Not to hijack the thread (which means I'm about to..), but when you've bought a couple of $2K bikes, they tend to remember you.

When I was big into Scuba diving, I used to hang out in the shop (small one, only a couple of employees) quite often. I was passionate about diving and people knew it. The shop didn't care; but because I was loosely associated with them, when people who knew me wanted to dive, they went there. That guy made more money from the referrals I gave him than he would have ever made on the air fills he 'forgot' to charge me for.

Perhaps the shop crx7 frequents realizes that he's active in the cycling community and a pretty decent wrench on his own, and maybe they want his friends and acquaintances to associate their shop with 'the place the bike guy goes when he has a problem'.

Back when I worked in the jewelry business, we would spend some time trying to talk people out of repairs or custom orders which we knew weren't worth it, or they would not be happy about. Quoting a little on the high side convinced most folks, but there were always some obstinate ones. Requiring half up front changed many of their minds. We did the work for the few who insisted and ponied up the payment. We would write "non refundable" on the ticket in large letters, before they signed. Sure enough, they often wanted their money back and would argue for quite a while.

If the bikes not worth it, you should ask for substantial money up front. Putting up forces them to decide if they really want to go forward. Should get rid of the ones who say go ahead and then walk away, too. bk

You designate all such cases to the apprentice!

"Yes Ma'am, Billy is our resident expert on these type of repairs. He'll fix you up and have you on your way in no time. Hey Billy, we have a POS stat…"

You need two things; first, a signal with the guys in the shop to find out if they can really stop what they are doing and second, a hard nosed pricing policy. Be up front with your pricing.
So, she comes in and asks you to stop what you are doing (very rude) and wants you to fix her bike. You find out of the guys can stop and if they can, ask them to come over and give a quick assesment for pricing. Then turn to her and give her the price and she either says yes or no. Pay first on these kinds of repairs. Otherwise they change their mind and you can't sell the bike for the price of the repair. If they can't take in the work, then you tell her that other people have their bike in first and they want their bikes done on time.
Also, if a customer does not want to have a bike repaired correctly, make them sign an invoice that is strongly worded. "The customer declines repairs that can cause bodily injury or death" Sign here, please.

Last Resort Dept: "Customer welcomes poorly done and rushed through 'work' that may result in grotesque bodily injury and, if lucky, death." sign here

Yup

About the only other reason......

I’ve had my bikes, motorcycles and cars put on a lifts ahead of waiting customers because I was traveling and broke down. That is about the only reason I can think of to bump a person to the front of the queue. I’ve also been bumped, once when having warranty work done on a motorcycle; the mechanic walks out and says,” hey con, do ya mind if I bump ya off the lift, a couple passing through just broke down?” My answer “not problem”.

I'll also do tune ups in exchange for beer or food, but then again I just like working on bikes. The other thing is, I've lived in Austin for 13 years, and just happen to know a couple nice people who own or work in shops. Depends on where you live too, in a suburban setting, I'm sure you see the bad customer interaction all the time, but in downtown hippie Austin most people are cool.