I don't get it: I've been to NYCBikes a few times, and never had any problem. When I got their fix frame through eBay (for $100 less than they charge at the store: thanks to you NYCBike trashers, mine was the only bid), the frame stickers were missing, so I called. I was invited down at my convenience to pick up a set.
All this while there's an ongoing string (spool?) of threads on this site trashing them at every turn. I'm tempted to ask just what it is you guys expect, but I know that will trigger an avalanche of replies about politeness, etc. So instead I will ask:
Just what is it you guys think you're entitled to when you walk into a bike shop? Flowers, hugs, and kisses? When you're not prepared to spend any money, or rather trying to get work done for free? Or trying to get stuff done outside of regular hours, or expecting to jump to the head of the line? I keep remembering the guy who came back four days after he bought a brand new Rockhopper (1992) with the fork bent and the wheel taco-ed claiming he was "Just Riding Along", and trying to be Righteously P*ssed about it. I made my reply funny and light-hearted, but I left no doubt that the reason his bike was f*cked was because he screwed up and tried to do something stupid, for which his bike paid the price. Specialized made good on the repair, so my boss didn't have to eat it, unlike the countless times a guy came in with a flat and agreed to pay the $5, only to have $2-3 when it came time to pay up.
Will (the owner of NYCBikes) clearly has a short fuse and a hyper-sensitive BS meter, maybe too short a fuse and too sensitive a Meter to be in the retail bike biz in NYC, but my point is that it's not all him, otherwise he'd be running that shop by himself, because nobody would spend eight hours a day with him, no matter the salary offered.
Leave your attitude outside: it'll be waiting for you when you leave, I promise. Save it for those who deserve it...taxis, Jersey/Connecticut drivers, the NYPD, Mayor Bloomberg, snotty receptionists who refuse to sign for packages because you didn't go to the Messenger Center, building security who assumes that a well-used messenger bag is the clearest indicator of a terrorist, etc.
As for the spokes loosening up...probably sloppy workmanship, but what are you doing trusting your life and limb to someone else's work? Especially for your primary transport? If you're that trusting, take the subway and accept the twenty minute wait in some tunnel while the TA figures out what they're doing. If that's not acceptable to you (it sure isn't to me!), learn how to do this for yourself. It's a bit involved, but certainly not impossible (and it gets easier the more times you do it), and you'll never be put in this predicament again.
Bike Shops are for shopping/looking.
Mailorder (and nowadays eBay/CL) is for buying.
Home is where the work gets done.
That's been my mantra for 26 years now (I'm 49), and the only thing I have yet to defeat are flats. Don't ride anything that you yourself haven't put together yourself. A bicycle, especially a fix, is a simple and elegant bit of machinery that anyone can master.