But regardless of how much you think the customer is going to spend, it's just good customer service to treat every customer like they're a big spender. Even if they don't drop a bundle then, they might later and likely will tell someone else who will about how well they were treated.

Uhhh, trick question?

Not very good.

The problem with bike shops is that many don't have a very good employee education program on sales and customer support. They hire somebody because they have an interest in bikes or whatever and then don't educate them on retail sales.

My LBS is excellent in taking young people and grooming them in business. The owner has an MBA and trains his employees well. He generally has a staff meeting before opening the doors everyday and I've seen him frequently giving his employees instructions on new products and on serving the customer.

The point is, not all shops are bad. You just have to find one that you're comfortable with.

Dennis,
I agree with you. If you are a LBS you need to service your patrons well. That means having courteous, knowledgeable and competent staff. I do not have any problems with the original poster's actions after the way he was treated. But many times I see people use the LBS for window shopping and run home to buy the same product in the store on Amazon or other giant company to save a few dollars. Then they post lamenting the lack of LBS's in their communities.

Was the person you spoke with the owner of the shop?
If not, did you talk to the owner of the shop so he/she could address the issue with the employee?
If not, how will they know that something is wrong?
Makes this rant seem pointless if you don't let them know there is a problem.

What do you do when the owner is the arrogant / cocky one? Not my words either - several reviews of one local shop mention his faults. Nice guy most of the time but he makes some remarks that can easily be taken badly. I use his shop for minor repairs but that's it.

If it was the owner, it makes a rant more valid. But, is that the case? OP didn't say.

Amazon sells me components and parts. I do my own repairs while I wait.

I'm pretty lucky. We have probably 8-10 LBS in my area. And I have noticed that some are top notch and some are not. I just don't buy from the worst.

The problem is that the worst is the Giant dealership. I really like the Giant Defy but refuse to buy it locally.

There's the shop I really like, and the shop I bought my bike from.

Not that the shop I bought from is bad, they just don't come off quite as friendly. I'm lucky I've got seemingly good shops near by.

I've said it before, but my experience with any type of hobby shop, considering a group of ten you'll have 1-2 that will be great that you want to drive a distance to support and continue returning to, 5-6 will be "meh", places that you have no issue going to for convenience who are mostly competent but may be lacking in competitive pricing or knowledge or selection, and the rest junk that one has no idea how they stay in business.

They make more profit on the parts than on the CF bike, so they should be deferring to you when you walk up to the parts counter...

I recall an actual LBS owner saying stuff like that .... selling bikes was almost advertising, and selling parts was income.

In any case ... a salesperson is generally expected to sell things. I don't have an MBA, so maybe the theory is the opposite ....

A business is only as good as it's employees. For your average bike shop (or really anything for that matter) good help is probably hard to find. Especially if your talking low wage hourly employee.


A mistake was obviously made by the employee, but it's hard to tell if it was an innocent mistake that the OP just took the wrong way, or his comments were really offensive. It's not hard to see either scenario playing out. We've all had people rudely insert their opinion in when it wasn't asked for, and we've all had it happen innocently as well.

Well I had a good experience at a LBS yesterday, took my rear wheel in to have him show me how to get the freewheel off, replaced a couple of broken spokes, and he adjusted my hub, showing me how to do it. In & out in about 15 minutes and all for $20. Now I know what tool to buy and how to remove the freewheel should I break any more spokes.

If he wasn't the owner of the store, I doubt he makes very much and he probably couldn't afford to change the stem and seatpost just because he didn't like the color. His perspective is different than yours, but is valid from his point of view. That isn't something that would make me walk out of the store unless his tone was insulting.

Sadly, LBSs in my area seem to be carrying fewer and fewer parts. All will order for me and all price match online regular prices but, as I live 45 minutes away, it makes no sense for me to order a part, wait a week or more, and then drive for an hour to pick it up, when I can get the same price and delivered to my door in 2-3 days.

