rwp

If you're really 50lbs. over, then a 42/28 is still a tough gear to pull in steep hills. I can't imagine someone telling you to stay with a 12-25 cassette.

My LBS experience has been almost entirely positive with knowledgeble employees willing to help even when I asked embarrasingly stupid questions. The single exception was an owner (not an employee) who flat out lied to me about a parts order that he had promised to place but never did.

bud16415

My favorite LBS comment was when I went in and asked for a 26t to replace my 30t granny. What he said was so good I put it in my signature here. Not so sure it was dumb just so very true.

Vras

All of the following was recently said by not 1, but 2, trike stores in nearly identical conversations when asked about parts support and maintenance work - in separate long distance phone calls.

1. No, we don't carry that part - a DualDrive hub.
2. No, we don't want to order it for you.
3. No, we do not want to bother ourselves to install any parts you might bring in with you - not even at our exorbitant labor charges.
4. No, I won't discuss or advise you options to modify your bike/trike to save money with your desired upgrade - there are too many possibilities to consider and our profit margin doesn't encourage us to help you in any manner.
5. The fact that we are listed on our/the manufacturer's website as "authorized dealers" means nothing to us/you as far as this issue goes; our experience is: buy from us, expect one or two checkups at $40 per, and then we usually don't see any of you trikers any more.
6. We could care less that you are willing to drive 3 hours to our shop(s) and possibly purchase a complete trike in addition to the maintenance work you are calling about. Your piddling purchase/money simply isn't worth our time.
7. If you made a purchase directly from the manufacturer, you should contact them for support/parts/whatever. You've cut us out of money, so **** you. Yes, you can quote me on that if you write the manufacturer or care to tell your friends about this conversation.
8. Go ahead and pick your jaw up off the floor - asking to speak with the owner/manager or calling the manufacturer about our poor customer service response/attitude won't change any of the above responses/our attitudes as you are currently speaking with the owner(shop 1)/the manager(shop 2).

Seriously. I s*** you not. Two different shops. Needless to say, my astonishment continues weeks later.

IntoTheWild

^^^Paraphrased, I assume? Or did they actually cite each number as they read off each point?

Mr. Beanz

Another one:

Beanz pays big money for high end bike shop to build rear wheel. Velocity Deep V, 3 cross DTSwiss spokes (strong wheel).

Ride the wheel 40 miles and it's JACKED! Making noise, pinging, ticking creaking. Inspect wheel at end of ride, able to squeeze spokes nearly touching one another. Prior my wheel building days but I know seriously lacking tension. Out and back ride, making noise 20 miles in, no choice but to ride back.

Return to the pro bike shop.

Mr. Beanz This wheel is falling apart after the first 40 miles, I can nearly squeeze the spokes to one another.

Wheel expert It's supposed to be like that, bring it back in 30 days and I will true it for you! ..........................................

That was the day I decided to start building my own.

I saw the guy about a year later working at Sports Chalet. Filling scuba diver tanks.....

Vras

I wrote down the conversation (normal for me/I take shorthand for fun & profit). So, while the statements are paraphrased & "numbered" here, they are 90% accurate in tone and wording.

bigbadwullf

Yup a business can't possibly stock EVERYTHING a customer could want. But it's probably better to say "we ordered those just the other day and should be in, in a couple days." Take the guy's money and order it then.

ricebowl

If $1.00 was a common price difference or problems with shipped items were common, people would flock to their LBS with no need for prodding.

Louis

His next job will probably be packing parachutes.

Mr. Beanz

........

Telly

Although this isn't the dumbest thing I've head an LBS employee say, it sure got me mad....

After purchasing a descent quality name-brand Trekking bike and having it shipped from the UK, I visited the LBS to see if he had a spare for my old bike which was being sold. The employee took one look at the bike, asked me how much it cost and then went about laughing and stating that I had been ripped off, and that he could sell me a much better bike for the amount I gave. I decided to go along with him and asked him to show me what he had in mind... it turned out to be a local brand which I had seen in a department store a few weeks earlier, with some better quality parts but definitely not worth even half the asking price, let alone having it compared to what I had purchased.

When I confronted him with question on the quality of parts, he was quick to say the following: "look at this bike, all the parts are made by the manufacturer, frame, handlebars, seat post, brakes, even the wheels.... yours looks like a mish-mash of parts put together." (Shimano, Ritchie, Selle Royale, DT Swiss, B&M lights.... lol) The incredible thing is that the employee had been working there for several years!

