Experience with returns to Merlin Cycles?
 

Received wheels yesterday (fulcrums levante equivalent) and not only are they disappointing looking with what appears to be hand sanding in multiple locations, one wheel has something loose inside the rim I can’t get out.

How was the experience returning? Did you get your customs tax refunded?

Oh man.. even when I lived in the UK getting a wheel return set up from Merlin was a total PITA. Good luck.

This is kinda what I expected and why I normally am willing to spend more locally.

In theory they take returns, in practice I would probably resell the item locally and come out ahead compared to paying return shipping for a large item to the UK.

Most of my experiences with Merlin have been good, consider buying from them to effectively be self-insuring, compared to buying from a US distributor. On average you will come out ahead, but with more uncertainty with any given transaction.

Okay I just checked my emails (from 2015) and Merlin were actually good. It was the distributor/3T who were very slow. Still - good luck.

Paying Return shipping is a deal breaker. Looks like I’m stuck with them.

I was excited for the bike to arrive today but now I just want to send it back and not deal with Ekar! I can’t believe campy would sell a such a shoddy product for close to 2k retail that comes scratched all over to remove imperfections plus not checking the wheel after build for loose stuff… Stripping to axs is an option but I could’ve done that much easier without a complete.

On the plus side they are very easy to setup tubeless and sealed nicely with a floor pump and no sealant on a new, dry tire.

When the WTOs came out years back, I bought a set from Merlin for a decent price (compared to the price they were being sold at in stores across the US). When the wheels arrived, I found they weighed significantly more than the advertised weight. I could not stomach that.

I went to USPS and shipped them back for around $180 (I think). But Merlin gave me my money back after receiving the wheels without any drama. All I lost was $180. Thankfully, back then, Merlin used to ship using USPS and luckily I was not charged customs.

I would email them you may be surprised

IF the problem is as you say take pictures of the bad sanding & tell them about the noise they may pay return

In my case they completely refunded me & told me to keep the wheels when they sent the wrong wheels to me.

Thanks all for the feedback. Looks like I pause beyond installing tires to see what they say.

Return shipping to UK is prohibitive as you found out.
I think you have cause in the product being defective and not as described so they should issue a refund and pay for shipping IMO.

Yeah I'd push that angle if you want to have any hope of coming out even.

I refuse to purchase from Merlin nowadays, I'm in Aus.

My inner cynic suspects they know return shipping from o/s is prohibitively expensive and they intentionally send b-grade stock to those orders knowing they are less likely to be returned. Have experienced this personally and seen way too many stories like yours.

Might be OK with tyres, tubes, smaller goods etc. but never buy expensive items like frames and wheels from overseas.

Wiggle was the exception because their return shipping was pre-paid label and was only like $20. In the good 'ole days circa 2018-2019.

You may not be the first person returning them.

It’s probably correct. They came in a generic box, too. I’d assume valves usually come with wheels (all my previous have for a few years) but these did not.

A lot of Merlin products are OEM, so they don't come with all the usual retail accessories. If you look up Fulcrum wheel product numbers, a lot of the product numbers Merlin sells are OEM only.