I’ve met both Roger at UDC UK and John and Amy at UDC USA. They are all nice people.
John and Amy are very helpful. At NAUCC last year they helped me change my tire when I kept having tire problems.
I ordered some 661’s from them a few years ago, and when they came one of them had a little rip on the seam. I told them about it and they sent me a new pair.
A couple years before that, when I was first getting into unicycling, they sent me a replacement saddle after the bolts on the one I first bought broke (really my fault).
I’ve had nothing but great service when dealing with them.
For the record, I’ve dealt with UDC US 5 or 6 times over the last 2 years (3 unicycles, so far) and am fully satisfied with their service. I think they provide a great service! They definitely don’t deserve some of the trash-talking going on recently.
IMHO UDC US’s trouble stems directly from their policy of charging your card for an item as soon as the order is placed. To correct their “troubles”, all they need to do is resist grabbing the cash until the product is shipped. To do otherwise is a ticket to free cash, and an invitation to trouble. Because they update their “in stock” listings on an apparently monthly basis, you can order something from them, be debited for it, and not receive it. Then they may send you the other stuff you ordered and just forget about you. In my case, I complained both directly to UDC US, and on the forums. I was told by email my account would be credited. So another 2 months goes by and I get my bank statement. They sent me the email telling me everything is ok, they are sorry, etc. ,then forgot to credit my account !
In summery, I wish this was an “error”. But it is not. It is terrible greedy policy.
As a counter point, it is common knowledge among the KH lustful that there is great hope we may be able to get KH’s again from AE Bike at their super great price. But they are out of stock. So their site doesn’t list them anymore. They could no doubt collect and deposit 1000’s of $ from hopefuls if they were willing to do that. Charge today for a back ordered item.
Just read the end part of this thread. You can see what I mean. Honest web sites will not charge your card before they ship. Period. If only UDC US could pass on the quick buck, I would so gladly stfu.
Read the end of the thread, imagine how many people would put down money now, but A E Bike (as well as almost all sites), just won’t go there. It’s a simple rule. Box out, card charged.
Mr. Feel the Light, your top 40 responses have been heard by most of us too many times. I’m assuming that you’ve spoken to the evil UDC people many times with your concerns. It is a shame that you’ve had to deal with such an unfair company. Maybe it’s because they just don’t give a d@#$. It is also quite amazing that a company this bad is able to survive in business.
I would suggest that the way that you can fix them is to not order from them anymore. That way you won’t be aggravated when they do something else bad to you. More importantly you won’t be continually complaining to us, the only people that can’t help you solve your problem.
You have missed the point. I am a fat idiot with little talent who just bought ti axles for his pedals to make my lame self feel better. No one can shame me. Dump on me all you want.
UDC US owns the web name and will get the orders. That’s a fact. I must order from them in the future. As must we all. They are the only source for lots of stuff. I want to change them because we need them. I have never met them, and do not doubt they are nice.
My only real point is that it is considered, justifiably, unethical, wrong, plain bald face greedy give me the money now and trust me I’m nice so stfu be glad I’m here to take your cash and pray, wrong, wrong, and wrong… to charge before the item is shipped. You don’t have to love, respect, or even wish to ever read my drivel again. This has nothing to do with my ignorant low talent whiny ass. We Need UDC US to match the barest standard of legitimacy. Don’t take the cash before you ship the goods. It is a sleazy practice. We need them to stop it for their good as well as the good of the sport. They only think they want that money. They are wrong.
Follow the standards of other legitamate web businesses.
I have had nothing but good experiences with UDC US. I have ordered from them several times over the past year. Personally I wouldn’t give a damn if a company charged the $ for a backordered item. I would rather have that then forget about an item, then when it’s finally shipped have insufficient funds available. If it came about that the item was discontinued, or unable to be delivered, then I’d expect a refund. I realize that in ANY company there are faults. It just so happens that this is a company that has cornered such an elitist market to begin with, and it doesn’t help any that there are forums regarding every tiny discrepancy.
UDC US wouldn’t recieve so many complaints if there were hundreds of places dealing unis. It is just that you can really only order unis from such few dealers. There’s bound to be mistakes made sometimes.:o
I dunno how US unicycle.com handles payments, but the UK one at least, the reason they charge you as soon as you order on the website, is because they use a 3rd party secure payments server, which means that they never actually have your credit card details on the unicycle.co.uk site. So they can’t hang onto the details until it ships, because they don’t have them.
I’ve phoned up and ordered stuff that wasn’t in, and Roger said he’d call me back when it came in, and he got my credit card details then. I think that’s typical for UK unicycle.com at least.
personally wots with the all the complaints about charging straight away? thats wot always happens on the net isnt it? even on ebay! - and good god thats unreliable.
UDCUK have always done me proud, including when my mum ordered my unicycle (i had kinda told her wot to get but ehehe), without me knowing just before my birthday and they sent ME the confirmation email (obviously they had some kind of record of my house and sent me the confirmation email with the parcel tracking number. I then found out that my mum had ordered the unicycle at 2pm and it had arrived at like 10am the next day… now thats wot u call service. Even though i only got the unicyle the next week. damn parents.
As for the other order i’ve put in (i think i’ve only had two) it came in the next day as well.
