Alvelo

I feel compelled to share my horrible experience with "bikedescent". I received a partial order, of terrible quality, and never received the balance of my order. They ignored my emails, made empty promises about pending delivery, or ignored my messages and ultimately skunked me. I had to contest the charge with my credit card provider but they fought back and had the charges re-instated. They will go to great lengths to legally steal your money. Stay away.

dsaul

It is definitely a scam site. The address listed is a residential neighborhood in Ireland and the house number doesn't even exist on that street. The phone number in the "contact us" information is also listed on several other scam sites that are not even cycling related.

CliffordK

Hmmm.... Interesting website.

It looks like one of those companies that is full of generic accessories. Pretty on the outside, but with absolutely no quality control. And, some items will be good within the scope they are purchased in. Others will break or be non-functional almost immediately.

And, then there are the review battles. A search for the bike site above brings up a company "LOOX". Every one of their reviews for the bike company above is a glowing reviews complete with pictures. Well, except for one of a broken product that seems to have slipped through. I can't say if the reviews are real or fake, but it appears as if the published reviews are carefully selected.

shelbyfv

Bummer. Never heard of them before but online reviews don't look good.

Alvelo

Yes, they seem to have sharpened their scamming scheme. There didn't used to be an address or a phone number but they added them, presumable to make it all look more legitimate, but you have to do some careful research. Lesson learned...

Alvelo

Yeah... When you look carefully, the signs are all there. It' pretty obviously a scam. It's just a bit disconcerting to see it happen so openly and blatantly, and to last as long as it has.

Troul 

create a "yelp" like review & provide your experience there. It's a start to defunct them.

mstateglfr 

https://www.scamdoc.com/view/176941

Funny- all are 1* reviews. There are a few 5* reviews that should be 1*, but it appears the reviewers dont understand the * system.

indyfabz

Why did your bank not side with you for at least the portion of the order you did not receive?

Alvelo

The way I understand it, bikedescent shiped an inexpensive piece of junk, (the saddle, which was just one part of a bigger order) so that they could obtain some kind of delivery confirmation, which they submitted to the credit card company as proof that they "fulfilled the order". Evidently, the credit card company (Capital One) didn't care to make the effort to look into the extensive documentation I submitted with my complaint. They just checked a box somewhere that "proof had been submitted". At that point I was disgusted with everything and closed my credit card account. I guess Capital One is more concerned about collecting it's 3% fee from sales (fraudulent or not) than they were about doing the right thing. They are just as as bad as bikedescent, but this forum is about cycling, not credit card companies...

CliffordK

Did the company send a packing list with what was supposed to be in the box?

On E-Bay claims in the past I have documented the shipping weight that was listed on the shipping label, which can give an idea whether only half the items were actually put in the box.

Alvelo

There was no packing slip. They never sent a tracking number (but kept asking for it whenever they chose to respond to my emails) The saddle was crudely wrapped in a bag. They obviously perfected their scamming methods to make it difficult to prove their scam. Thanks for reading. Spread the word :-)

N2deep

Thanks, great post!

Bald Paul

This seems to be the new norm for scam sites. I ordered a laptop desk for my wife from a FB company ad, so she could use her computer in bed while she was ill. They sent me a cheap Chinese watch (that doesn't work.) But, because the tracking number shows delivery, PayPal said it was "resolved".
No, I no longer have a PayPal account.
FB is so full of scam sites now, I don't know why they bother running them. I refuse to purchase anything from any company advertising on FB, legit or not. Some of them are obvious scams, like the ones selling John Deere riding mowers for $89, or E-bikes for $39.99

veganbikes

I mean this is a perfect reason to stop by your local shop, hard to be a scam when you can hold items in your hand and talk to real live people.

dedhed

More often,"We can order that for you"

indyfabz

*smh*YOU brought up the charges being reinstated. My question was a fair one.

veganbikes

Especially these days but at least we are a real space you can enter.

Troul 

if the lbs orders it thru the risky online retailer, then the customer is safer going the lbs route.

PeteHski

I only buy online from sources I know and trust eg Chain Reaction/ Wiggle, Sigma Sports and other actual bike shops with an internet presence. Also used Amazon Prime without issues.

2old

I had a similar situation with a total scam, but was protected by PayPal (it was an ebay purchase and I believe they would have reimbursed me too or as a last resort, my CC). Don't know what the jerks got out of the deal unless a certain percentage of individuals don't bother to fight them. Assuming the OP used a CC, he should be protected. Lesson learned and will purchase only from trusted vendors from previous transactions.

indyfabz

I see you missed the post describing how his bank ruled against him.

2old

Check the dictionary; "should" doesn't mean did or didn't, and I was aware they didn't; I'd have a new CC if they did that to me, and wouldn't stop trying to recover the funds. There must be a CC monitoring system.

PeteHski

He did get a new cc. There comes a point when recovering the funds isn’t worth the time and effort and that’s where the OP aopeared to get to.

2old

There's also a point, for me, where fairness is worth extra effort and time, if necessary.