Am i imagining it?
 

The closest bike shop to me is a small shop apparently catering to the roadie crowd judging by his stock. a few weeks back i went in for a couple of tubes, and asked about other bike commuters in the area. I got an astonished answer, and ever since when i go in he is always to busy and i have to wait. Last night i took the wife and kids up because we are looking at ways to reduce car usage even more she like the haro bikes and he is the only dealer closer that 60 miles. well long story shory we were looking at a newer bmx style bike for our 7 yr old, a trailer and a trailer bike as well as new one for terri. we stood in there with 4 kids for 20 minutes without any acknowledgment, the whole time he is talking to someone wearing the jersey of his shop sponsored semi pro race team. when i told him what we wanted, he answered "yeah I'll be there in a minute. finally we just left. It seems to me ever since he learned that "all" I do is commute i get the cold shoulder. Anyone else notice anything similar. I worked for 10 years for a company called sykes inc. that provides outsource customer service and or tech support to major computer companies, so bad customer service makes me mad!

That's not bad customer service. The employee has made it clear that they don't value or want your business. You have two choices. 1. Go elsewhere. 2. Get the name and phone number of the owner (easy to do with public records, even if employee doesn't share). Share your experience with the owner and watch what happens.

Find a new bike shop. I would not want to chase someone down to give them my money. The shop should be helping you.

Sorry but your money is not a green as the other people's... :)

I own a small retail shop (not bikes!) and I get more customers because my direct competitor is much like your experience. I LOVE HIM!

If he is choosing not to give you service, then choose not to give him business. And tell your friends and cycling compatriots. Luckily, the 2 LBS that are near me are pretty good. One is a larger, multistore company, and one is a local owned. I prefer the local owned, and have bought all my bikes and service from them. They are equally good with both on road and offroad customers, and their service is great.

+1 above find another shop. Even if the owner were to chastise his workers this time, you will probably never get really good advice and service since their attitude is all wrong. Once you find a shop you like I wouldn't hesitate to direct anyone who asks to the new shop. And if in the process you find a reason to share your negative experience with the first shop don't hesitate.

I would start a feedback thread on this forum. That way if anyone searches his bike shop name they can read about your experience. Word of mouth is a very powerful advertising tool, use it to your advantage.

Your in a Roadie boutique shop. Roadies don't care what they spend to have the very best equipment and provides the highest profit margin for the boutique bike shop. Commuters are looking to save money so it's almost impossible to talk them into buying anything they don't actually need and purchase the lowest profit margin products. Simply walk away and find a real bike shop.

No.

It wasn't what I'd call courteous service, but I wouldn't go developing a complex about it. People nowadays spend so much time shopping at big-box stores or online that they forget some things about brick and mortar, one of which is that a brick and mortar store may choose to specialize. A retailer doesn't want to be in the position of not having what people want when they walk in the door, but a small shop doesn't have unlimited space or unlimited money to tie up in inventory -- so, most smaller retailers try to find and fit a niche that their customers will identify, rather than trying to be all things to all people, and failing. Thus, it's perfectly plausible from a business perspective that this shop has decided to specialize in servicing the needs of roadies. Ain't nothing wrong with that -- they get a reputation, roadies will go to them, and since the shop is specialized that way, they have a reasonable chance of finding whatever they're looking for.

It's also quite possibly true that the shop owner is a big fan of road biking and racing, and that that influences the shop's direction. Ain't nothing particularly wrong with that. My LBS owner is a triathlon fan -- he organizes the local tri, runs free training sessions, and stocks some tri gear that you would not expect to find in a typical bike shop. If he could also make a full-time living out of specializing, he might be all tri all the time. It sounds like your LBS is a specialized shop, is all. It's not an attack on commuters.

fail

Is the one you're talking about "The Bike Shop" in Johnson City? I went in there and was COMPLETELY ignored. I'm an avid biker, but I'm fat, and I was with my sister and her 2 year old. We didn't look like typical bikers, and I'm pretty sure that's why we were ignored. We were the only people in the shop, and no one ever said a word to us.

try this one, alittle farther away in Kingsport.
http://larryscycle.com/

here's a review:
Great Bike Shop: Trek, Cannondale, Haro, Hoffman, BMX are the main lines and they have a wide variety in stock. There is absolutely no pressure to buy and the staff is very knowledgeable. Larry is in the shop every day. I dealt with a few great bike shops when I lived in New Orleans and this is as good a place as you'll find. Highly recommended.

I went into an LBS near me to talk to them about switching to a mountain bike crank for a fully loaded tour to Colorado. They looked at me like I was crazy and said all I needed to do was switch to clipless pedals and I would be fine :rolleyes: They just couldn't imagine anyone riding anywhere outside of Oklahoma or for any reason other than going fast.

