KevinB

I would also own a gun.

I had to go back to the city I grew up today for some personnel business and while running around came across the LBS were I got my first second and third bike. I thought I would drop in take a quick trip down memory lane and spend a few bucks on something I do not really need.

When I walk in I amazed how much the place looks the same. It always had kind of an unorganized sloppy look but always made up for it with a sense of community and great service. I was not in there for more than 3 minutes when the owner who has not seen me for 20 years yells out my name like its been 2 days. I find he is retired now but still comes in everyday to help his son and stay in touch with the many people he has known for so many years. After a few more minutes his son starts in the conversation and were talking about who rides still who does not ride who is no longer alive.

After a few minutes two guys roll in a used Fuji road bike and ask if they can look over the frame (Carbon) and the components to see if its a bike he should buy. The owners says sure its $10 to look over a bike and get a full assessment of the bike and that $10 will go towards any repairs if so chosen to be done. While Im thinking damn that really is not enough to keep the doors open the guy starts throwing a fit. he says I just want you to look at it and that should be free. The owner politely tells the guy it is store policy to charge $10 for an inspection and before he can finish the sentence the guy starts his crap about how they are asses and that between the internet and performance they will go out of business for trying to screw him out of $10

I really do not know How most LBS are run but I found $10 bucks to be very fair and knowing these guys I'm sure if this guy had been a previous customer of anything they would have waived the fee but obviously this guy will buy what he wants at the very cheapest place and then expect the LBS to do something for him for free.

It was great stepping back and seeing some old friends but I hope those kind of customers are few and far between.

KiuBWhy

Guns solve problems?

SkinnyLegs

How does owning a gun have anything to with dealing with annoying customers? Are you gonna shoot them in the face if they start acting obnoxious?

jzsoup

Yes

RT

In before the lock. What is up with all the haughtiness around the 41?

CyciumX

Some uppity folks in these here places. Can a guy fantasize about murder without people getting all bent out of shape?

They make movies that promote it... so, like go and defend the sanctity of humanity somewhere else - this is a thread that's goal is to preserve the sanctity of sanity.

Allow a man to b---- and moan like a man should.

baribari

Eh... $10 is a lot just to glance at a bike and see if it needs repairs. Now, if he's asking for a detailed inspection to make a purchase decision, then I can see charging him.

zstjohn

yeah a gun solves everything. this has be be one of the dumbest threads ever

CyciumX

Sounds as if this is akin to taking a used car to a mechanic to get a complete inspection - 10 dollars seems extremely justified especially if they include that towards any repairs or work to be done on the bike in question.

10 dollars that could save you hundreds or possibly thousands buying junk - is money well spent.

KiddSisko

I side with the OP. Whingy Nancy boy internet do-gooders can go F themselves. And by F I mean fail. Really.

baribari

Except that a car usually costs more and is several hundred times more complicated. You can get a pretty good picture of a bike's condition just by riding it a bit, and looking at it's parts. Lots of things could be wrong with a car and you'd never notice it without a thorough inspection.

colombo357

LOL, what a crappy store policy. Sorry, people are cheap, that's reality, so deal with it.

The store owner lost a potential customer for life, and the hot headed bozo will surely spread the message to all of his equally hot headed buddies.

He was an ass, but he was right. Performance is going to take them out.

Doesn't matter, $10 for a glanceover is ridiculous for a bike n00b. With these types, you have to give a little before you can take. The owners were chatting it up with you, so obviously they weren't busy. Adapt or die. They chose the latter.

Wish 'em luck.

CyciumX

1: That thorough car inspection will also cost a wee bit more than 10 measly dollars

2: A used car doesn't always cost more than some used bikes, buts thats not relative to this - just sayin.

3: An inspection is an inspection. If it takes someone with experience 10 minutes to checkout all the components and conclude it is structurally sound to ride. Then so be it. They are the ones that know what they are doing. That is why you are paying them the friggin 10 dollars...

CyciumX

That said - I agree with colombo. Newbs are cheap and if it only takes you 10 minutes....and you aren't doing anything else, but chatting - then just look over the damn thing and make a friend who might comeback for tubes and tires one day.

KevinB

LOL $10 sounds like a lot to you. Can you inspect a carbon frame?

Say they put it on the rack for free say its fine and one week later the guy comes in with frame that is shot. Then what?

383

Wow. Thought this would be a gun for safety from robbery thread.

$10 to look over a bike? Dumbest idea ever. I would never give them my business because guess what - they're the type who will charge 10 for a screw, 10 for some lube, 10 for storage in the shop, and so on.

Horrible way to do business.

KevinB

Yeah Imagine the nerve of some business to charge for there time materials and labor.

