BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Norwich-based Mandarin Cycles has been targeted twice in the last week by fraudulent phone orders, the retailer has told BikeBiz this afternoon.
In both cases a male called in requesting two full suspension bikes for around £1,500, but then accepting any two bikes in stock for that value.
The caller then said he’d send a courier to collect the bikes on the same day.
The caller became annoyed when Mandarin refused to send the bikes to a different address and accept a credit card payment over the phone. The caller went on to try both of Mandarin’s stores.
The incidents are the latest in a long line where fraudsters have attempting to cheat bike shops out of money and stock. Last week Dunstable bike shop Pedalworks recounted to BikeBiz how it had lost out due to thieves. BikeBiz’s trade-only forum has a sticky thread on crime here. And there’s more recent stories on bike crime here.
