"Do NOT buy any bikes from them !!!

I bought a bike listed as NEW from Bike Island, but the both wheels are out of alignments and need to be fixed.

I contacted the seller and the seller is saying that bike wheels get out of alignment (wobbled) during shipping (see below in the quotes), which I've never heard of.

"Hello. Bicycle wheels are like piano's.....both will need to be tuned after being moved across town."

I've asked the seller to reimburse some money to get the 2 wheels fixed, but they refused.

And they are not do anything to resolve the issue.

"

"I purchased a bike from bikeisland.com so I don’t have to commute by citibike during the pandemic. I was concerned that citibikes are not sterilised and it was not safe to ride them. So the purchase was a necessity and urgent. I paid a hefty price for a bike that has far more scuff, scratched and has real issues than the seller advertises or admits. I exchanged several emails with Jeff and from my selections of bikes he recommended one saying " better spec for a little more money." When it arrived I inspected the box and found no damages on the box in shipping. I took the bike to the shop to be assembled. I received a call from the shop and was told that the bike’s fork is pushed to one side and the indicator is broken. The shop said he could fix the fork. I wore to Jeff at bike island asking him if he thinks this is fixable? Jeff has no understanding of customer service and has he sense of decency. He took no responsibility, played down the damages and blamed the shipping company. He said the "Twisted" fork was caused in the shipping, while there was no sign of damage on the box. The bike was packed damage. I corrected him saying the fork was not "twisted" it was pushed ( as my shop had informed me). He said no problem, send me the bike back, I will refund you when I get the bike, and “if you are not petty and take no care packing the box” I will fix and re-list it. The guy has no concern that as a result of his negligence I would loose two weeks or had to accept a damaged bike. He offered no apology for his lack of honesty to inspect the box before shipping and was admitting the he is going to re-list the bike.
Since my shop was confident he is going to fix it and I had no time to wait to return the box and see if I get refunded and purchase another bike I agreed with the shop to fix it. This is all during the shut down in NY which I can't run to a shop and buy a bike. Later on when I went to pick up the bike, the shop showed me that at the end of the fork where the wheel gets attached the fork was "twisted". Twisted?!!!! How did Jeff know that the fork was twisted? If the damaged was caused in the shipping? How could the end of a fork get twisted in a shipping without damaging the entire bike and not making a small scratch on the box? The bike was shipped damaged! And Jeff refuses to take responsibility.

Before buying consider:

- When you call the number, you receive a recording that the best way of getting in touch with them is by the phone since they are busy! When you email him he quickly replies with long responses as many times you email him. So lack of time is not the reason he doesn't want to answer the phone. Most likely lack of customer service skill!
- Check his business on the Yelp. After receiving bad reviews that he could not erase he has closed the account.
- The business has no location on google. So you can not find any google reviews about his business. Another way to disguise the truth about his scams.

With the money I paid to align the bike I most likely could have purchase a new bike. And didn't have go through the headache of dealing with Jeff. Also now every time I ride the bike and look at the fork I am going to remember Jeff and how I got scammed at bikeisland.com. "

"I have bought 2 bikes from bike island since the first of the year, with another on the way.
Absolutely thrilled with the 2 I have received thus far, and look forward to receiving the 3’rd next week.
If you are mechanically savvy. Capable of tackling touch up issues. Willing to research, and measure specifications, to track down a missing part or two. This is the place to get awesome bikes at incomparable prices. "

"After finding a bike, it had a missing component.. priced the missing part and decided to buy another bike that had no frame. That back would solve my part problem. Purchased the parts bike on Sunday.. purchased the carbon bike on Monday. Receive an email saying the carbon bike was not available. The insurance company had come and gotten it. It did upset me that I had put some time into putting all this together, and the bike wasn't available. I thought we could work a deal.. maybe 5% or 10% off a different bike... Jeff wasn't for that. It's tough to understand someone's mood through email but I will post it below.

"Hello Greg. I'll gladly pay to have the parts bike returned. No big deal to me. In fact, I may be able to get that thing turned around and headed back to me if it's not too late.
I am however going to stick tight to my prices. I'm really serious about this.

