I haven't had any truly bad experiences with bike shops, and there's a couple I like that go out of their way to make sure things are done right and at a fair price. But I used to take my car to a locally owned service center. I had always found them to be good, fair and expedient. Then one day my wife, who they had never met, brought our other car in to see about a squeek in the door. She left with a list of services they insisted needed to be done before they would even address the squeeky door. Services, many of which had just been done elsewhere. I double checked the car myself and knew they had been done by the other shop. And she said they were less than courteous. I don't know if they tried to bamboozle her because she's a woman, or they didn't treat her with the respect and courtesy they always extended to me because she's not white (like me), or if somebody was simply having a bad day, but that was eleven years ago, and it was the last time we ever dealt with them even though they are within walking distance of our home.