How to fire a customer in 10 minutes or less

My bike was in the shop getting a wheel repaired. Employee told me I could use new rear brake pads. I bought the brake pads and the employee offered to put them in for me.
I said, "no thanks, I can do it myself."
Employee insisted, I said "no I can do it."
Employee continued to insist saying my bike was up on the stand, it would only take a second, it would be no problem.
I gave in and said fine, go for it.
I get the bill for the wheel repair and I was charged an additional $5 on the invoice for putting in my rear brake pads. What's even more ridiculous is that I have Elixers, quite possibly the easiest brake pads to change.

F***ing petty, just petty!

 

I went in to my LBS to purchase my first mountain bike. Right away the guy shows me the Santa Cruz Hacker. I had heard good things about Santa Cruz and the price was fair. So after my first ride on my new bike I decide to hose off some of the dirt. That's when I noticed the red paint from my new bike was coming off. When I got to the top tube the Santa Cruz logo comes clear right off. Underneath was the word Motiv.

 

Never give the polite, "i frucking hate you" attitude...

 

Its pretty much been my experience that The Path is one of the shops that best tries to accommodate and respect their customers. I think the expectation level of customers is sometimes unrealistic which leads to their perception of a "bad experience". Most often customers venture in with the wrong information, the wrong expectation and then come here and bitch. Sometimes it is indeed the shop...as I found out a couple weeks ago.

After starting with the Path, I ventured off to some of the other "well known" shops in the area. One of which is particularly known for catering to regulars, but a couple of my riding friends go there so I tried to work myself in the mix for a couple months.

About a month ago I locked up my rear caliper during a run and was about a week out from taking a trip out of state to ride. Not only did I want the rear brakes switched out, but wanted a total "head to toe" servicing of the bike, especially the rear shock which seemed to be leaking an over-abundant amount of oil....and also my front fork, which has been acting up. So after being told everything would be done "no problem" I pop back in four days later to pick it up.

Its sitting on the sales floor rack and after being wheeled over to me to take home, I notice the rear caliper isn't even bolted onto the frame! In fact its missing two screws! One of which I knew had fallen out and requested to be changed during the initial drop off and diagnosis . "Oh sorry about that" is the response I get as its quickly pushed back into the servicing room. It comes back out and quite obviously has not serviced. The rear shock still had all the dirt and oil that was there...nothing was greased and looked exactly the same as when I dropped it off. So I ask "did you look at the rear shock for leaks like I asked and stated on the order. Was the front fork serviced?"

The answer I received was "well all rear shocks are going to leak some oil. You're fine."

The $60-$70 dollar "servicing" of my rig included non-servicing of my leaking rear shock. Incomplete assembly of my rear caliper. new brake pads that then squeeled and ultimately needed to be replaced again once I was at my riding trip a week later and absolutely no sign of any real "interest" in taking pride in doing the work.

Look, I'm a realist. I'm not looking for a bike shop to take long hot showers with, pat me on the shoulder, send me cards on my birthday or bring me a latte' when I'm in the store. What I do want (because I'm not an expert on bikes) is for them to service my damn bike when I bring it in to be serviced and give me some level of consistent customer service when I do. Not consistently shitty.

The Path gets my business from this point forward. Brian and Carl have always been consistent with helping me and at the end of the day, I at least can count on the work.

 

What kind of shop was this? Indy? Major?

That is eff'd up big time. What did you end up doing about it?

 

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

I have this land in Florida that I'll sell you real cheap. Great water views...

 

Got some already. Paid for it with the sale of my bridge.

 

What?? the funny thing is, theres actually a resturant/bar/nightclub in Santa Cruz called Motiv :lol:

but seriously, did you bring the bike back and give them a mushroom stamp or what?

 

Here's the hook removers I just finished using.

 

i'm confused...

 

A bike shop wood loose me if they tried to show me anytheeng but a Motiv.

 

Take new bike after 3 hours of use for an adjustment and check of the headset. get bike back 15 minsutes later with the bars about 10 degrees off with the tech explaining that he left it the way he found it.

 

I have worked at my families shop for basically my whole teenage/adult life. I started reading this thread because we see these type of situations once in a while and thought it was hilarious to read these stories. A few things I wanted to point out from the shops side:

1. If you can order the part cheaper online, THEN DO IT! Don't count on a shop that gets hundreds of customers a week having to deal with ordering thousands of other parts/bikes/tools/accessories to order a derailleur hanger within the time that you could get it yourself for the same price and quicker. Also a lot of times it is not the shops fault, the vendors a lot of times will tell the LBS that a certain part is in stock or being shipped and that is what we relay to you the customer. If a part doesn't come in it is most likely the vendors fault and not the shops so do not punish the shop for it.

2. Our bike shop has been doing price matches for a while now, but have ran into a few predicaments along the way. When someone is having a blowout sale on-line or even at another bike shop, the prices are that low for a reason and they need to get rid of their inventory without having to take a steep loss. I would say 99% of the time we do honor price matches as long as we don't take a loss. Bike buisnesses just like any other buisness can't stay in buisness by taking losses.

3. A lot of times (especially when we are busy) people's attitudes are the reason that the workers have shitty attitudes towards them. Personally I try and help everyone with the utmost respect toward them, I know a lot about bikes but I am not perfect and don't know everything. I have had a few incedences where customers (ESPECIALLY roadies) have come in with attitudes that if I would have seen them anywhere else but work I would have put their teeth out. Don't expect respect if you don't give it to me, I am a person just like everyone else.

