[-dustin]

guy brings his bike in, complaining of a "bad chainline" and skipping in the rear, as well as a rear wheel that is trashed. check the bike over find nothing too bad. offer to do a drivetrain tweak only, as the rear wheel is fine. he insists on a new wheel, and insists the drivetrain is screwy. after some attempts to convince that he did not need a new wheel, i decide to just give in and let him buy a new wheel.

Fast Forward 1 Week

wrong wheel comes in, so i let him borrow an old wheel of mine with his skewer.

slap my wheel on, and find the drivetrain needs almost no work. confused, i get it ready for a test ride. head outside, hop on, and roll off.

car comes up, i do a little trackstand action, and something gives. embarassed, i pull over thinking i didn't tighten the skewer or something. look down, and the wheel is completely out of the dropouts. so i replace the wheel, roll forward, and attempt a trackstand again, this time testing the brake. ****in' wheel comes out of the dropouts again. i walk back to the shop, and look at the skewer. smooth as a baby's butt. not bite at all.

customer comes in, and i tell him his skewer was absolutely dangerous, and he's like "oh yeah! i know! it always slips like that!" i just wanted to slap the guy and be like "and...you didn't mention during our consultation for what reason? i don't know what makes you more idiotic; riding with the skewer like that, and slipping, or not telling me when i'm trying to fix your bike."

that was annoying.

 

[LordOpie]

people are stupid... here's my similar "oh yeah, I knew that" story...

Yesterday, I printed a 28 page, 250 quanity booklet. About half the capital "I"s are missing. I spend five hours trouble shooting, yada yada... 5:30pm, I tell my boss I don't have a specific answer, but it can't be anything, but the font.

He got a phone call just before that talking to the client... it appears the font has been 'broken' since day one of their use, they got a new font family and think they might have used the damaged one on this project, that they supplied to us.

Why not delete the damaged font permanently?

Almost as dumb as a customer knowing they have a broken skewer. 'tards.

 

[maxyedor]

Welcom to the bike biz. it only gets screwier from there.

 

[robdamanii]

Did you stab him in the eyeball with said skewer?

 

[GravityFreakTJ]

Did you stab him in the eyeball with said skewer REPEATEDLY?

fixed.........

 

[skinny mike]

Welcom to the bike biz. it only gets screwier from there.

word. when working at a bike shop you will see all of the dumb people who visit the shop. how many bikes have you checked in for tune ups that are 2x more expensive than the bike cost new? we get that every so often at my shop.

 

[blue]

word. when working at a bike shop you will see all of the dumb people who visit the shop. how many bikes have you checked in for tune ups that are 2x more expensive than the bike cost new? we get that every so often at my shop.

That was nearly every bike I laid my hands on when I worked in a shop.

1989 Huffy needs new wheels, new drivetrain parts, new shifters, new tires...

 

[Bicyclist]

1989 Huffy needs new wheels, new drivetrain parts, new shifters, new tires...

I just had to rebuild a mid 80s Spalding. New bb bearings, cable, housing, everything. So ridiculous.

 

[maxyedor]

I just had to rebuild a mid 80s Spalding. New bb bearings, cable, housing, everything. So ridiculous.

Ever put Crossmax SLs on a Pacific, with a 1" travel duel crown, plastic crowns of course. That was the height of my bikeshop sillyness. $250 tune-ups for $75 bikes was a daily occurance. We raised prices to try and scare away that sort of thing, but it only got worse.

 

[Bicyclist]

Ever put Crossmax SLs on a Pacific

Are you kidding me?

 

[jaydee]

The only thing worse than tuneups that cost more than the bike is the wanker with the $6000 bike that brings in parts he got cheap online and wants them put on for free.

 

[maxyedor]

Are you kidding me?

Sadly I'm not, oh wait I got the comission on that sale, so I guess I'm not sad at all

 

[jimmydean]

Even better was the guy who came into the shop a friend of mine owns and wanted to build up a bike. After going over what was hot at the time, he built a Foes Fly with DeeMax wheels and an 888 fork. He had the frame custom painted to match his Escalade and got a rack for the top.

The bike was sweet, no doubt, but I think it remains unridden to this day since he bought it two years ago. But it did look great on the roof of the truck.

