How to fire a customer in 10 minutes or less

Thanks, you are correct on the math but none the less the difference was visibly apparant and the manufacturer (Shimano) offers a 140mm rotor for my setup as a fairly standard option so even without math involved the problem was visible and the solution was very simple without detailed knowledge of the specific part.

 

lol, maybe he was too much of a slacker to do his 6th grade math homework?

 

DO NOT IGNORE CUSTOMERS.... 40 minutes i waited in line to talk to one of you guys and nobody responded, when i finally asked somebody how to order something.. i was refered to someone else....... you know who you are.

 

It was so nice to have a bike shop within walking distance of my house. Sure, the shop mostly catered to high-end roadies, but they did good work on my mtn bikes.

A couple of things led me to fire them. First, I cracked the face plate of my stem. It was more than likely my fault for over-torquing it. I bought the stem from an STRer, so I had no real warrantly claim. When I saw that this shop had a similar stem, I asked the owner if he'd consider selling me just the face plate, since he was not moving any of his mtn inventory. He said, sorry, $40 for the whole thing (still a good price).
I spent a few more days trying to find a shop to either sell me the face plate or work out a warranty. No luck, so I go back to the original shop. I take the stem up to the counter and the owner says, "$30!". "Wow," I respond, "that's a lot better than the $40 you told me the other day."
"Oh, then it's $40. Sorry. My fault."


Ouch.

Then, I take my SS in to have them chase down a creak. Seven days later, I get a call, saying that the BB and rear hub have been overhauled, but the creak is still there. The mechanic said, "My first thought is that it was the 20-tooth cog, but I didn't want to order that part without your OK." My response is, "You perform $70 worth of service without getting my approval, but you won't order a $30 part without my OK?"

All of this could have been avoided with one simple phone call from the shop. I would have gladly given my consent to the new 20-tooth cog *and* the BB & RH overhauls. But to walk in and have the shop say, "that'll be $70...and the creak is still there" was disappointing. It baffles me why the mechanic didn't call me and give me his first idea of what he felt was the source of the creak. I would have said, "Order me a new 20-tooth cog if you feel that is the source of the creak!"

Turns out, the creak was coming from old cog.

 

If you mean who I think you do, you get way, way more attention if you bring your Italian road bike in while wearing full kit, otherwise, stay out.:lol:

 

u forgot to mention the missing bolts to keep your SS wheel in place...#-o

 

7

oh yeah. When I picked the bike up after that 70 dollar fix, there were only two of four bolts on the drop outs.

In all fairness, I should have noticed that before I even left the shop. Sure, the shop should have, at the very least, put the bike back together the way they found it. But, I should have inspected it more closely before paying. I'll take my share of the responsibility for not noticing it until I hit the trail at El Moro that day.

 

Not to be a stickler for details.....but this could not be further from the truth. From someone who has worked in the bike industry for over 10 years....hourly wages in CA are significantly higher(around 20-30%) than anywhere else in the country. There are quite a few 20 year old mechanics in SoCal that make more than 40 year old shop managers with 20 years experience in other parts of the country. I can think of more than a few situations where that's the case.

B

 

Went in to have my rear hub looked at, after standing at the counter for 10 minutes holding my rear wheel while the shop guys patted each other on the back on how great the latest CF mtn build turned out I finally got some help. The mechanic tells me he could TRY to look at my hub but I should probably just build a new wheel. It would be cheaper. To duplicate my current setup would cost 320.00. I thought surely the hub could be repaired for less. He' said maybe but would have to tear the wheel down to send the hub back. He then said I should just contact them myself, but he would be happy to build me a new wheel. Thanks buddy. I sure miss Switchback....

 

but no matter how you slice it, bigga rota = mo stoppin power. I went with the adapter and the larger set up myself.

 

Wow, I can't belive I read the entire thread. Lot's of good stuff in here. When I was new to the sport, I was lucky enough to have a bike building and maintenance mentor... (Thanks Ozzer).

There are so many shops out there that do great work and have great CS. From what I've read here, a little bit more "civil" communication by all parties would go a very long way.

 

Thank you, I appreciate you replying and implying with "but this could not be further from the truth" that I was untruthful with absolutely no backround knowledge of myself or where I've been employed in the past. It's funny, it's that same know-it-all attitude which led me to write this, coincedently regarding the shop you are affiliated with. I still not have received a response to the PM I sent a couple of days ago.

I spoke from my own experience going from a shop on the west coast which was known for paying a fair wage to other positions on the east coast which paid aproximately 25-30% more. Also speaking with other folks I worked with in the industry who did that move in reverse told me the same logic applied in their situation as well. The costs of living were about the same in both places as well.

