Ribble rant (well, more of a whinge)

Just to add to this - I ordered a CGR Ti January 1st and I'm still waiting on it. I've complained multiple times at the poor customer service, but have always felt brushed off. They've never offered me anything in the way of recompense.

I appreciate there are massive problems  with supply, but as has been mentioned already, Ribble shouldn't been taking orders it cannot fulfill.

 My delivery date has been pushed back about 20 times now and I've pretty much given up on getting the bike. Within the space of a couple of weeks the date has gone from August to September, to October, and just a few days ago it was pushed back to December. I really don't think there's any logic to these delays...

 The last time I spoke with a person at Ribble they told me it was the frame causing the delay. Then later it was a mix of components that was the problem. Gut feeling is it's all bs.

I'd be  tempted to cancel my order but having bought my bike on the C2W scheme I'm a bit stuck really.

The irony is I went with the Ribble CGR Ti over a Fairlight Secan because at the time of ordering Fairlight's delivery date was a laughable July. Now that estimate didn't seem so bad!

I fortunately had the opposite experience.

I ordered a CGR SL at the beginning of June, via Bluewater. The problem was shortage of 175 cranks from Shimano, not expected until late autumn. This seems to affect all manufacturers, as Shimano haven't been able to meet the increased demand for some time. It may explain why Trek Domanes are for delivery next year.  Different components presumably have different delays.

I wanted 165 cranks anyway which brought the delivery forward to the 20th August. I changed the wheel and tyre spec in the first week. I heard nothing more until the end of the month when they informed me it would be arriving within the following three days. It actually arrived 1st July, needing only the bars to be fitted.

None of this justifies the failure to keep you informed, but I get the impression manufacturers are living hand to mouth at the moment in terms of Shimano deliveries. 

And, yes, I'm very happy with it, although getting the rack and mudguard stays to coexist peacefully was a pain, and it's the first bike where I think I definitely didn't need a shorter stem..

Final update from me - as I finally have the bike!

Following my post below, I put a negative review on Trust pilot.  That got me a phone call within a couple of hours, and whilst that at first that felt like more fobbing off, it actually got me one dedicated person in customer service dealing with my bike and chasing things up.  As a result, I was able to pick the bike up from Bluewater on Saturday.  There were still a couple of issues - it had clip on mudguards rather than the full sized one, and when I was looking to mount an outfront Garmin mount I found that the thread on one of the holes on the stem was shot - they'd just used a threadlocker glue to hold the bolt.  A slightly longer bolt (thanks to my LBS) has sorted that for now, but it wasn't great.  However, a quick email to my customer service contact and all sorted.  They're sending me a new stem; the right mudguards when they're back in stock; will reimburse me for getting my LBS to fit them; and they're also giving me a £50 credit note (though they don't seem to sell much other than bikes these days, so not sure what I'll spend it on!).

Their Trust Pilot site makes interesting reading.  It's a combination of 5 star reviews from people who got their bikes early, and one star ones from people suffering delays and no information!  It looks to me like their systems are just rubbish - that can't all be down to which combination of components you've ordered - and it's just a lottery when your bike arrives.

Having said that, the bike is lovely.  I've done a couple of 30km - ish runs so far, and on Friday I'll be really putting it through its paces with a 160km ride to the coast.

In case anyone's still interested - latest update...

I emailed on 30 June to see if it was still on target for 9 July; and was told it was.

Emailed again last Tuesday (6 July) to see if they had a precise date.  No reply until Thursday, when they said that their system was being updated, so they couldn't check but I'd get an email when it was dispatched.

9 July passed with no information.  Tried the Live Chat over the weekend but they couldn't help.

Then I got an email this morning - their system is still being updated so they can't tell me anything.

I'm not very impressed.

Latest update on mine - due to be built and dispatched in week ending 9 July.

That'll be good timing as it'll give me chance to get used to it before my next planned big ride, 160k home from our family caravan on 25 July.

(PS - if everyone's bored of my updates, please do say!)

and are they still hitting your credit card with the full amount on the day of order?  That's the part that really miffed me, and I'm not sure why anyone puts up with that, when they then just think it's OK to delay and delay and be very apologetic. Mind you, it appears whatever supply of parts there is out there just now is going to these "assemblers", so even if you get a bike don't expect to find a new cassette for it anytime soon if you needed one...  Makes me wonder why they push bikes via GCN videos though when they clearly have none to sell - unless they are just interested in interest-free loans from customers while they are all kept waiting...

Did it arrive, The Sledge?

Unfortunately, I found out yesterday that mine has been delayed again - until 7 July at the earliest.

