand endorphins but quite frankly I don't care. The underlying message is true. Good luck with your stress levels and quest for 'justice' because you feel you have been wronged. In my world there's more important things to worry about. Just off for a ride on my bike, cause I've got one.
I have an Ebike , the new one will be an upgrade , had a very pleasant 14 mile ride in the sun yesterday . Thanks for your , quite touching , concern .
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,986
Basildon
What the shop is saying sounds right to me, though they probably knew that some time ago, like when they tried to order the bike. If they're new to the game, it's possible that they're as naive as you.

I have close association with the trade, so I know how it works. You have to order well in advance to get stock of these sort of bikes. You have to gamble on what will sell. The more you order, the better the price. Fashions change very quickly, and if you get it wrong, you get stuck with bikes that you have to sell at a massive discount, so no profit. If later your customers buy what you ordered, there's a high probability that you won't get in a second order in any one season. that means if you sold them all by June, you won't get any more until September, which will be next year's model.

It's a bit more complicated than that because say, as a dealer, you order 20 of a particular model. You can't put them all in your shop, so they're held at the warehouse and you call them off when needed. If you run out, there's still hundreds in the warehouse, but they all belong to other dealers. You ring up your sales rep to see if you can get some more. They then have to check with all the other dealers whether they don't mind losing any from their stock because maybe there's a chance that they're not not selling as many as they thought they would. Also, demand and fashions might be different in other countries, so they have to ring the German and French divisions to see whether they have unsold stock that they could transfer to UK. Basically, its a lot of phone calls and logistics with no certainty in anything. You can imagine that when they ring the dealers asking if they can have one of their stock, the dealer says that he needs time to think about it and probably doesn't bother to call back.

I have a similar problem to you. I ordered a new motorbike last week, which I should be collecting today, except I now find out that they can't get the colour I wasn't and the other colours are really horrible, like matt black or white and silver that looks like they forgot to paint the white. They told me that they had the one I want in stock when I ordered. I should have asked to see it. They have my deposit and can't give a date for when they can get one despite them being a main dealer and the bike being in continuous production without changes. Luckily, I'm in no hurry because I already have a nice motorbike.

There's a lesson to learn. If you can't actually touch the exact thing that you are buying, you should be suspicious about whether you can get it. If you can put your name on the one that's sitting on the showroom floor, you should be OK. Don't pay any deposit or make any other arrangement until you can touch the thing that you're ordering if you want to be certain.
 
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Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
What the shop is saying sounds right to me, though they probably knew that some time ago, like when they tried to order the bike. If they're new to the game, it's possible that they're as naive as you.

I have close association with the trade, so I know how it works. You have to order well in advance to get stock of these sort of bikes. You have to gamble on what will sell. The more you order, the better the price. Fashions change very quickly, and if you get it wrong, you get stuck with bikes that you have to sell at a massive discount, so no profit. If later your customers buy what you ordered, there's a high probability that you won't get in a second order in any one season. that means if you sold them all by June, you won't get any more until September, which will be next year's model.

It's a bit more complicated than that because say, as a dealer, you order 20 of a particular model. You can't put them all in your shop, so they're held at the warehouse and you call them off when needed. If you run out, there's still hundreds in the warehouse, but they all belong to other dealers. You ring up your sales rep to see if you can get some more. They then have to check with all the other dealers whether they don't mind losing any from their stock because maybe there's a chance that they're not not selling as many as they thought they would. Also, demand and fashions might be different in other countries, so they have to ring the German and French divisions to see whether they have unsold stock that they could transfer to UK. Basically, its a lot of phone calls and logistics with no certainty in anything. You can imagine that when they ring the dealers asking if they can have one of their stock, the dealer says that he needs time to think about it and probably doesn't bother to call back.

I have a similar problem to you. I ordered a new motorbike last week, which I should be collecting today, except I now find out that they can't get the colour I wasn't and the other colours are really horrible, like matt black or white and silver that looks like they forgot to paint the white. They told me that they had the one I want in stock when I ordered. I should have asked to see it. They have my deposit and can't give a date for when they can get one despite them being a main dealer and the bike being in continuous production without changes. Luckily, I'm in no hurry because I already have a nice motorbike.

There's a lesson to learn. If you can't actually touch the exact thing that you are buying, you should be suspicious about whether you can get it. If you can put your name on the one that's sitting on the showroom floor, you should be OK. Don't pay any deposit or make any other arrangement until you can touch the thing that you're ordering if you want to be certain.
Thanks for the detailed helpful reply , ive bought very expensive sports cars (for that read toys ) nearly all my adult life without ever touching the model i want / have specified ( so hopefully not so naive ) and the service ive received and bungling by both bike retailer and bike manufacturer ) has really caught me unawares .
Chances are im going to have to wait for the 2021 release to occur ( ive been told im number one in the whole UK to get the new model when its released , yeah wot ever !) whenever that maybe .
im going to write directly to the MD of Cube ( Germany ) and explain the situation , hoping that at least he will be then aware of the shernagans that is going on with his company and his approved dealers.
 

vfr400

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 12, 2011
9,822
3,986
Basildon
im going to write directly to the MD of Cube ( Germany ) and explain the situation , hoping that at least he will be then aware of the shernagans that is going on with his company and his approved dealers.
Don't waste your time. They know exactly how it is. They're already trying their best, but they have to make money for the shareholders too.
 

Exige260

Finding my (electric) wheels
Jun 29, 2012
23
1
Don't waste your time. They know exactly how it is. They're already trying their best, but they have to make money for the shareholders too.
If you’re best is not good enough you are not trying hard enough .