Do me a favor. Drive to a car lot. Take a test drive across the street too there competitor and ask them to inspect the car for free.

CyciumX

KevinB

LOL zstjohn First of all I find it funny how some one like yourself jumps all over the gun thing. I actually hate guns and will never own one but Im thankfull for the people who used them to stop the germans, english, french, chinese, japanese, Americans ect ect ect from taking over the whole world. So yeah guns have solved some problems.

vettefrc2000

First - you should be carrying a gun already. It is a right more should exercise.

Second - $10 for an inspection that is applied to repairs sounds OK at first but is kind of a rip-off if you think about it.

Lessons learned - always carry a gun - it is you right as an American, work on customer good will - you would get more customers.

RT

It's sad that we have to 'buy a tube' or do our LBS a favor when they sell us machines that are overpriced anyway, drowning in an industry built on the exact thing that BF perpetuates: You pay for a name.

If the $10 went to service, why not? If the customer was smart enough to assess it themselves, they would not be in the shop asking, and if they got their answer for free and still could not repair it themselves, then who will? Oh yeah, the place where they already have a $10 discount coming. It's not splitting the atom.

Enabling a-holes like the OP described only flushes the toilet of society faster (re: the 'noobs are cheap, get used to it' comment). Pretty soon that behavior becomes the norm (oops, too late), then where are we? Cynical, abusive and generally no fun to be around.

plasticmaam12

$10 is $10 dollars. It sucks that you can't afford it. Times are tight. It's likely that the person that you asked to work for free has a family that he/she needs to provide for. They gained no income from your transaction. You want somebody's expertise, but you don't want to pay for it? Crackhead. I will waste no more typing.

whitecat

No gun needed; it all goes into ordinary everyday events - I mean such guys. To be honest, and LBS is a bussiness, and as such, it is run for a profit. So if said guy rolls in and asks for an assesment of that bike, he gets a price quoted - is there anything wrong with that? No. He pays for all the experience that mechanic has, to use that experience in assesing the bike. If that guy himself had any experience, would he come to the shop and ask for an assesment? No. So what is the problem here then? That guy needed a service; he was quoted for said service, and he got pissed off when he got a price. Well, it's just the way things work in this world, the client pays for service and goods. Why would he deserve to get something for free? Bussiness is about profit.
So if he doesn't like it, he can go elsewhere. And to have the nerve to come into someone's store and DEMAND something for free? Preposterous. That one would get shown the door in my store real quick.

And don't even start comparing small local LBS that has an expirienced mechanic with a shi-tty big box store where ultimate knowledge of the bikes is summed up in knowing how to assemble them (somewhat correct). No comparison there. But hey, everyone is free to choose where to shop, and if someone want's to give their money to big box store, who's to stop them? Ofc, they might end up with a non working bike, assembled that way as to last a few full miles of riding before some small thing as a suspension fork or a wheel falls off, but hey, they ARE cheaper then local LBS! Yea them!

And now to get serious, for average recreational cyclists, big box store may be satisfactory. I did not say good, or even ok, but just satisfactory. Their objective is to move the biggest number of bikes in shortest amount of time, and they depend on that to have the lowest prices. And that's ok for someone who has no problem dealing with clueless, confused staff in most occasions, waiting for service a month or two, non existent or overly expensive spare parts, and a lot of other things. But all that incompetence irritates me, as I actually like to talk with someone who knows what is he doing. I like that the person behind the counter has a sizeable chunk of knowledge of the things he/she sells. In this case of bikes. And there is always going to be a place for a good local LBS in every place that has more then a few serious cyclists, who value good advice and knowledge. And as for those that demand something for free, and then get "insulted" when it's told to them that everything costs something, it is better if they and those like them never set foot inside the local LBS again. They are not serious buyers anyway, because anybody with any resemblance of integrity will not behave in such a way. They can go to their big box store, where I am sure someone will be able to take a look at the bike for free (and say nothing meaningful, but that's besides the point here), and they will be all satisfied. Until, unforutnately, that wheel falls off again. But, it was really definitively good when that big box (clueless) employee took a bike for a look over

So it is better if such ppl go around the local LBS in a big circle, it leaves them more time to work with ppl that really care to have someone who knows what they are doing. Leave the good local LBS for serious cyclists.

CyciumX

If I were to buy a used car - i'd drop the coin for a carfax report.

Realistically - if you want to call yourself a grown-up based on being able to manifest grown-up decisions - then 10 dollars for an assessment should be part of your budget. Same when trying to rent an apartment and having to pay a non-refundable processing fee.

Times are tough? 10 dollars stretching the limit? Why the F--- is he in the market for a carbon bike?

guadzilla

BF explained.