You are correct. You did not reference their name or location so you basically just trashed LBS in general.
So the point of your OP was just to vent?
Or to warn other forum members not to use LBS in general because you had one customer service issue at your particular LBS?
That's very helpful of you. Thanks!

OP reminds me of a quote from the movie Oh Brother Where Art thou;

"Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere! "

I do my own work because the labor costs at the LBS are pretty expensive, and besides, I find doing the work myself to be satisfying. I did buy Leonard's Zinn's bike repair books to have on hand as reference material, but I think a person would do just fine by looking up stuff on Park's website and on Youtube.

Likewise, there is no need to trash on others who don't use your services every chance you get. Many of us have had less than pleasant experiences on a more than once basis with local shops we were trying to spend money in, and have gotten to the point where we'd rather just do the research and order online to save the hassle.

You honestly expect me to believe you don't have time to make a twenty second phone call, and it is OK, even though the customer may desperately need what they are waiting for? I've worked retail, and short of the morning of Black Friday, there was never a time where I couldn't be bothered to pick up a phone at some point within a couple hours of the item arriving and telling a customer their order was in. If they don't care about selling me the product, why should I feel any loyalty to give them the money? If I am paying a premium for service and instant availability, and getting neither, I may as well just run to Jeff Bezos, whose company has never failed in getting me what I ordered when I expected it by.

And yes, one hundred times over. If a bank doesn't know about the details of the loans they offer, I'd run, not walk, away from that bank. If they didn't keep 20's in stock, they are failing at a very basic reason for their existence. If I put in an order for foreign currency, and they told me they just forgot about it when I went to pick it up, I wouldn't use them again.

Precisely. Brick-and-mortar camera stores are mostly gone now because they simply didn't offer any service that folks were willing to pay for. My guess is that the LBS is close behind. I know a couple of local shops that I hope survive, but the majority will not be missed when they fold.

Blame Kodak for that; the one thing we all wanted to keep around most (at least among primarily color photogs) was Kodachrome, so when it was gone, there wasn't really any point in having a B&M camera shop nearby. Walgreens here does a fine job with color film processing in an hour, (and following instructions, too) or printing from B&W negs, so it wasn't much of a loss.

I disagree. The reason B & M camera stores are mostly gone because for the most part, consumers just aren't buying cameras or using film anymore. The average consumer is just as satisfied taking family snapshots with their smartphone and the quality at the local Walgreens or internet processing places is good enough for most people, if they even bother to get prints made anymore.

By contrast, people still do ride bikes. And, most people still know very little about bikes and need the help of a bike shop, at least initially.

LBSs will be around for a while longer. Most here would simply not believe the amount of bike riders who can't or won't fix a flat, let alone deal with simple repairs or even tune their own shifting...

Like any other business, those shops with sub-par service the wrong/not enough inventory, etc. won't make it. Mis-stating availability is actually an understandable mistake for any number of reasons, but obviously one that might cost customers, especially if stories like this start to add up within that community.

Worse than that, actually. There are casual bike riders who won't air up their own tires, then wonder why over the course of a season, their bike handling gets more and more sluggish until they eventually get a pinch flat, requiring a trip to the bike shop.

If we all stopped trashing each other then maybe we can get along but it doesn't seem like folks want to do that. They want to attack bike shops and don't like it when we stick up for ourselves and our fellow shopmates.

To some we are just low-level scum who's only job is to rip you off and we all look like gremlins. Working at a shop doing what you love is not a good enough job for some people and those who do it should be treated like punching bags. It is our fault that your bike isn't working or that your parts are worn out, it is our fault that we cannot work on your bike that second or something like that. I am not going to play those games. I and my fellow shopmates work hard to keep peoples bikes running and to help people get new bikes and accessories, things won't always be perfect but we don't need to be crapped on all the time. We are humans like you and like you we can make mistakes.

/impassioned speech after a delicious homemade piña colada

Wolfchild's post is one of a "satisficer". Someone who, if they need a sweater, goes into the nearest shop and buys something in any color and size that is even remotely similar to what they want. Then then go one with life. The cost of figuring out exact needs is not worth it to to the satisficer.

Many of us are "optimizers". We think about a need, make a list of criteria, rank them, and then figure out EXACTLY what we need. And are willing to spend time to figure it out and make a considerable effort to get exactly what we need.

For satisficers, overblown. For optimizers, understandable dissapointment. Especially if you figure you are trying to be a good guy and one of your criteria is to use the LBS.

Anyway, the world is changing. I ordered some computer memory and a blu-ray burner today at 1pm and it's supposed to be delivered by 11am TOMORROW(!) With no shipping charge! This kind of easy access makes it easy for even satisficers to get their needs met. So LBSs are up against stiff competition.

