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Manitoubikeshop.com--Legit? No info about them that I can find?

5K views 31 replies 22 participants last post by  dhfox 
#1 ·
Hey, has anyone used this online shop? I tried to place an order and when I got to the check out portion of the page where I would enter my credit card, I noticed that the page was not secure (did not have HTTPS). I didn't want to take a chance of inputting my cc info into that kind of unsecure page.
I tried to call them but the number keeps going to voice mail and says, this mailbox can't accept any more messages. :skep:


Are they legitimate?
 
#4 ·
Here is from the FAQ page on the website:

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How can I view the status of my order?
A: Go to the Customer Service, Account Information page. This page lists all your orders. Click the date of the order whose status you wish to view.

Q: What are your shipping costs?
A: You can view an estimate of shipping costs by viewing your cart.However, final shipping costs will be displayed on the Invoice you see before confirming your order.

Q: What are your shipping times?
A: You can expect your shipment to arrive approx. 10 days after the order is placed

Q: Does Manitou Bikes accept returns?
A: If for any reason our website has misrepresented an item, if we have shipped the wrong item or if the item you received is damaged Manitou Bikes will make every effort to correct the issue to your liking. All orders fullfilled properly by Manitou Bikes will be considered final at the time of checkout and returns are not encouraged. PLEASE call prior to ordering with any product questions. This policy allows us to keep our prices low and customers happy.

That would be enough to make me go elsewhere.

There are other retailers that will price match and ship faster.....that have secure websites....and accept returns.
 
#13 ·
Q: What are your shipping times?
A: You can expect your shipment to arrive approx. 10 days after the order is placed
.
I placed an order last week for some new tires. I specifically chose them over treefort since they were using USPS shipping, I paid for priority mail shipping wanting to NEVER deal with brown ever ever again.

Then after i placed my order ... Crickets ... worried i dug up the above entry from the FAQ, died a little and decided to wait.

2 days ago i got the 10% off "perfect storm" email. Waited, and Today my tracking info is in their system.

How did they ship??? Fedex... Well at least its not brown.

i ordered on 8/18 and estimated arrival date is ... 8/30 ... sucky.

I sent a follow up email hoping they will at least refund the difference in shipping costs.

I cant imagine how crazy it would be to have all these orders and have your system crash but something tells me from the fever of this thread that it will be a painful lesson. Right there next to dealing with bikeisland for me :)

oh and ... my first post .. not normally this cranky! (off a bike)
 
#5 ·
I saw this one too as they have good prices. I would think they're in big trouble for using Manitou's copyrighted name. I doubt they're associated with Manitou. It might even be a good idea to call Manitou and let them know their name is being used
 
#7 ·
True, just like a Yeti is an animal. But it's still a copyright infrigement if the name is used to market items in a similar industry. In this case, Manitou is a copyrighted name and this website is selling bike parts under the Manitou name. Clear infringement.

Is this the website you're referring to?
Manitou Bikes

Interesting as it says they're copyrighted as of 2011. I wonder if they are associated?
 
#8 ·
My experience thus far

I placed a small order with them two days ago and yesterday received from them this suspicious sounding email, which I am posting in its entirety, with just an editing out of the promo code (in the off chance that they are legit) and their domain names (because this is my first post and am not allowed to submit links.)

We have had a very challenging 2 weeks.**Our IT systems all but stopped working!

To all who have placed orders during this time, we thank you.**To all who have experienced any tracking or communication issues, We extend our sincere apologies and hope you will continue using ManitouBikes for all your bicycle needs.

Here is a coupon code for 10% off your next purchase.**This is a small token of our appreciation to you as a customer

PROMO CODE:" *********** "

Thank you for your understanding

Manitou Bikes
_____________________________________________

For those of you wanting more details........

First you must know, we are true cyclists to the core.**We ride in the freezing winters and the blazing summers.**We ride in congested traffic in the morning and secluded trails in the evening. We also take care of all the bike shop "stuff", phone calls, emails, repairs, retail customers, marketing etc.**We are not IT specialists.**For these tasks we have to hire the computer experts.**This is the gist of what happened.

