neilswheels

This is Neil of Neilswheels. On Thursday, 31st May, a man came into the shop, and said that the white Scott Contessa road,bike, that was hanging here for sale, was indeed his niece's stolen bike, as he recognised it, as being the one which he imported, as it is not a model that is brought in by the SA distributors. For this reason, he said this bike had to be hers. He told me that she was very small, and that her bike was a size Small. I told him that I found that quite strange, as this bike is clearly a Medium, and had come in to us a few months ago, as a trade-in. I told him that if he was convinced that it was her bike, then he needed to come with the police, and the relevant case number, and then I would hand over the bike to them. The lady who's bike was stolen arrived on Friday to identify the bike, and a few minutes later. a detective arrived to attend to the proceedings. The bike did not have pedals on, so I fitted a pair, and tried to drop the seat for her, to see if this bike was her size. To us and to the detective, this bike is definitely too big for her, and the seatpost could not go any further down, and it showed that the bike was way too big for her. The detective has also acknowledged this. We are about to put on a shorter seatpost and pedals again, for her to see if this bike does fit her, and if this works, the police will be able to remove it. I am not categorically denying that this is her bike, but the evidence shows that this bike is 2 sizes bigger than she needs, as her original post of the bike being stolen , shows that it was a size X/Small If this is the case (ie that the bike is too big for her), then the original assertion that this bike has to be hers, because it was imported, is not the case. Neil

Because we are not buying in second hand bikes any more, we have had to buy new ones, which are supplied to us in boxes. See pics attached, of our stock of new bikes in boxes. If you don't believe it, send anyone round to confirm that this is so. We still do take in bikes on consignment, and on trade-ins. See pics attached of these as well

This bike came in on Saturday, and is on consignment. We cannot sell it, by law, for 7 days. Neil

This bike came in today Any comments? Neil

First thing this morning, I informed my staff that we will no longer be buying used bikes. We will still take on trade-ins, and take bikes on consignment. We will take a pic of each bike that comes in this way, and post the details on this forum (if the editor of The Hub will allow this), and I'm pretty sure that in an effort to stop illegal activity, he will do this. In reply to a previous post, there is one person who was arrested and taken into custody in connection with a stolen bike where we were able to help the police in their investigation. Second thing this morning, I painted over the sign outside the shop which states that "We buy good quality road and mountain bikes" I painted over the "We buy", so the sign now only says "Good quality road and mountain bikes"

We do sell used bikes We are required by law, to keep a Register of 2nd hand goods, which is monitorerd by the nearest police station on a regular basis. I have stopped buying used bikes, since this incident of the stolen Marathon. We are on a campaign to build a range of New bikes, particularly in the lower to middle end, to enable us to be able to supply bikes in the cheaper area of the market. There is a sign in our window that says that we buy good quality used bikes, but that will be removed today. But we do offer trade-ins, for people wanting to upgrade their bikes, so we will still carry used bikes from this source. Also, from now on, we will only accept used bikes on a consignment basis, so I think that anyone wanting to fence a stolen bike will not leave it with us if they have to wait until it is sold to get their money. It is not my intention to be involved with stolen property, as I hate the anguish that I now have, with being on the wrong side of the law, and also at being the target (I admit, correctly so) of the many bad comments on The Hub Please know that with a number of bikes that have come in since our start, some of which are not that easily saleable because of shabby condition, ( not for any other reason), have been restored and donated. They have been fully serviced, and had parts replaced where necessary. So far, we have donated 34 bikes to the Hope Foundation charity, for people and children affected by HIV/aids, 14 in April and 20 in June. Although this does not help with the stolen bike problem, I hope that it shows that we are not only driven by greed to take in as much money as we can, no matter what. I will from now on, if the forum wants, list every bike that comes in either by way of trade-in, or on consignment, starting with yesterday, where a kiddies blue Avalanche Max plus a Raleigh Ride-on, came in as a deposit on a kiddies bike which is being serviced for sale. If anyone thinks that these are stolen property, please contact us, and the correct action will be taken. I am appealing for help, to enable us to reach a point where the negative view of our shop can change in the future, to one of confidence. I have been accused of not replying, but on Wednesday and Thursday at the shop, when pressing the reply button after typing my reply, the whole thing disappeared off my screen, as the internet had gone off line. This is being sent from my home computer. Any comments, especially ones of help, but even negative, will be greatly appreciated If anyone wants my phone number, PM me Neil

