Originally Posted by mattface

Lemme get this straight. He got a $500 sale out of you. You paid $50 more than the agreed upon price, and now he wants to charge you 50% more than he quoted you for a part he ordered?

Screw that. tell him you'll buy it at the price he quoted. if he won't budge that's his problem, because he just lost a sale, and probably a lot more sales in the future. Sounds like your guy wants to charge list for everything. I understand that a LBS can't always compete on price with Nashbar and Performance etc, but nobody charges list for stuff. The list price was only invented to give retailers room to mark down and pretend they are giving you a special deal. He should honor the price he quoted, but more importantly you are under no obligation to buy a part if he misquoted you the price. The verbal agreement was broken when he changed the price.

I'm in a similar situation in that I only have one LBS. Sometimes I love them sometimes I hate them, but I certainly try hard to maintain a good relationship with them, because they are the only game in town. I know their prices are high, but I try to buy stuff from them anyway when I can afford it. I do go in there with eyes open knowing I'll pay a bit more than I would ordering parts online. I spend a lot there every year on penny nickel dime stuff, and I realize they would probably rather be dealing with their deeper pocketed customers who buy new road bikes every year or so, and don't flinch at paying $80 for shorts.