[siege]

Monkeys beware of the manager of the Plaza bike shop there in the village. The guys that work there are on the up and up and really cool. However the rentals are not worth the heart ache. My friend rented a faith and they charged him for a "tacoed" wheel that was fully truable. If in the case it couldn't be pulled back into true John Pittman the manager refused to let my buddy have the rim and was super un-cool about the whole thing. I was just talking to him about getting the wheel and he kept suggesting calling the "public safety" which is crazy given that I was just trying to get the wheel they were forcing my buddy to buy. Additionally he is a liar. I was asking for the number we could call the administration of north* so we could work something out maybe with them and he said he didn't have it and couldn't give it to us. I would highly recommend looking down in Truckee for a rental from a real bike shop than risk having to pay for "ruined" rentals and getting the royal shaft and treated like criminals for asking for help. This whole rant is wholly against Mr. Pittman only!! The rest of the guys that work there are really awesome.

 

[NapalmCheese]

***intraforum threadcrossing***

With the other thread here now about the rental shop, you've got my curiosity piqued. What happened exactly? Those guys need to be keeping customers, not chasing them to truckee.

So there I was just riding along...

I'm kidding
I was hoping to rent a Glory, apparently the rental shop there has three, and they were already rented out. Three.

So, I rented a faith. I go out, ride for a while and flat the rear. I come back in, the dudes at the shop mid-mountain fix it and I'm good to go. I ride some more and flat the front. bdamschen gives me a tube and siege and I fix the flat. I ride some more, stack it rather mildly, get up and notice that my front wheel is now 'not true'. It was to the point that the sidelugs on the blue groove were JUST starting to graze the fork. I make it the rest of the way down without incident, bring the bike in, and the guys at the shop say they might be able to fix it. If they can't, they have to charge me for a new wheel. In the mean time, they put another wheel on the front of the bike and off I go. Time for one or two more runs, I'm following my friends, feeling pretty good about everything, make a right hander off of some single track onto some fire roadish section leading to the flameout/karpiel split when the front washes. I managed not to crash and noticed that the front flatted again. At this point I'm feeling like I have the worst luck in the world and start fixing my flat. I tell my friends take off and so they can try and get another run in. I fix the flat and make it the rest of the way by wandering down what I think might be easyish and or not boring.

My friends and a couple of other folks were bullshooting at mid mountain when I showed up, we all road down to the village, and then Siege and I went to go turn in my bike.

I walk in and the only guy there is Mr. Pittman. He looks me over, takes the bike, makes some small talk, and checks the front wheel. He makes a phone call, tells someone that I finally showed up and as such the last bike is finally in and he can finally go home after charging me for that other wheel (and telling the guy on the phone that this wheel was fine). So siege asks why they couldn't true that other wheel, Pittman says they couldn't. We ask to see the wheel, he says he doesn't have it. We then ask why he doesn't have it, and he skirts the question. We then ask when can I expect to get it and he says I'm not going to. We then ask why I'm not going to get it and he says it's policy.

Now, in the rental agreement you sign, it says that if you break anything you'll pay full retail price for it. I'm fine with that. I broke something, I owe the guy $90.00 bucks. However, Pittman should then figure out how to get me the wheel I busted and paid to replace. Not only is he not figuring out how to get me that wheel (which means someone is keeping it) but he now says it's policy to never give the customer the broken part that they paid to replace. It doesn't say anything about that in the rental contract.

At this point Pittman is pretty much tired of us and tells us, not rudely, but tells us that we can either suck it up and stop asking him questions or he can get security to escort us out. So we try to find out who his superiors are so we can talk to them, he tells us to stop asking questions unless we want to be escorted out. We ask again, he says he doesn't have any, and that he can call security. We don't believe him, ask him again, and he says he knows who they are but he won't tell us nor will he give us their contact info.

By this time I'm tired, sore, pissed, and done with arguing, so I hand the guy my card and he charges me for a wheel he gets to keep. On the way out of the store they guy tells me that we can say whatever we want, but siege isn't going to get anything out of him. I tell him that at least trying to get something for my money is better than giving someone $90.00 bucks and getting nothing for it. He hrumpfs and we part ways.

Mind you, and I feel that this is important, there was never any yelling, no cursing, no spitting, no gesturing, nothing. The threats about getting security to take us out were, I feel, uncalled for and bad form on his part. Lieing about not having superiors (he must, he doesn't own Northstar so even if the rental shop isn't part of Northstar he's at least renting space, if he even owns the shop) and lieing about not knowing who they are. He's holding onto a busted wheel that I paid for and telling me that it's policy to not give me the option to keep it.

All in all I had a rough day on the mountain and dealing with Pittman didn't make anything better. I feel that his customer service skills are lacking and he did nothing to make me feel good about buying a lift ticket at Northstar.

 

[jimw]

Man, that sucks. It's too bad too because I agree that the guys working in the shop (at least the mid-mountain shop, didn't go in the other one) are super-cool. I went in there with a broken derailleur cable and they fixed me right up. My friend bent her derailleur hanger and they straightened it for free. That's good service. What this manager is doling out is not.

