Mail order bike ... or how to have a headache and live to tell about it

OK. So European adventure over (for now), I've been focusing on my other life altering decision: biking! As I was packing to go to Europe, I was browsing multiple sites to get an opinion on various types of bikes. I wanted something I would have no problems storing in my 1 bedroom unit and can still bike around town without being marginalized by the big boys on their big mountain bikes or the serious peddlers on their speed bikes. So a folding bike made sense.

I came across a great site, the Folding Cyclist that gave me the information necessary to chose a folding bike suitable for my needs and budget. It would appear that 75% of all folders out there are made by Dahon and sold in a number of stores including REI, LL Bean just to name a few. Upon further research, it would appear that not surprisingly, majority is mass produced in Asia (read China). Dahon by no means sells anything revolutionary so I didn't understand why pay extra. I noticed that there was a bike company out there making big PR, called Citizen Bike.
Citizen's claim to fame is cost. They market their top model for under $300. ($274 to be precise)
Seemed like a no-brainer. I took the bait and placed an order.

A week went by, and on a fine summer evening I came home to find a huge package waiting at my door. It was the bike. It finally arrived. Oh joy! I was beside myself in excitement. I opened that box faster than you can say "Christmas came early!" (... and I don't even celebrate Christmas, but I digress. :) Oh how quick the excitement was over when I discovered what waited for me inside the giant box. A folded over mess.

The box was clearly damaged in shipping. By the looks of it, it has been dropped several times and the Styrofoam did little to cushion the blow. The rear wheel was clearly bent. Take a deep breath, I told myself. Let's see if this can be fixed once put together. Another 45 minutes later, sweat pouring down my back, I finally managed to assemble this beast together. Unable to test it's function with flat tires, I gave up and decided to wait till the weekend to test it out.

The following weekend, anxious to finish all the errands before leaving for Hamburg the following Friday, I rushed to my local petrol station to get some air into the tires and do some tweaking with the seat and handlebar height. My god, was the seat uncomfortable... I could barely sit on it.. The whole thing felt cheap. I hate to admit it, you get what you paid for. I still managed to straighten out the wheel bend, and take the sucker for a ride along the Charles.. Let's just say my pelvis did not thank me the following morning. Decision has been made: return the beast!

After a number of calls to Citizen's 800 number, I finally managed to get a pre-paid return label and ordered a pick up from FedEx the following day. As I write this, almost 2 weeks later, I am still waiting for a refund. Verbally, Citizen confirmed receipt and is "processing" the refund.