His name is Shaye Best His number is Call him to see if this is his bike that he has asked to be sold on his behalf Mod Edit: dont paste cell phone details.

Been trying to reply the whole weekend, being informed that I "did not have permission to reply". Found out today that I needed to validate my recent re-application to be a member of The Hub, as I haven't posted for over a year. First the details of the Stolen Giant VT2. I was out of my shop on Friday, 15th April. When I returned, I was told that 2 guys had brought in the VT2 to sell, but as I was not there, nothing could be done without me assessing the bike, to see if I was interested. So the bike was left in the shop. It wasn't hidden away - just left in the front of the shop, with nothing to hide, as it was not my bike. No price tag was put on it, as happens to all stock which is for sale. Saturday, (the next day), at about 13.45pm, (15 minutes before closing), the owner of the bike walks in, and enquires where the bike comes from. I told him that it had been left the day previous day, for me to decide whether to buy it or not. He then informed me that it was in fact his bike, and had been stolen a couple of days previously, from his car, while he had gone to a mosque for prayer purposes. I told him that he should come with the police, and that they could remove it, but that I was closing in 10 minutes. The doors were in fact closed, when he returned with 2 policemen, so I opened the door, and I was informed by one of the policemen that I must not sell the bike. I told him that I would not, and they all left. Monday came and went, without any visit by the police. As I was about to lock up, (we try to close at 6pm - but often get delayed slightly), so at about 6.15pm, two guys arrived, who I had never met, one of whom said that he had come for his money for the VT2. I told him that I was not buying that bike, as I believed the bike had been stolen. He then asked for the bike, as he had left it there, for me to buy it. I told him that he couldn't take it, as it was stolen. The 2 guys became quite aggressive, and so for my own safety, I had to let them take the bike away. My mistake here was that I did not inform the police immediately. All of the above is pretty much recorded in the original post, by the owner of the bike. What was NOT mentioned in that report, is that I informed a detective from my nearest police station, the next morning, of the preceding events. So then Tuesday came and went, still without a visit from the police. Only on Wednesday, did they arrive with the bike owner, only to be told of the events of Monday evening. Now get this. On Thursday evening, one of the 2 guys who collected the bike from me on Monday, came back, offering " Bossy, you can have the bike for R700" I went straight home, and called the police station to report what had just happened. I WAS INFORMED THAT THERE WAS NO ONE AT THE STATION AT THE MOMENT WHO COULD DEAL WITH THIS MATTER, AND THAT I SHOULD CALL AGAIN IN THE MORNING. So Friday morning, I called to speak to the detective who deals with these matters, only to be told that he was not in the office, so I left a message for him to call me, which until now has not happened. I will not mention his name here, but if anyone is interested, contact me and I will give you his name. Our main business, is the sale of used bicycle, both road and MTB's. I have been caught before, where I have had to return a bike to its rightful owner, and this is very costly, so as far as possible, I try not to get caught. As we are primarily in the 2nd hand business, we have to abide by the laws governing this practice. Just as is the case with Cash Crusaders/Converters, we HAVE to have a Register of 2nd hand items. We record the seller, take his ID, and more recently, address and phone number. As one hubber suggested, call the person's phone immediately, to see if that is the correct number, and that is exactly what I did today, with an expensive Raleigh Carbon roadbike. Thanks for the tip. After taking in any used item for resale, we are obliged to keep the item for 8 days before it can be resold. Reply to MTB Roadie. Our website has NEVER been set up, so it wasn't removed for any reason. A student set up test site for me about 2 years ago, and we have fiddled around with putting some dummy adverts on it, to see if we can get it up and running. We have NEVER advertised that we