Brilliant Bicycles, Inc.

Hi [redacted], I am writing in response to File [redacted] as submitted by [redacted] compaint has no merit for two reasons: ...

1) Even [redacted] admits that there was no false advertising. Our systems temporarily had an error which displayed the wrong text. This is a common error experienced by companies daily all over the world. This error only lasted a few minutes before we identified and corrected the issue. The screen shot that [redacted] included shows her correct reward level clearly as 50, not 99. While I understsand [redacted]' disappointment and displeasure, no false advertising occured in any shape or form. 2) There was no attempt to "induce a sale", so the law cited here seems not to be applicable in the first place.

sans-serif;">Hi [redacted], I am writing in response to File [redacted] as submitted by [redacted] compaint has no merit for two reasons: 1) Even [redacted] admits that there was no false advertising. Our systems temporarily had an error which displayed the wrong text. This is a common error experienced by companies daily all over the world. This error only lasted a few minutes before we identified and corrected the issue. The screen shot that [redacted] included shows her correct reward level clearly as 50, not 99. While I understsand [redacted]' disappointment and displeasure, no false advertising occured in any shape or form. 2) There was no attempt to "induce a sale", so the law cited here seems not to be applicable in the first place.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.
Sincerely,
[redacted]...

Revdex.com:At this time, I have not been contacted by Brilliant Bicycles, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Review: I'm filing a complaint against Brilliant Bicycle co. Recently they launched a contest to win a free bicycle to anyone who would tweet/email/post a specific link designated to your email that could reach 99 referrals. The contest originally stated that it would go until March [redacted]. I was really excited about this contest and worked super hard to spread the word about this new company to all of my twitter followers 8.9 thousand, and all of my [redacted] followers 24 thousand. On March [redacted], they sent out a mass email to everyone stating that they had changed the terms and that the contest was ending early on Wednesday March [redacted] instead of the original date March [redacted]. I emailed the company and spoke to [redacted]. At this point I had been pushing the contest all night and spreading the word to EVERYONE that I knew. I had hit 102 referrals. I let [redacted] know that I was at 102 referrals a FULL DAY before the "new ending date" and he said that I should get a few more referrals "just to be safe" Which I did. I then received a notice from the company saying "You have 102 referrals, congratulations, you've won a free bike!" This was BEFORE I pushed the contest more like [redacted] had asked. Mind you I have photo proof from the company stating that I had already won the bike.By the end of the night I was at something around 129 referrals a full DAY before the ending. The next day I spoke to [redacted] and she let me know that they only had 25 bikes left, and that "hopefully" I was one of the first 25 to reach 99 referrals.... Ok so not only did they completely change the end date, but now they are putting a specific number on how many they are giving out even if it's before the the end time? [redacted] then responded and said that they we're going to tally all of the referrals and get back to everyone March [redacted]. As you could guess, they responded by saying I wasn't one of the last 25 people to receive a bike and I only earned a $200 credit. (the bikes cost $400) I feel used and misled.Desired Settlement: All that I'm asking for is the bike, which I feel like I earned! I worked really hard to promote this company, and cannot afford the additional $200 to buy the bike. They told me I've won and now are rescinding their offer. I will happily support and continue to promote the company if they would honor my win and give me the bike as promised.

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me and the matter has been resolved.

Sincerely,

Review: Similar to the previous complaint about this business, I too participated in Brilliant Bicycle Company's "refer friends" contest to win a free bicycle with 99 referrals. I shared the contest on my blog at [redacted] and further shared many, many times with my 110,000+ [redacted] fans, 1,300 [redacted] group followers, 13,000 [redacted] followers, 150,000 [redacted] circles, and 9,200 [redacted] followers (and on several other social media sites) starting on 3/**. I worked really hard to promote it, was one of the first bloggers to publish and personally asked all my friends and family to sign up too, so I could get it. I planned to give it to my husband as a gift. He’s disabled and a really nice bike like this could help him get into better shape and probably hurt a lot less. :(

Well, according to their system (screen print available in link above), I won the bike! I was so excited when this popped up!! I had 2 days to go before the end of contest when it said I’d won. Plenty of time to keep promoting if I hadn’t actually qualified. (I had 56 in the first 2 days.) A few days after the contest ended, I get an email saying I DIDN’T win the bike. I didn’t understand why. They confirmed that none of my signups were invalid, but they said I didn’t have enough. Their system told me I did! As you can see from the screen print, it’s not clear exactly how many (no number shown) but it clearly says I won. So, I stopped promoting my link, and asked readers to help each other (you guys!) get there too.

