“Appalling experience. Can't get a straight a answer from customer services. Emails go unanswered. Never again. Huge waste of my time and money trying to return unsuitable item.”
“Buyer be ware! I purchased a saddle bag from Merlin Cycles a month ago (web order WEB11280340), never arrived. Contacted them every 2 days with little response from Gemma in Sales and no one other than Gemma can respond. Terrible service, no follow up and they want me to resolve with Royal mail as they see them selves as not responsible, really? Who contracted them, me? Either way, I never received my order, I am out of pocket and they do not seem to care. Don’t risk it, do not by from Merlyn.”
“I have been a faithful customer of Merlin Cycles for years, but only in the UK, and I always paid with Paypal.
I now live in Tenerife and even though Brexit has happened they charged me the extra taxes included in the sale, sso all seemed good.
Paid 30 Euro postage for a frameset so not cheap, but don't mind paying for quality service.
This is not quality service!!!!!
My frameset has been stuck in Essex for a month.
I have rung Steve over and over again and he uses the same excuses about brexit, lack of flights internationally and covid.
I follow by raising an inquiry for them to track it down and 12 days with no extra information.
Steve blames Fed Ex and says there is nothing he can do.
I request a refund as my order is yet to leave the UK and it was ordered over 5 weeks ago.
Steve and the higher gods are refusing refund as they say they are not responsible for the delays.
It is a complete joke and I will not be using again.
As I am a international customer I was not allowed to use Paypal for this order, and I am really regetting this now.
I will be looking to take legal action against them as this is Theft.
International Customers stay away from this fraud based business!!!!
You have been warned!!!!!
I”
“Rocked up on site , shop is closed but open to online, so I ordered out side , payed online , and collected with in 2 mins, can't thank enough for a superior service I received, 10 stars , thank you so much”
“The worst bike shop I have ever used. Bought a faulty rear light for £45. Used it once, it broke, and they refused to refund. I could have been killed, unknowingly cycling for 10 miles at night with no rear light.
AVOID AVOID AVOID”
“Customer beware.Today i received my order.fulcrum racing zero clincher $730 us dollars,wheels set arrived in a plain thin carton box ,not fulcrum branded packaging .open the box ,wheels with inadequate packaging, nothing to protect the wheels set just to plastic bags ,when i checked the wheels the front hub was damage ,scratched,rear wheel damage with 2 spokes damage bend in the middle of spokes ,no proof of authenticity,no fulcrum ID CARD. NO PROOF OF ORIGINAL ,no made in italy labels. wheels look like made in china, my first reaction COUNTERFEIT WHEELS ,I SCANNED THE MIGRO STAMPS ON THE RIMS NO INFO.SO I SCANNED THE BARCODE ON THE PACKAGED THEY WHERE PURCHASED IN CALIFORNIA WHERE SO MANY MADE IN CHINA PRODUCTS ARE SOLD (EBAY). MADE CONTACT WITH FULCRUM COMPANY , THERE ANSWER WAS (GREY MARKET) PRODUCTS ,DUPLICATE,REPLICA ,USED, NO WARRANTY,FAKE. I HAVE READ MANY COMPLAINTS FROM REVIEWERS RECEIVING THEIR BIKE PRODUCTS IN NON BRAND PACKAGING ,NO INSTRUCTIONS ,DAMAGE,LIKE USED, CUSTORMER BEWARE THIS IS WHAT YOU ARE GETTIN ,(GREY MARKET). MY FIRST TIME AND LAST BUYING FROM MERLIN CYCLES. $730 DOLLARS WASTED UNHAPPY CUSTORMER. DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.”
“Abysmal customer service. They sent me a defective wheelset and wouldn't hear of taking them back unless I paid full shipping back from Canada to the UK (over 200$). It was their mistake but wouldn't own to it. I tried as hard as I could to find a solution or compromise but they wouldn't hear of anything and wouldn't accept their responsibility. Worst customer service I've experienced ever. These guys are horrible, don't trust them.”
“Terrible and very frustrating customer service. Lots of back and forth over email for a faulty chain, was happy to provide the information requested. No meaningful response. I asked for a telephone call because you don’t get through when you call them, no telephone call. So I’m stuck with a new bike that I can’t cycle because the chain is broken. Cheers Merlin”
“I ordered my bike online and received my bike 15 working days after, which is for me, a reasonable time, and the item is well-protected upon delivery. Every email i sent to enquire about my item, Gemma is prompt for updates and very patient with me. My experience in purchasing my bike with Merlin is a positive one and I hope everyone appreciates their hard work specially this challenging pandemic time.”
“International US customers beware! I recently placed an order and even though Merlin claims to offer free shipping to the US, I received a call from the carrier requiring I pay $124 in customs fees. I and other friends have ordered from Merlin before without ever paying customs fees (wheels, framesets), so this appears to be a new cost Merlin is casually passing on to their customer without full disclosure upon checkout. Yes, they have a Ts&Cs page which says buyer may incur separate duty costs, but there is nothing about that on their shipping costs page and no mention of it at check-out. With any other international purchase I’ve made, there is always an obvious summary of charges at check-out. I truly hope Merlin resolves this matter or they will have lost a significant group of US customers. As I was told by their customer service rep when I called, “it is not Merlin’s job to educate US customers on international duty charges.” Fair enough, then I will.”
“Good product range and fast delivery but shocking bad customer service.
I purchased a pair of mitt gloves - they arrived in a different colour from what I had ordered. The Merlin website was misleading in the way it displayed its products - Steve, their customer service agent, disputed this and even went as far as to say Merlin 'have to' describe Castelli products in the Italian language (even though Castelli themselves don't do this on their website). Steve also said pictures of items for sale were for 'illustrative purposes' and did not reflect what I could expect to arrive.
In the end The Advertising Standards Authority made contact with Merlin and informed them of consumer law and where they were not meeting standards. They have since changed their website for this item.
Steve, nor Merlin cycles ever apologised for the time wasted on this issue. I repeatedly asked to speak to a supervisor or other customer service agent - these requests were ignored.
No doubt online retail is competitive but Merlin cycles really fall short in their customer service. I have shopped with them over the years but would avoid from here on in due to this experience.”
“1 star is too much. 4 week wait for a "not as described" bike to arrive and now they won't fix it unless it's returned. Only a 10 minute job to sort but they won't send me the cassette to do it. I have to send the wheel back which will be gone for ages.
Pants attitude - should have been correct in the fisrt place, I have receipt saying it was checked, must have been by a blind person. Not happy. won't use and or recommend them. If you look there are similar reviews on here so there is a common problem they don't seem to care and or want to address in the most efficent way possible, just mess the customer around.
Without customers you are nothing, maybe you should do something about that?
Thanks for nothing”
“As another review posted "Do not order from them. If they send you a bad or wrong item, they simply refuse to acknowledge the error". Be 100% certain you know what you have ordered from Merlin Cycles, I suggest taking a screenshot of the product at the time of sale as even the invoice won't match up. Caveat emptor - the fact that buyers typically have less information about the good or service they are purchasing, while the seller has more information. The quality of this situation is known as 'information asymmetry'. Defects in the good or service may be hidden from the buyer, and only known to the seller”
