|   Hammerheadbikes Ordering | gspot
Nov 12, 2003 3:00 PM | | I ordered some parts from them, and they took almost 3 weeks to get here! then, to top it off , the order wasn't even complete! I emailed them about this, and have yet to get a reply, even after 4 days! so don't order from them! i picked the mbecause i could save a couple of bucks over aebike.com's online QBP catolog, but it was clearly not worth it !
so just order from aebike.com, if you want service! |
| wahhhhh | SSteelbike
Nov 12, 2003 3:46 PM | | What did you expect? Both order from QBP, then send to you. Let's see, Minneapolis to Austin, TX to you or Minneapolis to Kalamazoo, MI to you- which one will be faster? There was also Interbike thrown into the mix. How do I know? I ordered and it took a little longer than expected..... but I didn't whine about it on the internet. If you called them instead of emailed they (he?) would have done better. |
| Bring your gripes to this forum... | Sparty
Nov 12, 2003 4:25 PM | | ...last. First, talk with the people you're doing business with. Until you do so, you have no idea why things are as they are -- only your own speculation.
Death in the family?
Shop burn down?
Computer crash?
Other?
Pick up the flippin' phone!
--Sparty |
| er | the Inbred
Nov 12, 2003 4:51 PM | | Charles will get you the best price out there. i don't know what you ordered, or you personally, but i do know Charles. he's good to work with. if you have problems with him, call him. Hammerhead is a 2-person operation...and like everyone else, they aren't perfect 100% of the time. |
| Hammerhead bikes and Charles Bad? | crux
Nov 12, 2003 5:37 PM | | Sorry I'd have to side with Charles on this one. He is a smaller type shop, but has built a reputation on customer service and getting custom pain in the arsh stuff that we all want. |
| Hammerhead bikes and Charles Bad? | Hammerheadbikes
Nov 12, 2003 5:57 PM | | thanks..
just a few months ago we got into the "parts" business, or more specifically, having a shopping cart and selling on line, really for existing/repeat customers. Making it easier on them and me.
No intention on being a Jenson or Pricepoint. Our focus is to build the best bikes at the best price with the best build quality and attention to detail
Problem is, we really had no real "system" in place to handle the orders. HHB is 2 people. Me, and Lonnie who as of about a year ago builds about 1/2 the bikes, he works part time for fun and bike parts. We are looking to hire someone part time to handle the the weborders for parts. Oh, my hard drive did f'n crater Friday and I was down all day and through the weekend. arg
I have emailed with this person and he will be resolved tomorrow.
We are an honest shop that truly cares. Not trying to mislead anyone or anything like that. Stuff happens sometimes on the supplier end that's beyond our control, sometimes we screw up.
But we are trying and DO care. I am NOT in this to get rich screwing people, I have an IT background and could close shop tomorrow and make a lot more money.
sincerely,
Charles |
| Though I never done biz with HHB.... | teambender
Nov 12, 2003 6:41 PM | | Judging by all of the input he provides, Charles seems like a straight shooter to me. Keep in mind, we are between '03 and '04 products and there always is a bit of lapse as stock is reordered and new products are released around this time.
I also know that it sucks to wait for stuff as well, but if he's ordering through QBP and they don't have it, chances are you won't get it from anyone else. Moreover if you do find it, expect to pay the extra clams. That's just the law of supply and demand, my boy. |
| my bad guys..... | gspot
Nov 12, 2003 7:24 PM | | I recieved email(s) from Charles @ hammerheadbikes, and I totally overreacted on my part. Sorry guys, for getting you hyped up about nothing. Sorry Charles for tarnishing your reputation. Charles was out of the circut with computer problems when I sent my email. That all happens to everyone. That got pushed over into the weekend, and the veterans' day holiday also threw things out of whack. He is doing everything on his part to mollify the situation, and i completley trust him. He is to be commended for his quick action to remedy things on his part. I overreacted on this one. ( not unlike me to do)
my apoligies to all I offended. |
| re: Hammerheadbikes Ordering | Hardline
Nov 12, 2003 7:24 PM | | I have seen alot of people venting with complaints about lack of email response,waiting for thier order,having a back order, and things like this.What seems to work for me is. 1 make a phone call to place the order.2ask sales person on the phone if items wanted are in stock.If it is a small shop most of the times they know what they have or if it is a big place like Jensonusa they have a computorized system that tells them what they have.3 if you can get a tracking number so you can know when to expect your package.Works great for me. |
| Mr. negativity strikes again! | *nm*
Nov 12, 2003 7:50 PM | | |
| Yes, you have, haven't you? | Sparty
Nov 13, 2003 6:56 AM | | gspot apologized before your reply went up.