I have emailed them several times (all emails are pasted in below), but they insist I am not getting a bike. I understand if I didn’t get enough referrals, but the only reason I stopped getting more (with 2 days to spare) was because they said I had already qualified and I wanted to help you guys get there too. I could have kept going and gotten there if I didn’t actually have enough.

In summary, their system told me I won on 3/**, after I had promoted for 2 days. The contest was supposed to end 3/** but they cut it short and ended 3/** instead. I stopped promoting my link (with 2 days to go) because their system said I already won. I wanted to let you guys help each other get free stuff too. I gave them a ton of free advertising. Their system was at fault, and I have proof of it.

I have emailed them several times to try to resolve this issue. The entire email chain is available in link above. They've decided that I do not get the bike and they're considering this case closed.Desired Settlement: I would like the free bike that I earned in good faith. I do not believe it's my fault, nor should I be penalized for a glitch in their system which caused me to believe I had already qualified for the promised bicycle.

Consumer

Response:

At this time, I have not been contacted by Brilliant Bicycles, Inc. regarding complaint ID [redacted].Sincerely,[redacted]

Business

Response:

Hi [redacted], I am writing in response to File [redacted] as submitted by [redacted] compaint has no merit for two reasons: 1) Even [redacted] admits that there was no false advertising. Our systems temporarily had an error which displayed the wrong text. This is a common error experienced by companies daily all over the world. This error only lasted a few minutes before we identified and corrected the issue. The screen shot that [redacted] included shows her correct reward level clearly as 50, not 99. While I understsand [redacted]' disappointment and displeasure, no false advertising occured in any shape or form. 2) There was no attempt to "induce a sale", so the law cited here seems not to be applicable in the first place.

Review: I ordered a bike from Brilliant's website, where they advertise, in several places, an unequivocal 30 day return policy. Examples include on their homepage, in multiple places in their FAQ, above the 'Add to Cart' button on the product page, and on their 'refund policy' link on the final page of the checkout process. All of which I have proof of. I read each of these things before deciding to purchase a bike on Nov. **. On that day, a banner at the top of the website informed me that if I used the code [redacted] at checkout I could save $100 on any bike. The banner contained no other information besides the code and the discount it provided. I entered the code on the final page of the checkout process, the payment information page, which, as you will recall, contained a link to a refund policy that says: "[redacted]” When I tried to initiate a return, however, the customer service representative informed me that because I had used a promotional code, the item was non-refundable. She directed me to an FAQ article that said at the very end that they could not take returns on "Sale Bikes," but said nothing about discounts or promotions. The bike I bought was never listed on their Sale page, nor was the promotion I used. Furthermore, I went through the checkout process using a similar promotional code and nowhere is there any sort of disclaimer or qualification about the product being final sale. When I pointed all of this out to the customer service representative, and asked to speak with a manager, she ignored my email -- and my two follow up emails -- for 6 days. When I tried to call and speak with a manager, the customer service line went to voicemail. It did the same thing every time I called, which was at least 5 times over the course of several days. When I finally got a response, she gave me the same vague answer about having to stick with their policy and referred me to the same phone number for further questions. I asked again to be put in touch with a manager to make my case directly and still haven't gotten a response. I've also tried calling their customer service line several times and have left several voicemails and have gotten no response. Brilliant did not uphold their responsibility to inform me of a policy that was extremely pertinent to my purchasing decision. I did my homework. I looked at their return policy in several different places and was given no indication that I would not be able to return the bike. At best this is a case of a customer being punished for a company's mistakes on their website. At worst it's intentional deception and false advertising.Desired Settlement: Full refund once I return the bike to Brilliant