False Adverti*****t

Conclusion. Buycycle.co.za promotes and sells items that they cannot provide. Save yourself the disappointment and time it takes to deal with unreliable online shops like these.

I would highly recommend more trustworthy alternatives where you know exactly what service/product you are getting.

My experience. I was looking to get a pair of Crankbrother Candy 1 pedals at a reduced price on Black Friday. I found a pair on buycycle.co.za, ordered and paid for them. That said, the official Crankbrother website also had a 50% off special and delivered to South Africa. Cycle Lab also had a 25% special. I went with buycycle.co.za because they had a good special and the specific colour that I wanted.

After a couple of days, I emailed to ask about my order. I received a response that deliveries will take up to 10 days because of all the orders made on Black Friday - as stated on their Black Friday Ts&Cs. This did not necessarily bother me, but for interest sake, I went to check out the Ts&Cs. There was some very un-customer centric stuff on there, check it out - image attached. Immediately I was anxious about a service that hides important information like this. I did not see any clear indication of these Ts&Cs when I made my purchase.

I then continued to wait for another day or two before checking in with them regarding an update on my order. I was then informed that they do not have stock of the product and that they will have to refund me.

I then told them that a refund won't resolve the matter as I won't be able to get these pedals at a discounted rate anymore as Black Friday had passed. I explained to them that I would have purchased the pedals from an alternative online shop if I knew that they did not have stock.

In other words, they stole my chance at purchasing these pedals at a greatly reduced price on Black Friday. In would now have to purchase them at their full retail price.

I then suggested that they refund me the full retail value of the pedals as I felt that an arrangement like this would be fairer as I could not go back in time and purchase these pedals from another online shop on Black Friday. They took that opportunity away from me by falsely advertising that they had the product and could sell it to me.

After explaining this to them in an email I, once again, had to reach out to them from my side to get a response. Bianca, the support agent, simply responded with "not a problem". I then had to email again to clarify what the "not a problem" means. Would they refund me the full retail price or not.

Bianca then called me. It was clear that she/the support team did not read the email where I explained the situasion. I then explained my proposal again. She then asked her superior about the suggestion. Her superior simply said no.

I told her how unfair (un-customer-centric) this was, but it did not change anything.

I had to send them my banking details for a refund. Once again, it's been a day or two with no indication or communication of when I could expect the refund. I'll probably need to follow up again.

Don't support bad service, please.