[Reactor]

I just got back from the last LBS I trusted at all.

The story:

Yesterday my wife tells me (out of the blue) I can buy a racer-x. I go to "The Shop". This is the third bike my wife and I have purchased at "the shop", all in the 2.1-3.5K range.

Well "The Shop" has a large black racer-x (sorry n8, it's a 26'er) and a medium blue motolite. I look at the both and test ride the motolite (I've tested the racer-x before) . The medium, same size as most companies call a large, rides great and is very flickable even in 5" mode. It's got an 07 Talas on the front, which is cool.

I ask about how long it will take to strip the demo parts off, I really want and need to I can pick it up tomorrow, I'm told the repair load is very light and I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow (which is today), no problem. I wanted the frame for a ride in Flagstaff this weekend, and so timing was very important. I'd actually rather wait for the '07 motolite which will have a carbon seatstay and a fox RP23, instead of the rp3. I'm told it will be ready. I pay for the frame, shock and front der.


Today I go in and the bike is still sitting on the sales floor, all the demo parts attached. The owner asks if the can help me. "yeah...." I say " I'm here for my frame/fork and it looks like no one has worked on it", his response "We're a little behind" "Well" I say " That sucks pretty hard. I've been at work since two in the morning , and I have a 16 hour work day tomorrow and will be working until about 8:00 pm, which is after your shop closes" His response ....the blank thousand yard stare.

So now I'm pretty well screwed. I had about 4 hours set aside to work on the bike, and it took some serious work to free up that time. Since I'm working late tomorrow I can't pick up the frame until Thursday night, at the earliest, and probably not until Friday because of other work factors.

Should I:

Tell him the deal is off, and wait for the 07 motolite

Tell him the deal is off, and never visit the shop again

Suck it up, and chalk it up to the generally poor level of customer service at lying sack poop bike local bike shops.

Chalk it up to a mis-underestimation, as someone famous would say.

 

[chuffer]

If they told you in no uncertain terms that it would be ready today and it wasn't, call the credit card company and stop payment. In the world I work in if I told a customer 'it'll be there tomorrow' and proceeded to not lift a finger, not only would I be out of a sale, but I'd probably be getting sued for breach of contract.
LBS =>

 

[MtnBikerChk]

Tough call. Do you want to end any relationship you'd have with them in the future?

edited to say: Not that what they did was right, but next time (if there is one) maybe call a few hours ahead of time to make sure it's getting done. I'm uber paranoid and probably would have done that.

 

[bjanga]

It sounds like you want the '07

 

[Reactor]

If they told you in no uncertain terms that it would be ready today and it wasn't
LBS =>

Yes they did. And It sucks because I really like the mechanic/part time sales guy. I will only shop at a local shop if I get something out of it to make it worth my while. In this case supposed to be speed, and customer service, which I'm willing pay for. But it makes no sense to pay more when I don't get any of those things and I can get the parts cheaper of then Internet.

 

[Reactor]

It sounds like you want the '07

Well if I have to wait anyway..........

 

[maxyedor]

If they told you in no uncertain terms that it would be ready today and it wasn't, call the credit card company and stop payment. In the world I work in if I told a customer 'it'll be there tomorrow' and proceeded to not lift a finger, not only would I be out of a sale, but I'd probably be getting sued for breach of contract.
LBS =>

That is a good last resort, but do not do a charge-back (that's what it's called) untill you have asked for a refund and been told no. It is only acceptable if they refuse to issue a credit, otherwise you will not get your money back and it will hurt your credit score. People need to sack up and if you have a problem don't say "oh well" to the shop and try and cancel it behind their back, call and get the real scoop, if you are still not satisfied cancel the order.

 

[robdamanii]

I'd say you just put that payment towards an 07 if that's what you want. Tell them you're pissed about it, but it seems to work out in the end if they can get you an 07.

 

[OGRipper]

He should have at least apologized for failure to deliver as promised, and offered to somehow make it up to you in the form of a discount, credit toward some other parts, or whatever.

But it's not clear if you were originally dealing with the owner or someone else. If it was someone else, the owner might not be too happy about stripping parts and selling the frame only. Not an excuse, but it might explain the response. If it wasn't the owner, was the person you dealt with there when you went to pick it up? Also, given the tight time frame I definitely would have called at some point in the day when there was still time to get it done.