Our technical issues started with our main domain (manitoubikes) not directing properly which lead us to using our backup domain, ManitouBikeShop. This caused confusion for many of our long time customers. Within 24 hours the PayPal synchronization failed & our order tracking system stopped updating.**Not to be out done the live inventory feeds, stopped "feeding". It was truly "The Perfect Storm".**

All of these are minor in comparison to the frustration many of our customers experienced.**As you can imagine our phones rang off the hook and our small phone system quickly overloaded and we started taking calls on our cell phones. We still have many customers to get back with as there are hundreds of voicemails and emails. We are a small staff that has worked late into each night in an effort to fix this.**We are not completely out of the woods for about 48 more hours. At that time all inquires will have been handled, all systems should be back to fully functioning and we will be running seamless again.**

StatusUpdate:

PayPal: 100%

Tracking # and shipping updates: 90% accurate - 100% completion expected within 48 hours.

Inventory updates: 80% accurate - 100% accuracy expected within 48 hours

Response times: same day response times are expected to resume within the next 48 hours

Sleep?: Not yet:)

Please let us know if you have additional questions.

Thank you for sticking with us during this weird turn of events!! It has been challenging for all of us.**We hope you will accept our gift of 10% off your next order. Please use promo code " ******* " during your next check out.

Thank you,

Team Manitou Bikes

Will post back if I ever receive the merchandise. In the meantime, am going to have a little chat with the good people who issued my credit card.

-andychrist
 
#12 ·
Manitoubikeshop is located in Manitou Springs, Colorado. They seem to be a legit LBS that also sells stuff online.

Want to contact them?

Manitou Bikes

514 El Paso Blvd
Manitou Springs, CO 80829
877 646-5798
Home Page

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here's info about manitoubikeshop.com:

Registrant:
Tim Chase
514 Elpaso Blvd
Manitou Springs, CO 80904
US

Domain name: MANITOUBIKESHOP.COM

Administrative Contact:
Chase, Tim
514 Elpaso Blvd
Manitou Springs, CO 80904
US
+1.7196465798
Technical Contact:
Admin, Domain
2632 Marine Way
Mountain View, CA 94043
US
+1.8004283170
 
#18 ·
#14 ·
D'oh!, I also chose Priority Mail, that was the reason I ordered from them, too. Just hope my front Kenda Kwest holds up until either Manitou actually gets the new one here or I find one locally, because all three of my other tires just wore out (I'm towing a Burley Nomad) and last year the four of them all did expire within one week.

Anyway I'm pretty sure Manitou Bikes is still online, in some incarnation or other.

Thanks for all the info, guys.
 
#15 ·
Well after ten days the order has supposedly shipped, via FedEx, one week estimate for delivery, even though I payed for priority mail, same as komby.

Now let's see if they even sent me the tire I ordered and not some cheap substitute.

In any case I will never buy from those effing jokers again.
 
#16 ·
I took a chance & placed a pretty substantial order with them last week but never received a confirmation email for the order. But having come across this thread I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt so waited some time & still no confirmation email. Finally, checked their website & found out that, indeed, my order had been recorded. For the pricing I wasn't about to jump to any conclusions so continued to wait for some sort of email confirmation. Never did receive an email confirming the order though but on 9/2/11 received, not one, but two email confirmations that my order had shipped. The first didn't include sender info so I had no clue who sent it but the 2nd included the sender info; Manitou Bikes. Success!

The order was originally placed on 8/26/11 & I should receive it 9/9/11. I've been mailordering a looooong time & can still remember when a two week around time was considered excellent. Besides, there was nothing in the order that I was in a rush for so it doesn't matter to me as the price savings are more than worth it! Heck, the savings on one item alone paid for shipping! And, FWIW, my CC wasn't charged until my order was shipped.
 
#19 ·
Your first hint should have been all that was required. Unencrypted (http vs https) shopping sessions = big red flag and almost always some type of scam. In fact unencrypted transactions is a violation of the requirements to do credit card transactions by the Payment Card Industry (PCI).
 