I ordered a CGR Ti in July last year and it was delivered 3 weeks earlier than the advertised late October date. I'd heard they'd had some issues with orders/comms so I checked in with them about five weeks before the due date. I still remember when they used to make those blue aluminium winter trainers that I think just about everyone has owned at some point. They've come a long way since then and I hope they can overcome the growing pains as they're doing some good stuff. The bikes fantastic BTW.

When I bought my cgr ti back in early January 2020 they told me mid March and it was done 3 weeks early.
 

There were some post build issues that needed to be resolved but just wanted to post about a largely positive experience.
 

It was pre parts crisis/COVID etc. 

Sadly same situation with me - CGR Ti ordered last December - same delays,same woeful non apologies ,same irritation with wall to wall marketing and influencer coverage  - final straw was a voicemail and email on the same day one saying it was delayed again until end June the other saying mid August - cancelled order and bought on ebay - truly dismal experience with Ribble 

Just had Ribble contacted me - bike delayed by a couple of weeks to mid-June due to "delays to stock".

Well, at least they contacted me rather than me, so better comms than for The Sledge.

This is definitely not new; it's the communication that is the most woeful. I ordered a CGR (alloy, can't afford Ti regardless of how much drooling I do) in Jan 2019. Lead times then were much less and I was quoted delivery by the end of the month. That came and went, and only when I emailed them did I get some waffle about frame drops and a promise of a new build date. That never materialised, so I posted a low star review on Trustpilot (mainly complaining about the lack of communication, as the timeframes were still much better than other companies I had considered) and got a response within an hour from somebody. After a bit of a discussion they gave me a build date of the next day, but 3 days later when I still hadn't heard anything I had to email again to find out what was going on. Eventually got the bike the week after.

It's a shame, as the bike is nice and it feels somehow better to use a brand from 'nearby' (same half of the country); and if early Jan 19 they'd said you can have the bike by March that would have been fine. It was the lack of communication, and the lack of any follow up communication after having complained about the lack of communication, that was very irritating and after I used the £50 store credit they gave as compensation I haven't been back because the experience was so soured. Probably never will, unless the current availability fiasco extends longer than the working life of the bike....

Canyon, ordered May 2018 (BC), for August delivery. Delayed 3 times, each time after the due date. Arrived at the wrong address (how?) at Christmas after threatening a refund. Finally delivered to the correct address at New Year (7 months).

S**t planning and customer service. Sounds like Ribble has grown too quickly like Canyon did before covid.

On the back of this discussion, I emailed Ribble for an update on my order.  They phoned me today to say it was still on track for early June.

Sounds like the coms has been pretty bad at least a heads up that supply problems may affect delivery dates may have helped.
I would imagine they and many other bike companies don't really know what stock they have until they build because their orders aren't being fulfilled by suppliers.
I saw a guy trying to scalp a DI2 ultegra shifter for £250 last week the world has gone nuts!

I ordered a hybrid in November, given a January date. My current wost case sernario date(I have had a couple) is middle of June.

Ribble have been having trouble communicating with their customers for awhile. I had ordered a 725 endurance with a 105 group set in June last year, for a end of August delivery. Understandable lead time due to pandemic and supply issues. Only because I checked with them to confirm the date was I told about the delay till November. I did complain and they gave £50 credit to use in the online store as a token of good will. Sadly I have only been out on it twice but loved it. Bring on the nice spring weather. Great bike and great after sales support with some questions I had about setting it up. If only they could sort out the post sale pre delivery support they would be onto a winner.

That is frustrating, but I can understand how it happens. If you have a supply chain system and staff levels designed for the times when deliveries are reliable, when it goes pear-shaped it's a huge amount of effort to keep on top of. Lead times from suppliers can suddenly go out at the last minute, and manually updating thousands of customers every time there is a change is really hard. 
 

Unless you find a complete bike in stock, cancelling and switching to another manufacturer risks just going to the back of the queue again. 
 

Meanwhile if anyone can source me a 12 speed SRAM Eagle chain for a reasonable price you can win a Jaffa cake. 

Not very good. And worrying personally as I have a Endurance Ti on order - due at the start of June. Dare I ask what groupset etc you ordered?

That apology is a bit mealy-mouthed.  Unless you ordered an unobtainium handlebar as a special build I would be very very surprised if this was not par for the course and hence entirely predictable, thus warranting a much earlier contact.

I've had great customer service from Ribble in the past but I would be ringing around to see whats similar with shorter availability then cancelling my order.   At the very least they owe you something for the delay and poor customer service.

As a plug I recently got a Ti frame from Reilly.  They quoted a Oct-Nov delivery date when I ordered, and kept me updated when the frame finisher had to self isolate and various other times like when the frame batch arrived in the country.  Frame got to me on Friday 27th November, and I was delighted because they kept me informed every step of the way.