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Co-op rule: parts must be installed on bicycle before leaving

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Co-op rule: parts must be installed on bicycle before leaving

Old 11-18-21, 05:13 PM
  #26  
Maelochs
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
AutoZone has to be shaking in its boots if a store is liable for how someone uses an item purchased from them.
Yeah, try getting Any major tire place to put a used tire on a rim. They will not---because if anything goes wrong, they might be liable.

I got trapped in a small town in Georgia on a Sunday, limping around on a tire with bubbles bigger than my fist, going from place to place and no one would put a tire I had---new, but had been mounted on another rim (chrome rim which leaked) on the rim on the car.

I finally found an independent place that just happened to be open ... sheer luck on a Sunday in the Bible Belt---and paid cash to have the job done ... pretty sure the owner never saw any of that, and I don't care. I could have been forced to spend the night in my car in Nowheresville, then call Monday to have a tire delivered to a shop (it is an odd size which few stores stock) which might have shown up Wednesday--another couple nights in my car, trying to tell my wife and my job why I was in Nowheresville---and then finally, after paying five times what it was worth, get the tire on the wheel on the car so I could drive home.

Yeah .... Autozone and every other major autoparts retailer does have some rules about putting what kind of stuff on what part of your car--because of liability. If they sell you something and You put it on .... no stress for them, they can blame your shoddy installation.

You can buy an Autozone water pump, take it home, and beat your neighbor to death with it .... that is cool .... with Autozone. "Not intended use .... "
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Old 11-18-21, 05:34 PM
  #27  
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Originally Posted by mstateglfr
AutoZone has to be shaking in its boots if a store is liable for how someone uses an item purchased from them.
Never said it was a smart decision, but an amateur lawyer who got all his training reading internet forums might think putting a sign out like that might cover the co-op's ass if someone put something on wrong and got hurt (when in fact selling the parts and not letting them install it there would probably be safer from a legal point of view).
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Old 11-18-21, 06:12 PM
  #28  
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Originally Posted by himespau
Never said it was a smart decision, but an amateur lawyer who got all his training reading internet forums might think putting a sign out like that might cover the co-op's ass if someone put something on wrong and got hurt (when in fact selling the parts and not letting them install it there would probably be safer from a legal point of view).
I think if the customer does the work, no matter where, the customer takes all the liability. No one can ensure that the customer knows anything, or uses whatever s/he does know. If it is a professional (or even a volunteer) working under the auspices of the establishment, the establishment is responsible until the tires hit the sidewalk.
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Old 11-18-21, 07:44 PM
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I've launched, run, and volunteered at a variety of bike co-ops over the last few decades. They all have different missions, challenges, and business models. That particular rule isn't familiar to me, but it seems clearly designed to address a problem they've had in the past. It could have been put in place because of one particular person. It may be working well for them.

Regarding selling high-end parts at a highest possible cost vs low cost, that's going to depend on your financial position, your inventory, and your mission. If money isn't a problem, you'll more inclined to see those parts go to your target customer base. If money is tight (and it usually is), you'll be more inclined to sell those for a profit, using the income to fund your mission. OTOH, if your shortage is with volunteers - and it often is - then offering high quality parts to volunteers first may be a needed perk.

The other thing to keep in mind about co-ops is, they are not typically run by professional business people. Usually volunteers working in areas outside their professional expertise, if they have any professional expertise. So maybe they don't make the most solid business decisions. Me, for example. I'm a software engineering manager, but I've made marketing decisions, fundraising decisions, inventory management decisions, designed marketing literature, talked on the radio. Once I had to figure out if spontaneous combustion of oily rags was a real thing or not. They didn't teach me that in CS classes. People are doing the best they can.
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Old 11-18-21, 11:35 PM
  #30  
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It sounds like a dumb rule. A rule intended to combat retail arbitage. The local Goodwill recently doubled their prices for the same reason: People buying up anything that was even reasonably priced & reselling it elsewhere at a profit at the expense of serving the intended customer base.

Good ol' fashioned greed hurting the less affluent & the poor death battling Squid Game style for crumbs & scraps... What else is new?

At the co-op I run several days per week, if it says Campagnolo it goes in the glass case to be ignored as overpriced by "enthusiasts."

Other parts, if they have even a modest value, go on eBay. The rest is in bins Joe public is free to dig through.

Although part "X" may get you/your bike rolling for another while or two, there is nothing worthwhile anywhere in the shop for a reseller to resell anyway. That's by design.

No one has any money. And all the prices no matter how low are way too high for our customer base. Often time we trade labor hours & the customers time in exchange for parts...If only the labor traders had any life skills to begin with, they wouldn't be trading time behind a broom or on a tire pump for bike parts. Ugh.

