Cycling World Reviews 47

We were contacted by a David Burridge ' Sales Manager' with regards an opportunity place a full page ad. We received an invoice and instructions for the required file formats. On submitting the proof we never heard back or received our allocated copies of the magazine. All attempts to contact have went unanswered the phone line appears to be inactive. We're pursuing a claim to recover funds and associated time / resources to produce the ad.
David / Synergy Cycles.

My colleague wrote the recent review (below). We were originally contacted by a member of Cycling World's team who then passed the query on to his colleague. I spoke to the Cycling World team on the phone and the staff member sounded very knowledgeable about the area, knew what he was selling and for such a bargain, we felt like we had to go for it. After spending what is now wasted hours in pulling together all of the copy and imagery for the ad, we heard nothing from their team for at least two weeks. I got in touch to chase as I had presumed we would have received a proof by now, but our contact was conveniently on holiday. He eventually replied to confirm that he has everything he needs from us and that we would see the proof soon. Six weeks went on with us chasing him for content and nothing, no contact from either staff members since the last email reply of "we'll receive something soon".

Absolutely disgusting behaviour targeting small businesses. Do not work with these people if you are contacted by them!!

"I am in utter dismay in the way that Cycling World Magazine has fraudulently taken £234 from my business!

I own a small Isle of Wight company who were contacted by their team on 21st June 2019 with the proposal of "setting the pages for the August issue of the magazine, which we will be taking to The Cycle Show at the Birmingham NEC in September".

The advert was "a fantastic opportunity to reach out to cyclists in this country and indeed much of Europe. In this issue we are running an editorial feature on Cycle Holidays on the Isle of Wight, this will be an in-depth guide on all the best cycle routes, the places to go, things to see and places to stay and it would be great to have you involved in this."

We were promised "All our packages are multiplatform and come with the following;
• Social Media Campaign – this is particularly effective at generating bookings for accommodation providers and filling places at events.
• Editorial Content (ask for more information)
• Inclusion in BOTH Online and Print Publication
We offer our professional design team free of charge with any advertisement package."

We couldn't believe what a great opportunity this was for a small island business and we decided to go ahead with half page advert (as our budget was limited) and confirmed this on 25th June 2019.

Cycling World got in touch again "great to hear you want to be involved in the next issue, the next steps are simply I’ll pop over an invoice tonight, if you can send over some material to me tomorrow if possible or over the week I can forward that over to our lead designer, and she can get cracking on the first proof."

The invoice of £234 was paid on 25th June 2019 and all of the information requested by the company was sent to them by 28th June 2019.

We then didn't hear anything (which can happen with a large and busy company) so decided to followed up on 3rd July 2019.

We received a reply from one of their team members on 4th July 2019 "I meant to send you an email a few days ago to let you know the design team have everything they need and are working on the first proof now, they have a lot on their plate but they work very quickly so you should get the first proof in the next few days."

Again, radio silence... We continued to chase but no word from their team.

As July passed, it was clear that our promised advert was merely a complete lie. I contacted Cycling World on 6th August 2019 asking for a refund of the money. Again and unsurprisingly, no reply.

It is now 3rd September 2019 and I have not heard from anyone at the company and the telephone number doesn't work.

I do not want compensation, I just want the £234 that was wrongfully taken from my company (which I work incredibly hard for) and to move on.

It is absolutely disgusting the way in which we have been treated and I have made a formal complaint to Trading Standards on behalf of my company and the large number of others who have wrongfully been mistreated by Cycling World!"

I am in utter dismay in the way that Cycling World Magazine has fraudulently taken £234 from my business!

I own a small Isle of Wight company who were contacted by a gentleman (who I am not allowed to name due to TP regulations) on 21st June 2019 with the proposal of "setting the pages for the August issue of the magazine, which we will be taking to The Cycle Show at the Birmingham NEC in September".

The advert was "a fantastic opportunity to reach out to cyclists in this country and indeed much of Europe. In this issue we are running an editorial feature on Cycle Holidays on the Isle of Wight, this will be an in-depth guide on all the best cycle routes, the places to go, things to see and places to stay and it would be great to have you involved in this."

We were promised "All our packages are multiplatform and come with the following;
• Social Media Campaign – this is particularly effective at generating bookings for accommodation providers and filling places at events.
• Editorial Content (ask for more information)
• Inclusion in BOTH Online and Print Publication
We offer our professional design team free of charge with any advertisement package."

We couldn't believe what a great opportunity this was for a small island business and we decided to go ahead with half page advert (as our budget was limited) and confirmed this on 25th June 2019.

The same gentleman got in touch again "great to hear you want to be involved in the next issue, the next steps are simply I’ll pop over an invoice tonight, if you can send over some material to me tomorrow if possible or over the week I can forward that over to 'X', our lead designer, and she can get cracking on the first proof."

The invoice of £234 was paid on 25th June 2019 and all of the information requested by the company was sent to them by 28th June 2019.

We then didn't hear anything (which can happen with a large and busy company) so decided to followed up on 3rd July 2019.

We received a reply from the gentleman on 4th July 2019 "I meant to send you an email a few days ago to let you know the design team have everything they need and are working on the first proof now, they have a lot on their plate but they work very quickly so you should get the first proof in the next few days."

Again, radio silence... We continued to chase but no word from the gentleman in question (or another gentleman who was also in contact during the process who I am unable to name).

