Originally Posted by mattman
I have been dealing with the shop the OP went to for about 6 years with pretty good results. I think some of the problems with the shop are cultural. The owner is not from north america and other people i have worked with from the same country do business in a similar manner. You could go into Kims bike shop in NB and get nearly the same response if you go on a bad day, Its happend to me. Even Bob used to get weird sometimes if you asked too many questions and he didnt know you. If you want good service at HP dont go in there thinking you are going to shop x buy small stuff, make small talk, let them get to know you. Then when you want to buy something $$ you'll get the service you were expecting when you first went in there. Sure its not the way people here say it should be but thats how it is there. If you want a shop that has a decent selection of good stuff try BikeN Gear on Hamilton a few miles out of NB in Somerset. The owner is an OK guy i used to bug him for small **** like ball bearings and axels back in the day.
yes, how DARE someone walk into a shop trying to buy shoes (which fit differently across brand-lines, SIDIs are narrower than most and NEED to be tried on) and expect to be able to try them on. jesus christ, if every bike shop refused to sell higher-end product to a customer until they built a 6 year relationship with them, there'd be a lot fewer bike shops. it's a pair of $200 shoes! take the 10 minutes to help the customer find the right size and let them try 'em on. he didn't say "no, i'm not looking to buy them." he said "i don't know if i want to buy them because i haven't tried them on yet." totally reasonable for such a large footwear investment. i would've walked out of there as soon as the first "salesman" just pointed at the shoes and let you help yourself.