Williams Cycles • Simple Returns • Straightforward Help
Returns & Refunds
At Williams Cycles, we want you to be happy with your purchase. We understand that sometimes something isn't quite right, so we've tried to make our returns process as straightforward as possible.
This policy primarily applies to purchases made through the Williams Cycles website. It also explains certain differences for purchases and special orders agreed in-store.
Nothing in this policy affects your statutory rights.
14 Days
To tell us you've changed your mind after receiving an eligible online order.
+ 14 Days
To return the goods after telling us you wish to cancel.
Talk To Us
Please contact Williams Cycles promptly if you need help or wish to cancel.
Changed Your Mind?
If you've purchased an eligible item online and change your mind, you have the right to cancel your order within 14 days of receiving your goods. You can also cancel before the goods arrive or are collected.
Once you've told us that you'd like to cancel, you then have a further 14 days to return the goods to us, if you have already received them.
To notify us of a cancellation or arrange a return, please contact Williams Cycles, quoting your order number and the item(s) concerned. A clear cancellation statement is sufficient; you do not need our prior approval to exercise a statutory cancellation right.
Unless the item is faulty, damaged, incorrectly supplied or otherwise not as described, you are responsible for the direct cost of returning it to us where this responsibility has been properly disclosed before purchase.
We strongly recommend using a tracked and appropriately insured delivery service, particularly for high-value items.
Condition of Returned Items
You are welcome to inspect an item in the same way that you reasonably could in a shop.
Returned goods should be complete and, wherever possible, returned with their original packaging, labels, manuals, accessories and any other items supplied with them. Missing original packaging does not by itself remove your statutory cancellation rights.
You are responsible for any reduction in the value of the goods caused by handling them beyond what is reasonably necessary to establish their nature, characteristics and functionality. Where permitted by law, we may make an appropriate deduction from your refund to reflect this reduction in value.
Please take particular care before fitting components or using products outdoors.
Important Information
Bikes & E-Bikes — Click & Collect and Local Delivery
Bikes and e-bikes purchased through the Williams Cycles website are available by Click & Collect or our local delivery service only. We do not currently offer nationwide delivery of bikes.
Please Order Carefully — Every Bicycle Takes Time to Prepare
Williams Cycles is an independent, family-run bicycle shop. When you order a bike from us, we commit real time and resources to making it ready for you. Your order may require us to:
- Order the bicycle specifically from our supplier and arrange transport to our shop.
- Reserve time in our professional workshop schedule.
- Assemble, adjust and safety-check the bicycle.
- Carry out a pre-delivery inspection (PDI) and prepare the bike for collection or local delivery.
These steps can involve substantial supplier commitments and workshop costs before the bicycle has even been collected. A late cancellation can be difficult for a small business to absorb.
Please make sure you are happy with the model, size and specification before ordering. If you're unsure, speak to our team first. If your plans change, let us know as early as possible so we can limit unnecessary costs.
Supplier-Order Bikes & Our 48-Hour Confirmation
For bicycles that we need to source from a supplier, we aim to contact you within 48 hours of your online purchase to confirm the model, size, specification, availability and expected collection arrangements before placing the supplier order or allocating workshop preparation.
Once you've confirmed the details, we may commit to supplier transport, stock and workshop preparation. We ask that you tell us about any concerns or possible changes during this call, rather than waiting until the bike has been prepared.
Important: This confirmation call does not shorten or remove the statutory cancellation rights that apply to an eligible online purchase. It does not create an automatic cancellation or PDI fee.
Click & Collect
When collecting your bike from Williams Cycles, we encourage you to take the time to check the bike, sizing and specification with our team before taking it away.
Where your purchase was completed online before collection and qualifies as a distance contract, your statutory cancellation rights still apply. Collecting an order from our shop does not, by itself, remove those rights.
If a bike has only been reserved online and the purchase is subsequently completed in our shop, different cancellation rights may apply, depending on how and when the contract was actually made.
Local Bike Delivery
Bikes purchased online and delivered using our local delivery service are subject to the cancellation rights applicable to distance purchases.
If you change your mind, please contact us within 14 days of receiving your bike. You then have a further 14 days to return it.
For a change-of-mind return, you are responsible for returning the bike to Williams Cycles where this was properly disclosed before the sale. Alternatively, where available, we may be able to arrange collection for a reasonable charge agreed with you beforehand.
When Charges or Deductions May Apply
We want customers to understand that cancelling a prepared bicycle order can cause genuine business costs. Charges are only applied where the law and the relevant agreement permit them. Examples include:
- Return costs: the direct cost of returning a bike after collection or delivery, where the customer is legally responsible and was informed before purchase.
- Agreed collection: the price of an optional collection service arranged with us, where applicable.
- Reduction in value: a lawful deduction if the bicycle has been handled or used beyond what is reasonably necessary to inspect it.
- Separate workshop services: payment for a genuinely separate, expressly requested service begun during the cancellation period, where the legal requirements for charging have been met.
- In-store special orders: fair, previously agreed charges reflecting genuine net cancellation losses that we cannot reasonably avoid.
For eligible online bicycle orders, we do not charge a standard cancellation, restocking, supplier-ordering or routine assembly/PDI fee simply because you exercise your statutory cancellation right. Confirming an order by telephone does not change this.
Trying Your Bike
We understand that you may need to inspect your new bike to make sure it's right for you.
Please don't take the bike on an extended ride if you are considering returning it.
You may handle and inspect the bike to the extent reasonably necessary to establish its nature, characteristics and functionality.
