Originally Posted by
bobotech
I can't believe a pro would let a wheel leave the shop like that.
I don't know about the shops where you live, but the LBS's around here do not hire professional mechanics. I'm not just saying that to be dramatic... they really just hire whoever will work for what they want to pay. And that is normally a very young guy who doesn't want to work at a fast food joint. Often times the kids that they hire barely know anything about bikes.
Consequently, they usually screw things up when they try to build or repair wheels... but the customers normally know even less about what is going on. So the incompetent mechanic gets away without blame when a wheel pops spoke after spoke or refuses to stay true. The mechanics at our LBS would see those threads protruding from the nipple and think nothing of it.
I have an understanding with my LBS owner that he calls me for any special wheel builds or repairs that his customers want. In return I buy the parts from his shop. I've seen his guys butcher too many wheels to count.