MDC which i also ordered from gave me a two day turnaround but since i ordered at 11pm… i think that counts as a 1 day turnaround. Impressive saying they are in germany.
Fact is, people could buy unicycles even before there was a Unicycle.com. They just started the trend to make it (lots) easier. By selling online.
True, they created (or helped to create) many of the unicycles that are now popular. These can also be purchased through their many distributors also though. You might be able to get one of your local bike shops interested in being a distributor. then you can blame all the mistakes on them…
Could you please explain where you learned of this policy of charging the credit card for out-of-stock items? You seem sure it’s a policy and are then projecting from that point. May I suggest to you that this is not a policy? It’s a mistake. Naturally the most irate customers are the ones who get hit by consecutive mistakes, which indeed seems to be your situation. You have every right to be irate and make sure UDC knows about it. I hope you spoke to a live human at UDC before posting all your complaints here. That’s always the best approach, and was reinforced by the Drummonds at NAUCC when they presented their annual check to the Unicycling Society of America. If you’re having a problem, please call and they’ll do their best to rectify it. But they do make mistakes.
BTW, since they were up in Michigan for the past week or so, they’re probably running a skeleton crew until they get back.
My $1,000 touring unicycle was stolen a month before my big tour and I called UDC the next weekday morning and spoke to Amy about it. She informed me that the parts would take two weeks to get and I also mentioned my tour and that I wouldn’t have another $1,000 for about 3 weeks…that put my unicycle arriving about a week or less before I left for the tour if assembly and shipping all went fast. This is no way to ride a 500 mile tour. Amy called me back 2 days later and confirmed that I would be re ordering. After I told her that, she said she put my wheel in the build queue and just to call them when I was ready to pay. Well I paid on July 13th and was informed that my unicycle was in the box and done…it would ship that evening! It arrived in one piece the following Tuesday (weekend shipping) and all was well. They even called to make sure everything was well…I have had small mishaps in shipping errors with UDC (slightly incorrect address, small changes in what I ordered to what I got) but they were all corrected with a phonecall. This was truly a point for me that UDC came through for me when I needed it most. Thanks to you all. I dedicated my RAGBRAI ride to you guys this year
UDC US is the unicycling Monopoly in America. Whenever you have a monopoly there are going to be inefeciencies. I mean just look at UDCs prices on KH unicycles compared to AEbikes! If UDC US had two more serious competitors in the US I bet that prices would be quite a bit lower. That includes shipping. I would also think that there would be more models of unicycles being sold and more agressive advertizing that would lead to more unicyclist and larger economies of scale in the long run, with happier consumers.
I don’t think that Feel The Light is all wrong. At FLUCK there was a lot of “hate” sentiment towards UDC US. Let us remember that it is zeolots like Feel the Light that expend the energy needed to get things changed!
i like udcuk. roger’s great- professional in business and nice to know. i’ve always felt valued as a customer, shipping’s always been prompt and on occasions i’ve been pleasantly surprised by how swiftly my orders arrived.
it’s pleasurable doing business with them and back to the OP’s intention i think it best just to show some love for them.
I have had the opportunity to order products from 6 suppliers so far.
This ranges from whole unicycles to just parts.
Some of them are recent startup businesses (so growing pains and established business practices have yet to gel, Others were a combination of LBS/Uni reseller)
Of the Unicycle vendors I’ve dealt with so far two stand above the rest.
They are …
Darren Bedford and UDC USA.
Darren Bedford
PROS: The best way to contact is by the phone. Hell, I even called him on a Sunday and ordered my uni right over the phone on Sunday. Very knowledgable. Gives his time to unicycle community, RTL, unicycle club, etc. Responds to emails. Provides tracking information promptly and confirmation of shipped goods. Good person to deal with. Has dedicated unicycle store in Toronto.
He’s CANADIAN EH.
CONS: Web site is out of date, maybe from the jurasic period.
UDC USA:
PROS: Good web site, full catelogue of inventory. 1800 number for help desk, friendly phone support. Amy is great, she really does seem to care. Sending her an email or phone call usually generates results.
CONS: Minor inventory issue with new Nimbus 36 out of stock. Slow to respond to helpdesk emails (can alway call the 1800 number for prompt result though)
I have nothing but good things to say about UDC. They are some of the nicest, honest bend over backwards for you people I have ever met. They go out of there way for customers, sometimes at a financial loss to themselves.(So much for the greedy accusations.) I am sure the only reason they charge up front is that is the way their software works. They may not have made the choice from the beginning on how that software functioned, and now unless they make some very expensive modifications can’t change it.
I am a huge fan, and feel very fortunate to know John and Amy. I have a business, and I know what types of issues they face everyday, and I think they handle them far and away better than many companies that I have dealt with in their same position. Although they are huge in the Unicycle community, remember they are still a small company that has to deal with all kinds of growing pain issues. Too many employees, not enough employees, too much inventory, not enough inventory, change in tastes that leave them with unwanted inventory, shipping mistakes by distracted employees(Likely because they have to wear many hats), and to make it more difficult…They are the manufacturing company for many of the items they sell. So they have to guess what the demand will be before it is shipped over from China. Why do they have to go to China? Because everyone wants something for nothing. I can’t even imagine the issues that they deal with on a daily basis. Especially when I see all the whining from people on the forum.
