Issues with service and delivered bike
As indicated on the website, before ordering, I contacted the team to ensure the bike was available. The answer was that it could be sent out immediately. Thus I bravely clicked the "I agree to the pre-order terms" figuring they would not apply to a bike that is ready to be delivered, assumption being it would be delivered from the store warehouse.
When I heard nothing for some days, I politely reached out to check the delivery time. The answer from the staff was somewhat snarky, telling me to patiently wait. A polite vague update would have sufficed.
As nothing happened for some days, I assumed delays and noticed a bike that had previously been out of stock had come into stock in my local shop. I contacted SimpleBikeStore to request a cancellation of the order, given no delivery had been done.
To my surprise, a reply told me the bike had been already sent from the manufacturer (ie not shop warehouse as previously indicated when checking for stock) and if I wanted to cancel, because I clicked the "pre-order" tick box, I would have to pay 20% of the value of the bike to cancel. The answers to my follow-up questions were unprofessional at best, bordering on passive-aggressive.
While pondering the legality of all this and waiting some days, the tracking code finally arrived in my inbox, and soon the bike was delivered. Yay?
Unfortunately while assembling the bike was trivial enough, neither the brakes or especially the gears had been in any way adjusted, and not being a bike mechanic, this meant reserving a time to a bike shop and paying separately to get the bike set up as it was simply not possible to use. "You should install a front wheel, handlebar, pedals, and saddle. Do some basic adjustments." is a rather hostile way to sell something that requires non-basic adjustments.
The only reason I'm making this review 2 stars is because the actual bike, once actually adjusted, has been good. I would not recommend buying the bike online, at least from SBS.
