[SpinWheelz]

In this day and age, you'd think that internet purchases are fairly commonplace, both for the online retailer and for the online consumer. Yet, with this last purchase I made from Performance, you'd think they've never done an online sale ever. The mind boggles at the incompetence they've shown me.

My incident started Sunday night when I decided that I would order a repair stand for them, using their 20% discount coupon code. While on the site, I noticed that they had a pair of tires on sale. The only thing was that they had the rear tire in stock, but the front tire was on backorder. Site said that the front tire was due in last Friday. No problem, the site probably wasn't updated over the weekend, so I went ahead and ordered the lot - stand and both tires. In their special instructions section, I stated loud and clear that I wanted both tires immediately or none at all. Do not simply send the one tire that is in stock.

On Monday, I called up to check on my order. Do they have that front tire in stock? Sorry, sir, that's backordered until September. I figured, no problem, I left proper instructions - simply cancel the order for the other tire. I was told that I couldn't - that the order for the in-stock items was already processed. "Already processed? What's that mean?" The customer service rep told me, "It means just that, that it's been processed." So I asked, "Does that mean it's been shipped?" "No, I can't tell if it's been shipped, it's just been processed." This inane dance goes on for another 5 minutes or so before I lose my patience and am asked to call back in 24 hours when their computers get updated and they can get a better idea of what happened to my order.

So I called up again yesterday. I got even better news. No, my order hadn't shipped yet, but they can't cancel the order for the tire I didn't want. You know, the tire I told them not to ship. The one I explicitly said in my special instructions not to ship. Yeah, that one. So what they're going to do is ship me my stand and one useless tire, and when I get it, I need to call them up to ask them to send me return slips so that I can return the tire that hasn't left their warehouse yet. Wow. Such service, such courtesy. And on top of that, I get a call from Performance after I hung up the phone with them to tell me that I'll be credited for the tire that's on backorder. Uhh, no sh!t, Sherlock.

Can you begin to sense the insanity I'm dealing with here? Can you begin to feel how my blood is now boiling at the sheer stupidity of it all? Listen, Performance, stop doing the bare minimum of what you're supposed to do to fix your idiotic screw up and try to pass it off as some generous and tremendous customer relations gesture.

I wrote them a rather irate e-mail telling them that their screw-up is about to cost me both time and money, and that they have done absolutely nothing to either try and rectify their mistake or make it up to me somehow. No offer to ship the other tire for free, no offer to an upgraded shipping option, nothing. I'm pretty much left with "Sorry, our bad, sucks to be you, just send back the tire we haven't mailed to you yet." I'm not looking for handouts here, but I feel that when you've botched up a simple order so badly, I'm due some level of makegood for the trouble you're putting me through, that's all. Thing is, I've ordered from other online retailers before and whenever somebody's screwed something up, they've gone out of their way to make up for their mistake. They've made me feel like a valued customer. Even the ill-reputed Beyond Bikes upgraded my shipping to overnight once when where botched up an order of mine. And for a company the size of Performance, you'd think they'd have this not only online orders with special instructions down to a science, they'd have halfway decent customer service as well.

So, why am I posting this? Part of it is to vent to my fellow bike riders/consumers. The other part of is because I told Performance I would do so. I told them that if they didn't do anything to rectify their mistake, I'd have no problem relaying their stupidity to others, so that others may know just what sort of idiocy they're dealing with when they order from Performance. Now, I know that it's often going to be hard to beat Performance on price - and we're all price-savvy, I know - but I've learned my lesson hard and well here about Performance. I've learned that I now have zero confidence ordering anything from them, in stock or not. I've learned that there are better, more competent retailers out there who are far more accomodating with competitive prices to match. I've learned that these same retailers make me feel good about spending my hard-earned cash with them, rather than Performance's attitude which seems to be "take the money and run".

So there. End of rant. And I'm off to bed.

 

[fred3]

Which is why I always order using the phone. If they don't have a number I don't order. What you state is nothing new for most internet websites. With a toll free number you gain nothing from using the computer to order.

 

[SpinWheelz]

True enough, I've read enough horror stories here to know that my tale is nothing new. Not the first time it's happened and certainly not the last time it's going to happen to one of us. I have ordered by phone before but haven't always received an electronic confirmation of that order that allows me to track that order. Damned if I do, damned if I don't. Guess I'm at the mercy of these retailers, which sucks.

 

[bulC]

what the hell are you ranting about?

When you place an order like that, and an item is backordered, they don't charge you a second time for shipping the backordered item later. So the only inconvenience to you is you wait awhile until you receive it. They should have told you that, but if they didn't (or if you were ranting too loudly for them to get a word in) one would think it logical to ask "will I be charged extra shipping for that second tire?" and they would have replied "no."
Now I myself have a short fuse, hate stupidity and inefficiency, and love to play Irate Consumer, but even I think you're losing it, and that's saying a lot, coming from me.