The challenge is convincing volunteers it is ok to purge incomplete/broken junk from the collection. A practice I have been practicing & encouraging since my employ...Now that I think about it, in this post, I think a buy it by the pound program might be a good idea & save a bunch of paid labor hours (mine)...Oh, what I wouldn't give for the board to approve a $7-10 (cost) set of NEW cantilever brakes that cost $20-$40 in paid labor hours to piece together from a milk crate of junk for a bike that is to be a free give-away, anyway. We could be money ahead if I were allowed free reign of the day to day. It is a work in progress, one bin at a time.

I'd love to serve the retail arbitage crowd as well, but the sad truth is they think I'm stupid asking anywhere near 66% fair market value for an item & won't pay a dime if they think it should be free, (& they usually do.)

It's a tough balance. The OP's co-op ought to seperate worthy parts (for sale), working parts (segregated away for shop use), & bargain parts for desperation cases. Then post prices in plain view & charge accordingly. The OP's Co-op's rule exists because it is a mis-managed feeding ground for resellers.

Last edited by base2; 11-18-21 at 11:43 PM.
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Old 11-21-21, 07:32 AM
  #31  
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Our co-op is a wreck. All the parts are jumbled and barely sorted by type in milk crates, with like parts seldom attached. Want a set of LX cantilevers, for example? You might actually find four of them in the crate but they won't be grouped and will likely be missing small parts. It's like that with everything. Bikes and frames hang randomly or rest in piles, inside or out as space permits. I shop there wearing a headlamp and carrying a big tote bag to deal with the stuff. The crew is nice enough but they barely have the time to help those who need it. And you're just as likely to find what you want in the dumpster, thrown out simply because someone judged it not worth messing with. I'd love to see a clean, organized well-lit place and before any of you suggest I do it for them, I'd do my own garage first to get my own crap organized.
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Old 11-21-21, 04:11 PM
  #32  
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So, what happens if a person has a bike that they want to replace a component on but can't get the bike to the co-op?

There's a co-op an hour plus bus ride from me. It used to be a great place to go for parts. now most everything is kept in a locked room. Want a rear derailleur? You have to wait until you can get someone to unlock the door and bring you the box with rear derailleurs. Want a matching front derailleur or shifter? Again you have to wait for a person to be free to unlock the door again and then they bring you a box of front derailleurs or shifters but not both and only after they take the box of rear derailleurs with them. Extremely inefficient.

Cheers
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Old 11-21-21, 06:39 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by Miele Man
So, what happens if a person has a bike that they want to replace a component on but can't get the bike to the co-op?

There's a co-op an hour plus bus ride from me. It used to be a great place to go for parts. now most everything is kept in a locked room. Want a rear derailleur? You have to wait until you can get someone to unlock the door and bring you the box with rear derailleurs. Want a matching front derailleur or shifter? Again you have to wait for a person to be free to unlock the door again and then they bring you a box of front derailleurs or shifters but not both and only after they take the box of rear derailleurs with them. Extremely inefficient.

Cheers
Right .... but now ask the question, "Why are they doing it this way?" Is it because people would come in a take parts they didn't need and sell them on EBay? Is it because people with plenty of money were taking decent parts for free when they could buy parts and leave the used stuff to poor people who were struggling just to keep a bike on the road to get to work? I don't know .... maybe the owners of the coop just turned into giant richard-heads .... but I think more likely some bad stuff must have been happening over a span of time to make them change policies.

But I don't know.
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Old 11-21-21, 07:10 PM
  #34  
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I imagine they are flexible on this policy. Doesn't hurt to ask.
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Old 11-21-21, 11:57 PM
  #35  
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The rule in question might not necessarily be based on supposed liability (bike parts are available on line from 100's of outlets who simply sell parts and assume no liability other than for perhaps known or likely should have known selling defective parts) or any other conspiracy reasons.

It depends on where the co-op is located and who their clientele is. The two local co-ops that I'm familiar with deal primarily with either college students and/or those less privileged. They don't have 'must install here' rules but they go to great pains to assure that the part is the correct part and in proper working order. They assure that the buyer knows what installation tools are required and will urge parts buyers to bring bikes in so assistance can be given.

Does the average person even know basic bike maintenance? Would you allow someone else to even do a basic job like installing pedals on your bike and just assume they know the difference in threading? Moreover, not a lot of students or others have torque wrenches (ever over tighten a bolt or know someone who has?). Yes, some of you don't use torque wrenches and have never had a problem but...? Most people likely don't have basic metric tools.

There are many on these forums who question the competence of box store employees who assemble bikes...these are often co-op customers. It could be a rule to promote safety and no other reason. I'd bet that the rule isn't strictly enforced when a known to be avid cyclist wishes to make a purchase even though some avid cyclist have no idea how to wrench. 😕

Last edited by MAK; 11-22-21 at 12:03 AM.
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