A question for LBS owners and others...
 

Just doing a little preemptive questioning in case I need this information later...

I recently (June 17) visited a somewhat-local bike shop and ordered a Fuji Roubaix Pro. The price was great, the owner was a nice guy, and I felt comfortable doing business with him. On top of that, I knew his mechanic from high school, so we started off on the right foot.

I was told several times that it would be in and built by 4PM on June 19. Things seemed great, and I wrote him a check and he took my phone number in case he needed to contact me.

The trip from my house to the dealer is a little over 50 miles, so I headed out today with high expectations despite the cost of gas. I get there, and the bike isn't in yet. I'm understanding, but clearly a bit peeved. As confident as he (and his coworker) was about having it ready to go by 4PM today, I was thoroughly convinced. Turns out, not so much.

So I say, "Fine. When can I expect it?"

The new answer is "Definitely tomorrow."

So, 100 mile round trip is down the drain, and I'll be making it again tomorrow.

Now, here is where I need the advice. If the bike isn't there tomorrow, I'm intending to cancel the order and pick up the Cannondale down the road that I was offered last week for a great price. In the event that this comes to pass, since I've already handed them the check, do you foresee any potential problems for me? Clearly I'm not returning the product (as I haven't even received it), so their return policies don't apply. I was provided with no written cancellation policies.

So what is your opinion? As a shop owner, how would you handle the cancellation?

Not assigning fault but with the shop so far away, why didn't you call first?

To answer your direct question, I would think the cancellation would go smooth unless it was clearly stated at the time of order that the sale was final.

I didn't call because they took my number with the explicit intention of contacting me in the event of any problems. I didn't hear from them, had no reason to doubt their confidence, and assumed things were golden (the old "no news is good news").

That's what truly bothered me more than not having it in stock. I failed to clarify that in my original post. I would have really appreciated the call. I really like them, and they've been very pleasant to me, so I don't want to cancel at all. But I'm just preparing for the worst.

Not knowing where you are doesn't help. Due to the massive flooding in the midwest, there is a delay in shipping from many vendors from the west coast to the easy coast. Many times, store don't know that expected deliveries are delayed until the morning or afternoon of the expected delivery day. Since many truck drivers are union, they don't give a damn about service to their customers, who are the stores and shops you consumers count on.

I've never had anything that I ordered from a shop on time. It took over a month to get my Monocog when they said 3 days the day I paid for it. My Cross Check was in when they said it would be, but it took a few days for them to get around to building it. Usually I just wait an extra week before I even go down there anymore. It is easier to get most parts off the internet, then i don't even have to go anywhere.

Cable guy never shows up on time, Tax rebate checks don't show up on time, pizzas never show up on time. Girlfriends show up at the wrong time..................

I'm located in West Virginia (the state, not a region in VA).

My disdain for waiting is largely exacerbated by the fact that another LBS down the road has an '07 Caad9 Optimo 3 sitting there with a very nice discount, and there is a little budging room. In other words, I could wait zero days and take the bike home for an extra hundred bucks or so.

I can appreciate the unpredictability of the shipping process, but when I have a viable alternative to that uncertainty it's just business.

I have high hopes that it will be there tomorrow. To be sure, I'm calling ahead this time. If it's not in, I'll ring up the competing LBS, make sure the Caad9 is still in stock, then make a visit to both places.

One way or the other, I'm determined to have a bike by the end of the week.

I call even for a 8 mile round trip. Why waste effort if it isn't needed. Just wait for it and call before going to pick it up. Impatience causes more problems than it will ever fix. Try to slow down :-)

50 miles, and you didn't call? Your fault. No if's, and's or but's.
You agreed to wait for it to come in, and now that you found something else you want more, you're going to use that as an excuse to bail on the purchase? You should have stopped shopping around once you ordered it. The LBS will be a little upset if he has to refund your money unless it's a common size and he figures he can sell it easily, then he'll be happy he won't have to deal with you on anything else. :rolleyes:

You can put a stop order on the check, but they will never talk to you again as they'll be suck with that bike.
Calling is cheaper than driving . . . Alternative: ask them to re-imburse you for the x-tra trip or give you a discount on some bike goodies.

Dang. Two day expected turn around time? You're lucky. I had to wait 14 weeks for mine to arrive.

I'd have taken a 20% non-refundable deposit and made it very clear that we will call you when it comes in, but that we are not responsible for shipping delays.

No problemo on the cancellation if we keep the deposit, but if it is a bike that could be easily sold or you're a regular customer, then even that could be waived.

I suppose I have a different expectation of business. If I'm told "We'll call you if there are any problems" and I don't receive a call when there is, in fact, a problem, that's a bit of a peeve.

I actually agreed to the terms presented to me...I specifically ASKED how long I'd need to wait, and was told very boldly "It'll be done by 4 on Thursday." Why did I ask? Because I had already found the Cannondale (about 5 days prior) and made that clear to the LBS owner (I don't shop around after I make a purchase). Basically the guy made a promise to make the sale that he couldn't guarantee. And I agreed to the terms including the promise.

I can wait. I wasn't privy to the workings of bicycle ordering. I took the word of two individuals in the business and left it at that. I've been in sales, and I know the tendency to overstate in order to sell the product. But I was always smart enough to drop in a caveat--"We SHOULD have it in by Thursday," or "We'll try to have it in before the end of the week."