 

[mud'n'sweat]

I'd tell him deal off. make a point of it. See if he can work a deal on the '07 down the line for his poor service on this transaction. If not, screw him, go elsewhere as he obviously isn't putting any effort into having you as a customer. I'm in sales myself, and this is what I'd expect if I didn't take care of my customers and follow through on my set expectations given to the customer.

 

[chuffer]

hmm, lots of good non-knee-jerk advice here so far. go ahead give them a chance to make right. i try to go by the two strikes you're out system. i can only give people the benefit of the doubt so many times. how many strikes does the shop have so far?

 

[rpk1988]

You never told us what the guy did though. Did you just walk out after he went into a blank stare or did he try to make it right. If that would of happen at the shop I work at, I would have tried to make it right right there on the spot.

 

[Sandwich]

Get a refund and get the 07...that's sheisty, but no need to cancel all transactions with them as it's a little mix up that they probably didn't understand the severity of, but it still screws you. The ONLY reason to go to bike shops nowadays is immediate parts and customer service...and if you're not getting either...

 

[Reactor]

I generally figure people are adults, and don't check up on them unless it's warranted. My experience is that checking up on irresponsible people doesn't do much good, and checking up on the responsible people just makes them think you don't trust them.

As for the shop this is their 1.5 strike. They had an issue earlier that I didn't think they were very responsive about, but another company was at least partially at fault. I wanted to buy a frame, but it turned out to have several anno blems. I either wanted a different/replacement frame (at full price), or some compensation for taking a blem. In the end they weren't able to make either happen in a reasonable period of time.

In the modern world (Internet) the only reason a local bike shop can survive is to offer something Internet vendors can't. Since they can't compete on price, and usually not on selection, the only thing left is good service and instant fulfillment. Crappy service, delivery delays and missed deadlines I can get on the almost anywhere while saving quite a few dollars.

 

[Reactor]

You never told us what the guy did though. Did you just walk out after he went into a blank stare or did he try to make it right. If that would of happen at the shop I work at, I would have tried to make it right right there on the spot.

He appeared to have lost all capacity for human speech, so after about of ten seconds watching his blank stare, and noiseless mouth movements I walked out. They have my name and phone number, they haven't used it yet.

As for making it right, we'll see. If they don't it will be the third strike, and they will be out for sure.

 

[Reactor]

The ONLY reason to go to bike shops nowadays is immediate parts and customer service...and if you're not getting either...

Wow, That's exactly how I feel.

 

[BurlyShirley]

**** em.

They LIED to you. LIED.

 

[Changleen]

Wait for the 07. Buy it online.

 

[jimmydean]

I would say a refund is in order and go elsewhere if possible. If the deal you paid for was a frame that would be ready today and it wasn't, then there is no deal.

That sucks, but that's also why I do all my own repairs and such. I would have torn the frame down myself, but my shop is like that.

 

[blue]

WOW.

My LBS puts fancy new bike builds/sales (Titus and Moots) ahead of everything else on the repair docket (and they have a lot of them). I can totally see the owner slash his wrists before letting something like that happen.

Do you mind having your frame/fork shipped to you from here? I might be able to get you a deal, not sure though...I do ride for them. Drop me a PM if you'd be interested.

 

[Sandwich]

that is crazy...a couple of huffy's in line before a $2000 ish frame....I know they make their money on repairs, but there's got to be a decent markup on a chichi frame like that...plus the customer will come back...

 

[Trainwreck]

Get a refund, talk to Blue. We'll go back and check on the fire sale after returning from Flagstaff.

 

[hooples3]

wait for the 07 once its there you will be a lot happier and not wishing you waited longer

 

[sanjuro]

Oh, man. The LBS: 100% Customer Satisfaction or death.

Why is it that one mistake means the shop sucks?

Funny how the more you demand, the more you get let down.

Yeah, he promised to strip the bike, and he didn't do sh*t. Maybe only one person was working that day. Maybe they forgot. Maybe real life popped up and these guys left at a normal time.

 

[vamkie]

I am a little confused?

Do you havea big race or some sort of scheduled event you needed the bike for?

If not then this was a small inconvience and nothing else.


Quit your crying and go pick the bike up when it is ready

 

[OGRipper]

WOW.