Maybe you didn't notice.
--Sparty |
| 3 weeks - that's nuthin' | Loudpawlz
Nov 12, 2003 8:32 PM | | Some of us have order bikes from Charles and we waited months ; ) |
| re: Hammerheadbikes Ordering | msmootsiemartin
Nov 13, 2003 7:00 AM | | I am sure Hammerhead bikes and Charles have a fine reputation. But, I have to admit, the first time we ordered from them, it did take about 2-3 weeks and then there was an item missing. It did arrive another week later. I have a current order with them (because I was trying to save a buck) and it has been over 2 weeks. Hopefully it will arrive soon. I was actually wondering the other day if it is worth saving a dollar for the longer delivery times. Hopefully this is a temporary situation and over time things will speed up. |
| i just realized.... oops | gspot
Nov 13, 2003 11:53 AM | | That aebike and hammerheadbikes both order from the same distributor, QBP, and they have to place the order in with them, have the items shipped to them, and then shipped out to you. That can easiliy account for the 2 - 3 weeks. If your order doesn't make that weeks order, than there is a week there. If QBP ships the items fast, then the shop may have them the next week, and then your order is shipped out, and however long it takes to get to you, by your shipping carrier / service choice. I didn't realize that hammerheadbikes were the middlemen. I thought that the order went right to QBP, and hammerheadbikes got the profits. Adding a middle man makes thing much more complicated.
sorry again, all |
| email, online ordering and using the phone....... | KMan
Nov 13, 2003 12:54 PM | | My take is if you use online ordering and correspond using email. You really should not expects things to go as smoothly as you want. If you really need to know if something is in stock or you have a problem or question that needs answered right away...use the PHONE. Talking to a person is much better for accuracy.
I do most of my research and ground work via email and don't mind waiting several days to get a reply as I'm usually in no rush...that is my choice and I know what to expect. When I place an order I "generally" will call to talk with a person. Some shops I feel confortable enough with that I don't need to call......hell I just ordered from one of my favorite shops that was nice enough to ship me out my order without me even have paid for it. Trust goes a long way and I try to repay with my repeat business.
KMan |
| From my personal experience, I would probably not order... | msmootsiemartin
Nov 13, 2003 2:29 PM | | from them again. I realize that shops have to order from Quality to get the product in stock, but is it appropriate to hold the order for close to a week before shipping it out to the customer??? |
| yes. | crux
Nov 13, 2003 3:05 PM | | Shipping is expensive and time consumming prosess. It is true that many shops order from QBP, but they do not carry or stock every part. Sometimes we have to go direct to the manafacture, or another wholesaler to get all the little parts accounted for. Then this is whan your Bikeshop of choice will ship your parts out to you.
Charles has helped several here on this site by getting you a better deal cutting into his profit margins which are not as beefy as one would think. He can do this because he does not carry as much overhead as some large shops. He is not corporate, just a fellow cyclist who decided to attempt to feed himself by helping out other fellow cyclist.
He could just as well close down shop and go back into IT and make much more $$$. Then you'll be in here complaining about Pricepoint/Supergo/AEBike... You get the point. I'd rather pay more and wait to order from Charles then give my $$$ to large corporate america. |
| how doy know they held the order for close to a week? | gspot
Nov 13, 2003 3:25 PM | | It can take awhile, as in the steps that I outlined above, which I realized, after I started this garbage rant post. |
| how doy know they held the order for close to a week? | msmootsiemartin
Nov 13, 2003 3:59 PM | | A quote from my confirmation email: "We order parts in on Monday, which means they arrive on Thursday. We try to
process and ship by the following Monday and will email you a tracking #
We will notify you of any problems with your order ASAP".