 

[kidwoo]

t this point Pittman is pretty much tired of us and tells us, not rudely, but tells us that we can either suck it up and stop asking him questions or he can get security to escort us out. So we try to find out who his superiors are so we can talk to them, he tells us to stop asking questions unless we want to be escorted out. We ask again, he says he doesn't have any, and that he can call security. We don't believe him, ask him again, and he says he knows who they are but he won't tell us nor will he give us their contact info.

Holy crap!

That's ridiculous. I'm completely on your side but there might be some reason (liability) for not giving you the wheel. At least I'm guessing that's going to be the excuse. I personally wouldn't let that slide. Threatening to call security over a very reasonable request is over the top.

I want to make sure we're talking 'wheel' here and not 'rim'. If those guys are charging you the price for some low end front wheel when all you broke (debatable) was a rim, I'd get in touch with the better business bureau.

That guy needs to know that's not how you treat customers willing to give them business.

 

[BeaverBikersDad]

Many years ago we broke a ski on the front of a rental snow mobile. I had to pay for it. I asked if I could have the broken ski. Sure no problem. Asks why. I tell him I want to display it proudly over the mantle if I ever own a ski cabin.

Try this tactic. Since you paid for it with a credit card dispute the transaction. Tell your bank that you paid 90 bucks to purchase a used wheel and they never gave it to you.

You may still lose, but you may feel better.

 

[NapalmCheese]

I want to make sure we're talking 'wheel' here and not 'rim'.

You are correct sir!

 

[kidwoo]

You are correct sir!

So you've been charged for a hub, rim and spokes when you bent a rim.......


We need to go collect your hub.

 

[bdamschen]

We need to go collect your hub.

amen. Talking to cheese about it in the parking lot afterwards, we pretty much agreed it was useless dealing with Mr. Pittman then and there since he obviously wasn't in the mood to help out. I'm thinking there's got to be someone we could call that would be able to either refund the money paid or at least get cheese back his wheel(I'd even want the bent rim just out of principal).

I have no idea where you'd start though. Does anyone know if that rental outfit there is part of Northstar or if it's a seperately owned entity?

 

[tahoefreeride]

Yea I totally agree, that guy sucks. I took my own personal bike into the plaza shop to ask about a suspension problem I was having and when I walked my bike in he asked me to leave it outside. I asked him if this was a bike shop and he said yes it is, but you can't bring your bike in here. I said I just wanted someone to look at my bike and he told me they won't do that. I then told him that this is not a bike shop then.

After that I tried the mid-mountain shop and the guys up there told me they don't have time for personal bikes, only rentals. They at least let me borrow a shock pump which is all I really needed. I say don't rent from them and bring all your own supplies to fix your bike in the parking lot.

 

[siege]

Wouldn't giant like to know the kind of product representation that they are recieving in Tahoe?

 

[Red Rabbit]

Wouldn't Northstar like to know what a d!ck Pitman is?

Copy that into a complaint letter and send it. It will light a fire under someones @ss,

 

[siege]

yessssssssssss

 

[NapalmCheese]

I emailed my long winded (and edited for spelling and grammar) post to the Northstar GM yesterday but haven't heard back. There website is lacking in people you can email...

I might have to do an actual honest to goodness snail mail letter.

 

[FREERDR4LF]

definitely staying away from North* rentals this season. have friends and family that were going to join me up there a couple times this season and rent from there. we are surely looking elsewhere.

sorry about your situation man, hope you get to stick it to them eventually.

 

[Red Rabbit]

I emailed my long winded (and edited for spelling and grammar) post to the Northstar GM yesterday but haven't heard back. There website is lacking in people you can email...

I might have to do an actual honest to goodness snail mail letter.

Snail mail is louder, so to speak, than an email.

 

[siege]

but a rally in fron of the bike shop is louder...especially after a few PBR's at happy hour.

 

[FREERDR4LF]

i'm so there!!

 

[OGRipper]

Jeez, that really sucks. Sounds like they are keeping the wheels and salvaging parts despite charging you for a whole wheel. Seems kinda shady. If you are forced to pay for it but can't let you use it for some liability reason, they should at least cut out the rim and give you the hub.

But now that I think about it, $90 doesn't sound too bad for a whole wheel does it? I really am not sure, but that sounds more like cost plus some labor.

One thing for sure, they need more DH bikes or should at least put DH rims and big honking tires on the Reigns.

 

[NapalmCheese]

As a 'grumpy customer turned conspiracy theorist' guess I would say that it's possible that they have a deal with Giant such that they can buy wheels at or below cost so long as they return the old busted one.

I have no idea if this is true or not, but that's one of the thoughts that popped into my head as soon as he said it was policy to not give the customer the old busted one.

The other thoughts were:
It's late and I want to go home so I don't care if this guy is pissed off or not.
and
It's a liability problem so we can't.

