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.
If it's super quick I'd do it for free. Otherwise, it's $6.
Once you do it free for one kid, all his buddies come in wanting free stuff. As others have mentioned, I've seen it happen many times. Bike shops have to maintain the profitability of the service department as margins dwindle elsewhere and people expect us to sell things at or below cost.
I'd suggest you actually work in a bike shop before passing judgement, especially with such a laughable comparison.