Jared Purdy

Greetings,

Anyone have any dealings with this UK based, on-line bike shop? If so, how was it?

Cheers.

shelbyfv

They are legit, as are Wiggle/Chain Reaction and Merlin. Never had an issue with any of them. If you are buying clothing, be prepared to eat it if you occasionally order the wrong size. Cost of shipping makes returns not worthwhile.

Jared Purdy

Thanks. I've ordered from Merlin, Chainreactoin, totalcycling and bike-components.de, all without issue. On the 11th of this month I ordered something from probikekit and there has been no movement on it since the 15. It was apparently picked up on the 13th and shipped by Fed Ex Cross Border. On their web site, since the 15th it has displayed "routed to destination". On the linked Canada Post site, it's in Madrid, Spain. Why it was sent there in the first place is any one's guess?

shelbyfv

Bummer. Probably seasonal shipping disruption rather than something PBK did or did not do. Hopefully will be sorted in a week or two.

Jared Purdy

Fingers crossed. I'm not worried about getting my money back. I paid for it with Royal Bank VISA, and their third part credit default claim is fantastic. I just want the shifters!!

dedhed

Your beef is with the carriers, The vendor shipped it.
Apparently you're unfamiliar with the current global supply chain and shipping issues.

genejockey 

I have ordered a number of things from them, most recently a wheelset that arrived within 5 days.

Jared Purdy

Pretentious? What's abundantly clear is that you didn't read my other comments regarding the multiple other items I ordered from UK based sellers, before and after I placed the order with probikekit. All of those orders arrived within 7-10 days of placing the order. It's not too late to do seething different before the end of 2021, something that will actually improve your life: read, and stop being pretentious.

Jared Purdy

Well, I don't expect five day delivery to Canada, even at the best of times. However, it was been on stuck at the same place for ten days now. Madrid, of all places! In that same time period, bike-compents.de delivered to my door in seven days after placing the order, and that order was placed three days after I placed the order with probikekit. That's record breaking.

As I mentioned in earlier comments in this thread, all of the other orders I placed with UK based sellers over the same time period arrived in 10 days. I'm not buying the argument that it's pandemic related. If that was the case, the seven or eight other items I ordered, mostly from the UK, would have suffered the same problem. None of them did. Pro Bike Kit UK and USA are apparently looking into it. I'll be sure to provide an update.

diphthong

have ordered from them maybe two dozen times over the last two decades. various clothing items and tires are my purchased items. have ordered from them twice during the pandemic (flash sale conti gp5000 tires both times) and the tires arrived both times in a reasonable amount of time…like in less than a week to california. two or three times over the years, a shipment got caught up and took over a week. one time, delivery took exactly a month. fortunately, that item (a rain jacket) wasn’t essential as it was a vanity replacement…a better looking rain jacket to replace one that was still 100% functional. the pricing has been competitive and that one, loong delivery experience didn’t dissuade me from ordering from them multiple times since then.

delbiker1 

Ditto. The only issue I have had ordering from any of them was a lost Shimano compatible, Campy freehub that was lost in shipping. That was with CRC, not there fault, they immediately shipped out a replacement. I am a bit hesitant to purchase apparel, unless I have experience with the item and am sure of the fit. However, that does not always work out, and so, one is taking a chance on purchasing.

IME, PBK has the best pricing on a lot of items, especially wheel sets. That can be an issue if there is a warranty problem.

Jared Purdy

Most of the replies that I've read have been positive. That being said, I posted a question about this on a Colnago FB owner's group, and there were a few dissenters, with very negative experiences. I'd say 95% of people responding to my question have been positive, so that's encouraging. It just seemed really off, that, as I mentioned, I've ordered a number of items, all in the same time frame, mostly from the UK (two from Germany and three from the US) and all arrived in roughly 7-10 days, with the US deliveries taking two weeks.

delbiker1 

As stated above, I think the issue is with the shippers, rather than the seller. I have had the same thing happen, delays due to the overseas shipping and not being able to track the items. I have had the same issue with the USPS numerous times. That includes a package that the USPS declared lost, ok'ed placing a claim, only to get an e-mail the very next morning that the item had shipped, same morning, from the same distribution center that it had last been scanned one month before. It arrived the next day. I am not a very patient person, but have accepted that in these times, these things are going to happen.

jon c. 

In receiving other non bike related international shipments I've run across a few recently that have seemed to become stuck at customs points. I haven't had this happen until the last year or so but have seen 4 or 5 since then. It seems to be random. All but one eventually arrived. One that I was paying close attention to showed in online tracking as being at the customs point until the day it was delivered. Whether it's pandemic related or not I can't say, but shipping has been somewhat abnormal lately. I'd suspect staffing issues play a role.

dedhed

I read those, but this very clearly:
On the 11th of this month I ordered something from probikekit and there has been no movement on it since the 15. It was apparently picked up on the 13th and shipped by Fed Ex Cross Border. it's in Madrid, Spain

The vendor shipped the order within days during the busiest time of the year, any delays after that are with the carrier. Other orders you placed with other vendors really have no bearing on what can, or will happen, to a different package in the worldwide package stream. The fact is the vendor has no control over the package once it's in the carriers hand. They do have control over service with their customer, as well as additional resources with the shipper based on being the shippers customer, but they really can't do anything about how or where a package currently "in route" moves.

Lazyass

I ordered from them many times when I lived in NJ and had no issues. You ordered at the absolute worst time of the year AND it's across an ocean. If I had placed an overseas order 14 days before Christmas and got it before New Years I would have considered myself lucky. And the instant the item is picked up by the carrier it's out of PBK's hands. They did their job.

Sy Reene

Maybe. If we assume the package for OP has his correct address on it. Or, if PBK is supposed to sort it's outgoing shipments by regional destination (eg. North America vs Europe vs Asia) and accidentally put OP's package in a Europe bin. etc..

Jared Purdy

It's anyone's guess at this point. As per this morning, still no movement. Stuck in Madrid, Spain for some reason. 11 days at the same location and counting......

jamesdak 

I've got dozens and dozens of orders from the European sources over the years. Rarely has PBK been fast but they have seemed to have gotten better. Still historically for me, their shipments (carriers used) seem to take the longest. Just the nature of the beast, so when I order from them I just expect things to take weeks and then am happy the few times they come in quickly.

Jared Purdy

Hmm, well that's reassuring. Sort of.

Thomas15

Great exchange, full of fun, mystery and intrigue!

Deep0527

I ordered from them many times when I lived in NJ and had no issues. You ordered at the absolute worst time of the year AND it's across an ocean.

posse

Legit by me. Ordered tires 12/15, received them in Pittsburgh on 12/20.

Deep0527

I think the issue is with the shippers, rather than the seller. I have had the same thing happen, delays due to the overseas shipping and not being able to track the items.

SuperRichard

I have had several good dealings with these folks. I found the shipping quite quick, in fact I received my goods in 3 days. I don't think is fair to flame them for a shipping SNAFU in the current environment.