So the consensus is that either a) the employees don't know about competitor products, or b) the employees are always going to say that their bike is the best for any purpose?
Doesn't that boil down to a choice between ignorance and dishonesty?
If you don't have a product that fits my needs it would be a courtesy, and professional, to make a recommendation. You don't have to of course. If, on the other hand, a salesman tells me that his product is better than specific others for a specific purpose, and when that is a misrepresentation, then that speaks to a lack of integrity.
To the phone service analogy, if the Sprint guy is selling me a service, and I'm not in Sprint coverage area, yes he'd better send me to Verizon or AT&T! If he knowingly sells me his service he commits fraud. Even if he doesn't say the words, "Sprint will work", it crosses the line from caveat emptor because he does have an implied warranty for fitness of purpose.
The bike guy doesn't have that exact problem because any bike would technically work. He's ok if he says his brand is the best, because that's just puffery. But when he gets into specifics, like OP implied, then that's out the window and he needs to be factual.
Last edited by wphamilton; 04-13-15 at 02:21 PM.