4. If you feel like we are treating you like "babies" when you come in looking for a bike or part, look at the number of people who actually know bikes and the number that don't. In my shop that is located near a major college in the area, 80% of customers come in not knowing what size tire they have on their bike. As a mechanic and salesperson, I can feel out how much someone knows about bikes within the first few minutes of talking to them and treat them as such. Now if they continue to treat you that way after you show them about your knowledge of bikes then I can see where you are coming from :lol:

After reading the first 3-4 pages of this post this seems like it would cover most of the problems you guys have had with LBS from a workers perspective. You have to understand that MOST of us try our hardest to please the customer and we are people too! We make mistakes and sometimes we can seem like assholes but you have to flip the tables and work in our shoes for a day and see what its like, its not easy! You got to do what you got to do to stay in buisness, the family shop I work for would not have stayed in buisness for 40 years if we have not been doing something right

 

1. If I mention a U-Brake, and your mechanic argues with me that "it's called a V-Brake"...

2: No wait, my favorite has to be rolling up before the first ride of your dreambike, which you spent years meticulously tracking down New Old Stock parts for, building perfectly, and getting: "Oh man, look at that thing! Somebody saw you comin! What is that? You should sell that POS, and check out the new Blur we just got in...

Holy sh*t. Immediately insulting a total strangers bike without any clue as to what you're talking about? I'll bet that impresses a lot of people.

 

I recently needed a disc brake adapter for a shimano hydraulic brake.
Jenson of all places didn't have it "but could order it!" No sweat, I love Jenson, bought a few other things from them, and decided to check a local shop.

I told the kid at the local shop I wanted a shimano disc brake adapter (post mount to 51mm) for a front brake, with a 160 mm rotor. He leads me over to an area where they have a ton of adapters of different makes/sizes. He looks at a couple on the rack, and then hands me an Avid adapter and says this should work, it's the same size.
I am halfway to the counter to pay when I turn around and think, there's no way this will work, plus it doesn't come with bolts.
I go back to the aisle and sure enough, there are a bunch of shimano adapters, and the exact one I need is there, and it comes in a nice package with instructions and extra bolts.

Note to shop(s), If I come in asking for a specific part, that I need and I know exists, it is not helpful to try and sell me something else.

 

Still a noob so forgive me (only 1.5 months of riding). Had a good experience with my LBS servicing my new (bought used) bike so when I was ready, I wanted to make them my first bike purchase.

Walked in, explained my 1 month riding experience, recommended a 29er, test rode the 29er and then asked what my budget was. $1500 was told to them but I explained I didn't mind spending "a little more" if they felt, based on what I said, i'd be getting more for my money. They (LBS) recommended an Intense Spyder 2 and told me to give them my info so I can demo the bike. This was 2 weeks ago, no phone call, no follow up. Needless to say I ended up purchasing a 2010 Stumpy Comp from a Spec rep.

I'll probably give them another shot seeing as they are the one of the two reputable shops near my area...

I would have loved to give them my money =/ oh well...

 

Another way to (almost) lose a customer.

I'm not going to mention the shop. I'm just posting this to help LBS employees who also do this. It could probably happen at any shop.

When I was looking for a new bike one of the things I wanted was a shop that does a good job with the fitting. The salesmen at one particular shop talked at length about their excellent fitting services. I ordered a bike and when it finally arrived after 6 weeks of waiting I went in on a Saturday to buy it. They knew I was coming on that particular day. When I asked about fitting (before I actually paid for it) the salesman said they don't do that on Saturdays because it is too busy and I would have to come back during the week. When I mentioned I couldn't make it to the shop during the week he said "well, we can probably arrange something some other Saturday."

I almost walked out but I didn't.

It turns out the shop emptied out and he said "well it isn't busy now I guess we can do a quick fitting" and he put me on the rollers and adjusted a few things.

Moral of the story: Actual customers should not be treated like they are less important than people browsing through the shop.

 

When you are trying to get someone to help you but they wont stop answering the phone. I'm there with cash in hand. Do you want my money or dont you? I ened up flipping the bird and walking out, never to return again.

 

I had a funny yet interesting experience around a month or two ago, i was a first time customer, walk in to a LBS thats walking distance from were i live with my bike in had, lean it on the side of the counter and walk around checking the place out and grabbing a couple of the stuff i needed, at the register there was an employer and the son of the LBS owner which i believe is the owner now, the first thing the guy says after making sure that the bike was mine is start talking about how bad the brand of my bike is and how there warranty is crap and how he personally hates that company thats why he does not carry there line... ummMMM??? i just had to drop whatever i was going to purchase and walked out of there with out thinking twice...

Word of advice, thats a big let down for a customer to be talked down at like that regardless of what bike he has. Bad salesmanship...

PS: they definitely lost me as a customer, i have no problem going to another LBS thats much farther away for a better customer service experience with no regrets...

 

Not trying to argue, and I don't think this was my shop, but I feel the need to share some bike shop perspective. Many of us are obligated to be available on Sat afternoon, and we cannot be available during a fitting which can take 1-3 hours. I would like to differentiate between a fitting, and what I call a sizing. A sizing takes about 15 minutes, and is help making sure you have the right size bike, establishing a static saddle position (great, but not perfect), and some help with reach ( good but not perfect). Most shops will make something like this sizing process available pretty much any time. Most fitters will only do a full fitting by appointment. It is part of our culture, and often part of our training. There are good reasons for this. Also, most fitters will avoid making fit appointments during peak business hours even if they are not needed on the sales floor. This is because a quiet calm environment with a little more privacy is much more conducive to a good/productive experience for the client.