I'm putting this here because although it is a mountain bike and I more of a mountain biker than anything. I busted the bb or rear cassette in my old Marin Bobcat Trail and took it into the local bike store to get it worked on. I do my own car work as in I can do transmissions, motors, brakes, oil, plugs, axles, just about anything. I am mechanically apt, I just don't want to get a bunch of bike tools in the interest of not having too much crap around my house that gets used once every 5 years.

I also like to support local businesses so I regularly go to this store and knowingly pay 25$ for a 11$ chain in the interest of supporting local business. I stop in this place once a week, I usually need something when I go.

So I never take stuff to people to get fixed, I do it myself. But I took my bike in on Tuesday the 2nd of November. Wednesday they called me at 12:30 pm and left a message(I was in O chem lab) telling me my bike was ready.

I show up today at 5:27 pm. The store hours are 10 am to 6pm. The lights are all out when I get there. I see the guy that co-owns it with his wife, he is in the back of the shop. He sees my neon green coat and comes to the door when he saw I wasn't leaving. I asked if I could get my bike back. I had no idea how much it was gonna cost so I just had my credit card.

So even though it's a half hour before the closing time listed he told me everything was turned off and he couldn't do it. Did I mention he also told me they are going on vacation today or tomorrow and won't be back until November 16th?!!!

I had a few rides planned and now I am SOL because this ******** couldn't turn on the register for a guy that comes by and buys stuff all the time. No mountain bike for 14 days total now.

I'm normally pretty mellow but I am pretty pissed. I had to walk away from the guy before I said something unbecoming of a gentleman such as myself.

So I think I am just not going to ever go there again after I get my bike back and tell them why. What would you all do? I think this is righteous anger, over something stupid i suppose but that is genuinely bad customer service.

That's bad business.

Although the owner of my favorite shop used to do unscheduled closings on occasion (he took "rider-owned" seriously) which I imagine irritated and inconvenienced some folks, no one ever got turned away at the door. That's worse I think.

I can understand an early closing, but customers that arrive JIT (your case 1/2 hour before indicated closing times), should be taken care of. I don't know how big of a deal it would've been just to swipe the credit card and ring up the sale, can't imagine it taking any longer than a few minutes. For that inconvenience of having to come back the next day ? Assuming someone opens the shop for him and runs the place the next day, something needs to be comped out, labor, the bottom bracket or a future purchase, maybe throw in new pedals ?

You are 100% correct. But with that being said , that's why I have more than one bike. "In the absence of reliability, go with redundancy."

That is a proper response.

But they're not open tomorrow, they are going on vacation until the 16th of Nov. Which he didn't mention to me when I dropped off the bike.

I have a road bike but it is not as much fun as the mountain bike.

ha! I love this.

Gonzoso, I feel ya man. I too have to plan my rides around a crazy schedule, and if my ride was hindered by something simple likes this...I'd be pissed too.

That was completely handled wrong on the shop's part.

Where in the Poke-a nose are you?

I reside in Effort PA and attend ESU. The LBS is in East Stroudsburg, which is where I attend University for Env Science and Biology.

Effort you say. Have relatives out that way.

That looks like the proper response - preferably put your reasons in writing and give them to the owner when you finally get to pick up your bike.

Even if he had an emergency and couldn't take the time to open the register he should have been willing to give you your bike and get payment later - afterall he chose to close the shop early and you're a regular customer so he should be willing to extend a little trust.

Understatement of the millennium.




-That LBS ain't cool.

I ran into the owner of the LBS I use at a bar well after the shop closed. The shop was across the street, I needed new gloves for mountain biking and mentioned I'd stop in for them at some point. He offered to open the shop then and there. So, we finished our beers and I bought some gloves. That's a quality shop. You got screwed. I'd pick up your bike when you can, say nothing about the incident and return with your list of grievances tied to a brick at a later date. You can figure the rest out from there.

BB or Cassette?

I agree with several of the comments; If he knew who you were, he should gave given you the bike and got payment later from you.

I suggest breaking in and claiming whats yours since they will be gone for 2 weeks.

Why couldn't he have taken down your credit card info and wrote up a reciept for you? Thats something that would take less than 5 minutes a very simple solution and would have had you on your way. Hopefully for their sake they realize they didn't treat you very well in this instance and offer you something to keep you coming back like a discount or accessories like other posters have mentioned. Word of mouth is the best/worst form of advertisement and for a few bucks he could keep you as a customer and you will also not steer people away from them. Some business owners don't get that concept though which isn't surprising in the moment I guess.

If you decide to leave maybe its time to spend the few dollars on the tools to work on your bike. They don't take up much space at all (you don't need a workstand) and don't cost much either. Of course I am sure some other LBS would be happy to have your business as well which would be great.

Good call walkin away from the situation. If they make a habit of burning ya...switch to another shop. Hey....sometimes things don't work out the way you planned....that's just life. However, you do have the choice as a consumer to take your business elsewhere.

This might be a good time to start collecting those few bike tools you might not use every day, but when you have, are oh so handy.

-avoid costly shop bills
-convenience of bein able to wrench on your own time/schedule
-satisfaction of being a DIYer
-God gave you mechanically inclined hands...use em!

Yeah I have worked retail, it would have taken him 5 minutes to take care of me and get me out the door with my bike. He didn't want to do that for me, it will be his loss. As a result of this I will start buying tools and do the work myself, and if something is too much to handle take it to the other shop up the road from me.

I've got no kids, do mt biking, road biking, tri's, and have disposable income and am wrapping up my science degree. That was an expensive five minutes. Not to mention I have a lot of friends who are also biking enthusiasts. And I work part time at a business that guides bikers, whitewater rafters, and does paintball on a large scale(thousands a day on weekends) and is the second largest employer in the county. I've been there years, know everyone, etc. I will be sure to make my opinion in this business known when it comes up in the future.

I am a small business owner. I know that I have to work to deserve the right to service my customers. You need an LBS that wants to keep you a customer. Find someone who isn't irresponsible.

I'm 90% a mountain biker. But there is a small Roadie shop 4 blocks from my house. They always go the extra mile to assist me. There have been a couple of times that I pull money out of my wallet for them just because they have a habit of letting me in and checking out my equipment and then saying, its on the house.

the two guys that own the shop are CAT 1 Roadie Racers. If anyone might snub a mountain biker, you would think it would be guys like that. But those guys have the friendliest, most helpful shop I have ever been in. That's what you want to find.

we close at 6. people are always showing up after we close, like at 6 :05 or 6:15, while we are closing out registers, vacuuming, or sitting around drinking beer. we ALWAYS open the door, ask what they need, and if they need something, we sell it to them. If they need to pick up a bike, we of course let them pick up the bike. this is what many people call "customer service," it's a rare thing in the states nowadays, but it's part of any decent business. That bike shop might be a really good shop, i don't know it, but that dude who did that to you sucks right there, and you have every right to be upset. If you can, find another bike shop and give them your business.

That was conditional in my post: I agree with you being pissed off for being wronged, but they are the LBS and depending upon what your options are, it may be a 1 horse situation for that too ?