customer

Rapid delivery and everything was presented beautifully. Sizing a bit inconsistent though. Ordered two pairs of boots, both in UK11. One pair I could barely get my foot in, the other fit perfectly.

Mixed experience for me.

Ordered a road bike in June 2024. My bike arrived fast but scratched. Was offered a fair resolution. Podium points are a perk. Bike has performed well.

Now in the market to upgrade. Because of the way Pedalon handled my first purchase it made sense that I consider them again. My initial inquiry was met with enthusiasm and advice. I since replied;

''Hello, after some research I'm now leaning toward the Defy with Di2, and preferably some slightly deeper carbon wheels. The Advanced 0 is ticking boxes. I don’t really like bright colours though. My Domane is matte black and I really like the darker colour. I’d prefer something dark / more mute if possible (black/grey), preferably gloss instead of matte this time. Do you offer any opportunity to try bikes at your store? I’ve had a look at the Defy geometry and a Large is very similar to my 58cm Domane. That said, I would be curious to try an M/L''

This time the response was from a different person. They got my name wrong and offered no guidance on inventory, nor did they bother to provide me with any advice or recommendations for suitable alternatives;

''If the roads are dry and you are willing to sign our terms and conditions, you’re welcome to test ride bikes. Can’t do anything about the colour of Defy though''

Most inviting!

The bike I expressed interest in is available in various builds and colours, the majority of which are muted gloss finishes. That said, Giant has quite a confusing model lineup.

Pedalon don't appear to have the want or need to deal with repeat custom however, which is fair enough. But bikes are expensive and rapport goes a long way.

I’ve since discovered that I can purchase the bike direct from Giant at the same price, and with free returns.

I have an issue with the carbon fork on my 6 month old Domane.

After an in-person assessment @ Trek Bicester on 1/3/25, Stuart Taylor (Store Manager) offered relatively little in way of explanation for what might have gone wrong, but suggested we file a warranty claim for a new fork.

Stuart assured me that he would file the claim that day (1/3/25), and would likely receive confirmation from Trek by the 3/3/25 or 4/3/25. With the new fork being delivered by the end of the week (7/3/25).

It is now 11/3/25, 10 days later, and I have received no form of communication from Trek pertaining to the status of my warranty claim.

I emailed Stuart Taylor on 10/3/25 asking for an update. I've been ignored.

The fork is a critical component of a bike, and a failure would be catastrophic. As a result, whilst I wait for Trek to process my warranty claim I cannot ride my bike. I paid a lot of money for a bike that I cannot use, and I have no idea when it will be remedied.

I am slowly loosing faith in the brand. A manufacturing defect on such a critical component is alarming, and I dread to think what might have happened had I not noticed it.

On top of this, Treks communication has been very poor. Online chat were asinine and offered no insight or advice besides contacting my local Trek store. My local Trek store have offered no explanation as to what might have happened, ignoring my email and failing to communicate or update me on the progress of my claim.

I was also slightly perturbed by how Stuart handled my bike when he inspected it, at one point very demonstrably throwing the thru axle back into the fork after removing the front wheel, chipping the paint in the process.

I am now in the process of seeking legal advice on how best to move this forward, whilst considering alternative brands so I can get riding again. If the issue with my Domane is ever fixed I will most likely sell it. A very expensive regret.

I would not recommend Trek.

I submitted a return via DPD on 27/2. DPD confirmed delivery of my return at 16:27 on 28/2.

I received no form of confirmation from Sebago that my return has been received and my refund is being processed.

I subsequently emailed Sebago and received the following reply;

'please allow approximately 2-3 weeks for processing'

I emailed Sebago on a further 2 occasions and received no reply. They have been unable to confirm if they had received my return or not.

Distance Selling Regulations permit retailers 14 days from the date that they received the returned goods to process a refund.

In preparation, I have raised a case with Trading Standards, I am awaiting the results of a Lost Parcel Investigation via DPD, to evidence that Sebago have received my return and are refusing to acknowledge so, and my solicitor has prepared a Letter Of Intent for small claims pending Sebago's failure to adhere to Distance Selling Regulations by 14/3/25.

I would strongly advise that you avoid shopping with Sebago. In the event that you need to action a return you will be left in limbo and out of pocket for up to 3 weeks, unsure if your return has been received and without your refund.

Sebago should looks closely at how they handle returns in the UK, both in terms of how they communicate with their customers and the time frame with which they are required to provide a resolution, as dictated by law.

One4All is rediculous. These gift cards cannot be used as part payment on Johnlewis.com; your order needs to match the card balance or be less than the card balance. After 18 months one4all will charge you if you have any unused balance. You cannot add to the balance. It doesn’t work for online purchases using Apple Pay. If you want to withdraw the balance they charge you £7.50 for the privilege. Ended up using it to buy a John Lewis gift card in Tesco, which I then redeemed as part of my payment for an item on Johnlewis.com. An absolute faff. Not worth the hassle, they basically just make it difficult for you to spend your money, and then give you a time limit on when to spend it by. Cannot comprehend why anybody would choose to purchase one, utterly pointless

Prompt delivery, well packaged and clearly defined labels. I had one small issue with a sprayer, it seemed to dispense some of the cologne into the threaded neck of the bottle on the first pump so I lost a little. It was only a small sample, but fortunately there were a couple more sprays in the bottle for me to sample. I would use them again

Ordered Apple AirPods Pro (Gen 2) online. Delivery via Waitrose Click & Collect. My order was ready for collection the following day.

