Originally Posted by jshelly

I recently started to replace some components on my old Hybrid and the brakes were next on the list. I wasn’t interested in buying a bunch of cable ends in bulk since I only need a few so I thought I would check out a LBS about 30 minutes from my house.

It’s a place I have never been to before, it is fairly well known and one of the few shops in the area that sell cervelo so I planned on doing a little window shopping as I plan on buying a road bike next year.

Now I am the kind of person that prefers to support local businesses to big box retailers and I do not consider myself cheap or even thrifty for that matter (my wife takes care of that).

Feeling guilty for just going in and asking for something free, I thought I would buy a Bontrager Pants Strap made out of a recycled inner tube for $10.99 (perfect for rides around the block with the kids) and ask if they minded sparing a few cable ends.

Well, long story short they decided to charge me $1.00 for four cable ends and honestly, I am more disappointed than I am angry – I left the shop and do not plan on going back.

I understand that LBS’ need to make money, as they are a business like any other. What I do not understand is why the shops in my area insist on gouging customers not “in the know”.

I am going to mention the name (Brielle Cyclery in NJ) just in case this was an isolated incident and I am rushing to judgement.

Originally Posted by Caveman

I go out of my way to give my business to businesses that treat me like a human.

There's a tire distributor in our area (Tire Discounters). My wife picked up a nail in one the tires on her Expedition and it had a slow leak. I changed the tire and had her drop off the other tire at this place to have it plugged/repaired. When she went back to pick it up they told her "No charge, but please keep us in mind if you ever need tires." In the following months we bought two complete sets of new tires from them. I didn't even shop around. I didn't care if I could have saved a few bucks elsewhere. It cost their technician 15 minutes of his time and a $10 gesture. In return I bought almost $1200 worth of tires from them. You treat me right and I'll treat you right. Why more businesses don't get this I'll never understand.

Originally Posted by INC.COM article

Former Competitors as a Marketing Channel. Call two of Zane's former competitors -- now out of business -- and you'll get this message: "The number you are calling is no longer in service. If you are in need of a bicycle dealer, Zane's Cycles will be happy to serve you. To be directly connected toll-free, please press zero now." By offering to pay the local yellow pages a small fraction of the defunct dealers' remaining advertising costs, Zane arranged to have their out-of-service phone numbers ring at his shop. The total cost to him is about $200 a month, which he'll continue to pay until a new book is published. Because the yellow pages helped him track the transferred calls, Zane knows he received 260 inquiries from his former competitors' customers last July alone. "The first day the line was changed, we sold a bike to a guy who asked why we closed our New Haven store," recalls Zane. "So the program paid for itself for that month." It also reinforces Zane's stronger-than-the-competitors image.