Good bike shops are hard to find and even the same store can be hit or miss. My old LBS was amazing; one of the employees gave me a set of his old panniers out of the blue one day after he saw my bucket pannier. Now that shop is 35 miles away from me :(

I don't think Nemo was disappointed in a lack of stock, but rather, he seemed dissatisfied, and rightly so, with the lack of service. He and his family were already looking at bikes that they were considering. It seems he just wanted some consideration and service. The lack of service he says he received was unacceptable regardless of the specialty or "direction" of the shop. It's about simple human decency and respect. I had a similar experience from a shop when I was building my fixed gear. I would go in for specialty parts and get the cold shoulder or very rude responses to my questions. I simply decided to start shopping online.

No this was hampton trails bike shop in Hampton. but yes i got close to the same treatment at "the bike shop" so i won't go there as well. Norris schwinn shop has always been more helpful even if he did not have what i wnted right then. And the mechanic makes me laugh. looks like some one from crosby stills and nash. long white hair sticking out from under his hat.

My problem was not with the stock or lack thereof, but rather with the service. we knew what we wanted mostly, were prepared to spend about $1000 to get it. however i am not chasing someone around to give them my money!

A shop like that may exist around here buy I have yet to find it. It seems to me said shop would be out of business in no time with the amount of competition in the denver metro area.
I say drive further away and find a decent shop. It really is a shame that the closest shop is so horrible.
Before the one near me closed, I had a shop with good wrenches within walking distance. That was awesome.

Wow, I didn't even know there was one in Hampton. The Tri-Cities area isn't really a bike friendly place IMO. It's hard to find anyone that even believes you can ride more than a mile on a bike!

Datajunkie- Unfortunately there are very few shops around here to compete with, and people at these shops can pretty much act however they like.

have you been in the shop? we hardly ever get out of Elizabethton.

I agree it seems even less cycle friendly than anywhere i have been so there are not many shops. In a 30 mile radius from me I can count the number on one hand. However in my opinion that will change; gas is not going to go down I will not be surprised to see pump price of 5.50 by summers end. with four small kids we are looking not so much to go car free as to go car lite I guess. we have two mini vans one almost never moves anymore. i figure if the bikes and trailer are used as much as they should, the savings in gas will pay for the gear in 4-6 weeks.

The Bike store I use is http://www.treefortbikes.com/

They have a local shop here, but will ship anywhere. Total top notch dudes.

I'm lucky. I just found a new shop. The one closest to me is a lot like the one you described. I won't go there again. They treated me like crap, probably because I look like I don't have two nickels to rub together. Now, granted, I am frugal. Still, no attention when it's clear I'm seeking assistance caused me to seek out the new shop instead. Now I'm quite happy. Ever been to a shop where people were positive and friendly? The prices are the same as the last shop, but you just feel better at the new shop.

Maybe the commuters by you. I see a lot of commuters riding $1500+ bikes, custom handbuilt wheels, expensive trailers, and Schmidt lighting setups. (Although, there are an equal number of $150 bike, steel wheels, Rubbermaid tub with wheelbarrow wheels for a trailer, no lighting system commuters.)
It's interesting that my favourite shop seems to have as many commuter and "around town" bikes as they do high end DH mountain bikes and super-boutique road bikes now. And they give the same level of attention to the parent buying a $400 bike for his kid as they do when he comes in to drop $4000 on a Pinarello.

That sucks. I've had that experience before. Not all commuters do it to save money - I bike 20 mi RT everyday because of the exercise. The cost of the bike, the rack, the trunk didn't phase me. Sure, it's nice not spending money on gas, but in the end for me it ends up being the same when I factor in all the "upgrades" I end up doing (I enjoy changing things out, what can i say? ) Hopefully ya'll can find a better shop.

Bike shops can be very cliquey. I don't think you open a shop or work in one to get rich. I think the people who do it do it because they are passionate about bikes and often times they're most interested in certain cycling disciplines and not so interested in others. They're also not necessarily good at customer service.

One of my favorite shops is like this. They actually don't cater to the high-end racing crowd. Their niche is the urban rider and the main mechanic is just as likely to be working on an ancient beat up cruiser as he is a high end Bianchi. They are very closely associated with the local cycling "scene" and I'm sure anyone who's a member feels quite comfortable there. However, some guy wearing a suit walking in off the street wandering around the shop for an hour may never hear the words "can I help you?" and leave without whatever it is they came in for. I don't think they deliberately ignore anyone.

The reason I like the place is because they have a vast supply of used parts. They do a lot fixed gear and single speed conversions so if you need some cheap component for your geared bike, there's a good chance you'll find it. I found the exact 105 front derailleur I was looking for and they charged me $8.00 for it. I also found a used crankset on craigslist for cheap, but it was missing the crankbolts. To order new ones online would have cost me about $20 after shipping was figured in. This shop found a set and gave them to me for $2.00