My LBS puts fancy new bike builds/sales (Titus and Moots) ahead of everything else on the repair docket (and they have a lot of them). I can totally see the owner slash his wrists before letting something like that happen.

I think you are missing the point here. The shop owner already paid someone to assemble that bike. Now he has to pay someone to take it apart, just so he can sell a demo frame - at a discount. Then he'll have a pile of demo parts he won't be able to sell as new, so he'll probably need to pay someone to put them on another frame. At the end of the day, only a small profit, if any. Sure, he's maintaining a loyal customer, but still.

This was obviously handled poorly, but it is very different from selling someone a high-end frame with a full parts group plus a labor charge for the assembly.

 

[I Are Baboon]

All things considered, the shop told Reactor the bike would be ready the next day and they failed to deliver. I don't think I'd cancel the purchase and forget about the shop though. No LBS keeps you happy 100% of the time. Just use the old bike and look forward to have a brand spakin new Racer-X when you return.

 

[llkoolkeg]

I can't say I'm the least surprised. I had my most recent trip to Diablo seriously hampered by LBS BS. The shop hack had 2 weeks to install my new Bones cranks on my Scream and despite two interim promises, I showed up the day before my trip and nothing had been done. I then took it to another shop down in NVA I used to patronize and a wrench there I knew agreed to install my cranks Friday night after hours so I could leave fist thing Sat morning. Well, the herbal bone I pitched the guy to compensate him for the rush job apparently addled his mechanical skills to the point that he forgot to install the correct spindle spacer in the BB, resulting in mushroomed washers and a seized crankset.

The crew at Diabo tried to fix it but to no avail, lacking the needed spacers/washers to complete the job. I ended up only getting to ride only one of the two days I camped at Highpoint State Park in order to do Diablo, and then, only on my trail bike. That place was so steep and I so amateurish a rider that I kept overheating my 6" Hayes XCs to the point I'd have to stop for a tokebreak halfway down each run for 5 minutes so the brake fade would disappear and the lever not depress to the handlebars. I still have to go to the LBS's for emergencies, but if I or one of my buds can possibly fix it ourselves, I avoid the LBS like it was a military recruiting office. :mumble:

 

[zmtber]

have they hooked you up on the past, is this the first time this has happened, and are they giving you a good deal now? if no screw the and at least wait for the 07, and if they don't help you out with this problem find another shop

 

[ALEXIS_DH]

wait for next years model.

there are two options. you call it off, or you dont.

if you dont call it off, then you can continue to do business there, or you dont.
if you set the precedent you are willing to suck it up, you´d probably wont get good service in the future with them, so you´d be better off not doing business with them anymore.


if you call it off. you can continue to do business there or you dont.
if you expect to do more business in the future with them, then its in your best interest to call it off. you show them you expect good service, otherwise they´d loose money, thus they´d be more likely to offer better service.
if you call it off and dont do business in the future, then you´d be better off too, since you´d get the 07.

i´d say the best strategy would be calling it off and getting the 07.

 

[DHS]

2007.

 

[ito]

As for the shop this is their 1.5 strike. They had an issue earlier that I didn't think they were very responsive about, but another company was at least partially at fault. I wanted to buy a frame, but it turned out to have several anno blems. I either wanted a different/replacement frame (at full price), or some compensation for taking a blem. In the end they weren't able to make either happen in a reasonable period of time.

As a shop guy I hate to hear stuff like that. I deal with that type of a thing quite often with a certain bike brand we carry, we are at the point of dropping their line as their bonehead mistakes make us look like idiots. Believe me, the shop hates to be the bearer of bad news and I sympathize with those guys as I've been in the same spot.

That being said if I can't deliver I expect a customer to go somewhere else and I'll give a good suggestion on a reputable place if I can't get them what they want and I think another can.

As for this situation, yes the summer is very busy. I'm surprised that they ok'ed rebuilding the bike in one day. Was it a mechanic who said this or a sales person? My experience is that in shops where sales and mechanics are seperate that these things happen way to often. It might also explain why the owner was clueless to the situation. For the most part sales people are clueless as to what is going on in the mechanic's corner.

I hate to tell you to go to another shop, but if they don't take care of you I would. Give the owner/manager a call and ask him what happened. Also ask if you can take the bike out for the weekend with the demo parts on it (was it a demo bike or just a floor model?). As it is I would expect something thrown my way if I were you. Discount, etc.

