"This was my first order with Probikekit.com. After reading both the 5 star and 1 star reviews, I had no idea what to expect, but was ready to be disappointed based on the recent 1 star reviews.

Placed order for 2 continental 700x25c tires Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 5:44 PM. Received email confirmation within one minute.

Received email telling me my account had been created Wed, Jun 19, 2013 at 1:09 AM

Received email welcoming me to probikekit and thanking me for my recent purchase Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 9:42 AM.

Here's where it gets interesting. I ordered enough to get free shipping to the U.S., but not enough to get tracking with my shipment. When you order standard international (free not tracked) shipping, you are only shown when they shipped it, after that it could be anywhere. That was my choice though and the site clearly said orders less than I believe $200 were not tracked.

Here's what I did see in the way of information regarding my shipment:

Thu 20/06/2013 08:15: Your order has been processed at the UK export facility. It is now on route to the receiver.

Fri 21/06/2013 11:00: Your order has arrived at the interim distribution point for onward relay to the destination country. We expect delivery within a few days but no further tracking information is available.

That's it. Until July 3rd at approximately 1:30 PM when the order was delievered to my door, all the info I had was what you see above. Not a complaint, just pointing out what info is available to those of us who buy enough to get free shipping but not enough to get real tracking.

When my tires arrived they were packed in a tyvek (plastic like fabric) bag lined with bubble wrap. It's pretty difficult to destroy tires, so no box was needed. The tires themselves were packed in retail boxes and were exactly what I ordered. Can't believe they can sell these at such a good price. Ordering online from biketiresdirect.com in the U.S., each tire is $55, with free shipping, comes to $110. My total order through probikekit was $69.58 including shipping.

In addition to the tires there were two coupons, one for a UK grocery store and another for a UK magazine. In addition to the two tires and two coupons, there was also a High5 Sports Nutrition Free Taster Pack. We don't have High5 in the U.S. Our sport drink / electrolyte products are Nuun, Zym and Camelback to name a few. Inside the Free Taster Pack: 4 Zero electrolyte tables individually wrapped (2 citrus, 2 berry), 1 30ml juicy orange energy gel, 1 High5 Energy Source sports fuel carbohydrate drink mix and 1 eleven page High5 guide to their products.

I was surprised to see that my package shipped from Sweden.

I would say that my experience was very positive. Balancing the very good pricing against the lack of tracking and 11 business day delivery, I would order from them again.

While I would order from probikekit again, I would keep in mind that it would most likely take from 2 to 4 weeks for delivery. If I needed something faster than 4 weeks from my order date, I would purchase from my home country of the U.S."

"and you think it is in USA. IT IS NOT in the USA.

I went online immediately to cancel the order and they told me it had already been "Despatched"..they can't even spell it correctly!

Dave Rice USA"

"ProBikeKit are a company to be avoided and not to be trusted. I have used them several times but frankly it is too painful dealing with them. Let me tell you about three of my experiences in the last year:
1) bought some bib shorts from them. When arrived they were normal shorts. I telephoned to be told I'd got what I ordered. They had a picture of bib shorts online associated with the normal shorts product code. Had to argue to get hem to send bib shorts to me.
2) after first experience I then ordered a few times without problem. I then was in the market for a turbo trainer with virtual training. I researched and their price was lowest. I emailed to confirm it came with all virtual training software and they confirmed in writing it did. When it arrived it did not have software, ant+ dongle for pc and had a european power lead not uk. Long arguments with them. In the end they said it was their suppliers fault and I had to speak to them. All told 28 emails, a dozen phone calls and two weeks later I eventually got the software activation code.
3) all well for a while. Last weekend looking for a sportful hot pack no rain stretch jacket. They had offers on sportful and google search showed them the cheapest at £36.00. Placed order and money taken from my account with order confirmation received by email. Next day email received confirming order cancelled and account refunded. When I telephoned to ask why was told they were out of stock and did not know when more coming in. On their website they now advertise at £108.00 and when I call am told they have them in stock. I then complain and am told I have no contract as I hadn't paid. I point out I had and sent proof. They then agreed I had paid but said they would not honour the order. Next day I received an email informing that they had cancelled orders due to a pricing mistake by them and offering a 15% discount voucher.
Avoid at all costs - dishonest company with to often inaccurate website"

"Buyer beware! This company has extremely poor customer service. I ordered from them recently and the item never arrived. They made me wait a month before they would give any kind of response. Then they made me send them an affidavit stating that I hadn't received the item. Finally, after all that, they said I could have a store credit to buy something else. Meanwhile the item I was trying to buy has increased in price on their website by over $20. I believe that they didn't actually ship the item because they are running some kind of bait and switch scam."

"Placed an order and immediately cancelled due to typo on my shipping addess (their address format is wacky due to foreign company and does not give a feedback when the zip code has the incorrect number of digits entered). I immediately cancelled and the website gave me an indication it was cancelled. I made corrections and placed another order. Many hours later, the orders were processed and I was told then that they couldn't cancel my order as it was already sent even though it was an immediate cancellation. LIARS!!! I am being charged for something I will never get. Their customer service rep is not very bright and not helpful. STAY AWAY FROM THIS COMPANY even if they have a great deal. NOT WORTH IT as the cost is now very high for my duplicate order."

