Originally Posted by tractorlegs (Post 13764977)

Your bank maybe - once I took my bicycle into the bank and they made quite a scene about it. I had a bank employee and a couple of security guards "surrounding" me in just a couple of seconds! Needless to say I closed my accounts there, but it looks like they didn't miss my $30.00 balance because here 20 years later they're still in business. :D

Originally Posted by DX-MAN (Post 13765145)

Banks, lol.

The last bank I dealt with had (still has, btw) several branches around town; depending on my business for the day, I'd go to one of any of them. One, closest to my home, is drive-up only, and they give me no grief at all. The next-closest one will accept me in the drive-up, or gladly allow my bike in the vestibule. But the 'main', downtown branch refused to serve me at the drive-up -- but they did nicely say I could bring my bike inside. Nice as they were, I never went back, because their ideology about the drive-up is wrong. (No more unsafe for a bike than for another car, or a ped at a walk-up, which was also in the traffic lane....)

Originally Posted by longbeachgary (Post 13769210)

Is your bicycle any dirtier than their shopping carts? You can do more damage with a cart than you can with a bike - as long as you're not riding it inside the store.

Originally Posted by Digital_Cowboy (Post 13769214)

Or a motorcycle or scooter in the drive-thru lane. Yet ironically enough BK's and several other fast food joints don't seem to understand that.

Originally Posted by Digital_Cowboy (Post 13769214)

Or a motorcycle or scooter in the drive-thru lane. Yet ironically enough BK's and several other fast food joints don't seem to understand that.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13766709)

I probably would have gone to the location where I left the bike and, seeing it was gone, called the police to file a stolen bike report within earshot of the staff.

Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest (Post 13771015)

If the opportunity arises, please let us know how this works out for you.

Originally Posted by jeffpoulin (Post 13770895)

So is it okay to bring a motorcycle or scooter inside a grocery store? I'm just trying to understand how far this comparison goes and bring it back to the OP's point. ;)

Originally Posted by contango (Post 13771321)

I'd say it was more relevant to compare a bicycle to a wheelchair than a motorcycle.

A motorcycle takes up a lot more space, has much fatter tyres, has an engine and therefore pollutes and so on. A bicycle shouldn't cause any more disruption to a shop than a wheelchair. If anything a bike can be lifted up and moved sideways in an instant, so if anything represents less of an obstruction than a wheelchair.

I know the owner of the premises gets to make their own rules (within the law of the land, of course) but even so a lot of the issues with bikes are really non-issues. If they don't want my "dirty wheels" indoors, what if I stepped in a huge dog turd just outside their door?

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13771522)

I'd say neither are close. A motor vehicle contains flammable liquids which could pose a hazard indoors so would make perfect sense to prohibit. A wheelchair would be covered under ADA and you would be hard-pressed to come up with a reason to exclude one from any public location. A bicycle is neither hazardous in and of itself nor is it protected so I would think that leaves it up to the property owner/operator to determine.

Originally Posted by jeffpoulin (Post 13770895)

So is it okay to bring a motorcycle or scooter inside a grocery store? I'm just trying to understand how far this comparison goes and bring it back to the OP's point. ;)

Originally Posted by longbeachgary (Post 13769210)

Is your bicycle any dirtier than their shopping carts? You can do more damage with a cart than you can with a bike - as long as you're not riding it inside the store.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13771180)

Why would this be an issue?

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13766709)

I probably would have gone to the location where I left the bike and, seeing it was gone, called the police to file a stolen bike report within earshot of the staff.

Originally Posted by contango (Post 13772102)

I appreciate wheelchairs are covered by disability legislation, my point was that a bike causes no more inconvenience than a wheelchair. For all we might argue that retailers might struggle if a dozen people turned up pushing their bikes, would they struggle any less if a dozen people turned up in wheelchairs?

Originally Posted by Seattle Forrest (Post 13772451)

Seriously? You don't see why calling the police to file a report for "theft" while you're legally something like a guest on someone else's property, because they moved a bike they'll say you abandoned inside their store where it wasn't welcome in the first place, might not go down the way you hope? My guess is you'll be shown the door, and the police won't come in the first place, which is probably the best case scenario.

We're all cyclists in here. We tend to put a lot of care into our bikes, take pride in them, etc. But we can't expect the rest of the world to feel the same way about our bikes, any more than parents should let their kids run loose in a fancy restaurant, and expect everyone else to fawn over their little dears. So, get permission from someone in charge in the store, or lock the bike up outside, or go to a different store. Then you won't have to worry about someone moving your bike.

Originally Posted by Pedaleur (Post 13765431)

Pretty sure you're the one who should be embarrassed if you act like this.

Originally Posted by Santaria (Post 13765909)

Perhaps the most mature thing would have been to bring a lock and secure your bike outside, followed with the possibility that you forgot your lock or had too many accessories to feel comfortable with the bike being left outside. At that point, you should have first gone to a pawn shop and picked up an appropriately worthless bike. Then you could take both bikes to your home, dropping off the bike you purchased with the anticipation of riding, but can not ride because its too nice for obvious tasks like riding, light shopping or general appreciation. At this stage, you take the bike you did not want, but had to purchase and ride that one to the store, where you would lock it up outside with a $100 lock and 100 lb. chain to appease society by meeting the criteria required. That criteria being you're riding a bike that makes people feel comfortable that you, someone beneath them, are on a bike they deem appreciable to your class and that you've locked it up outside like a good chap. Then when you came out and the employee who was jaded about his working situation or home life stole it, you could proceed to beat the living crap out of him with the 100 lb. chain he refused to take when he cut your lock, stealing the bike you had to purchase to make this thread acceptable to everybody else.

All while not smoking or in any way offending the environment, economy, minorities, majorities, the unemployed, the overwhelmingly employed or fish.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13766709)

I probably would have gone to the location where I left the bike and, seeing it was gone, called the police to file a stolen bike report within earshot of the staff.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13772550)

Yes, if my bike is gone I'll call the police. If I suspect that the staff might have been involved, I'll make sure they are aware I'm making that call. And my bike wouldn't be running itself up and down the aisles on its own sounding its Airzound. It would be neatly parked where it wouldn't be in anyone's way. If the store had an issue with my parking inside, I would expect them to tell me and I would move it.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13772550)

Yes, if my bike is gone I'll call the police. If I suspect that the staff might have been involved, I'll make sure they are aware I'm making that call.

Originally Posted by CACycling (Post 13772516)

But the inconvenience from wheelchairs is not optional like that of bicycles. Turning them away could lead to a discrimination lawsuit so they really would not have a choice no matter how great the inconvenience was.