This. The shop I bought my bike from (a Giant dealership) is an outfitter with a bike corner and a couple of guys (who are nice enough, just get no support from the owners); they carry no components and the shop seems to marginalize bike servicing. The shop I like is another outfitter (a Specialized dealership), with an excellent bike servicing area, some components, and knowledgeable staff who are willing to order what they don't carry. Most of the bits I've changed on my Giant are Specialized. Both are successful local chains. Weird.

I can't imagine anyone at the shop I like saying don't bother buying new components for their looks; they'd find out what I'm looking for and sell it to me.

I pass one of their fulfillment warehouses on my normal ride, I should stop in and find out.

You nailed it. People like OP, long time customer who wants to buy parts to see if they look better, should be the shop's bread and butter. The only thing I'd change is, "That will look unique" or even "awesome" - because this is purely a matter of personal taste. But egging him on, encouraging, enabling or whatever you want to call it, that's what the shop is there for.

I bought a black seat post for my road bike, because I noticed that every other bike in the house had a black one. I have no regret over that, an objective waste of money, yet had I gone into a bike shop for it and been told not to do it like OP I'm sure I'd have been put off. Actually I did. I went into several to browse what they had on display, but I didn't want whatever it is that made their posts so valuable; I just wanted black. I didn't ask and I don't blame the shops for not trying to sell me, but I was obviously bargain-bin shopping not like OP ready to order. Had I asked about one and been told that's a bad idea, I'd be irked.

In OP's case, at least be interested enough to find out exactly what OP was looking for in bars and stem beyond simply the color. I can understand OP's ire. You don't let a customer like that walk out the door without trying to sell him.

^This^ As a retail shop owner (not bike related) it is harder and harder to make ends meet. The days of shopping downtown and every shop being a mom & pop with the owner on site and knowing their customers by name is about over. I can see the end someday of the small independent retail shop. It will be big box or internet...and by default, customer service will be a thing of the past.
Someone once asked me, "Who is your best customer?" I responded, "Every one of them".
You will only survive today by offering something they can't get at the big box store or on line. That would be mostly service. That requires training, whether a bike shop mechanic, a jeweler, or otherwise. Whatever, you better make keeping customers happy and at least meeting their expectations a top priority.

Having said all that, I try to support the local bike shop across the street (Specialized dealer) but sometimes it is difficult. They are focused on bike sales and bike servicing. I went in last week needing a shifting cable, having issues with shifting on the front rings. So I asked about shifting cables, "Yes, we carry cables". "Okay...I need one for a road bike, the front cable." (no response, just a nod) "Uhh, where are they?" "We have some kits out front but they are expensive." (no further words) "Okay...so...?" "We keep them in the back. Maybe you should bring the bike in." "Oh, uhh, mmm, Okay... "

I left, went to Amazon, bought a cable set. Decided while I was at it, go ahead and upgrade the front derailleur and replace the large ring which had a broken tooth.

You need to email this post to the shop. let them know about three sales which walked out the door.

About as good as the shop who doesn't usually have the part I need anyway but will "order it for me"

While I'm so new to bicycling that I have yet to visit my LBS, this is a topic that cuts across all retail establishments. Some stores get complacent about the "service" part of customer service, even though that is exactly what is necessary to pull people back from internet shopping. It's not a problem limited to one niche.

This is my poor customer service story -
My husband had an insurance settlement a while back and we decided to splurge and upgrade our computers. We ended up walking out of the first place we went, and when I told the woman who had put the final nail in the coffin because of her poor customer service that she had just lost the store a $3000 sale, she shrugged. She shrugged. Apparently their profit margin was so great that $3000 wasn't worth the effort of an "I'm sorry", or even a "goodbye". $3000 to them wasn't worth the effort to talk.

So yeah, definitely not a localized problem.

The shop my wife was in a few weeks ago wasn't much better than Amazon. She bought a new rack for her bike and asked if they could mount it for her. Their response was it would take 4 days. She brought it home and I had it on in a few minutes.

Of course, if she had bought a new bike and got the rack, they would have installed it on the spot.