michiganboy

I run the software division for a small company that provides point of sale software to retailers--one of my customers is a bike shop. They are a few hours away but I patronize them religiously. Every time I need something I purchase from them and pay full retail. I call them on the phone and have them send me stuff as well.

Last week I found out that one of their receipt printers had broken and that their service manager (who also thinks he can fix computers) had gone out and purchased one on a discount internet site! I only discovered this because he purchased it with the wrong communications port and had to place a service call for one of our techs to swap out the port on the printer.

I am angry and feel betrayed that they would do this to me. I would think that if anyone would value local service and support it would be the LBS. I am trying to think of how I'm going to handle this when I call the owner. I think I'm going to tell him that I'm going to start buying by bike stuff from online discount sites and see how he responds.

tsl

One hand washes the other. I think I'd explain the similarities of the situation and let the owner decide what to do.

apclassic9

keep in mind that the service manager is not the owner? Perhaps speaking to the owner will prompt him to remind the managers to pay more attention...

Doug5150

Everybody can buy merchandise cheaply online, but service is local. Welcome to the jungle.
~

michiganboy

Update. I spoke with the owner just a while ago. He admitted that he authorized the service manager to order the equipment online; didn't think that we stocked them (we do). Says that he wishes he would have just bought it from us and will do so in the future.

McDave

A small software company that stocks hardware? Who woulda thunk it?

v1k1ng1001

yeah, whatever

I would have just asked him whether or not he thought such and such was a good deal at performance.com

michiganboy

We are a small software reseller and have a network/hardware division. We stock mission critical items for our retail customers like receipt printers, credit card swipers, etc. That way if it breaks on a holiday weekend they can be up and running in a few hours.

piper_chuck

If I told a customer of mine that I was going to take my personal business elsewhere because of a purchasing decision they made for their business, I would be subject to dismissal, or at least a really unpleasant discussion with management. Don't mix business and personal.

kendall

Personally I would have asked him to explain the advantages of shopping for bikes/parts at his store versus an online vendors, then explain the similarities.

I'm a big fan of shopping at local stores, and dislike shopping online simply because I've had a few orders that were filled wrong, and the hassle of returning the item and exchanging/reordering the correct item far outweighed the advantage of the lower cost.

Plus I simply prefer to have the part in my hand when the money leaves my pocket.

Ken.

bkaapcke

Why not take is as a 'cue' to do your bike parts shopping online? No need to discuss it with them, unless they notice the loss of your business and ask. bk

njm

"And by the way, do you mind if I try this on here, just so I can order the right size...?"

UmneyDurak

Couldn't have said it better myself.