Phil_gretz

I'm guessing that the OP may not be one of those people you describe.

debade

I guess the one thing I missed in this conversation is that pricing sometimes has little to do with cost. It can be part of the image of the service or product. Like a fancy label or a ribbon on a package. It can meant to send a message and not necessarily related to cost.

Since the touring cyclist 'jump the line' was mentioned, I must say every LBS I have stopped in on our tours has been incredible about helping out, right then. Typically a mechanical issue above my expertise but not one time do I remember a LBS saying they were too busy. That was really appreciated and mentioned in the touring journal.

Sy Reene

At the same time.. I've had pretty limited success in instead asking to book an appointment for similar.. eg. "Can I make an appointment at 3pm tomorrow for you to adjust XYZ, and as it shouldn't take more than half hour, pick it up at 3:30.."

Sy Reene

Just why is that many feel that sitting on the airplane longer is a privilege and worth paying more for?

dedhed

I have no problem paying an additional expedited fee for 1 day turn around time of materials testing at the labs I use.
It costs me $800 an hour to have crews sitting.

FiftySix

Service techs in any field can usually only hit one appointment time on the nose, and that is the first job of the day.

After that, the length of time per job is too unpredictable and a new job is started after the previous job is completed, whenever that may be.

Doctors and dentists seem to hit appointment times more successfully as they have staff to start your visit, such as a nurse or dental hygienist, and that staff will complete your visit as well.

FiftySix

Like 1st class? Probably because the seats in 1st class are better than the seats in the boarding area, or the remainder of the aircraft for that matter.

asgelle

Do you really think that's what people are paying for?

Retro Grouch 

A shop in St Louis used to have a two tiered price for fixing flat tires.

They had one price for fixing the flat while you waited. And another, higher price for if you left it to be repaired. Their logic had to do with the cost of paperwork, dealing with the customer twice, having to store and retrieve the bike twice, and the physical cost of space to store repair bikes.

FiftySix

That would seem backwards, but they must have had a lot of people leave their bikes for long periods of time.

Noctilux.95

I was told three days to replace a Shimano free-hub to Campy. Went home, watched Youtube and did it myself in less than five minutes.

bbbean 

Rush fees sound reasonable to me. They have a backlog, you want to jump to the head of the line, a reasonable fee isn’t uncalled for.

wolfchild

Learn to do your own maintenance and avoid all the LBS dramas.

Sy Reene

Maybe you folks haven't flown in a while. I'm not talking about first class. Rather, straight ole' coach.. the airlines have fees you can opt to pay for the privilege of boarding sooner. Sometimes the fee is just for sitting a bit further forward in the cabin. eg. United Air calls it "Premier Access".. supposedly separate security lane too, but never really that helpful (and the plane leaves at the same time, no matter what row you're sitting in). Delta calls it "Sky Priority".. it's evidently a selling point getting on the plane sooner.

wolfchild

People who bring their bikes to an LBS to fix a flat should be forced to wait 2 weeks....Maybe this would motivate them to learn how to do it themselves.

Sy Reene

hmm.. then there may be success in booking an appointment at the time they open? I don't think so. My typical experience is that even trying to book an appointment, for some sorta work that may take say only an hour or 2, leads only to a commitment that the bike should be ready by the end of the following day.

asgelle

Have you? The point to early boarding is not the timing of getting on the plane. It’s to have first shot at the overhead bin so you don’t have to check luggage or have it forcibly checked for you when the overheads are full. Not to mention the horror of having to use a bin behind your seat.

FiftySix

That would depend on if the bike shop is set up to do work on a tight schedule.

I do have good experience with an auto tire shop that allows purchasing tires online, then setting an appointment to have them installed. When I set that appointment for when the shop opens, I'm first in line no matter how many people were waiting outside before me. As long as your not late, otherwise you get moved back.

Finding a bike shop like that tire shop may be unusual, though.

FiftySix

I only fly occasionally for work. My company won't pay for any luxuries, and I won't pay for something like early boarding out of my own wallet. I tend to have plenty of checked luggage (tools) that my company will pay the extra fees on though.

HerrKaLeun

3 days for a derailleur adjustment? I can bring my car to a shop on a Sunday and can get simple parts replaced that they have to ship within town while I sit in the shop waiting room. Jeez, within 3 days I almost can get a collision repair inc. paintshop done.

Just order a hanger alignment tool that arrives within 2 days from amazon. During that time you can watch all videos about all kind of derailleur problems and resolution. That way you get it adjusted faster and probably cheaper than from the LBS and every next time is free and only a few minutes.

Hope you don't rely on that bike for transport or planned some good ride. I always thought N+1 is just an addiction, but if you rely on LBS you really need a spare bike.

wphamilton

While any given repair may be unpredictable, most of them took a predictable amount of time in my experience and when I was contracting on-site computer and peripherals service, my recollection is that I could generally nail the schedule for the day.

When I ran service centers for computer stores we'd have a tech do some basic troubleshooting when something came in, and have a pretty good estimate of time and cost. While the customer was there, unless they were in a hurry and left. If it was a simple quick-fix, do it then and there. Too swamped to do that, it would be squeezed in somewhere in a day or less. In fact, for anything that didn't require a special component ordered the standard goal was 24 hour turnaround. Granted bikes are a different field, but I can't imagine that basic service principles vary that greatly.

It's a different story if expediting something requires different resources or extra payroll. Like next-day shipping for instance. But what I'm getting at is that for straight up service, especially something that would be considered a quick-fix in whatever field it is, my experience is that it's pointless to put it in the FIFO queue and slavishly follow the order. Expedite fees, sure you can HAVE them because some people will insist on it, but to use it to justify bad service practice is what would turn me away. If they're that poorly organized, or can't prioritize, is the service itself going to be any better? Sometimes ... but it's a red flag.

BirdsBikeBinocs

Its not rocket science to me. I think its fair to to offer a quick turnaround time for a price. It happens all the time in other industries. Its not different if you choose overnight shipping for a price. You pay a premium for a service. There's value in that.

BirdsBikeBinocs

People have no interest in doing it themselves. I could change my oil in my vehicle but hate the thought of doing it myself. So I don't. Why would you force someone to do something they have no interest in doing.??

I'm American. I love convenience. And that won't change anytime soon.

Wileyrat

A bicycle is a pretty simple machine, and cycling becomes a lot cheaper when you do your own maintenance.

I replaced my shift cables a couple of hundred miles ago, and my rear derailleur was a bit off too (a bit of stretch). It took all of about 10 minutes to loosen an allen head screw and tighten it, including verifying the repair solved the issue.

Nachoman

Or own a backup bike (or two) and don't worry if the shop keeps your bike for a few extra days.