have a website, but do plan to get one soon. Regarding the Battaglin which was shown at R16,900, which had the "crappy" plastic pedals, you are quite welcome to contact me, and I will give you the name of the guy who sold that bike to me. Someone test rode that bike, so we put some flat pedals on, and then the picture was taken. Reply to Edwin Watson No, the bike was not being sold. Read my account of what happened. Reply to Mock Turtle "blaming the staff" That's not what happened. Read my account of events. I cannot be expected to be in the shop at all times. There are other issues which require leaving the shop for certain reasons, although I try to be there as nuch as possible. This bike was not for sale, and has NOT been recordeed in the Register Reply to Mojoman See above. The website has NEVER been formally put into use. only as a test site for our use. You will see that instead of a picture , or logo, at the top of the website, the words "Neilswheels Logo" appear, showing that it is still in the process of being put together Reply again to MTB Roadie We advertised a Cervelo P2 as a roadbike. You say that it used to be TT bike. This bike has an adjustable seatpost, and was set in the backward position, and sold to us as a roadbike. So because we advertise it as a roadbike, does that make us "dodgy" as you put it? We buy all sorts of parts from many people, as they have upgraded, and/or do not have any use for them any more. Someone even donated a whole box of parts and wheels to us last week, which is of no use to him any more, and is just taking up much needed space for him. He wouldn't even accept a gift of some tubes for his trouble. Reply to Skylark You make insinuating remarks about a Specialized Carbon bike that we advertised, too cheaply, you claim. Well here's the story about that bike. The guy who owned it is Achmat Solomon. He is called Solly. He regularly brought his bike to us for service and upgrades and tweaks. Then it was stolen. He was desperate, so ordered a new bike from JHB. It duly arrived, and then his stolen Specialized was found, with someone trying to sell parts off it. So then he had 2 bikes, and he brought the Specialized to us, and I bought it. His telephone number is 0835417762. He is a regular hubber, and goes under the name of Shaz . I insist that you contact him, and when you have, you can apologise to me Reply to Specialized You say that we only have 2nd hand stuff. We buy spares and tyres, tubes, wheels, lights, locks, cages and a multitude of other items, from the major suppliers. All this stuff is NEW. About 15% of our bikes are brand new, coming from major suppliers, and come with a full one year warranty. Sorry that you weren't happy with the manners of the staff, but this is the first time that this matter has been complained about. I'm sure that there are a large number of customers who do not agree with this complaint, as our regulars visit us often, as we also sell accessories, (new and old), and do services and repairs on bikes, at very competitive prices. If you have a complaint, I would welcome your comments, so that I can address the problem. Reply to Gummibear We had a visit from the local police/detectives, just over a month ago, who came to check our register Reply to Cassie Thanks for the mostly good comments Again, please note that bbecause we sell mostly used bikes, parts are often not working properly, and need to be swopped/exchanged/replaced, to make them saleable. We often cannot afford to put back the same as the original, as this can make a bike too expensive I wish to make it known that we were quite recently involved with the handing over of 14 bicycles to the HOPE Foundation, to children in the Blikkiesdorp community in Delft, who are affected by Aids. This was covered by The Argus We plan to do another similar act of charity quite soon We have had a couple of bad experiences. I'm sorry to say that as careful as we try to be, we have been caught. This has even happened on trade-ins, of which we do many. So for any one concerned, my details are as follows Shop Name Neilswheels Location Checkers Centre, Main Road , Plumstead, Cape Town Shop ph no. 021-761 7563 Hub name Neilswheels Feel free to contact me, or PM via The Hub It would also be encouraging if anyone has had a good experience dealing with Neilswheels,as most of the comments were scathing, and many were made on incorrect suppositions