I think they are VERY fair and reasonable already.
If you do not agree, I understand."

Of course there are 2 sides to every story... but that email really struck a nerve. "I'll gladly pay to have the part bike returned, no big deal to me." That has me so upset.. I'm thinking of shipping it back and buying it again.

The way I see it... a mistake was made. All I asked for was some form of a "fair deal" on a bike.. 5% or 10% discount.. not because of the bikes, but because of his mistake.

The above email was a response to me saying.. i may keep the parts bike if he could work a deal on a different bike.. he would rather pay to ship it back than take those funds for a discount..

His emails just didnt help.

Again I'm sure he has his side... and I have purchased a bike from them before, when all went smoothly..... I guess I just believe in showing a different attitude.

One fact I did leave out.. on his first email he did offer $25 off my next purchase... and that's great if you're buying a $200 bike... but a percentage is a much better approach in my mind.

Again... my former purchase went smoothly."

"My purchase with bike direct for a starter MTB was great in 2015. I then found bike island that claims the sale of cosmetic issues from bike direct bikes. I order a fsx 1.0 and ask bike island contact for some issues with the front wheel after receiving the bike. Once the issue was confirmed with the video, the contact person immediately sent a new front wheel. I was thrilled by their quick response and generous offer. The shipping cost is even more that the wheel. I wish them do a good business. I will definitely buy from them again. "

"I ordered a bike from Bike Island 11/05/2016 & knew there was some "scuffs on the dropouts & crankarms". When I rec'd the bike there were a few more defects/damage with the condition of the bike than mentioned on the webpage & these were quickly remedied by Jeff of Bike Island. The bike itself is great to ride. I bought the particular bike because it offered higher grade components than what I was currently using or could afford on a bike at a LBS! I have already informed my relatives & friends about the great service. I have no social media accounts to give Bike Island 5 stars but I would if I did. If you would like a better bicycle than entrance level from a LBS at less $$ than consider Bike Island or Bikes Direct!
Thank you Bike Island

05/31/17
After 600+ miles the bike is holding up well! I can't complain"

"I would avoid buying bicycles from this seller. They were dishonest about the condition of the bike, then tried to blame UPS. I would usually have no problem believing ups damaged something, but this time the box was in pristine condition; this damage did not happen in transit.

When I tried to resolve things with their customer service, they were surly and unresponsive. Avoid this experience. "

"Excellent prices, excellent customer service - what more could you ask for? They describe their merchandise VERY conservatively. The bike I bought from them was described as "Gently used with scuffs on forks, cranks and drop outs / additional 100 dollars off". I guess if you pulled out a magnifying glass you could find the scuffs, otherwise the bike looked pretty much like new. I probably scuffed it more while removing the scores upon scores of cable ties they used to secure the cushioning for shipment. Buying from them is not for everyone, the bike comes with absolutely no assembly instructions, but if you are even mechanically inclined you can figure it out pretty easily. They do provide copious links to various online resources for those that need help. And looking closely at the bike you understand how they achieve the very low price points. This is not a ding or complaint, you definitely get a good value for your dollar, but you should not expect to get a $500 bike for $200."

"Excellent prices, super fast shipping, and quality products. I definitely will continue to do business with them and I recommend highly"

"I emailed their customer service to ask about their policy of only shipping to the address a credit card is billed to. I wanted to have something shipped to my workplace because my apartment building lobby is often visted by hobos and miscreants who like to steal packages. I got a reply within five minutes saying they'd ship to my work, and it was personalized and funny to boot. Free shipping on everything. I got my box in five calendar days (ordered on a Wednesday, came Monday). Packed well. They're a bit casual (no invoice, just an email with a UPS tracking number and a note congratulating me on winning the auction (?). They use an AOL email account, which is kind of weird. The name of the item was just written on the outside of the box and there was no receipt or invoice or anything, but that didn't bother me.

Click on the bike on their page and leave your cursor there, too funny."