When Bike Bandit ships you a 17" tire instead of an 18"

Z

zbillster_imp

Been there
Thread starter
When you've got your mobile tire guy scheduled, and Bike Bandit ships you a 17" tire instead of an 18" ... :dodgy:

... and it's a Pilot Road 4 instead of a Pilot Road 3 ... :dodgy:

... and they want photos of the wrong tire first ... :dodgy:

... and then they won't ship the correct one till you drop off the wrong one at the UPS station ... :dodgy:

I guess another summer week of NOT riding. :(

(end rant)
 
BikeBandit is owned by Vey's PowerSports in San Diego area. They just closed one of their two brick/motor motorcycle sales/service stores. Every since the "son' took over, he has ruined this business. I used to have my CB1100 maintained there until they got rid of the very knowledgeable and experienced server manager and replaced them with a bunch of 20 something girls (who were clueless and rude to both customers and service techs). Riders in the San Diego area know to avoid this place if at all possible.
 
They probably ship so many 17" Pilot 4s that they're on autopilot when it comes to tires.
 
bflint_imp said:
BikeBandit is owned by Vey's PowerSports in San Diego area. They just closed one of their two brick/motor motorcycle sales/service stores. Every since the "son' took over, he has ruined this business. I used to have my CB1100 maintained there until they got rid of the very knowledgeable and experienced server manager and replaced them with a bunch of 20 something girls (who were clueless and rude to both customers and service techs). Riders in the San Diego area know to avoid this place if at all possible.
Click to expand...
It's called SQUEEZE, after new management takes over, very often son or family member with arogant manner :huh:
 
Thread starter
LongRanger_imp said:
Me? I'd return the 17" for a refund, and in the meantime, buy the correct 18" elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Well, good to know about their backstory for future purchases.

I had to Google/search several shops to find one with both the 120/70/R18 and 160/60/R18 in stock and ready to ship ... unless Bike Bandit was lying about the being in-stock part and just shipped me the wrong one as a stall tactic.

I didn't hear any fawning apologies ... just "oh our distributor made that mistake, not us" ... plus I got disconnected on hold and had to do the live chat on their website, which still had several delays. Western Powersports was the distributor on the tracking.
 
zbillster_imp said:
LongRanger_imp said:
Me? I'd return the 17" for a refund, and in the meantime, buy the correct 18" elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Well, good to know about their backstory for future purchases.

I had to Google/search several shops to find one with both the 120/70/R18 and 160/60/R18 in stock and ready to ship ... unless Bike Bandit was lying about the being in-stock part and just shipped me the wrong one as a stall tactic.

I didn't hear any fawning apologies ... just "oh our distributor made that mistake, not us" ... plus I got disconnected on hold and had to do the live chat on their website, which still had several delays. Western Powersports was the distributor on the tracking.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I guess they use multiple tire distributors. I ordered a 17" BT-45 for the CB750 last night and it's supposedly on the way from Rocky Tucker Distributing in Visalia. I've never had an issue ordering tires from Bike Bandit, but hearing these stories, I'm getting a bit apprehensive. I want to get the tire mounted before I leave on my next trip next week. I guess I'll find out tomorrow (fingers crossed).
 
Thread starter
Flynrider_imp said:
zbillster_imp said:
LongRanger_imp said:
Me? I'd return the 17" for a refund, and in the meantime, buy the correct 18" elsewhere.
Click to expand...
Well, good to know about their backstory for future purchases.

I had to Google/search several shops to find one with both the 120/70/R18 and 160/60/R18 in stock and ready to ship ... unless Bike Bandit was lying about the being in-stock part and just shipped me the wrong one as a stall tactic.

I didn't hear any fawning apologies ... just "oh our distributor made that mistake, not us" ... plus I got disconnected on hold and had to do the live chat on their website, which still had several delays. Western Powersports was the distributor on the tracking.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I guess they use multiple tire distributors. I ordered a 17" BT-45 for the CB750 last night and it's supposedly on the way from Rocky Tucker Distributing in Visalia. I've never had an issue ordering tires from Bike Bandit, but hearing these stories, I'm getting a bit apprehensive. I want to get the tire mounted before I leave on my next trip next week. I guess I'll find out tomorrow (fingers crossed).
Click to expand...
I've used different online sources, depending on who's got our weird sizes in stock, pricing du jour, etc.

