rjn3100

This might not be the right place for this, but I've read a lot of posts that go something lke this:
I took my bike to shop "A" the changed "this & that", when I left the shop I noticed "that" was wrong so I took it to shop "B" and they re-adjusted "this", 20 miles later "that" is wore out. I took it to shop "C" and they replaced "any other thing". Now I can't ride my bike.
Why wouldn't you go back to shop "A" and tell them to staighten it out, you paid for it, shouldn't it be done right? Now I get that you would run across an incompetent shop/mechanic and at some point cut your loses and move on, but it seems to me that far too many people do that after one issue, now if the shop owner was forced to deal with negative issues because of sloppy work, at some point the owner would HAVE to improve quality control ? Or go out of buisness?
While I hate to see small companys go out of buisness, I also think they need to provide the servics someone paid for.
If this was your car would you leave the mechanic, hear a noise, then pull out a screwdriver and pair of plyers and make adjustments?
Now I get that some people are not all that mechanical, but when I read "it didn't look right to me, but they said it was OK" I just tense up.
So let me say this...If it don't look right, it probably ain't right, don't accept it with out an explanation as to why it's right,let them show you on another bike. Ask for a warranty on parts & labour, and don't expect anyone to honor a warranty if you messed with something.
OK my statement has been made, I'm not trying to troll, or get flamed, I honestly don't understand why anyone would accept the stuff I read about.
Rick

operator

And the point of this thread is what?

vredstein

"...you would run across an incompetent shop/mechanic and at some point cut your loses and move on, but it seems to me that far too many people do that after one issue....
If it don't look right, it probably ain't right, don't accept it with out an explanation as to why it's right."

Seems straightforward enough to me.

stevage

>Why wouldn't you go back to shop "A" and tell them to staighten it out, you paid for it, shouldn't it be done right?

Because they're a mechanic, and you're not, so you're not sure you're right. It's pretty hard to tell a professional in their field that they've done a bad job, when you're just a chump off the street. And if you do, you're probably totally burning your bridges with that LBS.

that_was_easy

I really do ADMIRE folks who fix my sh**, so I don't loose my sh**, but I also really like being treated like I'm helping to fund this whole business endeavor. If they don't want to explain things, I'll make time to make do so, if they can't take the time, for whatever reason. If it takes having to explain that my bike is gas piped or something stupid like fiber glass, just to satisfy my curiosity as to why my cabling needs routing a certain way, then shop personnel should be able to honestly explain so.

Just because it's hard to tell a professional in their field that you have some reserved skepticism, doesn't mean it's not necessary and sometimes completely appropriate.

vredstein

I don't know how things are in Australia, but in the US, many, many mechanics are "professional" only in the sense that they get paid to work on bikes. Many are too young to buy beer, have never held a steady job, and keep their job based on the fact that they can successfully change a tire most of the time. Most aren't true experts.
Requesting an explanation is not something that offends true professionals. Any "professional" in the most honorable sense of the word, know why they are right, and are articulate enough to explain to a customer why they are right. They know a good explanation will build a customer's confidence, and be rewarded with return business. If the explanation matches the facts, and the customer refuses to accept the facts, then you've done all you can, exhausted all resources, and can lose his business knowing you're justified.
Any mechanic that views the customer as just some "chump off the street" will probably burn bridges with clients. Pretty soon, those LBS employees will find themselves on the streets.

nymtber

or, better yet, quit whining about it, buy the tools and learn to fix your own bike. Its pretty easy, really. It aint rocket science. That way, if it isn't fixed right you can only blame yourself, and learn in the process. Saves a bunch of money, too! I have literally seen a few bikes brought into bike shops while i was there, for a TUBE CHANGE! Men, at that. That, my friends, is a sign you should definitely pick up another hobby! unless you were out riding and didn't have a patch kit or spare tube and pump...then...maybe...

jfowler85

Very much so; this solves the problem, and leaves nothing to rant about. I found this out for myself after learning how to change the oil in my car, then later in life paying for an oil change...after which, when I changed the oil myself again, I found that the "professional" mechanics wrenched the drain plug so tight I had to use a 4 foot breaker bar to loose...can you say impact wrench?
If that is true than the opposite must also be: not tightening it enough and loosing oil on the go. Scary.

Fix to the problem: I always do it myself, and thus always know exactly the state of things.

stevage

>I don't know how things are in Australia, but in the US, many, many mechanics are "professional" only in the sense that they get paid to work on bikes. Many are too young to buy beer, have never held a steady job, and keep their job based on the fact that they can successfully change a tire most of the time. Most aren't true experts.

I guess I've met quite a few, and I'd say they're almost all between say about 22 and 40, and male. (I know of *one* female mechanic.) Older is rare, unless they're the owner. Never seen a teenager mechanic. I've never seen one that was downright incompetent - though occasionally they make a mistake or overstate their knowledge in a certain area.

Of course, my experience may be biased by the area I live in (St Kilda, the biking hub of the most bike friendly city in the country...), where I doubt any LBS would risk hiring a bad mechanic - nor would need to. Maybe out in the suburbs where it's just mums and dads and kids, they'd get away with it.

jfowler85

Agreed...if the shop has any respect for it's own reputation they wont hire a complete turd of a mechanic. All the shops around here are staffed by the mid-20-something crowd...and common sense tells one that reputation contributes a large amount to the business one will receive.

vredstein

I may have overstated the case, generalizing based on the shop I work in. It's good to hear the state of the profession is being upheld elsewhere. But I still believe providing a customer with a solid explanation is part of the job and builds customer confidence rather than seeing it as an threat to a mechanics ego.

rjn3100

I guess my point was to see WHY people accept sub par work, guess I should take a psychology class. But what I learned so far:
That too many shops hire unkowledged kids to do the work.
Most people that become serious riders end up becoming mechanics, to some degree.
As with most anything else there is a learning curve in the bginning, and "Because they're a mechanic, and you're not, so you're not sure you're right" people fall victim to bad mechanics/shops and learn the harder way (trying to fix the original and a "proffsionals" mistake)
I also wanted to advise a noob, how to deal with and get treated right by a shop, but it seems that is pretty hit or miss.
I'm sure no one cares but I always did most of my own work, exept for straighting rims, then one day (many years ago) I had a "pro" true my wheel and somehow managed to put a spoke so far through the nipple it punctured an innertube. I took it back and made them deal with it, then never went back, and started truing my own wheels.
I guess I'm pretty typical in that regard
Rick