The worst bike shop ever?

I promised myself I would write this post once I’d managed to reach some kind of conclusion…

During October 2014, I became increasingly aware that the bearings in my Mavic rear hub were really on the way out (too many winters) and, being of the cartridge type, adjustment wasn’t as straightforward as the standard cup&cone variety.

I hankered after a pair of traditional handbuilt wheels – Ultegra hubs, 32(ish) spokes, Mavic Open Pro hubs.  After a bit of searching (admittedly not too much – more of that later), I came across David Hinde Racing.

The spec was good and after an initial email enquiry, I received a response from the company suggesting I call them to confirm the order and sort out the shipping, which is quite normal when seeking delivery to Guernsey.

This was October 28th 2014, and they took my £208.34 immediately over the phone…

Since then this company ‘David Hinde dot com’ (no I won’t put up a link – but if you’re interested, google the reviews.  I wish I had.) have bluntly been the absolute worst, appalling and rude retailer I’ve ever had the misfortune to be involved with.  Repeated emails, various phone calls, advice from Trading Standards, Consumer Protection and Citizens Advice, a variety of attempts to reach an amicable conclusion (refund? – nope, wheels? – nothing, apology? – kidding) have got me absolutely nowhere.

I finally contacted my Credit Card company, and went through the process of putting in a claim in the hope of getting my money back.  Today I got a letter from Marbles confirming that they had indeed refunded my account – so a big thanks to them and no thanks whatsoever to Dave Hinde and his mob.

This is a rare occurrence – the vast majority of online retailers are brilliant, and even the not-so-good ones can usually be relied on to have at least a modicum of integrity.  This company doesn’t.

And I think you all should know.