Mr. Beanz

Worst thing is when they think you are dumb.

I went int o the local LBS looking for wide rim tape for SunRyno lite MTB rims. I told the guy I want the wide stuff, he gave me some skinny stuff. I said I want the wide 22mm, not the narrow 17. He said this is the widest rim strip made. I just walked out.

I drove to the next shop and asked for the wide stuff. Happened to be a forum member "Cachequatch". He pulle dout the 3 different sizes to compare then said, "this is the 22mm you want". Guy didn't try to yank my chain and knew his sheot!

Yes, I posted about it and thanked him. I even dropped by Wendy's picked up about 8 value burgers then dropped them off for the guys as an appetizer.

kingsting

Customer: "I need a 700 inner tube."
Me: "How wide?"
Customer: "28."
Me: "Presta or schraeder?"
Customer: "huh?"
Me: "Little metal European style or like the one on your car?"
Customer: "Oh, the metal one"
Me: "Front or rear?"
Customer: "Uh, rear."
Me: (Handing over tube.) "Here ya go!"


Customer: "How much are your mountain bike tubes?"
Me: "With or without a hole?"
Customer: "What?"
Me: "With or without a hole?"
Customer: "What's the difference?"
Me: "The ones with a hole in them are cheaper."


Customer: "How can I be a faster rider?"
Me: "I see you have a cyclometer on your bike."
Customer: "Yep."
Me: "See that magnet on your front wheel..."
Customer: "Yeah."
Me: "Put two of them on your wheel, you'll go faster"


Customer: "I have a flat that I need fixed. What do you think is wrong with it?"
Me: "Looks like the bottom air has leaked out"
Customer: "Bottom air?"
Me: "It's only flat on the bottom, right?"
Customer: Uh, yeah."


Customer: "How long do the batteries last on these newfangled LED lights?"
Me: "Depends on how dark it is out and how far ahead you shine it."
Customer: "Oh... Wait... Huh?"

IntoTheWild

I've been thinking and I really can't recall anything dumb said by an LBS employee. I've had some of them not know about certain things, but those were usually obscure things that very few people would know about anyways (like 26tpi Raleigh threading vs 24tpi).

Juha

I bought an entry level hybrid from the LBS. They have some good people working there, and then they have kids who don't know much (OK, they're young and they'll learn). The kids also hate to admit they don't know much (definitely not OK). I try to do my business there with people I know, but this time when one of the kids approached me I figured I'd give him a go. My shopping list was ready from my earlier visits there, so not much that can go wrong there. Right?

Me: ...and I need a front rack, lowrider type. I was told earlier you will be able to order this one?
Kid: Yep, no problem, we'll have it tomorrow.
Me: So... if I come in the day after tomorrow, you'll have the bike all set up?
Kid: Yes.

Following day, I get a phone call from the kid. Due to force majeure, hand of God, earthquake, floods and delivery fairies' strike, the front rack will take nearly a week to arrive. Do I necessarily want that particular rack? Yes, because the one you have in stock will not fit. One of your more experienced colleagues specifically pointed that out to me, as he had tried it. The one I ordered is supposedly OK. But I need the bike, so I'll just pick it up tomorrow anyway and deal with the rack when you get it.

Following day, I go into LBS, get the bike. And what do you know, the kid beamingly presents me the rack as well, packed in plastic bag together with mounting hardware. I think, good service and what the heck, it's easy to mount, I'll take it home and DIY. Later in the evening, back home, there's no way I can find to mount the rack. Absolutely no way, except with major structural changes.

Following day, I call LBS and explain my problem. The kid tries to dismiss it, it's easy to mount, but sure drop by here today and I'll show how it's done. I get there with the rack, kid starts working on it, half an hour later... no deal. I ask him a couple of times if this is really the rack I specified before he acts all surprised and says, "but you said the stock rack is OK too".

--J

Wolfwerx

Haha, somewhere, there's a guy talking about what a dumb LBS employee he dealt with!


While many of these "dumb LBS employee" stories ring true with me, I must say that a lot of people aren't as good of a communicator as they think they are. I have worked retail before (not a bike shop, but the point remains), and I can't tell you how many times I had wished that my ESP was a little stronger. Or, how many times have those of you that have worked in a customer-service retail position talked with a customer for what seemed like forever to work out their problem, only to find out that they misremembered something and whatever they needed was not even something you sold? Also, if you work enough hours, you just say stupid stuff to customers, just to amuse yourself.