I discounted the liability problem since I assumed that if that was the reason, he would have told us that instead of just saying "It's policy".

I would hope that none but the liability reason is true.

 

[bdamschen]

The liability reason seems sorta shakey as well. After all, you just rented a DH bike at Northstar and as such, signed a whole bunch of paperwork releasing them from any liability should you end yourself comming down Karpriel. It shouldn't be too hard to add in something about used parts.

Another thing that sort of bugged me was the quality of the bike they gave Cheese. He weighs well over 200lbs, and his weight was written right on his rental form, yet he ended up with Marz jr. T up front, alex supra bh wheels and what looked to me like xc-ish tubes and tires (2.5 kenda with thin xc like casing). That would probably fly for someone who checked in at ~160lbs, but honestly for heavier guys, give them some more beef.

I could just feel guilty because we were running late and I was driving, so when it came to renting a bike, I took him straight to N* rather than to the bikeshop in truckee that everyone recommended. I won't make that mistake again for any of my friends that I ride with. You can get a new bullit there with totem and everything for the same price that he got the beat faith for.

 

[Heath Sherratt]

Hey, just an idea but maybe I could do some rentals at the Hub if there's enough interest. I would be able to carry Yeti ASX's, 303's, Cannondale Perps and Judges. If this sounds good, let's work out a legit price and I'll order up some bikes! H

 

[J_B]

Hey, just an idea but maybe I could do some rentals at the Hub if there's enough interest. I would be able to carry Yeti ASX's, 303's, Cannondale Perps and Judges. If this sounds good, let's work out a legit price and I'll order up some bikes! H

How you feeling? I heard you had an unfortunate incident at the D'Ville DH.

 

[ryanxj]

How you feeling? I heard you had an unfortunate incident at the D'Ville DH.

Ahh...Not again Heath! How much time have you spent broken and busted the last 2 years?:huh:

 

[NapalmCheese]

5 emails and not a single answer.
Snail mail here I come.

 

[bdamschen]

Call them. that works well.

Heath- Where's the Hub? On the way up to Tahoe? If you do something like ski rentals places not near the mountain do and don't charge for travel days, I'm pretty sure you'd end up with plenty of business.

 

[NapalmCheese]

Call them. that works well.

I'm far too passive aggresive for that. I'll end up mailing them until I'm certain that nothing will happen, then I'll start a website or something, at which point I'll start receiving nasty letters from lawyers talking about libel and slander whom I'll promptly tell to piss off (as the site will neither be slanderous nor libelous). All while advertising the site on craigslist, pinkbike, and mtbr so that I might get corraborative stories from other people posted on the site and a bit more exposure.

It might not do anything but it'll sure make me feel better

I'll call them next week.

I wouldn't mind riding an ASX or a 303. I was kinda looking at an ASX a while ago, would be nice to rent one before deciding whether I like it or not. The 303s are just super duper neato looking.

 

[Slugman]

I woulod have been on the phone to my credit card company before the door shut! Dispute the charges - that way he or his supervisor will be contacting you.

 

[p2djer]

I had a great expirience.

I was supposed to get a riegn but the guy gave me a faith for no charge.

 

[NapalmCheese]

I had a great expirience.

I was supposed to get a riegn but the guy gave me a faith for no charge.

He was obviously feeling guilty for what he did the previous week and wanted to refill his Karma Kup (tm).

 

[p2djer]

Was the guy that you talked too an older guy that worked in the
place at the bottom of the mountain like the gondola?

Or was it a guy at the mid mountain place?

 

[siege]

old dude aka !@@ &^%$

 

[NapalmCheese]

Yuppers, old dude at the rental place / bike shop in the village.

Got an email from Northstar, not only does he have a supervisor, he has a supervisor with a name AND a phone number!

 

[bdamschen]

ah HA! Make em scramble to ship your hub and bent rim out today!

 

[NapalmCheese]

After the GM discussed my situation with one John Pittman, she (the GM) decided that in order to placate a grumpy customer Northstar will be sending a hub and two lift tickets my way.

 

[kidwoo]

Right on!!

 

[surfinguru]

And all things in the world are set right.....good deal there Napalm. Glad to hear there was a positive outcome. Now hopefully he'll get the message and deal with things more " responsibly."

 

[jimw]

Cool. Did the GM mention what their official policy is regarding this, and why?

 

[FREERDR4LF]

is that all it takes to get free lift tickets?

 

[SBDHrida]

For all disgruntled DH bike renters: Go to Cyclepaths in Truckee. Cooler people, and a larger selection of better bikes. Plus, as the Giant dealer for the area, N* kind of double crossed them to get Giants as rentals. Thats my advice. Go to www.cyclepaths.com for info.

 

[NapalmCheese]

Cool. Did the GM mention what their official policy is regarding this, and why?

From the GM
"As for the wheel, it is not our policy to send a customer away with potentially dangerous or unsafe equipment."

Which is understandable. I just wish the dude would have told us that instead of simply stating "it's policy" and then telling us that he was going to call security.