Pirate Cycles in Massachusetts: Dead or Alive?

Max-M

Max-M

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Does anybody know the status of this business? I'm interested in one of their 56-tooth aluminum sprockets. I emailed a question to them yesterday morning inquiring about the spacing of the hub-mounting holes on the two models that they offer.

Late afternoon today after not receiving any email response, I phoned them. The outgoing voicemail message identified them as "Pirate Cycles," but a message from their phone service provider said that their "voicemail box is full and can't accept any more messages."

Thanks for any info, MBers.
 
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Pirates goes from ' dead ' to 'busy ' as mail orders take top priority. If they get a delivery, or a long versed customer, who is parked outside, the phone may not get answered.
Your right, the message machine needs to hold more messages. I live a few miles, so I usually just ' go ' there
oftentimes, the shop is ' half open ' meaning the warehouse
is manned, not the counter. Try the Email / website, the
computer may have been acting up, talked to them today.
 
V 35 said:
Pirates goes from ' dead ' to 'busy ' as mail orders take top priority. If they get a delivery, or a long versed customer, who is parked outside, the phone may not get answered.
Your right, the message machine needs to hold more messages. I live a few miles, so I usually just ' go ' there
oftentimes, the shop is ' half open ' meaning the warehouse
is manned, not the counter. Try the Email / website, the
computer may have been acting up, talked to them today.
Click to expand...

No, I won't do business with a company with a sloppy, slacker attitude that operates like that. You can't answer my email in two days?! Your voicemail message says that it's full?! There are too many people operating like this in our hobby, so you can't blindly trust a website that shows a product as "IN STOCK." So I always email or call first.

Way too many vendors haven't got a clue about the extreme importance of good customer service, or the way that they can get blacklisted by not having good CS.

There are enough vendors that aren't fly-by-night (you've just got to find them). I found the same 56-tooth aluminum sprocket that Pirate is/was selling for less money at custommotoredbicycles.com in Wisconsin.
 
Your right, when it comes to good vendors " You've just got to find them "
I did ... Pirate Cycle in Grafton Mass. I go in person, so I can't comment on mail order service, except that they ship a lot of parts, and get a lot of deliveries. I give them credit for being both innovators, and adhering to ' old school rules ' . Lost count of number of times they helped me out. Will the guy in Wisconsin test ride, and troubleshoot your bike ?

Yes, if you look hard, and long enough, you can beat almost anyone's price on an item. if you want consistantly fair prices, you need to trust the vendor. Do you have trust issues ? This Forum has posting where you can vote pro or con on the merits of several dealers. Pirate Cycle always manages to come out well in the polls, that should say more than a disgruntled customer. If you badmouth enough dealers, they will all retire out of fear of your relatiation, than * None of Us * will have parts.
 
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These small dealers like Pirate are mostly MB riders who love the hobby and sell parts, not mega stores with scores of people working there just waiting on your call. I think sometimes they get overwhelmed.
I've ordered parts from Pirate and Custom, both good results. If they don't reply to something I just take it they're busy or maybe they decided to go for a ride.
 
V 35 said:
Your right, when it comes to good vendors " You've just got to find them "
I did ... Pirate Cycle in Grafton Mass. I go in person, so I can't comment on mail order service, except that they ship a lot of parts, and get a lot of deliveries. I give them credit for being both innovators, and adhering to ' old school rules ' . Lost count of number of times they helped me out. Will the guy in Wisconsin test ride, and troubleshoot your bike ?

Yes, if you look hard, and long enough, you can beat almost anyone's price on an item. if you want consistantly fair prices, you need to trust the vendor. Do you have trust issues ? This Forum has posting where you can vote pro or con on the merits of several dealers. Pirate Cycle always manages to come out well in the polls, that should say more than a disgruntled customer. If you badmouth enough dealers, they will all retire out of fear of your relatiation, than * None of Us * will have parts.
Click to expand...

First of all, my initial post in this thread was simply to ask if anybody knew if Pirate Cycles was in business anymore. I had every indication that they weren't (unanswered emails, "full" voicemail box). Above, you say: "...if you want consistantly fair prices, you need to trust the vendor. Do you have trust issues ?" WHAT?! "Trust issues"?! What does that kind of psycho-babble have to do with buying a sprocket and trying to determine if the vendor is still in business, and if they have what I need in stock? We're not talking about marriage counseling here!

I was glad to find the same sprocket at the place in Wisconsin, and the fact that they charge $49 vs. Pirate's $52.50 was, of course, insignificant. The fact that the Wisconsin people immediately responded to my email inquiry confirming that the sprocket was in stock and ready to ship, and that its hole spacing would fit my hub adapter, was significant. They got my PayPal payment, and I got my sprocket.

This was just a simple internet transaction to acquire a 50-buck sprocket -- I wasn't looking for somebody to "test ride and troubleshoot" my bike!

I have nothing against whoever runs Pirate Cycles. I don't know them. They're probably nice people. But this little bit of experience that I've had is certainly the kind of experience that completely turns me and my money away from an internet vendor.
 
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tom-fishing said:
These small dealers like Pirate are mostly MB riders who love the hobby and sell parts, not mega stores with scores of people working there just waiting on your call. I think sometimes they get overwhelmed.
I've ordered parts from Pirate and Custom, both good results. If they don't reply to something I just take it they're busy or maybe they decided to go for a ride.
Click to expand...

That's a pretty casual attitude, Tom. I'm a customer inquiring about the difference between two sprockets so that I can order the correct one and then transfer my hard-earned money to the vendor, and I can't get a response from them? You think that a business needs to be "a megastore with scores of people working there just waiting on [my] call" in order to maintain at least a minimum level of customer service? Are they doing me a favor if they respond to questions, take my payment and ship me a product?

I've heard terrible things about vendors like, for example, boygofast (on eBay), or Helio Motorized Bicycles, and I'm sure that you have too. I don't want to get tangled up with a fly-by-night or dishonest company (or individual). And I have no experience with Pirate Cycles, other than my lack of response from them outlined in my post.
 
They are alive! Order online though! I just ordered on the sixth and my kit is due to arrive today!
 
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