The Ito

P.S. Bribing the mechanics with pizza and beer is a good way to get things done right. However in this situation I'd say it was miscommunication between sales and mechanics. Sucks dude.

 

[DirtyMike]

I just got back from the last LBS I trusted at all.

The story:

Yesterday my wife tells me (out of the blue) I can buy a racer-x. I go to "The Shop". This is the third bike my wife and I have purchased at "the shop", all in the 2.1-3.5K range.

Well "The Shop" has a large black racer-x (sorry n8, it's a 26'er) and a medium blue motolite. I look at the both and test ride the motolite (I've tested the racer-x before) . The medium, same size as most companies call a large, rides great and is very flickable even in 5" mode. It's got an 07 Talas on the front, which is cool.

I ask about how long it will take to strip the demo parts off, I really want and need to I can pick it up tomorrow, I'm told the repair load is very light and I'll be able to pick it up tomorrow (which is today), no problem. I wanted the frame for a ride in Flagstaff this weekend, and so timing was very important. I'd actually rather wait for the '07 motolite which will have a carbon seatstay and a fox RP23, instead of the rp3. I'm told it will be ready. I pay for the frame, shock and front der.


Today I go in and the bike is still sitting on the sales floor, all the demo parts attached. The owner asks if the can help me. "yeah...." I say " I'm here for my frame/fork and it looks like no one has worked on it", his response "We're a little behind" "Well" I say " That sucks pretty hard. I've been at work since two in the morning , and I have a 16 hour work day tomorrow and will be working until about 8:00 pm, which is after your shop closes" .

In the Service world, This is Unacceptable, If Service is Promised you need to make it happen, If you absolutly cant, you need too call and Inform your Customer of teh delay as soon as you know the Promise time will not be met. That or make sure of what your work load is before you promise work out in the first place

 

[Reactor]

Oh, man. The LBS: 100% Customer Satisfaction or death.

Why is it that one mistake means the shop sucks?

Funny how the more you demand, the more you get let down.

Funny how the more I pay the more I expect. When I spend over $2000 for a fork and frame, I expect to actually get it when promised. Is that too much to ask?

In the Internet age when you can get parts for 20-50% less than the shop charges you, delivered overnight to your doorstep There is only one reason to waste time and money going to a local bike shop, and that is customer service. Anyone who whork in or owns a shop had better not forget it. A shop that's charging a premium for a brand new frame and fox Talas fork, and doesn't deliver when promised is doomed. I'm at least as harsh on my self as I am on other people. Today I worked from 5:00 am in the morning until after 11:00 pm at night, to make sure things that needed to happen did. It's after midnight when I'm typing this.

I'm in the middle of working 16 hours a day for a law enforcement agency. Because I'm a supervisor I don't get overtime pay. I rearranged my schedule, based on the shop's delivery promise to have enough time to assemble it before an out of town weekend, which is part of my preparation for 66 mile off road race. It may well be the only time I get to test the new bike in similar conditions to the race, and I need it to decide which bike to ride for the race.

Yeah, he promised to strip the bike, and he didn't do sh*t. Maybe only one person was working that day. Maybe they forgot. Maybe real life popped up and these guys left at a normal time.

Why is it that I should pay a premium price, for inferior service?

There are some shops that just don't get it:

I've heard this a million times:

"People just don't support their local bike shops any more. The internet is undercutting our prices and making it hard to survive and customers are always demanding better service"


TRANSLATION:

"Why won't people come to my shop and pay twice it costs on the internet , while I give them crappy service, a bad attitude, a half assed effort, and act like they should kiss my ass just for being there"

The shop I go to is usually good, and they were finally able to deliver the frame and fork, late but I may still have enought time to put it together before the ride. All in all should have demanded a refund and waited for the 07. However instead of waiting 4 days for for them to get in the brakes I wanted, I'm going to order them over teh net for about 45% off and have them overnighted to my door.

I think you are missing the point here. The shop owner already paid someone to assemble that bike. Now he has to pay someone to take it apart, just so he can sell a demo frame - at a discount. Then he'll have a pile of demo parts he won't be able to sell as new, so he'll probably need to pay someone to put them on another frame. At the end of the day, only a small profit, if any. Sure, he's maintaining a loyal customer, but still.