My LBS story (I like this shop, it's my go-to, this is pretty much my only complaint):
Me: "I am in the market for a lugged steel bike."
LBS: You don't really see them anymore.
Me: "Sure you do. You have one right by your door. It's the first bike you see." (Raleigh and Felt dealer)
LBS: Well, that's just for display. We don't sell them very often.
Me: "Can I order one? I want something 64cm, in a touring geometry, preferably, though I'm not married to that."
LBS: "They don't make them in that size anymore."
Me: "Nobody in the world makes that?"
LBS: "You could get a 60 or a 58, we have a bunch of 58s in stock. Just use a really long seat post."
Me: *Leaves*


To be fair, he was a young kid.. not a bunch of experience. And he was really friendly, at least.

IntoTheWild

^^^You'd think people could say, "let me research that for you and get back to you with an answer."

If they're not willing to look into something, they might as well have a big sign that says, "If you don't see it on our sales floor, F**K YOU."

Mr. Beanz

The other side of the story, customers that go in and ask 100 questions about things they already know but just want to see what the sales rep has to say. IMO, we learn plenty on the forums and most regulars here know black from white. So why bother an employee with 100 stupid questions other than to act like a smart ass with things you learned on the forums?

My visits are simple.

I need a 2.1 MTB tire
I need 22 mm rim tape.

If they choose to jerk me around then it's on. Other than that, if they give me what I ask for, I'm gone in 60 seconds, no games!

CaptCarrot

Going back to a previous point though, the willingness of staff to help when there is an item they don't stock or is out of stock.

I used to work in retail (in a major UK chain), I got to the lofty heights of senior sales advisor (and doing all the assistant managers work). Long story short, if we didn't stock an item, due to the nature of the company all we could do was direct the customer to somewhere that might - which we did happily. However, if we did stock the item, but it was not currently in our store it was beat into us that we could offer to order it in for collection, reserve it in another store where there was stock or take an order for delivery to their address.

I went into an LBS the other month and it was the first time I had actually seen a Reelight counter top display, and therefore the first shop that sold them (albeit only the SL100's) - so I thought I would try my luck asking about Pedalites. The response I got was nothing short of rude. The guy simply said no and immediately turned his back to me and went out the back of the shop.

Mithrandir

My bike shop has done some staggeringly excellent work for me, but there are two lone exceptions that make me wonder.

1st incident. My rear wheel broke a spoke. It's 16 years old, it happens. The bearings were shot and the cone is hopelessly pitted too, so I decided it's time for a new wheel. They sold me a 32-spoke wheel they had in the back. I insisted that it wasn't going to be strong enough for my weight, but the guy at the counter insisted that wheels are much better built these days than the old 36 spoke wheels they made in the 90's. It sounded plausible, so I bought it.

Lo and behold, the wheel crapped itself on my way to work a week later. Out of true, out of round, half the spokes broke. It was toast. The saving grace is that they replaced it free of charge with a hand-made one, and drove me home from the shop as well. The new wheel has gone almost 2000 miles at this point and is still perfectly true. They said that I weigh more than I look (by about 50 pounds). Not sure if I believe it, but whatever, they handled the situation admirably and thus still get my patronage.


2nd incident. I'm ordering a new bike, Surly LHT. Last week. I still hadn't decided on 26" vs 700C, and they steered me towards 700C. Their arguments consisted of "You'll have more tire choices" (very true), and "It'll go faster". Well that last statement is somewhat dubious in my opinion. I guess since it's a bigger wheel it'll roll over things easier because of the lower angle of attack, and it'll probably retain momentum much better due to the fact that the radius is higher, but that should also mean that it will accelerate slower, if I remember my physics properly.

Regardless, I went with 700C. We'll see when it comes in how it feels.

ctyler

"Hey, you can't bring that bike in here." When I was taking my bike in to a bike shop for service.

tagaproject6

This is why I pack my own 'chutes.

Nermal

He was being polite because you're a big guy. He would have told me it was out of warranty cuz I nearly squeezed the spokes together.

The shop I deal with is way better than any of this, by the way.

tagaproject6

"This bike is the best because it is "Made in the USA", unlike some of those brands they sell made in China."

I don't hear this much nowadays, though. Very pervasive in a Cannondale dealer that I visit.

DX-MAN

priceless! ! !