So, my parts should have arrived Thursday of last week as I did not hear from them. I started checking my account/ shipping history this past Monday...it told me the parts were in and were waiting to be boxed and shipped (making the assumption they came in last Thur). I still had not received the order so I emailed to check on the status. He replied saying the parts were in and they would ship out tomorrow (Friday), which means they will arrive sometime next week, which will be at least 3 weeks since placing the order.
I do not wish any ill will against this guy. From many of the previous posts, I am sure he services most of his customers very well. I personally just have not had good experiences both times I have ordered from them. |
| ok.. point well taken... but.. | gspot
Nov 13, 2003 4:56 PM | | whenever you order from a middleman, and te middleman is a small operation, delays are inevitable.
so, if you want the parts wait, if not , then tough luck, if your LBS doesn't have them. Jenson, and the other big box retailers usually don't have what your looking for, usually you're looking for little eccentric bits, that aren't available everywhere.
thats just the nature of the business. |
| ok.. point well taken... but.. | msmootsiemartin
Nov 13, 2003 7:27 PM | | All I was doing was stating my experiences with this company since the thread was started. It is a simple order I placed with them, nothing out of the ordinary. I chose them because they were slightly cheaper than AEBike and Bikeman and was not anticipating quite this long of a wait although I was expecting a couple weeks.
FWIW, I order from many other on-line retailers and shop at my LBS as well. |
| it's so weird... | the Inbred
Nov 14, 2003 12:22 AM | | thinking of HH as a company. i think the size of the shop is about as big as the living room/dining room in my apartment. too bad you don't have the opportunity to check it out. it's a great ol' place. you got like $8000 worth of frames (4 or 5) hanging on the wall, and a few bikes, usually his and other customers', in a little stand. guitar and amp in the corner, and a tv in the other corner next to a couch. now that i think about it, i still owe him a 6-er. |
| Sounds like Home | crux
Nov 14, 2003 6:23 AM | | His shop sounds like my apartment. Have to be thankful the wife understands although she was much more understanding after she got her Titus. |
| Note: Subject line changed at gspot's request [nm] | shiggy©®
Nov 13, 2003 3:05 PM | | |
| Nice work... | cygnus
Nov 13, 2003 5:39 PM | | to change the subject line, because, otherwise, some of the damage to one's reputation cannot be completely undone with an apology in one of the responses buried in a thread. |
| Sarcasm??? hard to tell on a computer / when reading.... NM | gspot
Nov 13, 2003 6:17 PM | | |
| Doesn't sound like sarcasm to me | Sparty
Nov 13, 2003 6:40 PM | | Sounds like objective comment. gspot, kudos to you for suggesting shiggy change the subject line -- that was a stand up thing to do. If you're like me, it probably bothered you every time you got back on this board and read your former post intro line.
I've done my share of blurting pointed words in frustration/anger, then cooling off and wishing I could change them. In this case, they got changed. And you apologized. The universe is right. Good on ya.
--Sparty |
| hard to tell, just clarifiing... thanks | gspot
Nov 13, 2003 6:49 PM | | To all who stayed with me during this time... my bad again guys... i'll never spew off misjudgements until I evaluate all other options, and actually take some other action, like contacting the guy and talking to him befeore running my mouth. (fingers?? in this case??)
thanks again all, no more rants for me..... |
| no, for once, not sarcastic... | cygnus
Nov 14, 2003 10:33 AM | | You, with shiggy's help, did the correct thing to right a wrong. Leaving the topic bar with the original words could have continued to damage a repution to those that did not read any further. That's all i was saying. |
| ok... i can dig it... it could could have gone either way... NM | gspot
Nov 14, 2003 12:11 PM | | |
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