"Order wheelset and some small items rim tapes, handlebar tapes and handle bar 3/21/2013. The wheelset came 2 weeks later and the rest of the order never arrived. The total order was $240 before the discount $25. They are very smart about the pricing at invoice. All the small items will label $0. So my order with rim tapes and handlebar tapes marked $0 value. when you did not received the rest of your order after 1 month, they will ask you to fill out a disclaimer form. Later they will only refund you instead of shipping the rest of the order!!! That means they do not refund the $25 discount!!! I demanded the rest of my order to be ship but no result!!! DO NOT DEAL WITH PBK. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME, IT IS NOT WORTH IT!!

EX-customer for USA
4/26/2013"

"Pretty Appalling really:
I ordered a Topeak Alien XS multi-tool from their website. The initial delivery was somewhat slow but at least the item arrived. However, the item was inadequately packed and the internal packaging damaged on arrival. This was not a problem in itself but they had also sent the wrong item. I fired off an returns request and also a request for the correct item but one week later had still not received a response. I tried phoning them but all their phone lines would constantly ring out. I fired off another return request and after about another week of waiting and calling eventually received a generic response with no mention of my question about the correct item. In the interim I had read reviews about people returning items only to never receive a refund or their goods back so decided not to chance a return at that stage especially considering their service or lack of it up to that point. My advice is steer well clear. There are plenty of online bike stores out there with top-notch customer service - don't chance PBK!"

"terrible. i ordered tires on march 6, never received them, and was told to wait until their required waiting period was over, "before they could file a claim". 7 weeks later, april 24, still no tires, no refund, not even a reply from their "customer support" email."

"Poor to say the least. My order was the wrong size. I attempted to contact the phone number on the invoice: with no luck. As I was off on leave I immediately returned the item by recorded delivery to the address on the box. The returns protocol compared to, say, Chain Reaction is poor: for instance paying return cost and logging on to receive a returns order number, is cumbersome. That was almost three weeks ago. I have learned since they have moved their operation from Kendal to Cheshire. I phoned this number and received the automated response message informing me I'd be passed onto one of their operators. At the end of the message on each of the three occasions I phoned the phone went dead. I shall attempt again to contact them, but, I suspect I'll have to take out a small claim against them. There are numerous companies who provide an excellent customer service, ProBikeKit, are, I suspect, never going be one of them."

"I have ordered many goods from PBK in the past but I guess you never really know a company until you deal with after sales service!!The goods never arrived and I started enquiring after 3 weeks. It seems that they first ask you to check neighbors house (really!) and post office (and by the way we cannot help you as you selected Standard delivery options) and let them know if not arrived in 28 days. This message is sent out irrespective of what reply you send and continues after 28 days!! At no point is there any resolution. Will never buy anything from PBK again. It is fraud."

"I was already aware of PBK poor reputation, as I had personal experience in their substandard ability to for fill even the smallest of order of mine 3 years ago. After that I boycotted there shop all together. Last month though a special offer came through at the right time, 15% off everything, at a stage that I was in the process of building a new bike. It worked out that Buying from PBK would save $100 over the same product on another website (Wiggle). Reluctantly I bit the bullet and ordered the Wheelset.
To (most likely) no fault of PBK the wheels came damaged from factory. I returned them the day after I got them (3 weeks ago) I know AusPost is slow, but I'm positive that they would be there by now.
They've agreed to pay for my shipping to return the item and then their shipping back.
NOTE: be sure you contact PBK by phone and then make sure you get it in writing that they will pay the postage.

To this date I still haven't heard whats going on, A little one sentence follow up would be nice even....
As I have an event in 4 weeks I'm not likely to get them on time. I'll check back and report.

I probably never buy anything large from them again. Though if the price was good Tubes, tires ect (cheaper items) I would risk, from now on I'm sticking with the old faithful. Wiggle."

"I had a bad experience buying here. I get that it's overseas (England), and delivery to the US is sent via air mail. No problem with that. But after 18 days, I asked them the status via their inquiry form (since no 800#, etc.), and got back the next day that it may take up to a month since I chose standard delivery. In effect, they were blaming it on me. In my business, I get a lot of international packages, and they usually arrive within a week. Anyway, when I emailed them again asking them 'What if I don't receive it within a month,' I never heard back from them. I did get my money back from the credit card company, but obviously not a great experience."

"I order a lot from PBK. I'm in Canada and usually get my stuff within two weeks max. I paid customs fees on maybe 15% of my order (big items have a higher risk) but tires, tube, tools, clothing etc. usually go without Customs.

I never received a package that wasn't exactly what I ordered. I even get extras once in a while like samples.

They use regular mail to provide free shipping, so I know the risk... when I ordered valuable item like wheels or a Fizik saddle i paid the extra 20$ on shipping to get a tracking #. The price is still good compared to American retailers. You have to manage the risk like everywhere else when you buy online."

"Horrible company.. ordering seems easy enough but what is not explained folks is that warranties are not honored in the US if purchases in the UK on most products. All of the items I ordered at "a great price" with free shipping were incorrect. I paid the huge fee to return everything under their very STRICT return policy and it has been over a month...NO refund NO return email nothing. They are a fraud in my mind. DONT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.. BUY local!!!!!!!!"

"I put an order in on ProBikeKit. They only sent some of the things that I ordered and had even marked with an 'X' the items that weren't included (so it was not mistake).
They did not respond to any of my email requests for assistance and even didn't respond to my dispute through PayPal. Luckily I ordered through PayPal and they were able to refund my money without having to get in contact with PBK.
I would not advise anyone to shop with PBK. There are many other online shops offering the same gear for a better price and most importance have a customer support team that cares."