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Deleted member 91092
Guest
Hello
I would like to warn potential buyers against Sonder bikes built by Alpkit in UK. I live in France and I bought (online) a Santiago touring bike just before Summer 2019.
At the time of this order I already had quite a bad experience with Alpkit. They claimed to assemble bikes and components according to customer specifications, whatever they are. So I agreed with them on the built and price, with my specific choice of crankset, tyres and a few small details. I paid 100% and three weeks later they told me they couldn't get the crankset nor the tyres I had chosen. In the end I had to fight with them during more than one week (including crazy exchanges with a guy named Tom who was extremely unpolite) to finally receive the bike with no crankset, wrong tyres and wrong saddle among other things. I only got a refund corresponding to the missing crankset, and I had to buy and set the crankset and tyres by myself. I related this story on this forum:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ordered-a-new-bike.248180/page-2#post-5651280
My opinion was that they were unable to offer what they claimed, namely build bikes according to customer specifications. I was right, since a few monthes later they changed their sales model, and now one can only choose among a restricted set of options (like most bike sellers). I could have lived with that if they admitted it, but it was not the case.
Almost three years laters, I have a more serious issue. My rear wheel has 10 cracks located at the spoke holes. The bike wheels are the stock OEM ones, namely the Lovemud Orbit gravel/touring set, that comes with a three year warranty. From what I understand this is a not so rare problem (that can also happen with high end models) that must be taken under warranty. So two weeks ago (a few days before the formal end of the three year period) I made a warranty request to Alpkit. Despite several reminders I have no answer, only automatic acknowledgements of receipt.
So I can only conclude that Alpkit does not want to honor the warranty, which is illegal.
I know that they benefit from a very good reputation, and that they even received several awards. But facts are what they are. I consider myself as an experienced Internet buyer. I have Internet access since the nineties, and I bought online many many things, including crazy things from crazy countries and sellers. During more than 25 years I only had very few issues, and all of them were solved with a few emails. Alpkit is by far my worst online shopping experience.
I would like to warn potential buyers against Sonder bikes built by Alpkit in UK. I live in France and I bought (online) a Santiago touring bike just before Summer 2019.
At the time of this order I already had quite a bad experience with Alpkit. They claimed to assemble bikes and components according to customer specifications, whatever they are. So I agreed with them on the built and price, with my specific choice of crankset, tyres and a few small details. I paid 100% and three weeks later they told me they couldn't get the crankset nor the tyres I had chosen. In the end I had to fight with them during more than one week (including crazy exchanges with a guy named Tom who was extremely unpolite) to finally receive the bike with no crankset, wrong tyres and wrong saddle among other things. I only got a refund corresponding to the missing crankset, and I had to buy and set the crankset and tyres by myself. I related this story on this forum:
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/ordered-a-new-bike.248180/page-2#post-5651280
My opinion was that they were unable to offer what they claimed, namely build bikes according to customer specifications. I was right, since a few monthes later they changed their sales model, and now one can only choose among a restricted set of options (like most bike sellers). I could have lived with that if they admitted it, but it was not the case.
Almost three years laters, I have a more serious issue. My rear wheel has 10 cracks located at the spoke holes. The bike wheels are the stock OEM ones, namely the Lovemud Orbit gravel/touring set, that comes with a three year warranty. From what I understand this is a not so rare problem (that can also happen with high end models) that must be taken under warranty. So two weeks ago (a few days before the formal end of the three year period) I made a warranty request to Alpkit. Despite several reminders I have no answer, only automatic acknowledgements of receipt.
So I can only conclude that Alpkit does not want to honor the warranty, which is illegal.
I know that they benefit from a very good reputation, and that they even received several awards. But facts are what they are. I consider myself as an experienced Internet buyer. I have Internet access since the nineties, and I bought online many many things, including crazy things from crazy countries and sellers. During more than 25 years I only had very few issues, and all of them were solved with a few emails. Alpkit is by far my worst online shopping experience.