So far, I haven't been anything but nice to the LBS, though...let me make that clear. When they told me is was late yesterday, I didn't object. I said, "I understand. Don't worry about it. When can I actually expect it?" I really do like the people there and I'm not the kind of customer who keeps buzzing in the ear of the retailer. Of course, this time they said, "Tomorrow, without a doubt." That's why I started this thread. I can forgive one exaggeration to sell. Two is pushing it, though.

I did think about trying to grab an accessory or two for reimbursement, but we'll see. I know that I'm totally coming across as the unrealistic ******* in this thread, but I truly exercise far more tact during my interactions with people than I'm inclined to discuss in a forum thread about what I should do.

I appreciate the input from everyone, though. It's somewhat reassuring that many of you have dealt with long wait times for your bikes from dealers.

Despite not calling, the fact that the business owner himself ensured and gave a date and time of the bikes completion should have been enough. Thats was/is part of the local small town business ideals and I would trust what was said. So I don't feel the OP is at fault since the OP was not the one to generate the false completion date, not to mention the shop said they would call "if" there was problem in meeting that time frame. No call... should be no problem.

Now even though the shop erred, over the years I have since called ahead of time for just about everything even.... outside of cycling. Call them, see if its ready. If its not and they dropped the ball again, get the Cannondale.

Call first.

I'm definitely calling first from here on out. I'll know today whether it's in by about 1PM EST. If it's not, I may discuss alternatives with the owner. They haven't yet processed the payment (a big plus, in my book...I greatly appreciate that), so I may ask that the check be returned. I wouldn't count them out completely, but I would feel better not having $1200+ tied up in limbo.

ass u me

this is the problem

I'd buy that if I was dealing with a buddy who was just doing me a solid. When you're dealing with a place of business, the term "assume" is replaced by "expect." I hadn't assumed I would get good service, I expected it.

As an update, I just got a call from the owner telling me that UPS has basically lost my bike at the moment. He had ordered two bikes that day, mine being the first of the two. The other bike made it in yesterday. Mine is floating around somewhere out there. He called Fuji and they definitely shipped it and provided a tracking number. Now it's just a matter of finding out where it is (evidently the tracking info hasn't updated since it shipped).

He assured me that he'll call when they find out something, and apologized for the problems. I really appreciated it, so I plan on giving him some more time. As much as I was looking forward to riding this weekend, I'm going to let it slide until sometime next week. I haven't set a definite time limit, but I am absolutely going to keep my eyes open for other bikes.

shundaroni,

Hopefully things end up working out to equitable terms. That sucks that your bike is "lost"! I just put down a deposit for a new bike last Wed, and it's not expected to ship until "The End of June", so I totally understand the anxiousness of waiting. However, I have a thorough understanding of retail, so I know that things are often forgotten, neglected, or as they say "**it happens". Generally, whenever a retail outlet of any type gives you an estimate of time, for anything, it's optimistic at best. You were just the "victim" of mediocre service. If they are a good shop, they'll bend over backwards to make up for the trouble, as long as you can keep your cool and not take advantage of them :p

Maybe you and I can have a bike race -- a race to see who gets their bike first!!:thumb:

Murphy's Law

Sounds like he understands your frustration to some degree since he called to tell you it's missing. Give it a few days and call back or see if he'll just give you the tracking number. That way you'll know when it arrives at the shop.

Joel - I felt the same way. I really appreciated the call. After mulling it over a bit, I sent him an email requesting the tracking number and basically said if it couldn't be recovered by the end June that I'd regrettably have to cancel the order. I was very polite and grateful, and said I understood his situation and appreciated his effort. I would absolutely continue business with him regardless of where I made a bike purchase.

Bollocks! the owner made a commitment on when the bike would be ready and said he'd call if there were any problems. He didnt. I'm guessing he knew the OP lives 50 miles away. "If they are a good shop" I dont know why you accept this kind of service - I may be wrong but imo the owner lied to him because he knew that if he told him the truth the OP would buy a bike from the other LBS. Any you still think there's a possibility that they might be a good shop??

This is another one: "Sounds like he understands your frustration to some degree since he called to tell you it's missing." if he called the first time then I *might* have believed this. You guys must either be really amazing customers or related to Gandhi.

The customer is not responsible for shipping issues (which I suspect is not the case here, but anyhow). I think that if it was a shipping issue the right thing to do would be to say: Look, I know you wanted to go riding this weekend and I'm really sorry about this. We'd really like to keep you as our customer what can we do to offset this? or he could have offered a loaner bike, thrown in a freebie or offered to refund his money. Many people in such situations would appreciate the owners response and be mollified by it or take the refund and walk away but with good feelings about the experience and talk about it to their friends

Well, I hope that no further posts means Shundaroni got the bike & is out riding... but IMO, 50 mile to a bike shop in WV is NOT unusal or uncommon. Unless one lives in Morgantown, the Kanawha Valley, Beckley, Martinsburg, Buckhannon, Snowshoe or Canaan Valley, one WILL drive about that to a bike shop. Benn doing it for a decade. I have more than ONE bike shop on speed dial, depending upon which direction I am headed out to. The 2 shops I use most are 70 and 120 miles away from home (I regularly work nearby, tho).

I have waited between 3 and 6 months for frames to be shipped from their respective factories - the culprit might just be the dude at the factory promising something that the production manager would not have agreed to, had the production manager been asked.

so what, if anything, is the end of this saga?