To my dismay I had been sent a product that had already been opened. Both seals were torn.

They’d also shipped my order in a Jiffy bag? Subsequently the packaging had been squashed on one side during transit.

Complete waste of time. Wasted journey to Waitrose. Initiated a return from the car park and immediately sent it back.

John Lewis appear to be selling customer returns or refurbished items as ‘new’ on their website.

I shall be avoiding in future.

Returned an online order. Sports Direct confirmed receipt of my return on 26/6.

It is now 12/07 and I have still not been refunded.

Subsequently, I sent an email to Customer Services on 10/07, since I could not find any other means to contact them. I've not had a reply.

I used their online webchat on 11/07. I was informed that there was nothing they could do and that it was being 'investigated'.

It is now 12/07. Still no refund. Still no reply to my email. Still not a single form of correspondence to confirm that my issue is being dealt with.

Sports Direct are now in breach on the Distance Selling Regulations and my Consumer Rights. And it is proving impossible to resolve since there is no way to speak to anybody.

Fortunately I have a solicitor in the family who has now raised a case with the Consumer Ombudsman and Citizens Advice, and has initiated small claims legal proceedings on my behalf, in order to expedite my refund an claim a necessary level of compensation. This would be infinitely more stressful if i didn't have legal aid.

I WOULD URGE ANYBODY CONSIDERING SPORTSDIRECT.COM TO SHOP ELSEWHERE

I completed my Professional Electrical Course in July 2022. My experience with Access was mixed for three main reasons.

First and foremost (Mr **** , one of my online tutors. Mr ***** didn’t seem very well versed in the art of teaching. He was very good at alienating people for asking questions, but his lesson structure, or lack of, made the learning curve far more difficult than it needed to be. He never seemed to remember where we had concluded the previous session, jumping from one subject to the next without rhyme nor reason. His lessons had no direction and I often felt more confused at the end than I did at the start. All the while fighting constant interruption from his children, goldfish and stories of the army. I took very little from the time I spent with Mr ***** (half of the theory portion of my course).

Fortunately, my other tutor Rob (Welwyn) was superb, delivering his lessons with real structure in a concise and coherent manner. I learned most of my theory from Rob, who is not only a highly experienced electrician but a very skilled teacher. After attending in centre for my exams and practical, I began to realise I wasn’t the only one that felt this way. This probably explains why Mr ***** is no longer teaching. It was unfortunate since it made my journey that little bit more challenging. If you are enrolling now this may not be an issue for you, but I can only report on my experience.

My second issue was with Access careers support, or lack of. The website heavily promotes its careers and employment support portion of the course. This bore serious weight when I was deciding where I would learn. Unfortunately I’ve had no support since obtaining my qualifications and as such it is proving incredibly difficult to find a pathway into industry. I was assigned a recruitment consultant, Mr *****, who assured me he would find suitable roles that might be of interest. He failed to send me a single one. He then sent me an email explaining that my details had been sent to ***** Recruitment, an external recruitment agency, and they would be in touch in the coming days. This was in August. To date, as I write this, nobody has contacted me from ***** Recruitment. I chased Access after not hearing anything for two weeks, only to receive an automated bounce back email advising me that Mr **** no longer worked at Access! Nobody had called to inform me of this or assign me a new contact. I contacted Access recruitment and was ignored. After I sent a second email, I was put in touch with Ms ***** two days later. Ms ***** assured me that as Recruitment Manager she would be my best contact going forward. Ms ***** has failed to present me with a single opportunity either. I haven’t heard from her since 21st September 2022.

Further to this, during my course I would often receive generic emails detailing what appeared to be fantastic opportunities for newly qualified electricians. I chased two of these, both of which were listed in my postcode. These didn't amount to anything. I asked if they were genuine opportunities, since the detail in these emails is sparse and they all look the same. I’ve never received a straight answer. I don’t believe they are. I also considered it strange that I was being sent generic emails for newly qualified gas engineers. It seems not only are these fanciful opportunities automated, but they don’t even tailor them to a student's profile.

My final issue was in learning that Access Professional Electrical Course now includes their EV Charge Point Installation course. This wasn’t included on my course, despite doing the same one. If I want to do this course I would have to pay separately.

Also, be wary of the price you are paying for your course. The website doesn’t include any pricing. I later learned that this is because they don’t have fixed pricing. After consulting with other students, we had all paid a different price for the same course. This amounts to price discrimination and seems morally incorrect.

I must stress it wasn’t all negative. I will reiterate my learning experience with Rob was as good as I could have hoped for. I took so much from him. The practical element of my course was also thoroughly enjoyable. I've got nothing but praise for James, my practical tutor. He was patient, diligent, conscientious, capable and personable. He was clearly very experienced, and his teaching methods were very accomplished. I took a lot from the time I spent with James. I also made a new friend in my fellow students, all of which were really friendly and made my time in Cardiff a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Finally, Access prompt you to review your experience at the end of the theory portion of your course, barely one third through your course, before you have experienced all aspects of what has been sold to you. Don't do that.

