(long rant)
I am in charge of all the equipment for our bike unit, including the purchasing of new bikes when grant money is allotted.
Our street crimes unit was given about $2k to cover 2 new bikes with some basic equipment and i was tasked with picking out the best bikes for the price and mission of that unit.
There are two local bike shops, one carries Giant and Haro and the other carries Trek and GT. Our procedures for federal grant money purchases require a bid process between 3 vendors and the best price wins. so, in order to complete the 3 vendor aspect of the bid, i included the shop i ride for, Cycletherapy, that is located in a neighboring town.
Given the price constraints i decided to go with a Haro Flightline expert, a capable hardtail with a favorable geometry and parts spec for our mission. I obtained the bids from my shop (Haro dealer) and from the local shop that carries Haro and also a quote on a similarly spec'd Trek from the other local shop.
My shop won the bid by about $30 per bike and we picked up the bikes late last month along with about $500 or so in equipment and everything is hunky dory.
Last week i walk into the LBS to snag a few tubes for the unit when I'm cornered by the owner who gives me the third degree on why "that shop up there" got the bid and not his shop, "after all, i pay city taxes!". he also said that if i had gone through him we could get free tune-ups, i tell him that i have a workshop and do all the work myself and he responds, "well, i guess if you wanted the work done right you would've bought from me"
I tried to explain the bid process to him and that once i get the quotes it's out of my hands and is decided by the command staff based on the price of the bids. (none of the vendors knew the bid price of any of the other vendors) he continues to argue saying if we would have told him that the other shop beat his price he would have lowered it....i tried, again, to explain how the bid process works but he just wasn't getting it. he's noticeably upset and accuses that i used my "connections" to undermine him. I then tell him that we have a grant forthcoming for my unit to get 6 new bikes at $2200 per bike and that i haven't decided which bikes we're going for yet so he'll have the opportunity to win the bid again when the grant goes through. he walks away mumbling about the "i pay taxes" line and ignores me. i leave and get the tubes at the other, family owned, LBS.
the next day, my partner walks into the same shop to look for something for his personal bike (he was unaware of the conversation the day prior) and gets the third degree from one of the young hipster shop employees about how his shop actually beat the price of "the other" shop and that we only chose "the other" shop because of my connections. an absolute lie.
so needless to say, i won't be using that LBS for any of our small part needs and definitely not for any future bids. he won the bid for our old bikes back in '06 where we spent about $8k at his shop....and now he treats us like this?!
no wonder my friends who are his ex-team members can't stand him and wouldn't race for him again even if he paid them.
unprofessional. period.
I am in charge of all the equipment for our bike unit, including the purchasing of new bikes when grant money is allotted.
Our street crimes unit was given about $2k to cover 2 new bikes with some basic equipment and i was tasked with picking out the best bikes for the price and mission of that unit.
There are two local bike shops, one carries Giant and Haro and the other carries Trek and GT. Our procedures for federal grant money purchases require a bid process between 3 vendors and the best price wins. so, in order to complete the 3 vendor aspect of the bid, i included the shop i ride for, Cycletherapy, that is located in a neighboring town.
Given the price constraints i decided to go with a Haro Flightline expert, a capable hardtail with a favorable geometry and parts spec for our mission. I obtained the bids from my shop (Haro dealer) and from the local shop that carries Haro and also a quote on a similarly spec'd Trek from the other local shop.
My shop won the bid by about $30 per bike and we picked up the bikes late last month along with about $500 or so in equipment and everything is hunky dory.
Last week i walk into the LBS to snag a few tubes for the unit when I'm cornered by the owner who gives me the third degree on why "that shop up there" got the bid and not his shop, "after all, i pay city taxes!". he also said that if i had gone through him we could get free tune-ups, i tell him that i have a workshop and do all the work myself and he responds, "well, i guess if you wanted the work done right you would've bought from me"
I tried to explain the bid process to him and that once i get the quotes it's out of my hands and is decided by the command staff based on the price of the bids. (none of the vendors knew the bid price of any of the other vendors) he continues to argue saying if we would have told him that the other shop beat his price he would have lowered it....i tried, again, to explain how the bid process works but he just wasn't getting it. he's noticeably upset and accuses that i used my "connections" to undermine him. I then tell him that we have a grant forthcoming for my unit to get 6 new bikes at $2200 per bike and that i haven't decided which bikes we're going for yet so he'll have the opportunity to win the bid again when the grant goes through. he walks away mumbling about the "i pay taxes" line and ignores me. i leave and get the tubes at the other, family owned, LBS.
the next day, my partner walks into the same shop to look for something for his personal bike (he was unaware of the conversation the day prior) and gets the third degree from one of the young hipster shop employees about how his shop actually beat the price of "the other" shop and that we only chose "the other" shop because of my connections. an absolute lie.
so needless to say, i won't be using that LBS for any of our small part needs and definitely not for any future bids. he won the bid for our old bikes back in '06 where we spent about $8k at his shop....and now he treats us like this?!
no wonder my friends who are his ex-team members can't stand him and wouldn't race for him again even if he paid them.
unprofessional. period.
Did someone say donuts? 
I just have the .gif. What the heck was that guy doing? trying to ghostride the bike into the water?