#23 ·
I've been getting a similar run-around from Manitou Bike Shop. Placed an order on Tuesday, they got the authorization from my cc company that afternoon and sent a confirmation of the order (but not shipping/tracking no.). Left vms and emails with the customer service contacts listed on their website, but to no apparent avail. I figure if I still don't hear anything by next Tuesday, I'll have my cc co. stop payment and be getting in touch with the Manitou Springs better business bureau.

Seriously, in this day and age, there's no legitimate excuse for running a web-based business the way they are.
 
#25 ·
After a raft of voice mails (thanks jtmartino for the contact info) and emails pointing out the impropriety of not responding to customer questions and threatening to sic my cc company and the better business bureau on them, I finally got a response from the store, saying that they'd ship my order this week. Bottom line, unless you're absolutely broke (their prices are really damn low) or time is not an issue, I'd go elsewhere, as they seem to have cribbed their customer service policy from some east german restauranteur's handbook.
 
#26 ·
This says everything I need to know about them:

"In order for us to keep our prices crazy low we ask that you do your homework prior to buying. This allows you to be the perfect customer (less phone calls, emails, exchanges etc.). This keeps us focused on sending out product which keeps our prices low. If you’ve done the research and know what you want then you will get killer deals on all your gear! If you are a high maintenance customer requiring “extra” attention we recommend visiting your local bicycle shop."

That's pathetic. Sounds like they may not know any answers to your questions anyway.
 
#27 ·
#28 ·
I had a similar experience as those posted here, except mine is not resolved yet. I ordered a part on 9-10-2011. I received an email confirmation two days later and my account was charged. Then, like Komby... crickets. I called and left a voicemail asking for a return call... chirp, chirp. I sent an email... chirp, chirp. I sent three emails... nothing. I requested a cancelation of my order and refund... no response. It has been 16 days since I placed my order and I have not received any communication from them after my order confirmation.

People need to know that this business sucks! This is the worst customer service I have ever encountered. Tim Chase and his "team" are not running a legit online business- it's worse than pathetic.

If I had known about the 10-day wait, I would have ordered somewhere else. Now that I have waited 16 days and received nothing, I am on a rampage to tell everyone I know.

I am at least thankful that I only ordered one part and it was not a lot of money.
 
#29 ·
So I ordered a light from this place late 9/26/11. I didnt read this forum before I did, maybe if I had I wouldn't have but then I wouldn't have saved any cash on a Expilion 350 at 86$ it's was a steal. I did try calling them after I read this forum and couldn't reach anyone or get a call back/email. I got scared but I had already jumped. Today 10/1/11 I got my light well under the ten day period. It is a new unopened product. This is my 2nd online order for bike products. My first was GreenFish adventure sport in NY. In the end both were questionable and if wasn't for the savings I would go to my LBS. Make your own choice- sometimes it pays to wait others it's worth the risk to jump.
 
#30 ·
MBS customer

Bottom line is if you want good prices, use this store. If you want it to show up quickly, use them for a price match.

Manitoubikeshop.com is a decent store with great prices and the customer service is quality when they do get around to you.:thumbsup:

But it may take some :madman: to get through.
 
#32 · (Edited)
DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM MANITOU BIKE SHOP.

Placed an order a few weeks ago. My account was immediately debited.
ALL emails to manitou have been ignored and not responded to.
Aside from that automatic email telling my my payment was accepted, I've received NOTHING from manitou.

5 days AFTER the goods were supposed to have arrived at my home, while digging through my credit card account transactions online, I found they REVERSED
the charges! :rolleyes: This was a week ago! Still NO EMAIL from them that they did this! I was still sitting here expecting the items I ordered to show up any day, and here they had silently reversed the charges... :eekster:

DO NOT ORDER ANYTHING FROM MANITOU BIKE SHOP. :madmax:

What a bunch of idiots!

I only wish that I knew about these threads before I ordered...
 
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