I WOULD STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU AVOID ORDERING FROM MACHINE FITNESS

I made two separate orders for two t shirts, and returned both via recorded delivery, following the returns instructions on the Machine Fitness website.

I received confirmation from my chosen courier that my parcel had been delivered to Machine Fitness on 25/4.

I emailed Machine Fitness on 26/4 to request the status of my return/refund. I was informed that the Returns Team would be in touch once my return is processed, and that returns usually take 3-7 days to process.

11 days since receiving confirmation from my chosen courier that my parcel had been delivered to Machine Fitness and having not heard anything, nor received my refund, I contacted Machine Fitness again on 7/5 to request an update on the status of my return/refund. It has taken them a further 3 days to respond to that email, and I have been advised that they will ‘check the status of my return with the Returns Team and get back to me very soon’.

It is now 17 days since I received confirmation from my chosen recorded delivery courier service that my parcel had been received by Machine Fitness. I have still not received any direct confirmation from Machine Fitness that my return has been received or is being processed.

Under the Distance Selling Regulations, customers must be refunded within 14 days of the returned goods being received. Needless to say I am now in the process of talking to Citizens Advice.

Never have I ever experienced this level of inadequacy from an online retailer.

There is a common theme amongst reviews of Machine Fitness. They all relate to issues regarding returns. 28% of reviews are 'bad', that's nearly a third. Here is another one. Avoid a headache and shop elsewhere.

*Update: 14/5*

In response to retailers reply

I emailed for a second time on Saturday 7th May, requesting an update on the status of my return for a second time. I didn’t receive a reply until Tuesday 10th May. Monday 9th May was not a bank holiday. The timeline of our communication is evidenced in our email
thread below. Your reply to my review is untruthful and inaccurate.

The only communication I received regarding the status of my return was in response to chasing it myself. Why didn’t somebody inform me that my return had been received / was being processed? Why didn’t somebody inform me that it may be delayed for whatever reason? There was no communication.

I returned items but received no form of a acknowledgement from you that they had been received. When I first requested an update I was simply informed that the returns department would notify me when it had been processed.

17 days elapsed between receiving confirmation from my courier that my items had been delivered to you, to my refund being issued. This is significantly longer than your estimated 3-7 days, regardless of bank holidays. And it is a long time to wait when no form of communication is issued letting me know what was going on.

My review is a fair, truthful and succinct account of my experience when returning items to you, why should I delete it? Your five star reviews are misleading otherwise. My experience was not five star.

Your urgency to rectify my issue was only apparent once I had informed you that I was seeking advice / having written my review.

I hope that this instance assists you in improving your returns process, notably the way in which you communicate with future customers that are returning items.

I was gifted a £50 surf voucher shortly before the first COVID lockdown in March 2020. Due to this and a subsequent shoulder injury last year, I wasn't able to book my beginner surf session until now (April 2022).
 
However, The Wave have refused to honour my voucher because they only extended COVID affected gift certificates to December 2021.
 
I wasn't given any means to try to rectify the situation, such as the option to pay a maintenance fee in order to redeem it. They just apologised that I had lost my £50, and they 'hoped to see me at The Wave soon'. A reputable company would generally offer some sort of resolution in order to appease it’s custom. Especially a company so young, trying to establish it’s reputation. Especially when they already have our money. Especially when we’ve just endured 2 years of unprecedented uncertainty and difficulty nationwide.
 
It's a real shame, and a bit short sighted I think.
 
I had intended to visit The Wave several times this year in order to learn the basics of surfing. I'd also hoped to take my little nephew there. All of which is now lost revenue to them, since on principle I wont be visiting now.
 
I don't really understand why gift certificates expire, or why The Wave cannot exercise a little discretion, given the extenuating circumstances of the past 2 years. This just leaves a sour taste and a negative review, something I would have thought a fairly infant business like this would strive to avoid.
 
Really disappointed :( I hope The Wave puts my £50 to good use given it won’t be used to give me a dabble in the surf.
 
I can't comment on any other aspects of The Wave as I haven't been able to go, but it looks like an amazing facility. Reviews on here are mixed and on balance it’s rated ‘average’. I guess that speaks for itself. I’ve also noticed I’m not the only one to loose out because of surf vouchers. Easy money I guess.

I didn’t receive any order confirmation until I requested one. Delivery seemed to take quite some time. Also I ordered Italian Vanilla, but received Vanilla. I don’t know why the website refers to the product with a different name to that which is printed on the packaging.

Product ordered was listed as in stock on website. Waited 3 days to receive a poorly worded email informing me that I had been refunded and the item I had ordered was in fact out of stock. Never used BB Warehouse before, certainly won’t use again. 3 days to realise a customers order wasn’t in stock? If you use this company good luck to you!

Good value. Delivered on time. Transparent. Smart app. Nice card. Good choice.