Originally Posted by
cc700
Your shop probably could have handled it better; politely telling him he's just like eight out of ten customers is dumb... you should have said "we do good work that takes time and we finish customers bikes on time... we don't make others wait because someone else thinks they're more important. if you want that, go find a shop with a lot of unfinished bikes around and throw money at the mechanic until they compromise their integrity."
I think the highlighted part is extremely hostile to the customer and opens the door to a lot more arguing.
And I think there are instances in which it is reasonable to repair a bike before others that were brought in first, but that depends on the particular circumstances. If it wasn't reasonable to do so in this case, just say that you have other customers who are expecting their bikes back on schedule.