This was obviously handled poorly, but it is very different from selling someone a high-end frame with a full parts group plus a labor charge for the assembly.

Actually chum, you are missing the point. The shop in question almost always builds up frames with demo parts. It helps sell the frame when someone can actually ride it before buying it. They then reuse the demo parts on the next frame to come in. I paid over $2K for the frame and fork, with no appreciable discount, this is hardly a charity case, and the shop probably would have had to disassemble it anyway for the next customer., and they wouldn't be able to sell the parts as new since they came off a large racer-x before they were on the moto-lite.

 

[sanjuro]

I don't know what to tell you. My shop rarely makes these kinds of mistakes because the owner stays to 10pm every night.

BTW, what's this premium price BS? There is one shop in San Francisco which charges $150 for a tuneup. That is the only shop I would demand they meet their deadlines...

 

[peter6061]

This is ridiculous. Anyone working at a shop should know that almost any bike can be stripped to the frame in about 15 minutes. Sure, you end up with a pile of parts that will likely need to be disassembled further before they can be used again (read: cables still in housing and attached to shifters / derailleurs), but that's not the customer's concern.

In any of the shops I worked at we would have tried to get that frame ready for the customer that day. Bike sales always came before repairs.

If it couldn't get done during the day, it's 15 minutes after work. Whatever, the cost, it would have been done by the time the customer came in to pick it up. Nothing gets in the way of high end sales, especially if they've already been paid for.

I'd go to another shop and wait for the 07.

 

[Ian F]

I probably would have asked to take the demo-bike in the back and strip it myself. Then again, the shops I deal with probably would have let me do that right after I paid for the frame... so, I don't know...

 

[flat broke]

Sorry Reactor, but half of this problem lies in your handing of the situtation. The real question is why did you walk out of the store instead of stating your case and seeking satisfaction?

Sure, your LBS dropped the ball and didn't have the frame ready when you walked in the door, but you're the one that let that situation continue to exist when you didn't say anything about it. How hard would it have been to explain to the manager, that you just shelled out 2k at his store under the pretense that the frame was supposed to be ready when you walked in? As stated above, the frame could have been stripped in less than 30 minutes. Instead of taking a 30 minute delay, you opted to postpone the situation indefinitely.

To give you an example, a friend of mine was going to buy a new bike in the 1700-2000 range at a local shop. He had been in a couple of times and test rode a few options, but they didn't have the parts spec of one model in his size built up. They said they'd build it up by X date and we came back on that day so he could test ride frame size with spec he intended to buy. The bike wasn't built up as promised, and the repair area was slammed. The gentleman that had promised the bike wasn't seen at first and another employee said that they could have the bike ready for a ride on Monday (we were there on a Saturday). My friend explained that he made the drive etc. and was planing on buying the bike. He asked if they could start right then and they pulled another build off the stand, and started on his ride. There was no yelling or shouting, just a quick explanation and request made by a customer to a shop employee. An hour later he was getting the suspension dialed in by the orriginal sales person and on his way home to ride his new bike.

I'm not saying your LBS didn't mess up, but if you want something in life, you have to at least be willing to ask for it. Give the shop a call and explain your situation. Either cancel the order or arange something else, but give em a call.

Chris

Edit: Just saw that you picked up the bike. Have fun with it.

 

[sanjuro]

Well, I thought about it some more. I realize that stuff like this doesn't happen at my shop because can do most things quickly if necessary.

Mistakes happen, but what you do to fix them is important. If all the owner did was look stupid, then you should move on...

 

[Reactor]

Well, I thought about it some more. I realize that stuff like this doesn't happen at my shop because can do most things quickly if necessary.

Mistakes happen, but what you do to fix them is important. If all the owner did was look stupid, then you should move on...

Nothing personal, I realize most people at bike shops try their best, and you would probably never had let something like this happen if it had been your shop. I stripped my old bike for the parts I needed in about 15 minutes, and had the new bike half assembled in another 30. The problem is it's almost 7pm Phoenix time and I'm still at work, so I'm not sure I'll be able to finish assembling the bike today or not, which may still blow my weekend.

My real frustration is that most of the bike shops in Phoenix are run by clowns that don't give a damn. There are two shops I've found that aren't , this one, and one other that charges about 20% over list for everything and caters to high end roadies. Most of the good owners have called it quits over the last few years, and the shop I go to has recently changed ownership.