HiYoSilver

I'm having a problem with a performance service dept. Initially when got the bike, they scratched the top tube in putting it together. I complained and got $20 off. Just got back from another service trip and there are a ton of new scratches on the top tube. Not happy at all.

1. Is this typical of LBS service?

2. Is this typical of performance serice?

3. what would be good compensation for damage?

fuerein

The only time the service guys at my LBS have scratched the frame is when they were mounting the rack... One of the supports must have been a little tight going on the mounts and it caused a little scratch, but no big deal. That is the only time though. If it happened during normal assembly or maintenance though I'd get frustrated.

Bikes-N-Drums

My LBS actually showed me my frame before assembly because they had found a little patch of damaged paint. He said something like, 'well I can buff this part out over here and then I can use touch up paint over here...'. I told him not to worry about it and thanked him. It seems my LBS is rather particular about the paint jobs. Then again it's right off campus of a prestigious college and their customer base is largely doctors and lawyers in training. I guess those guys take paint jobs pretty seriously.

skiahh

You should have rejected the bike and made them either fix the scratch or get you a new frame.

$20 is nothing at all to them and probably less than they'd have to pay a wrench to repair the scratch.

While all bikes are going to get scratched in their lives, when I get a brand new one, I want to be the one to put the first scratch in the frame, not some knuckleheaded ape in the shop who doesn't give a rat's ass.

If they're that careless with handling the bike, what else have they not cared about in the assembly and tuning of your new bike?

Rev.Chuck

This depends on the price of the bike. If it is a $400 bike then $20 is about 1/6th of the profit.
If you think 1/6th is nothing, please paypal me 1/6th of your paycheck because I do not make the money the mythical scratch fixing wrench above does.

Nachoman

My LBS treats my bike real well. But throughout all these years they still have the same experienced mechanics working there. I also have a Performance shop near my house. The employee turnover at Performance is huge. And the employees are so young and inexperienced.

ZachS

bikes get scratched. get over it.

Waldo

You might also want to consider the knuckleheaded ape that packaged the bike and all those that handled it during shipping.
If we actually had proof that the shop caused the damage, you'd have a point. As it is, it's ironic that you should mention a knuckleheaded ape. I'm sure you have plenty of shop experience and never received a bike that was scratched out of the box, though.

EricDJ

Haven't had any damage, but owning Ti is a bonus not having to worry.

operator

That only makes sense if you sell one bike every two weeks. And if it's your only source of revenue.

skiahh

You are correct. If the OP KNOWS it was the shop who scratched it, then I stand by my original comments. If not, then I would amend them to add that either the shop or the bike manufacturer should replace the frame, if that's what the OP wants.

Of the bikes I have purchased, none have had scratches on them that I have noticed when I brought them home from the shop. That is... until usually my first ride.

Uhhhh... huh? That doesn't really make much sense at all.

On a $400 bike, the shop makes a $120 profit? If that's what you meant, then that $20 to the shop, in the big scheme of things, isn't much at all for moving a damaged product. Personally, when I buy something new, I want it to be new.

Not sure how much you make, but even if it's exactly $10/hour a couple hours max to repair the scratch and, with taxes and any benefits, you're well beyond the $20.

As far as correlating 1/6 of my check to $20... I don't get your logic no matter how I look at it.

Loooty

I'm not going to get into the profit margin of Performance bike, but I will say that I doubt the mechanics there make $10 per hour or get benefits.

I really don't think it is okay for the mechanics to be scratching your bike. I'd take my bike somewhere else; the lack of attention and care that is shown in scratches may also cause other problems that are more that aesthetic.

xlntRider79

Is it just the top tube...? They may be clamping on it with their workstands, which can cause scratching, especially if the cables get jammed into the paint. Make sure they clamp onto your bike by the seatpost!

Don Cook

After a road bike that I'd ordered arrived at the dealer's, I went in a few days later to pick it up. There were some very fine scratches in the paint. Some on the top tube and a couple on the downtube. They were the type that could easily be hand buffed with a good machine polish. I explained to the LBS that I'd wait for another bike to be sent rather than take the one with scratches. They clearly weren't happy, but they understood the issue. They offered a couple of water bottles if I'd take the pre-scratched bike. I offered to take it if the price were reduced $125. After some haggling and a couple phone calls( I'd walked out and gone home), they reduced the price $100. Later in the garage with 3M's professional machine polish on a damp soft cloth, the scratches vanished!!

catatonic

The LBS I used to go to for my maintenance was outright dirty compared to most (very tight space, part boxes piled up in a corner, and disorganized), and they have never scratched any bike I sent to them, with exception to when i got a rear rack installed, and that was where the metal rack supports rubbed slightly on the seatstays right near the mountpoints.

Reason I went to that shop? They knew their stuff, prices were very reasonable, and they were 3 blocks away. When I moved to Florida, I decided to do my own wrenching.

Difference was they used washcloths when mounting the bike. Used a new one for each bike, then washed the box of them once a week. This kept grit from collecting on the steand's clamp.

HiYoSilver

Yes, it's an obvious clamp error.

shorty4543

Never make that statement again. Every builder I know always gives a "rats ass" about the bikes that they build. Before going out on display on the floor, every bike gets a thorough look-over to make sure it shifts smoothly, tires have air, brakes don't rub and the tension is good.

Your favorite knuckleheaded ape,

Shorty

Waldo

Shorty, you'll have to get used to that sort of anti-LBS stuff if you're going to stick around here. Unfrotunately, it's running pretty rampant lately.

catatonic

Yeah, some folks go overboard with it.

I'm more or less one of those people who likes tinkering with things, so I do my own work. Either way, using the washrag method pretty much removes the scratch issue, so long as the cloths aren't all crusty, and are either one is used only for new bikes, or the cloth is swapped on every bike....since a bike with a dirty seattube can contaminate the cloth.

My theory is they did this because grit would get attatched to the seattube clamp, and from there would scratch the frame...makes sense. Of course, just wiping the clamp between uses would fix that as well.