Originally Posted by dbg
Well I'm going to agree with the above. 5 minutes to straighten out the chain and show him how to mount a rear wheel could win a long term customer and maybe many more. But many of you would pass that up in favor of squeezing $8 out of a kid. Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay would be proud of you.
It sounds like he had a bent derailleur hanger too. Where do you draw the line when it is in the bike stand? Do you send the bike away with a slightly bent hanger? Then you are the bad guy, only worse. It may not be as simple as it sounds. It usually is NOT. They may have been busy too.
If there is another person in the bike shop or a few, or if he had a friend with him, and they did do it for free then the others will expect what they "perceive" to be small things for free too. Since they won't be, and you can't do them for free, then you are the bad guy only worse. This time much worse. It goes on and on. Typically a person who does what this person did will continue the pattern and not become a spending customer anyway. It's a judgment call by the shop at the time, it could go either way, but many people typically do the same thing over and over, especially kids.