Wiggle. Here today and gone tomorrow?

verntern

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 12, 2010
22
0
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
Wiggle ('award winning Global Tri-Sport shop') Appears to be an internet site selling everything related to cycling (including e-bikes) , running and swimming. If I was considering buying their Technium Privilege Pedelec Electric Town Bike at £897.50 it's a tad offputting to read one of their statements, quote; 'There are no facilities for customer personal collections at this address. Please do not attempt to collect an order as you will be turned away which may cause offence. There is no shop front or customer service facility available at our warehouse.
You will be turned away? Mmmmmmmm - less than friendly statement. There is also no telephone number for this business. A business with only an email contact point, in my opinion, is not worth considering.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Barry Heaven

Pedelecer
Sep 19, 2009
162
0
I've used Wiggle a few times and always had a quick and efficient service. I guess being an Internet company that have no facilities for direct contact with customers. I do agree though that having no phone number is off-putting and knowing this would make me reluctant to use them again.:(
 

WALKERMAN

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 23, 2008
269
0
I have used Wiggle for six years and have found them to be excellent, certainly with regard to bike accessories.

I have recently had to return a Cateye rear light because the rubber button was coming out. They replaced it and also returned the postage quickly without any problems. The replacement light developed the same problem and was again returned and a replacement is on its way.
 

eddieo

Banned
Jul 7, 2008
5,070
6
The offer will probably be gone tomorrow.......that bike is a steal at the price:rolleyes:
 

Alex728

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 16, 2008
1,109
-1
Ipswich
Wiggle have been around for years, but they do try to push the customer contact to email so they can answer in their timescale. Its an unfortunate trend that many other businesses are turning to.

On the rare occasions I have had problems they tend to answer emails fairly quickly.

That said, these two numbers are mentioned on google searches.

023 9231 4811 (recorded message claims to go to call centre, then ACD type "ringing" tone)
023 9231 4813 (rings out, so live circuit)

Whether these numbers will get answered is another matter, but these are both BT allocations rather than a VOIP block and not incoming barred, I doubt a company trying to pare down costs like Wiggle is going to pay line rental on two BT business circuits and not use them at all.... :rolleyes:

(yes I work as a telecoms/network engineer :D)
 

tangent

Esteemed Pedelecer
Mar 7, 2010
299
0
I have also used Wiggle for a few years. Never had a problem with them, other than the Technium being initially listed as containing a 7 speed hub instead of 8. They offered to take the bike back straight away though and give me a full refund. Kept the bike instead with a reduction to the current price, which is an incredible bargain.
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
52,763
30,349
Wiggle have been my first choice source for years and they give superb service. On the one occasion the new item I received was faulty (SRAM P5 gear hub), it was instantly changed without any questions.

I regard them as no different from my other regular supplier, shop based St Johns Cycles, where service is concerned, both are excellent but Wiggles prices are very competitive. That's because they are efficiently warehouse based, so customers calling would disrupt that efficiency.

Those who prefer to deal with shop based outlets should do so, but their preference should not be the basis to criticise other excellent and highly valued business models.
.
 

Alex728

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 16, 2008
1,109
-1
Ipswich
I've used both (usually SJS when wiggle are out of stock) and found them to be good. the only issue I had with wiggle recently is a courier letting them down due to "weather" and when I reported this they instantly refunded the shipping costs without quibbling.

SJS do have people who will pick up the phone as well as a good mail order selection, though it isn't exactly a LBS when you live the other side of the country! Ironically the only reason I had to phone them is an item was backordered and timescales for its delivery were unclear simply due to a badly photocopied note.

OTOH tried dealers nearer to me to "support local businesses", only to find they were not honest about stock levels and I had to wait a week for stuff to be ordered from Raleigh (bit of a giveaway when the eco-friendly newspaper padding is from Nottingham :D)

The only flaw I've seen mentioned with wiggle which is (now corrected) appeared to be issues with timescales for back ordered items. Now they seem to literally make the item "disappear" when its out of stock long-term to prevent disappointment (it reappears later), which I think is a good and honest practice..
 

allen-uk

Esteemed Pedelecer
May 1, 2010
909
25
I suspect verntern might be an agent provocateur working for Wiggle! All he(she?)'s done is to elicit loads of responses saying how good Wiggle are.

To which I add my vote. Wiggle are fine. Nothing wrong with being an internet trader - look at Amazon. I doubt if they've got any shops, either.

Allen.
 

CeeGee

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 4, 2009
328
0
Weybridge, UK
Point 1: Wiggle have been around for 10 years; hardly here today, gone tomorrow.
Point 2: They publish their full postal contact address.
Point 3: What do you want - a nice bright shop front, with the full range of their products on view, or some of the cheapest prices on the internet.
Point 4: Why on earth go and visit Wiggle when they have fast free delivery
Point 5: "We're so confident that you'll love any bike you purchase from our vast range available, that we'll let you test ride it for a whole week!" If you don't like it they will collect it from you.