 

[Spunger]

The only thing worse than tuneups that cost more than the bike is the wanker with the $6000 bike that brings in parts he got cheap online and wants them put on for free.

I'd never expect a shop to do anything for free, especially with parts bought online.

But I have no problems bringing in what I can't do to a shop, with parts I've gotten online, and pay them their rate to put things together. I never expect anything for free or less than the going rate. If I can't do it I'll pay for it simple as that.

But I've been in shops and seen this happen. I've also seen the guys with Huffy's wanting tune ups and such. And I can't imagine explaining to a customer why his bike can't be fixed because there's no direct replacement parts for such a low end bike. I've seen people get pee pee faced and leave after being told that there's nothing they can do about their cheapo suspension or wheels bending. I've always considered those bikes disposable

 

[jdcamb]

The only thing worse than tuneups that cost more than the bike is the wanker with the $6000 bike that brings in parts he got cheap online and wants them put on for free.

You need to look at it as an opportunity. Your goodwill to him will eventually pay off. Everyone at some point needs a new bike/frame/wheelset/fork/etc..

 

[maxyedor]

You need to look at it as an opportunity. Your goodwill to him will eventually pay off. Everyone at some point needs a new bike/frame/wheelset/fork/etc..

And that wanker wouldn't think to buy those online eh?

 

[jdcamb]

And that wanker wouldn't think to buy those online eh?

Maybe?? Having never met said wanker I can't say. But maybe if he feels good about the experience he may just consider buying from you instead.

 

[skinny mike]

last sunday there was a guy who came into my shop wearing a $6000 watch and when he was getting rung up he asked for a discount because of some group or something that he was affiliated with. and it really wasnt much of a discount in the first place. i wouldnt have thought about it until i heard another customer brought it up with the guy who rang the rich dude up.

 

[Reactor]

The only thing worse than tuneups that cost more than the bike is the wanker with the $6000 bike that brings in parts he got cheap online and wants them put on for free.

Tell him to take a hike. Now if he's willing to pay for labor it's a different story. I once has a bike shop charge me $25 to put a headset, I bought in the shop, on a bike. It was like 90 seconds of work. That's about $1000 an hour for a part I bought from their shop.:redhot: I payed it, and then went home and ordered my own headset press. I haven't taken anything to the shop in about a year.

 

[jdcamb]

last sunday there was a guy who came into my shop wearing a $6000 watch and when he was getting rung up he asked for a discount because of some group or something that he was affiliated with. and it really wasnt much of a discount in the first place. i wouldnt have thought about it until i heard another customer brought it up with the guy who rang the rich dude up.

Not everyone who has a $6K watch is rich. And maybe the reason he has a $6K watch is because he can cough up that discount enough times to enable him to own a 6K watch?? Just maybe.

 

[Wumpus]

last sunday there was a guy who came into my shop wearing a $6000 watch and when he was getting rung up he asked for a discount because of some group or something that he was affiliated with. and it really wasnt much of a discount in the first place. i wouldnt have thought about it until i heard another customer brought it up with the guy who rang the rich dude up.

Was it MMike?

 

[jdcamb]

Tell him to take a hike. Now if he's willing to pay for labor it's a different story. I once has a bike shop charge me $25 to put a headset, I bought in the shop, on a bike. It was like 90 seconds of work. That's about $1000 an hour for a part I bought from their shop.:redhot: I payed it, and then went home and ordered my own headset press. I haven't taken anything to the shop in about a year.

Do you own a BB or headset facing tool and know how to use it?

 

[skinny mike]

Not everyone who has a $6K watch is rich. And maybe the reason he has a $6K watch is because he can cough up that discount enough times to enable him to own a 6K watch?? Just maybe.

ummm.... this guy was rich. he was dressed like he was about to go out on his yacht to nantucket. not to mention im pretty sure i saw him pull out of the lot in a nice audi.

 

[jdcamb]

ummm.... this guy was rich. he was dressed like he was about to go out on his yacht to nantucket. not to mention im pretty sure i saw him pull out of the lot in a nice audi.

Good thing you don't have to pay for the market research/community profile report to find your target customer. Sounds like schmoozing this guy would pay off even if you won over his friends and family. What do you get the guy who has everything? Something to force him into your door to spend money he can only spend at your shop. Gift certificate promotions = sales...