Dennis Kirk, ChapMoto, Revzilla, Amazon, etc.

On this order, one came from Midlothian, Texas, another from Boise, Idaho. So different distributors depending on stock status. I've gotten tires the very next day in some cases.

The 4th of July holiday messed up the timing ... some distributors were closed Thursday through Monday.
 
Modern business has become remarkably clever at insulating itself from customers. I’m having major internet problems at home at the moment. I talk to my ISP which tells me the problem is with the owner of the wires. The owner of the wires clearly accepts that the fault lies with it and has sent two techs to look. But I have to deal with the ISP and every time I talk to them it takes at least 48 hours for the provider to respond. I am not able to get in touch with the outfit owning the wires give them the roasting they probably deserve.

It’s really neat: the disjunction of services and the inability to get past call centre staff means a conga line of miserable customers. Works for internet suppliers too. They can just blame the distributor who in turn blames the ordering company and the poor old punter who doesn’t get what they paid for is left hanging.
 
I don't have it memorized, but there are several of the web stores like bike bandit and revzilla that all use the same distributor(s) and therefore have the same amount "in stock" (they really have NO stock, just a record of what the distributor has, which isn't always acurate) But Dennis Kirk is completely different from all the rest from what I see. You will see there number of items in stock and what they have in stock vs. sold out will be different from all the others and their prices are better. If they say they have 3 on hand, that's what they have. I've gone completely Dennis Kirk
 
Since the retailers are relying on the distributor's inventory system to represent products they have available for sale, it makes me wonder why the distributors themselves don't create their own retail website and sell directly to consumers, bypassing their on-line retailers and keeping the full margin. I suppose if they did that, they'd lose all of their on-line and bricks-and-mortar retailers, which would kill their distribution model.
 
It will probably happen anyway, LR. As more and more people purchase online, it will become easier and easier for distributors to move to selling directly either to customers or intermediaries.
 
Thread starter
Ah! The drama continues. The next morning ...

I never received an email saying the correct 120/70/R18 Michelin Pilot Road 3 shipped out ... I think THIS size is out of production and no one else is showing it in stock (except J&P Cycles which is here in DFW and thus charges me sales tax).

So I searched around (including Dennis Kirk) for a suitable 120/70/R18 replacement that was in stock and ready to ship ... Revzilla had a Continental Road Attack 3. Ordered it.

Then I called Bike Bandit ("bandit" seems appropriate here) to get a refund on that wrong tire (you have to call them for any returns, website doesn't allow you to do it). Told them I got the wrong tire and shipped it back yesterday, and haven't gotten a shipping notice for the right one yet, so give me a refund. "Oh, our distributor has shipped the replacement tire already ... yeah, our email system is slow so you probably haven't gotten the shipping email yet."

Oh, come on. :huh:

Called Revzilla, asked if I could cancel the order I just placed ... "Sure, no problem" ... their email response time on orders is lightning fast.

Twiddling my thumbs ... waiting ... while my CB cries itself to sleep at night, wanting to go out and play ... :-/
 
In NZ we have very little choice in 18" tyres, it's a small market, to offset sourcing problems i have a spare set sitting in the garage ready to go on the bike, i would be inclined to let the second ( revzilla ) tire arrive anyway.
If you like the tyres it's a sure bet and the price does not increase if it sits in the garage deflated.:D
 
Thread starter
max_imp said:
In NZ we have very little choice in 18" tyres, it's a small market, to offset sourcing problems i have a spare set sitting in the garage ready to go on the bike, i would be inclined to let the second ( revzilla ) tire arrive anyway.
If you like the tyres it's a sure bet and the price does not increase if it sits in the garage deflated.:D
Click to expand...
I considered that option but there "might" be a change in my vehicle stable next year ... so I don't want to overload on front tires I might not need, which wear out slower.
Oh, and now it's estimated to arrive by EOD Saturday (another fun weekend day waiting for a package) ... hopefully my mobile installer is free early next week ... I'm not scheduling him till I see the tire in person.

By then it will be two weeks without riding ... :(
 
My BT-45 arrived from Bike Bandit just now. It's the one I ordered. :celebrate:
 
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