Please tell me, you have personal experience or knowledge of someone who has spent 20 years in the bike industry and know what they take home weekly, monthly, yearly? Someone, or possibly more then one person has been gracious to share this knowledge with you? Was your 10 years of experience based solely in West Coat shops or have you had the pleasure of working on both sides of the country?

I think it sounds a bit exaggerated that a 20 year old shop-wrench with a maximum of 5 years experience working in a shop earns more then a store manager of 20 years in any situation.

by the way Brian, I still have not gotten a response to my message...

 

Message? I have my PM's disabled on STR...but if you need to reach my you can find me at [email protected]

There are 2 of us here named Brian.....maybe you're thinking of the other Brian?

B

 

You are correct sir, more rotor more stopping and if it were anything but a pure XC bike I would have done the same. My goal that day was just to make the caliper and rotor fit, plain and simple. Luckily at a combined weight of 185lbs for rider and bike I can get away with the 140mm setup on the rear just fine.

I sent it to The Path (thephat) on here directly, the person who responded to messsages about 2-3 pages back in this forum.

 

Sorry to have sounded snarky in my original post. I can see how it came off poorly.....the bike industry is something that I'm passionate about.....finding a way to make a career out of it even moreso.

My opinions are based on my experiences working for a bunch of different shops/manufacturers/distributors here in SoCal coupled with my girlfriends experiences working at a bunch of different shops on the East Coast and in the SouthEast. She worked for a number of top 100 bike retailers and wasn't paid anywhere near what shop employees are paid here. We also have quite a few really close friends working in some of the more well-known shops out east that make considerably less than folks out here.

Finally, my opinions are based on our experiences searching for jobs in the bike business over the past decade. Before I took my position here at The Path I tried every avenue possible to get out of SoCal but ultimately realized that this is likely the only place in the country where a person can make a good liveable wage AND work with cyclists/bikes all day.

Again, sorry if I came across poorly. I'm a level-headed nice guy, I swear.

I don't handle the shop PMs and the person who does is out of town. Send me an email and I'll get you taken care of in any way I can.

Thanks,

B

 

E-mail sent. Please use it constructively.

 

You also have to look at the cost of living, it costs more to live in California, especially Orange and San Diego Counties. The minimum wage is more than likely lower back East compared to California.

If I applied for a job at a bike shop in SoCal, it would be almost double the cost of living. My house would in the OC would be $400,000 + for the exact same set up,
compared to the $110,000 I paid almost 10 years ago.

 

I have a parent who lives in NYC and pays more to park their car monthly then I do in rent.

Places like NYC, Boston and the 100 or so miles around those two places the cost of living is as much if not more, some cases considerably more the closer you get to the city. I know my place in Huntington Beach cost about the same as something similar to it in Brooklyn or Queens and about 1/3rd of what it would cost in Manhattan. If I wanted to live outside the city in Nassau County, NY. it would definately cost more, Suffolk County(NY or MA) cost almost the same as Orange County if not more as well. By cost the same or more I am referring to Groceries, Gas, Heat, Power(LIPA is probably the most expensive electricity in the country if not second to Hawaii), etc. and to boot Property Taxes are thru the roof in NY.

 

Where do I begin? Have a SRAM X0 RD that was missing a little snap ring from one of the pivot shafts. After searching every hardware store in Simi I decided to try my LBS. My LBS is All Pro on Tapo St. Took the part in there and "David" said they don't have anything like that so he called SRAM. SRAM told David that they don't have those parts either and if the DR is in good shape they would give him an RMA so he could send it to SRAM for warranty replacement. ALL Pro and SRAM both knew up front that the DR was 2-3 years old and to send it anyways. I got a loner from a friend (Scottay) and sent mine to SRAM. Three weeks go by and I don't hear anything. My wife called SRAM and of course they don't like talking to the consumer so she spent 10 minutes trying to find out where the DR was. She was told it wasn't going to be covered and that they sent it back to ALL Pro. She then called All Pro to find out if they knew anything and David wasn't in. Five minutes later David calls back and said that he had lost our number and knew that we would eventually contact him. Basically he was very rude to my wife and not very helpful at all. He did know my DR was on it's way back but didn't have any other info.

My problem with this whole fiasco is that they talked me in to sending in my DR for no reason. Had I not had a back up I would have been off the bike for a month. I paid to ship it and it will cost me a cable when I reinstall it. It's not the few bucks I'm out that bothers me it's the fact that I had to go through this whole thing for nothing. Needless to say my dollars will never be spent at that shop again.

 

Going to Rocket City next day, need IGT big ring. Sell me one for 100 dollars. I buy it and promise to never spend a dime in that LBS again. Funny, today I am in Rocket City without my bike (8[. I have never purchased anything from that LBS again. That was in the 90's. Now they are the Gucci shoppe, they still suck. Rocket City trails are a blast, wish I had my bike. Happy Trails