starts with; the
(they kept my cable ferrules that was with the wire package, took my built in lever ferrules, nicked a cable shield and charged me a hun and bs'ed me on the delay)
Couple of things that get me about calgary shops not in order;
1. they offer the same product at all the shops. Why not differentiate and offer different brands? (bike bike kind of does this)
2. the pricing is way off for parts. vittoria evos at $80-85 each for example. 1 entry level mavic with a 105 hub for the online price of a custom hand built wheelset with ultegras.
3. they don't know anything and do shotty work.
4. they give attitude if you do not conform and ask for standard stuff, Double butted spokes? alloy nipples on non-drive side? what?
5. NEVER ever call you back if you want to order anything- offer to give them your CC or pay in advance, tell them the distributor- phone the distributor yourself ask if they have an account and stock, call the shop tell them this. NO call back.
MEC, is about the best of the worst.
At least I expect no one to know anything let alone even ride a bike, and second if staff give slight attitude or demonstrate grossly incorrect knowledge its nice to be able to help them out or point out stock they say they don't have. I liken it to self service with an annoying salesperson beside you. But Calgary is like that, you have to beg to give people money here. Especially in bike world.
I also patronize mec because I want all the other indie shops to die and close up.
I am sick of shopping local if they don't give me top notch expert advice because I can come here or google it and buy the part online for far less with free or cheap shipping. How can I go from zero to rebuilding an entire bike in 2 months when a guy who owns a shop knows squat about the product line he is carrying?