If a returned bike has been ridden extensively, damaged, modified or shows use beyond what is reasonably necessary to inspect it, its value may have been reduced. Where permitted by law, we may make an appropriate deduction from the refund to reflect that reduction in value.
Bike Setup & Modifications
Please speak to us before making changes to a bike you may wish to return.
Fitting your own accessories does not automatically remove your statutory rights. However, damage, wear or alterations caused by fitting accessories, modifying components or otherwise changing the bike may affect the amount that can be refunded for a change-of-mind return.
Products that have been specifically personalised or made to a customer's specification may be treated differently under the cancellation regulations. Where this applies, we will make this clear before you purchase.
Faulty Bikes
Your statutory rights are unaffected by this change-of-mind policy.
If your bike or e-bike develops a fault, is damaged when supplied, is not as described or otherwise does not conform to your contract, please contact us.
We are a long-established independent bike shop and our first aim will always be to understand the problem and help get it resolved properly.
Depending on the circumstances and your statutory rights, the appropriate remedy may include a repair, replacement or refund.
Where a bike needs to be returned because it is faulty or otherwise does not conform to the contract, we will deal with the return or collection in accordance with your statutory rights.
Not Sure?
If you're unsure about sizing, specification, compatibility or whether a particular bike is right for you, please speak to us before ordering.
Our team would much rather help you choose the right bike in the first place than have you go through the hassle of returning one.
Components & Accessories
Please check compatibility carefully before fitting components.
If you are unsure whether a component is compatible with your bike, please contact us before installation and we'll be happy to help.
Where a component has been fitted or used beyond what is reasonably necessary to inspect it, this may reduce its value. Where permitted by law, an appropriate deduction may be made from a change-of-mind refund.
Your statutory rights are unaffected where an item is faulty or not as described.
Clothing & Footwear
Clothing and footwear may be tried on for size but should be returned clean and in a condition consistent with reasonable inspection, with labels and packaging where possible.
Please do not ride in or otherwise extensively use clothing or footwear that you intend to return.
Helmets & Protective Equipment
Helmets and protective equipment may be inspected and tried on for size and fit.
For safety reasons, please take particular care of these products while deciding whether to keep them. Items showing signs of impact, riding use, damage, alteration or excessive handling may have suffered a reduction in value.
This does not affect your statutory rights where an item is faulty or not as described.
Special Orders & Customised Products
Different cancellation rights may apply to goods genuinely made to your specifications or clearly personalised. Where the usual cancellation right does not apply, we will explain this before you order.
A standard bicycle ordered from a supplier, assembled, adjusted or given its normal pre-delivery inspection is not automatically a personalised product. Eligible online purchases retain their statutory cancellation rights.
For a special order genuinely agreed in our physical shop, where no statutory change-of-mind cancellation right applies, we may agree reasonable cancellation terms in advance. Any charge will reflect genuine net losses directly caused by the cancellation, taking account of costs avoided and our ability to resell the item.
None of these terms affects your rights if the goods are faulty, misdescribed or otherwise do not conform to the contract.
Faulty, Damaged or Incorrect Items
If something isn't right, please contact us as soon as possible.
Under UK consumer law, goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
If your item arrives damaged, develops a fault, is incorrectly supplied or is not as described, please contact us with your order details and a description of the problem. Photographs can also be helpful where appropriate.
Depending on the circumstances and your statutory rights, we will arrange an appropriate remedy, which may include a refund, repair or replacement.
Where goods are being returned because they are faulty, damaged, incorrectly supplied or not as described, we will not require you to pay return costs where the law requires those costs to be borne by us.
Refunds
Once returned goods have been received, we will inspect them and process any refund due.
For cancellations made under your statutory cancellation rights, refunds will be made within the timescales required by law. Where a refund relates to goods already supplied, we may be entitled to wait until we receive them back or receive evidence that you have returned them.
Refunds will normally be made using the same payment method used for the original purchase unless otherwise agreed.
Where applicable, we will also refund the cost of our standard delivery service. If you chose an enhanced or premium delivery service, such as express delivery, we are not required to refund the additional amount above our standard delivery charge.
Returning an Item to Us
When contacting us about a return, it helps if you provide:
- Your name
- Your order number
- The item you wish to return
- The reason for the return, if you wish to share it (no reason is required for a statutory change-of-mind cancellation)
- Details and photographs of any fault or damage, where relevant
We'll then provide appropriate return instructions. Contacting us for instructions does not limit your right to notify us of a statutory cancellation.
Please contact us before arranging transport of large items such as bikes or e-bikes, so we can help with practical return arrangements.
In-Store Purchases
The statutory right to cancel simply because you've changed your mind generally applies to purchases made online or at a distance and does not apply in the same way to purchases made in our physical shop.
Where a special-order bicycle purchase is genuinely agreed in-store, we may explain and agree fair cancellation terms before placing the supplier order. If cancellation subsequently occurs, any charge must be reasonable and reflect genuine net losses that we cannot reasonably avoid; it is not an automatic penalty.
Your statutory rights regarding faulty, misdescribed or otherwise non-conforming goods still apply.
Need Some Help?
We're an independent bike shop and would always rather talk through a problem and help get it sorted.
If you're unsure about a return, a product fault, sizing or compatibility, please get in touch with the Williams Cycles team and we'll be happy to help.
Williams Cycles
Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
This Returns & Refunds Policy does not affect your statutory rights.
WILLIAMS CYCLES • CHELTENHAM • SINCE 1904