As July passed, it was clear that our promised advert was merely a complete lie. I contacted both gentleman on 6th August 2019 asking for a refund of the money. Again and unsurprisingly, no reply.

It is now 23rd September 2019 and I have not heard from anyone at the company and the telephone number doesn't work. I have tried to contacted them in various ways and still no response.

I wrote a review which the company have tried to take down and have posted a laughable response that there is a "delay" and that they have not promised a service which they have not provided. However, they have still not contacted me directly or answered any of my correspondence. I have made contact with the previous owner of Cycling World who is in just as much shock as we are and has tried to help however, no luck.

I do not want compensation, I just want the £234 that was wrongfully taken from my company (which I work incredibly hard for) and to move on.

It is absolutely disgusting the way in which we have been treated and I have made a formal complaint to Trading Standards (which has been accepted as a valid claim) on behalf of my company and the large number of others who have wrongfully been mistreated by Cycling World!

This magazine was bought (according to their Facebook page statement) by Blaze in February 2019. According to Companies House, Blaze has one sole director who has been a director of a number of dissolved companies.

Blaze is registered to an address in London. Their registered address is merely a PO Box at a company who sell a service to set up Ltd. Companies for as little as a £1 !!

Sales team sell advertising in the publication, but the publication is never printed. Just a pdf proof sent ahead of full pre-payment being made.

We’ve lost a lot of money on advertising that did not take place - be aware if you are cold-called (as we were) selling advertising. The positive reviews on this site all appear to be from the sole director and his employees/associates.

Our loss has been reported to Action Fraud UK on behalf of the Police and we encourage others to do likewise to make sure this con is shut down.

Paid £400 in May to place an advert, promised copies of the magazine which never arrived (due to be in the June edition) spoke with various people who promised action

I looked on companies house the the sole director of Blaze Publishing ltd. (who have owned Cycling World Magazine since spring 2019) has been involved in a number of dissolved businesses.

We are a small business in France and £400 is a significant amount of money which has vanished into thin air.

We had a call from Simon White who seemed very professional. We placed an advert and paid them. Guess what, heard nothing from them since paying. Constant calls and E mails without any response. I wish we had seen these reviews before we agreed to work with them. Business is hard enough without crooks like Cycling World..

Unfortunately the below review has been written by an ex employee who was dismissed for gross misconduct. Now is conducting an unfounded campaign of hatred against this innocent cycling magazine. For 3 decades readers and advertisers have enjoyed Cycling World. We have pity on this poor individual who is obviously troubled and in need of help. Any one wishing to contact us do call on 0208 0049666. Or Twitter ( where we have 11,000 happy followers) at cyclingworlduk Kind regards CYCLING WORD MAGAZINE TEAM

I'm a 56 year old woman living in France! I have definitely not worked for this company!
Being a large company we had complete trust when we were contacted to place an advert with cycling works but behind the name is a team of incredibly fraudulent and immoral people that have taken the money from several small business without ever placing an advert for them or ever having the intention to do so. Please, please, please do not give these people a penny of your money as you will not see it again.

If in any doubt please look up companies house and you will see that the 'director' has the same name as some of the positive reviews on here so if you are in any doubt as to their trustworthiness, this will hopefully prove how fraudulent they can be.

We have contacted the police and hope that others do too because it's actually gobsmacking that they have got away with it for so long

Top class magazine, great read, great team.

I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the team at cycling world, they are all good hard working people.

Just talked to the team at cycling, they have been very helpful and they have a great design team. They have made an amazing advert for my b&b. I couldn’t be happier

First got a phone call from a Nail who seemed nice and promised all sorts, like free magazines and they were doing a special price just for me. This was £100.00 if I was happy with the advert lay out etc.
Then got a phone call from a Dave who wanted the money up front.
They sent me an invoice which was not compatible with VAT regulations and rather cheap looking. Dave wanted a bank transfer, I have not done it.

Gave me a full page of free editorial with an ad I got with them, even phoned me to conduct interview to write up the editorial themselves, everyone ive spoken to so far has been sound and I haven't had to do anything myself which is great cos im busy all the time and don't have time to do this.

Recieved my first proof from the team at Cycling World, looks fantastic and they did a great deal for me, always a bit daunting dealing with this kind of thing as im not savvy with computers or anything like that but they have been so helpful, the design team talked me through everything and the first chap I spoke to was ever so friendly
*****

Since its re-launch its a great read, its family cycling with engaging content. So pleased to see this title is doing so well with so many top industry professionals being involved now.

I just had a call from cycling World magazine and I have agreed to have an advert with them. They have just sent me the proofing of the advert and everything is looking amazing so far, couldn't be any happier with the outcome. Excellent customer service.

Brilliant customer service since the new owners came in look forward to reading it again

Took out a subscription at a bike show. I never heard from them again. When I looked into it they had never processed my payment, so I contacted them and took out a new subscription and they offered me 18 months for the price of 12. I paid for 12 months and received 1 magazine.
That was it, months later and no more magazines. I have chased up several times and get no reply.
I don't know if they are just completely incompetent or deliberately taking money with no intention of fulfilling orders, but either way I would stay well clear from them. They effectively stole my money.
Shame, because the magazine was actually quite good!

STILL owes me money. Threatens me with lawyers when I already have a CCJ against them. Fraudulent company. Please don't fall for their scams!!

They owe us a lot of money too, over £7000 at the last count, and it keeps going up with interest. I hope if enough people report they'll get caught for fraud, please avoid and save your money.