Old Bike Barn Dot Com

anybody have any dealings with this outfit?

I placed an order last friday that has yet to be filled and no one is answering the phone, returning calls or answering emails.

Can't even cancel the order if i wanted to, at this point, without getting my credit company involved

Frustrated,
Christopher.

 

I've heard that they are a commonly used source of parts for older bikes. Once I discovered Len, I never had reason to use them so I can't offer any vendor feedback.

 

Had a similar experience the one and only time I ever ordered from them; completely unresponsive but my stuff DID eventually show up about 3 weeks later.

 

I tried dealing with them once. They lost the money order I sent them, then they lost the order itself.

I'd recommend staying the hell away from the place.

 

I just found out they're based in Montreal Quebec, Canada.
Their website doesn't exactly brag about that. Only found out after they charged my credit card... A full WEEK after i placed the order.
Grrrrrreeeaaaaattt.

I'll expect my windshield in about June and in about 8 pieces....

Fool me once.

Never again.

I was trying to do someone a favor by not going with Dennis Kirk, Bike Bandit and the like. Figured i'd give them a chance.

Lesson relearned.

 

I ordered lots of parts for my overhaul 2 years ago and other than taking a few weeks for my stuff to arrive, I have had no problems with them.

 

fingers crossed then.

Just a little frustrating because an order i placed with Dennis Kirk AFTER the Old Bike Barn order, is already at my house.

grrrrrr...

And Obama wants to model our health care system after the Canadians.

does Old Bike Barn handle kidney orders?

:?

 

They have been a little slow with my orders also. But the did eventully arrive. I have to return some parts a few weeks ago, it was not a easy process. They were arguing with me about the VIN # on my bike. I gave them the number like they requested then they said it was not valad because it was not 17 digits, they could not get me the right parts because of it. They did not believe a 30 year old bike did not have a 17 digit VIN #. I'll be looking elsewhere the next time I need parts.

 

They are a joke...so many more easier and cheaper options...

 

OBB is in Champlain New York.

I bought my starter clutch rebuild kit from them. Order went through ok, but I thought the shipping was a bit slow considering it's just across the border from Ontario.

 

I have to say, I cannot stand that company already, I ordered a valve cover gasket on Feb 6, 2009. 2 days days after placing my order I receive and out of stock email letting me know that the order will be delayed another 7 to 10 business days. 12 days later I had to hound them about my order. They replied letting me know that my order would ship out early this week. I better get my gasket by tomorrow. On the other hand, I'll be a Chacal customer from now on. his stuff shows up fast, and he really helps and get's back to you ASAP.

 

Chacal is the way to go! He actually replies to your emails in a timely fashion and has reasonable prices.

 

This is exactly why Len (chacal) is absolutely the only guy worth buying an XJ part from

 

WesleyJN1975
5th gear wrote:



Chacal is the way to go! He actually replies to your emails in a timely fashion and has reasonable prices



You are right about Lens follow-up. I pm'd him at 2:00 am pst to find out the status of an order I had placed (usps had delivered it to the wrong place) and at 2:20 am he responded withe the tracking info. Figure it took him 10 mins to get the info off the usps website I'm not sure what he did for the other 10 minutes!!

Chacal rules. No doubt about it!. Hail Chacal!

 

I know what he was doing the other 10 mins. " A tactical Momentary pause. " kinda like what you see on Game shows. . Let the tention build then slap 'em with the news. works best when the news is good.

 

Correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think Chacal sells the slipstreamer spirit 02 windshield, does he?
that's what i'm trying to get.

 

Update:
After 2.5 weeks of total frustration, I find out that Old Bike Barn didn't even have a windshield to sell me, that it was on back order for an indeterminate amount of time.
That and they had already charged my credit card for the full amount, even though they didn't have one in stock!
And they charged me shipping for my $160 dollar item, even though their website claimed no shipping over $99.
DO NOT PATRONIZE this "company".

So this past Tuesday night (3/10/09), at 6pm, i placed the same order with Dennis Kirk.
My windshield was waiting for me when i got home from work yesterday (3/12/09).
Yeah it was a little more expensively priced, but they charged me LESS shipping from Minnesota than OBB was charging from my home state.

I tried to help out a smaller outfit and got burned.

live and re-learn, i guess. There's a reason some companies succeed and get big and others don't sometimes.

Cheers,
Christopher.

 

File a complaint with the BBB -- perhaps that will get their attention. Won't help matters any, but you'll feel better, if nothing else.

Upstate NY BBB

 

Similarly, disputing the charge with the credit card company should have a negative impact on their credit rating ... I am not certain, but I thought it was illegal to charge a backorder like that unless they specifically tell you about the backorder in advance? No reputable business that I have ever dealt with has worked that way. They usually send a message that no charge will occur until the order is ready to ship.

 

Lets say that again:
Chacal is the way to go when you need parts.

Fast friendly service, they way all should be

 

Although OldBikeBarn do have a warehouse in Montreal, they are american : upstate New York in fact. Read the "about us" on their web site. The guy is a vet even.

