PUKY XL balance bike from Europe

[LBW]

**I posted this in the balance bike thread, but thought it might get lost, so I'm starting a new thread. Sorry for the duplication!**

For anyone else who's crazy like me...

Finding this PUKY bike is my new obsession! I found a store in the UK that would ship the PUKY XL to the US, but it's crazy expensive - $250 total. So, I e-mailed PUKY to find out if they have any other US distributors. They don't. But, they put me in touch with a German store that ships to the US. From them, the XL would be $142 total. So, I'm considering it.

I wonder if they'd do a larger discount if we ordered more? Anyone interested?



http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/37239.jpg

[brittone2]

Would it be for all sizes do you think?

I still have an order in w/ Glider Rider but I'm a little apprehensive about their customer service. I emailed them today after seeing the trouble neeter's been having. It is part of DS's 3rd bday present, so I basically asked them for an estimate of how long it will take until ours is shipped and filled them in that some parents on a parenting board I visit have been having problems w/ their customer service ;) I need it by mid February, so I basically want to know in advance if they can have it to me by then...if not I'll be cancelling my order.

I doubt one would get here from Germany any faster than that though. If things fall through w/ the Glider Rider people (and that very well may happen) I'll be looking for an alternate retailer.

Frickin frackin' glider rider people :(

[BaileyBea]

Please join the BBB Coop Board. I know several Mom's were interested in these.

Let's see if we get a bunch of people interested then we can bring the cost down. I am emailing my SIL who is German and lives in Hamburg. She's a business woman, so I am going to see what she recommends doing. She maybe able to help.

Thanks
Nancy

[mom2emma]

I am really interested! I also emailed Glider Rider with no respone about getting the larger size.

Bess
Emma 8/6/04

[Corie]

Nancy,

You are awesome!! I posted about PUKY bikes awhile ago in the BBB Coop group
but I haven't seen anything posted.

I'm so excited to see your response! I'm keeping my fingers crossed regarding
your SIL. :)

[BaileyBea]

Corie
Thanks! We'll see what BIL and SIL say. They own an American/German Advertising company and they are now distributing some German products to the US.

They may take a while to get back to me... we'll see. I remember when you posted this but I knew they were super busy at the time with a client.

Tara... email that company and ask them if they could lower the price for a shipment of 20+ bikes. I think there could possibly be 20 of us that order. If not... maybe a few of us can buy a couple and resell them on ebay for a profit.

ETA. to fix person's name.

Nancy

[BaileyBea]

BIL wrote back. Still waiting to hear from SIL.

BIL said to use DHL for shipping because they are a German Company and will more than likely be cheaper. Then if they aren't available use FedEx. That there is very little difference between Ground and Air shipping when it comes down to the price. They will both be pricy.

Oh and PUKY is the standard bike over in Germany... like our Schwinn.

Interesting...

Nancy

[LBW]

Hi Nancy,

Wow, thanks for checking with your BIL and SIL! The quote I got from Germany includes DHL shipping. The bike itself is 99 Euro - I think the two smaller learner bikes are a bit less expensive.

I've emailed the German company to ask about a group discount. I'll update once I hear back from them.

[jess_g]

Can you tell me a bit about these bikes. Where does the child put his feet when ridding? Is there a platform? And what age (or height) are they recomended for? I have a 7 year old that is very uncordinated so this might work for him better than a tradional bike. I did see the one at target and it looked small (like it was designed more for a 3 or 4 year old).

Thanks for all the info,

Jessica.

[mom2emma]

Any update from the company? Thanks!

Bess

[LBW]

I sent an email asking about a group discount, but never heard back. I'd been having email problems though, so there's a good chance they didn't get that email. I sent another email asking about a total for my purchase, and that one got a response. :) So, I went ahead and ordered. I want DS1 to be able to start using the bike asap, so I just couldn't hold myself back until a potential discount materialized.

Here's their contact information:

Zweirad Hotopp
Phone: (+49)05171/52259
email: [email protected]
www.zweirad-hotopp.de
Ebay: http://stores.ebay.de/hotopp-24

To see what they carry and prices, pull up their ebay store & search for Puky. You can translate the pages through google, or check Puky's UK website for descriptions in English.

HTH!

[brittone2]

Thanks for the info. I contacted the Glider Rider people over a week ago, no response to my email asking when the bike would ship (wanting to know if it would be here by DS's bday in mid Feb.) DH tried calling yesterday, no response. I'm very frustrated with them.

We may just order from the company you were in contact with. I think w/ shipping we were going to pay 120ish to glider rider anyway for the regular (not XL bike).

Thanks for the info. I'm really ticked at the lack of customer service at Glider Rider.

[LBW]

One bonus to ordering from the German store (besides actually getting a response!) is that they carry all the accessories. We got the carrying strap, lock, handlebar bag, and bear bell. Liam's pretty excited. He's going helmet shopping with dad this weekend!