Colin
 

Bigbee

Esteemed Pedelecer
Oct 12, 2008
445
1
Wiggle ('award winning Global Tri-Sport shop') Appears to be an internet site selling everything related to cycling (including e-bikes) , running and swimming. If I was considering buying their Technium Privilege Pedelec Electric Town Bike at £897.50 it's a tad offputting to read one of their statements, quote; 'There are no facilities for customer personal collections at this address. Please do not attempt to collect an order as you will be turned away which may cause offence. There is no shop front or customer service facility available at our warehouse.
You will be turned away? Mmmmmmmm - less than friendly statement. There is also no telephone number for this business. A business with only an email contact point, in my opinion, is not worth considering.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Maybe you havent quite grasped the fact that THEY ARE AN INTERNET COMPANY??? Your comments are ridiculous.
 
Don't be too hard..

Maybe you havent quite grasped the fact that THEY ARE AN INTERNET COMPANY??? Your comments are ridiculous.
I've worked with a lot of internet companies in my time - one spent 125 MILLION pounds, and went down the toilet (boo.com). I think its really very sound to be wary of companies that only have an internet presence... In this case though, it seems wiggle is as sound as it comes. If I had NZ$100 of spare cash, I'd take advantage of free shipping all the way to the other side of the planet...!
 

verntern

Finding my (electric) wheels
Mar 12, 2010
22
0
St Ives, Cambridgeshire
[QUOTE
Those who prefer to deal with shop based outlets should do so, but their preference should not be the basis to criticise other excellent and highly valued business models.
.[/QUOTE]

Mmmmmmmmm, a tad pompous, particularly from someone who is always advising readers to go to dealer based outlets for peace of mind. 'Excellent and highly valued business models'? This is only your experience of dealing with this company and not a representative fact. Your values are not necessarily the same as others. Contributors to this forum should feel free to comment and criticise without your endorsement of Wiggle.
 

CeeGee

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 4, 2009
328
0
Weybridge, UK
Mmmmmmmmm, a tad pompous, particularly from someone who is always advising readers to go to dealer based outlets for peace of mind. 'Excellent and highly valued business models'? This is only your experience of dealing with this company and not a representative fact. Your values are not necessarily the same as others. Contributors to this forum should feel free to comment and criticise without your endorsement of Wiggle.
So you don't believe this then:
"We have won many awards for our service including 220 Triathlon magazine’s ‘Online Retailer of the Year’ award for the last 4 years running and we also came top of a poll from consumer group Which? being voted ‘UK’s Top Sports & Leisure Shop’"
"Which?" magazine aren't allowed to endorse Wiggle in case it upsets you?
Flecc's endorsement of Wiggle, like mine is based on years of use of this company. Our experience with them is why they are not a "here today, gone tomorrow" company as you so ignorantly referred to them.

Colin
 

Django

Esteemed Pedelecer
Feb 11, 2007
453
1
Mmmmmmmmm, a tad pompous, particularly from someone who is always advising readers to go to dealer based outlets for peace of mind. 'Excellent and highly valued business models'? This is only your experience of dealing with this company and not a representative fact. Your values are not necessarily the same as others. Contributors to this forum should feel free to comment and criticise without your endorsement of Wiggle.
Not true. Flecc has sometimes advised specific people to use a dealer based upon, amongst other criteria, their mechanical knowledge and desire for servicing availability. Equally, if Flecc describes something as a 'highly valued business model' you can be sure that it is based upon good empirical evidence.

Your final point is odd. All contributers should be allowed to coment, criticise and endorse as they wish. The idea that they should be allowed to comment or criticise without Flecc commenting or criticising strikes me as at best unusual.

Anyway . . . .
 

simonbarnett

Esteemed Pedelecer
Dec 26, 2007
335
25
West Hampstead, NW London
Seems simpler than all this to me. It seems plenty of people like and have used Wiggle over a long time. End of chat- as my charming daughters tell me!

I've used SJS (always reliable) but would look at Wiggle next time too.
 

HarryB

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 22, 2007
1,317
3
London
My only complaint is that when I order something with free delivery I get it the next day. Can't help thinking that I would have been ripped off if I had paid for next day delivery. Overall excellent service from Wiggle.
 

piotrmacheta

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jun 23, 2009
316
0
I have been buying from Wiggle for loads of years and they are superb - always quick delivery and faulty items exchanged without problem.

So a big thumbs up to Wiggle BUT I would recommend even more highly chainreactioncycles who are the best and the cheapest.