(I didn't know the US had a health care system to speak of - if you don't count the organs black market)

 

The point of his comment isn't to say that OldBikeBarn was Canadian, but that the Canadian health care system has an approach of "Let's see if s/he'll live before we do any major surgery." They figure if you can't live six months to get the surgery, you weren't going to survive anyways.

 

I placed an order with them once and paid the priority 2-day mail. Well 2 days later I get an e-mail saying the part is out of stock and should be filled with in the next 10 working days. 2weeks later the order was still not filled so I cancelled the order. They had already charged me for the order and the priority mail. They did reimburse me though. I don't think I will be taking another chance with them unless no one else in the world has that part but them and still would be leary about it.

 

They are based out of Upstate New York, I actually spoke with someone a while ago and made these inquiries before attempting a purchase to see what kind of shipping and duty charges i was going to be dinged for. They did not even mention to me that they had a presence in Canada at all. Don't mistake the "Canadian Headquarters" as meaning they are based in Montreal. When I saw that on their site I called back and asked why the shipping was going to be so much they stated that all their stock is shipped from the states. Luckily I found out about Len and didn't bother with making an order.

 

Not that it matters that much, Tumble, but the point of his comment was indeed that the company was less trustworthy because it was canadian...

It might be true, mind you - although you do seem to have a few shady business people down there. But as for the health care system... :wink:

I wanted to point out the fact that it was really an american company. I was looking them over before ordering and decided against dealing with them because of this bad press here and one other comment like this elsewhere. Might be the same guy in fact (different nicks), 'cause the story seems very similar.

I'm looking into Chacal (xj4ever) now, and will deal with him if the costs for shipping to Montreal are not prohibitive. Seems I have to give my credit card to Google before I am shown the shipping costs. :roll:

There's another place in Montreal where there are plenty of yamaha parts. But the guy doesn't use email or the web site much. Mostly phone or you ride over (http://www.centreyamamoto.com/). He's selling the whole business and is willing to ship by container the whoe sheebang. He's not well off health wise and only the canadian health care system is keeping him going as it is...

We probably have as many false ideas concerning things "USofA" as americans have concerning things canadian, though. Well, maybe not quite as many... :lol:

As I said, not that it matters much.

 

Let's ask the original author what he meant, shall we? :lol:

First, there's a very good possibility that OBB might be trying to gain tax or other monetary bennies from maintaining their "official" presence off US soil.

I found out about the Upstate Actual location AFTER i commented on Montreal.

The Obama comment was meant as a joke. It is no secret that Canadians flock to the US for health care, since their's is so bunged up. That's not even up for debate. I was merely trying to equate OBB's business troubles (long delays, payment scamming, etc) with the Canadian Health care problems, in a humorous manner.
But i was NOT trying to impune or indict ALL Canadians or the Canadian way of life by my comment. I love my Brothers and Sisters to the North, thank them for their steadfast alliance with us in International matters and want only the best for them, including bike parts and health care.
I apologize if any of my Frozen Cousins feel that i would automatically malign ALL Canadian businesses, due simply to geographic location of the building or the general Canuckness of it's employees. That is not my intention. Such is the peril of written communication. Attempts at humor can so often be skewed, like an ill-fitting tuke.

I have no other nick/userid. This was my first and only attempt at dealing with OBB. That someone else had so eerily similar a problem with them only adds to their mystique as quite possibly the world's worst vendor.

Respectfully,
Christopher.

 

So long as you don't reinterpret yourself :wink:

Only the rich ones do. Not very many. It is well known that medical services in the US are for the rich - not ordinary people. If I get sick and I find the delays too long here, I will go to India or Bankok in the western hospitals there, like the americans do when they can't afford treatment in the States :lol:

Tks - warm feelings

Yep, someone else has a similar complaint. So I'll stay away from them. Very bad practice to bill the credit card when products are on backorder.

Getting parts for my bike from the US seems very expensive from what I can deduct from Chacal's email. My flasher relay would cost me 40 bucks plus shipping around 10 bucks (not to bad in fact) but I know they will get me at the border where it will cost me another 50 bucks at least, from experience.

100$ seems a lot for a flasher relay. So I'm trying an electronic flasher relay (12V for cars) from CanadianTire at 8$ to see if that works, before looking for some other solution. I hope it works...

 

yep, it works...
Found out it's the same flasher as described here:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=2156.html

I no longer have the auto cancelling feature - but never liked it anyway. Didn't find it thrustworthy.

So I don't need to deal with OldBikeBarn finally. Happy with that.

 

dmx,
Funny you should mention the flashers.
my auto-cancel works on left turns, but not on right turns.
So i'm just in the habit of manually turning them off.
:?

 

so i tired contacting bikebarn about 2months ago about a set of tires for my goldwing, Got a claim number a few days later saying their looking in to it and then umm still no response even after numours emails. Horrible customer service, I sent a PM to chacal about some parts and got a email back in like 20mins? He seems definatly worth buying from. Bikebandit is also good but shipping and prices are high, good customer service tho.