 

[Abox]

I work in a tech support call center where we send out parts and deal with mis-written sales orders and stuff. After my experience here, my advice would be to forget special requests when making online orders. Forget that 'comments' section. Don't bother with special delivery instructions. If you need to make a comment, then you need to get on the phone to place the order. I understand the frustration completely...I've done it myself - put in special delivery instructions only to have them completely ignored. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

 

[SpinWheelz]

bulC, my gripe isn't with the fact that an item's backordered. It's the fact that I left explicit instructions to not send the one tire in the event that the other tire was backordered, and the went ahead and sent it anyway. Before it left the warehouse! The inconvenience I'm experiencing now isn't about having to wait for the backordered item. It has to do with the fact that I asked not to receive an item, but I'm going to get it anyway, and after that, have to call Performance to get return tags so that I can go stand in line at the post office to mail back the tire that I never should have received anyway.

I especially like your assumption that I was ranting too loudly to let them have a word in. After all, there's no way in hell that I could've dealt with this inept customer service department with boatloads of patience and civil behavior, right.

 

[AndyE]

I agree 100%

Which is why I always order using the phone. If they don't have a number I don't order. What you state is nothing new for most internet websites. With a toll free number you gain nothing from using the computer to order.

If there is a phone# use it, especially with special instructions. The warehouse guys most likely have tunnel vision, they see an order and process the available items, if the special instructions aren't glaring in their face they might not even see them until after the order is processed.

 

[SeamusCA]

Not a unique experience..

I buy a lot of gear from online sources, and expecting a high level of attention to your special request is only setting yourself up for this kind of frustration. As others have said, if you have any special needs, requests, etc., you really need to get on the horn with the e-tailer.

I recently ordered a bike from supergo.com, and they have a number of holes in their ordering process (incorrect/missing information on the website, no shipping confirmation, etc.). After speaking with a disinterested customer service rep, I chalked it up to a learning experience, and I won't be buying anything from supergo's website again.

OTOH, I've had good luck ordering from Performance's website and Bike Nashbar over the years.

Jim

 

[lamrith]

I will say 1st off I am not a retailer, wholesaler or online purchasing agent for anybody.

I hate to say it, I would hope that the instructions would be met as well, but this is a automated world. I am willing to bet that no human saw that order before it was processed. That is why they use online ordering, it is seemless, no human needed and the transaction is 90% done and on it's way to the warehouse before you even sign off your PC. That is how the systems are DESIGNED to function.

I am really sorry your order did not go as planned, I personally will not order anything from any company if I have a request like yours, all or nothing, or if something is backorder with a expected date already past, but the system still shows none. I have been bit by that scenario once and never tried it again..

 

[upNdown]

Lamrith says it alll

I'm going witht he majority here - yes they've given you lousy customer service, but 1) your expectations were too high and 2) you're blowing it out of proportion.

As Lamrith says in his post, never place an order under those circumstances with special instructions to any E-tailer. When dealing with E-tailers, you've got to assume that whatever could go wrong, will. So reduce your variables. Don't give special instructions. Don't order something that is backordered.

People often respond to a post like mine, saying that my attitude is part of the problem - the we, as a society, have come to accept loust customer service. My response is always that you get what you pay for. If you're ordering from a discount outfit, don't expect any service, cause you're not paying for it. If you want good service, go to a Local Bike Shop, where you pay MSRP.

Its just like Bontrager's motto - strong, light, cheap - pick two. With this sort of thing it is simpler: cheap, or good service - pick one.

 

[tlg]

I placed an order with Performance about a week ago. Set of brakes and brake levers. Normally I just order online and have never had a problem with any of the online retailers. However, on this instance, I wanted a price match, had a coupon, and one item was backordered. I didn't trust the comments section.

So I called. They pricematched the brakes, 1/2 price! Price matched the levers, $5 less. Plus allowed me to use a coupon. The brakes came the other day. The levers were backordered so they will ship separetely.

The moral: If it's not a straight forward simple order, call them.

 

[Trail Punk]

This is a minor complaint.

Customer service errors are inevitable...be grateful when they are so minor as a backordered tire and ignored customer instructions to not ship only one tire. I understand the frustration, but Performance does pretty well generally. I've spent well over $500 bucks via Internet this spring and so far this summer. Not one problem yet. I've been so satisfied that I just got a Team Performance number.

Save the big anger for when a major purchase gets botched and when you complain, a low-wage employee abuses you, then the supervisor says he doesn't want to talk to you about it. When that happens, don't rant. Just go to Walmart and buy more ammo.

 

[Cary]

There is an entire thread about this on Roadbikereview with people *****ing about Performance mail order problems. Unlike everyone else, I disagree that you are asking to much. I placed an order with Jenson last month, and realized afterwords that I didn't need a few things. I e-mailed them and 10 minutes later had a response that they had modified my order in accordance with my e-mail. This is why I order from Jenson most of the time or Larry at Mountainhighcyclery.

