Dave Mayer

I volunteer at a high-volume big-city bike Co-op. We seem to have found a niche of being able to fix seemingly impossibility complex problems on frankenbikes for folks with no money who've been (essentially) kicked out of conventional for-profit shops.

We get clients who are immensely pleased and feel compelled to reward us with often unusual gratuities. Such as foodstuffs and candies and beverages. Got some chicken wraps the other day... always check before eating. Expired date. Were they bought at the till at a discount, or recovered from the dumpster behind the restaurant? With our clientele, it's 50:50.

Vast quantities of bread and rolls come in. Same question.. I guess it's the spirit of giving that counts.

With the food we now have to store and discard, we've now developed a serious mouse infestation.

Cuyuna

You're comparing a not-for-profit co-op that typically charges peanuts to a conventional retail establishment.

I tip my barber. I don't tip the check-out clerk at Target. If I was to ever get my bike fixed at your co-op...I'd tip you.

Sy Reene

I might have to card them first.

Sy Reene

Trying to understand your analysis... a barber is the same as a not-for-profit, while Target isn't, right?

I-Like-To-Bike

I imagine that your clientele have 3 strikes working against them at the LBS's being operated as an adjunct to bicycle club socializing activities.

Not only do they not have much money but probably don't tip/bribe the help for doing their job, and worse yet, probably do not share the same social profile as the LBS club members/preferred clientele who get the special service by the bros running the LBS operation.

downhillmaster

downhillmaster

dedhed

I don't use any LBS, much less a specific one (quite a few here), enough to worry about building a relationship. Closest one that has the item or service I'm in need of in a timely fashion gets my business. They hand me a bill, I pay it. We both are happy.

In my employment relationships with vendors and manufacturers is very important, but that might encompass $1M contracts and very expensive delays where often price isn't even talked about, but how soon can you get it here. Me buying something at the LBS instead of on line is more about wanting to finish something up and they have it in stock and I don't.

Cuyuna

I often tip personal service workers that provide me with personal service, particularly when it's a service where tipping is traditional. Like barbers, waiters, masseuses, etc. When I go into a bike shop to purchase repair services, I don't tip them, or bake cookies, give them basketball tickets or a couple of brewskis. I treat them politely and respectfully and pay them the labor rate that they request. It's been a very gratifying business transaction for more than 20 years. In the end, the way that you deal with any of the people you do business with has nothing to do with me. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but around here it's not the way these things are done.

Dave Mayer

Nope. The reason that conventional shops won't work on their bikes, or even listen to their 'problems' is self-evident the instant they come through the door. And it is not about lack of money, although this type is invariably cheap.

The very worst Co-op customers ride bikes that are hopeless, never-ending, do-it-yourself, bottomless money-pit Frankenbikes. The bikes are usually completely inappropriate for local riding, around here manifested as 50-pound full-suspension rigs for riding on smooth city streets. Then add dropper posts, ape-hanger bars, ancient computers and GPS systems, dynamo hubs, electric-assist wheels, etc. So their bikes are bristling with bolt-on superfluous crap. Then these folks will waste everyone's time digging for obscure parts, failed attempts at hacking together incompatible shifters and derailleurs, and making yet another of a series of useless mods to their rides.

They'd have been better off in buying a simple $500 hybrid, and not messing around with it.

EdwinHeadwind

Just because mechanics appreciate being tipped doesn't mean they expect to be tipped. Some customers are just generous. You're not obligated to be, and no one will think more or less of you either way. Really.

Sy Reene

a classic..

I-Like-To-Bike

Just don't expect to see your bicycle worked on any time soon, if or when the mechanic "bros" are taking care of their generous pals first, eh?

EdwinHeadwind

Prompt service earns tips, not the other way around. Cynical much?

I-Like-To-Bike

Nope, I just read what some of your LBS buds posted on this and other threads on BF. Some prompt service is prompter than others if it is for one of the LBS 's club members or "generous" friends.

downhillmaster

jefnvk

Which, despite the objections of those who do it, is why some of us view those actions indeed as a form of bribery.

I-Like-To-Bike

Also why some of us may view with contempt those LBS employees/mechanics who think that customers are petty, cheap, or resentful if they don't bring them beer, or other tokens of friendship/tips/bribes for doing their job.

EdwinHeadwind

That hasn't been my experience as either a bike shop customer or an employee. But you go ahead and grind that axe if it makes you feel better.

downhillmaster

diphthong

this thread has gone places. seems like the answer to my original question is either yes-whether on occasion or (semi) regularly, no/never or no unless there is some extraordinary
service involved. happy with my local shop and their expertise/tools/abilities/workspace far exceeds mine. not a demanding customer and never in a rush so it's ready when it's ready.
i've got a backup bike/wheels. i understand not everyone's in the same position. they're still getting a mixer sixer next week...but more likely two sixers. i could care less whether they
crush it all or give the entire thing away or whatever serendipitous mix arrives at the truth. it's theirs to leverage or dispose of as they see fit.

Kedosto

EdwinHeadwind

It's oddly comical that the picture being painted is of bicycle mechanics gleefully drinking beer and giving preferential treatment to a cadre of bribers, while other customers are ignored and ridiculed. In every shop I have ever worked at in my 59 years, we have prided ourselves on getting every customer their bike back when it was promised. The occasional tip was given and received with appreciation, but no quid-pro-quo relationship was ever implied or practiced. But I'm under the impression that a few of our more vocal members here don't have any idea how the service industry actually works. All would benefit from spending a year in retail or restaurants, if only to raise their own consciousness. Not holding my breath on that, however.

Runner13.1

I did just the other day.
Bought the mechanic and owner a six pack of local beer.
It's amazing what just $10 can do. It made their day and showed how much I appreciate them.

tatelabianca666

Conveniently the best liquor store AND coffee shop in Pvd is down the street from my LBS. I always tip my mechanics well so they can choose their own vices! Hell, if they wanted to buy CBD cream to put on their nuts then they could and should!