I'll be the first to admit, I'm not a regular at a LBS, and I ride a department store bike (more on that later). I've e-mailed my LBS a couple of times over the past month and have yet to receive a reply. Their website says they're the #1 bike shop in the region. I let that slide as it wasn't that important of an issue.

Back to my department store bike... I put 160 miles on it and the threads in the tires were showing as the tread was gone. It's a department store bike, so I understand the quality wasn't there. I did some google searches looking at tires and saw some of what was out there. This past Saturday I decided to trust in my LBS and asked them about tires. (29" Mountain Bike, used mainly on concrete/asphalt, with occasional gravel). They showed me a tire and sold them to me for $40 each.

Today I was looking on the internet and looked up the tires. $22 MSRP... and about that everywhere on the net as well. I know bike shops need to make a profit and can understand a markup, but the $40 seemed a bit excessive. So I called my LBS and asked about the tire. The guy told me they don't stock them and would have to special order them. I asked about what the price would be and was told probably $25-$30. At this point I told him that I was in on Saturday asking about tires and they sold me 2 of them for $40 each and I was wondering if it was a price error.

He took my name/number and said he'd call back. 2 1/4 hours later I called back and he told me he was waiting to hear from his store manager and someone else about the tires. It's now another 2 hours later and I still haven't gotten a return call. I know that department store bikes aren't the greatest quality and was looking at shifting my business to my LBS, but this issue has completely soured me on them... especially if they were voted #1 in the region.

Please note that as this issue is ongoing, I'm not posting their name as I have no intention on bad-mouthing them without giving them a chance to finish working on this issue.... just wondering what my options are.... if I have any.

Best regards,
Fizziii