 

[CharT]

I ordered two sets of brakepads from Nashbar and they sent me 1 left pad and 3 right pads. One email and 24 hours later, they replied saying that they'd sent me the correct left pad. Mistakes will be made, and all it requires is a little patience to allow the business to fix it.

As for your case, you could just cancel the entire order and reorder just the stand. All done online, without ever having to speak with a human. Now, that's convenient!

I have to admit that my past experiences with customer service people have been bad. So, I tend to avoid the phone and do everything online or through email.

 

[jrm]

When in doubt CALL

In this day and age, you'd think that internet purchases are fairly commonplace, both for the online retailer and for the online consumer. Yet, with this last purchase I made from Performance, you'd think they've never done an online sale ever. The mind boggles at the incompetence they've shown me.

My incident started Sunday night when I decided that I would order a repair stand for them, using their 20% discount coupon code. While on the site, I noticed that they had a pair of tires on sale. The only thing was that they had the rear tire in stock, but the front tire was on backorder. Site said that the front tire was due in last Friday. No problem, the site probably wasn't updated over the weekend, so I went ahead and ordered the lot - stand and both tires. In their special instructions section, I stated loud and clear that I wanted both tires immediately or none at all. Do not simply send the one tire that is in stock.

On Monday, I called up to check on my order. Do they have that front tire in stock? Sorry, sir, that's backordered until September. I figured, no problem, I left proper instructions - simply cancel the order for the other tire. I was told that I couldn't - that the order for the in-stock items was already processed. "Already processed? What's that mean?" The customer service rep told me, "It means just that, that it's been processed." So I asked, "Does that mean it's been shipped?" "No, I can't tell if it's been shipped, it's just been processed." This inane dance goes on for another 5 minutes or so before I lose my patience and am asked to call back in 24 hours when their computers get updated and they can get a better idea of what happened to my order.

So I called up again yesterday. I got even better news. No, my order hadn't shipped yet, but they can't cancel the order for the tire I didn't want. You know, the tire I told them not to ship. The one I explicitly said in my special instructions not to ship. Yeah, that one. So what they're going to do is ship me my stand and one useless tire, and when I get it, I need to call them up to ask them to send me return slips so that I can return the tire that hasn't left their warehouse yet. Wow. Such service, such courtesy. And on top of that, I get a call from Performance after I hung up the phone with them to tell me that I'll be credited for the tire that's on backorder. Uhh, no sh!t, Sherlock.

Can you begin to sense the insanity I'm dealing with here? Can you begin to feel how my blood is now boiling at the sheer stupidity of it all? Listen, Performance, stop doing the bare minimum of what you're supposed to do to fix your idiotic screw up and try to pass it off as some generous and tremendous customer relations gesture.

I wrote them a rather irate e-mail telling them that their screw-up is about to cost me both time and money, and that they have done absolutely nothing to either try and rectify their mistake or make it up to me somehow. No offer to ship the other tire for free, no offer to an upgraded shipping option, nothing. I'm pretty much left with "Sorry, our bad, sucks to be you, just send back the tire we haven't mailed to you yet." I'm not looking for handouts here, but I feel that when you've botched up a simple order so badly, I'm due some level of makegood for the trouble you're putting me through, that's all. Thing is, I've ordered from other online retailers before and whenever somebody's screwed something up, they've gone out of their way to make up for their mistake. They've made me feel like a valued customer. Even the ill-reputed Beyond Bikes upgraded my shipping to overnight once when where botched up an order of mine. And for a company the size of Performance, you'd think they'd have this not only online orders with special instructions down to a science, they'd have halfway decent customer service as well.

So, why am I posting this? Part of it is to vent to my fellow bike riders/consumers. The other part of is because I told Performance I would do so. I told them that if they didn't do anything to rectify their mistake, I'd have no problem relaying their stupidity to others, so that others may know just what sort of idiocy they're dealing with when they order from Performance. Now, I know that it's often going to be hard to beat Performance on price - and we're all price-savvy, I know - but I've learned my lesson hard and well here about Performance. I've learned that I now have zero confidence ordering anything from them, in stock or not. I've learned that there are better, more competent retailers out there who are far more accomodating with competitive prices to match. I've learned that these same retailers make me feel good about spending my hard-earned cash with them, rather than Performance's attitude which seems to be "take the money and run".

So there. End of rant. And I'm off to bed.

Works everytime

 

[SpinWheelz]

Not to beat a dead horse at this point, but I do feel I need to set a few things straight here. I'll start with upNdown's comment that I'm set my expectation too high and that I've blown things out of proportion. Quite the contrary I believe I've done neither. My expectation was simply to place an order and for that order to be followed by the retailer. I fail to see how that's being unreasonable. As for my blowing things out of proportion, again I don't understand how. I place the order, they screwed it up royally and they have now caused me quite a bit of inconvenience. Plain and simple. I don't feel I've been melodramatic about it in the least.

