Originally posted by naisme
Well, here's my .02.
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I think it's they unloaded an old bike off their inventory, and once it was out the door it was to stay out.
In defense of bike shops, most aren't big money operations and don't have the deep pockets or purchasing clout of, say, Wal-Mart. (In fact, it seems like few can stay in business more than a few years.) So, it's not unusual for them to take a hard line on return merchandise that had seen significant use. They have to eat the loss.
In defense of your friend, the shop was remiss since they did not make it clear that she was buying a "new" (i.e. unridden) bike that was older stock. It should have been labeled as to the model year. That's reason enough for not doing further business with them. OTOH, if she got it at a significant discount, that should be some compensation. Given her current situation, there are lots of great cyclo-computers out there for a lot less than Flight Deck...