The LBS I worked in as a kid just closed (Racine Cyclery in Racine Wisconsin). Great people. But the combination of what I mentioned above, and also the sales tax difference, made it tough to make a buck. A pic below of me (right-most), perhaps 35 years ago, in my racing togs for dear old Racine Cyclery, for a makeshift criterium that the city staged. I was the anchor, and in the lead coming down a hill leading to the straightaway where the finish line was. I had a competitor from another bike shop trying to overtake me. A friend (Steve, the short muscular guy 2nd from left) ran the guy off the course at the bottom of the hill into some hay bales. I had no idea, and was celebrating a win for the team, when the guy came at me screaming. It was a shock. Luckily, I weighed 210lbs and played football, so I wasn't worried. But I wish Steve had let me and the guy compete to win. That said, Steve was a good guy to have as a friend!

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=528466

Right back at ya, when you come at anyone who dares buy a bike or components from a place other than an LBS. Just, with a homemade beer instead of that pina colada!

It was a pretty damn good Pina Colada

I bought some stuff from Racine Cyclery and was there the week they closed. They did seem like good people.

I actually could have went for one of those last night. Probably would have went with my hot tub and 85F evening better than my stout!

Word up. The best. I learned a lot from Jerry (the founder, and a USMC veteran of WWII in the South Pacific Theater from 1942 to 1945), and his wife Marge, who were running the place when I worked there. Their son Perry (whom I worked with when I was a lad) and DIL Terri, whom you met, are wonderful people. I met Perry and Terry's son Ben when I visited during their last week (we may have been in the store at the same time!), and he struck me as a chip off the old blocks - courteous, respectful, knowledgeable, hard working. Sad that the shop closed after 59 years, but times change I guess.

After my last visit, I thought about how much working at that shop influenced me. So this is an posthumous thank you to Jerry and Marge for what I learned from them, and for their kindness (and occasionally, Marge's bluntness - needed because I was a bit of an adolscent rubber head at the time). Thanks to you both. I suspect that a lot of other Racine Cyclery alums would thank Perry and Terri as well.

*USMC, South Pacific, 1942-1945 implies the likelihood of some pretty horrific experiences. Jerry never mentioned them, but he was about as positive and decent a man as I ever met, even after having gone through all that. Marge and Jerry employed a lot of kids at the shop, and had a positive influence on them all. I think Perry and Terri continued the tradition.

Last year I went to a local chain store (they have around a half-dozen stores) to pick up some consumables for a project bike. Nothing in stock for a 'obsolete old bike' like mine. Not even a single 27" tire in the store. No brake pads for my old DiaCompe centerpulls either!

A couple of months ago, I wanted to get a set of fenders for my new 'touring bike' project. I went to a shop 30 miles away because they were listed as a stocking dealer for Velo Orange products. Nope. Not a VO product in the whole store. I was wandering around, looking at everything, trying to get a grasp on what the attraction was with the newer technology (I am a vintage steel rider, who friction shifts! ;) ). Of course the tone from the guy I talked to became condescending, and he derided my choice of of bikes and 'fit' saying that 'back then everybody bought bikes that were too big'. The one employee who was in to C&V steel bikes wasn't interested in talking bikes either - he was a Italian-maker roadie snob, who derided anything else as inferior (I thought immediately of the 'roadie' forum here...) According to the tone of this shop, I guess I must have been miserable for the entire 40+ years and 60,000+ miles that I've ridden my 'too big' Japanese bikes, eh? I'm going to continue to repair and ride my vintage Japanese steel bikes just to spite those guys!!!

The only shop in the area that catered to Classic and Vintage bikes closed down several years ago. Forget any bike co-ops. The nearest one is 30 miles away, and one has to be a member to buy used parts on the one day/week that they sell stuff...

I'll buy my parts from classified sections here on BF.net or online.

They came in yesterday, three weeks to the day.

I could tell what I overheard while waiting to pay, about the salesman describing a new road bike with 105 components to a potential customer as their Ok, they do the job, kind of clunky shifting though, if you are going to ride a lot you should step up a level...

Wow.
That sounds like a truly evil shop.
How long have they been there? Can't imagine too long based upon everything you have seen

I registered for an account just to give props for this comment. You, sir, win the Internet.

I happened to be near the sf marina store, one Friday afternoon, and visited. Aside from a bunch of really expensive clothing on the wall. The store was populated by hipsters working on their MacBooks, drinking coffee. Only one bicycle in sight.

I can't believe that a place like that exists.