What I take exception to is the fact that the majority of us feel compelled to accept substandard, incompetent service from our bike retailers. I don't expect that from my non-bike related retailers, so I'm not sure why I feel the need to make an exception for bike businesses. A business is a business, and part of keeping that business successful is getting your sales orders right and keeping your customers happy. From this incident, it appears that Performance has exceedingly failed on both accounts. And because of this, I've opted to take it up with their customer service, and perhaps blow off a bit of steam here about it. Yes, I have indeed learned my lesson here about not-in-stock items. Yes, I have learned my lesson here about special orders. But at the same time, I also feel rather pissed off that I can't shop with confidence because I "need to expect bike retailers to screw things up". That latter bit kills me. Like I said, you'd probably never take it from anybody else, yet some of you feel perfectly content to let these guys continue to get away with rubbish service, and instead choose to adapt around their incompetence. Sorry, but I have no patience for that. Especially not when I've had near flawless orders - and extremely accomodating customer service treatment - from other retailers.

And this is what I mean by 'take the money and run'. When I tried doing CharT's idea of cancelling the whole order and simply re-ordering the stand two days ago, I wasn't allowed to do so. I was told yet again "Sorry, the order's been processed - you can't cancel it." Complete and utter madness.

At the end of the day, the damage is done. The truth of the matter is that if Performance's customer service had just been a little bit better, I might not have minded spending my future dollars with them. And I do spend tend to spend quite a bit. But they were curt, unapologetic, and showed glaringly that they just didn't care. Therefore, I've learned my lesson well about Performance. Buyer beware when shopping with Performance, I guess.

 

[heatstroke]

I have a similar story.
1, I online ordered 4 tyres + a tube kit.
2. Performance email stating that tyres are discontinued, what do you want to them replace with ?
3. the same day I reply : 4 Fortezza Comps please, here is my team perf number.
4. performance emails : Too late - order has been processed, but we'll waive shipping on these new tyres
5. 1 Day later a $2.99 patch kit arrives , shipping was $10 - Nuts.
6. Another day later replacement tyres arrive. But not the right ones - they are heavy Fortezza SE not the comps, and I am charged non team performance prices which is almost 60%more. (Seems like their website is wrong - it still is wrong)
7. I call them up, performance says ok order new tyres (but have to pay shipping no matter how much I argue ) and they promise a return slip for the wrong tyres is on the way.
8. 2 days New tyres arrive, but no return slip yet.......
9. Hang on a sec, I've spent over 400 since joining team performance, but 90% of the team points are missing. A few days later and more phone calls - oops they have been giving them to the wrong person.
10. About 1 week since the first order, I've recovered my performance points. But where is that return slip for the wrong tyres I still have ?

maybe this is their payback for me buying ultegra levers ar 105 prices ?

 

[Goliath_2]

Booo

internet retailers, liquidators, ebay, and shops like performance and supergo spell the end of the bike industry as we know it. venues such as these are driving LBSs out of business with their pricing. this is the same david/goliath battle we see happening with walmart and home depot. anyone who shops at performance deserves the poor service and complete lack of competence and expertise they will most certainly encounter.

 

[Dave B]

Yea, PricePoint tried a similar "scam".........

Don't know what it is about some of these mailorder houses. I placed an order with PricePoint (via internet) on a Sunday. I noticed my e-mailed acknowledgement said I asked for 2nd day air-I didn't, only wanted regular ground. Since you can't call on Sunday and can't change the order by web, I called first thing Monday morn, around 8AM their time, and asked to change the ship method. I was told it had already shipped. Very strange, since they give a triacking number, and it was not even picked up from them until 6PM that day. Guess they don't know you can get the details on pickup, etc, from the tracking number? Anyway, now I order from Jenson and have been very happy with them, their customer service is great!

 

[SpinWheelz]

internet retailers, liquidators, ebay, and shops like performance and supergo spell the end of the bike industry as we know it. venues such as these are driving LBSs out of business with their pricing. this is the same david/goliath battle we see happening with walmart and home depot. anyone who shops at performance deserves the poor service and complete lack of competence and expertise they will most certainly encounter.

Thing is, your LBS can almost never compete on the same level as these large scale retailers. Companies like Performance deal with the volume that allows them to undercut your LBS almost every time. Not everytime, but most of the time. That's marketing dynamics.

As for people who shop with Performance deserving the poor service? I don't get that. Do you expect to buy rubbish cars when you buy from a large make like Honda and only expect a car to run well if you bought it from a small-time carmaker that's round the corner from you? Of course not. That reasoning's complete rubbish.