rockstar

went to Nitro bikes in San Diego to pick up a new chain for my dura ace 10 drive train, asked the salesman if they had the new wipperman 10SI that is supposed to be out and made for shimano 10 specs he grabs a box of the shelf and says this is it, i take a look at the box and its the one made for campy. i tell him i'm looking for the 10SI the one made for shimano 10 speed, he brings another sales guy and asks him he grabs the exact same box and says he is sure this is it and that it doesn't say campy ....i tell the guys that wipperman has a 10SI model chain with a differenet spacing they looked clueless. i said forget it i'll go ahead and take one of those king bottle cages the original salesman grabs one hands it to me and said i think this is steel i then say NO its titanium...i realize this is really no big deal but it bothers me that these guys have no idea what they are selling to people. it also reinforces why i decided to buy most of my parts online

simplyred

wow, that licks...

sorry to hear about a lame LBS..
i know it's a not a big deal, it's just a job to him possibly? and he's just going through the motions...
whereas you or i know the things we want... because we've read our online literature and are aware of what is what...

UmneyDurak

Is there really any point to threads like this? Someone posts about how they hate LBS, bla bla bla. Then someone else posts about how they had good experience with LBS, and how it's hard to run a good LBS, bla bla bla. Then around and around we'll go. If someone is in really bad mood it might even get all the way down to personal insults. You don't like LBS, fine everyone is entitled to their opnion, but is it really necessary to post it on these forums?

velvetunder66

Being as this is a bike forum and the topic is bike related and not a personal attack on another member, I would say post whatever you want..and if you don't like the thread, then don't read it. On a daily basis I run into people at their jobs who have no place being there..and I realize it might be just a job to them but it's still frustrating when you are trying to get something done. For a bike shop especially you should know what you are talking about and selling to customers.

ahuman

Yes its good to know which LBS is doing a good job and which one is doing a ****ty job.

Patriot

hmmm....

I honestly have never had that happen. But then, I know which guys at the LBS to talk to. Sometimes it takes a while for the newer guys to learn the ropes. I know whenever I have serious questions, there are two guys, both bike mechs at our Performance shop who really know their stuff, but the other guys at the register and on the floor aren't quite as fluent. Just depends on who you talk to. And that's a Performance shop too. I had always had the impression that the guys at Performance would be completely brain damaged.

khuon

How much do you value the shop? If you don't value them at all then by all means rant on here to your heart's content. However, if you really want to do something constructive about what happened, then I would suggest you find the manager or owner of the shop and calmly and professionally relate to him/her your experiences and disatisfaction. This will help the shop improve upon their service. People make mistakes and when they do and that mistake effects you, then they need to be corrected. My suggestion would be to go back once you've calmed down and point out to the management what you perceive to be difficiencies. And avoid using derogatory terms like "stupid" or "idiots". Constructive customer feedback can only help.

samp02

Some are bad and some are good. Just a matter of finding the good ones.

roadwarrior

Some of us that spend our time in LBS's dealing with idiot customers need to start a thread about the stories we can tell about customers that drive us nuts....especially those that spend time on the internet reading a couple of articles and bless themselves as bike geniuses and are truly clueless.

It's pretty damn funny.....

roadwarrior

It's the same with customers.....

Doggus

There's a continuum no matter where you go. I've been to 4 bike shops in my search to find my first road bike. I refuse to go back to Wheels-In-Motion in Richardson, Tx because their new 'manager' is a prick. I prefer someone who knows nothing (puts us on equal footing) and is nice rather than an egotistical arrogant know-it-all.

Waldo

Indeed. Sometimes sad, though. Since having an internet connection seems to make most customers automatically more knowledgable than me, does working in a shop cancel the intelligence benefits of the internet connection or does it make me a genius?

I also wonder why these threads are so prevelant here and seem to be much more rare at other forums I peruse...

biker7

Yeah...goes both ways. Of course the bike shop guys are more knowledgeable than the general public and easy to get jaded...same with tech's at high end car dealerships who BTW f-up about 20% of the work they do because of time compression more than incompetence. LBS techs in spite of their expertise can be guilty of being parochial in their thinking as well. The biggest issue with LBS's is the products they carry paints the landscape of what they prefer and have expertise to work on. My LBS sells Treks with Shimano for example and so we aren't going to do any business. Have to ask Roadwarrior...does your shop sell any high end steel bikes to compare the ride quality against your C'dale? You were quite outspoken in the other thread about the ride quality of your C'dale and want to know if you have a basis for comparison as it goes both ways.
George

velocipedio

the problem is that the original post is probably greatly exaggerated. i'm sure the op has a legitimate grievance, but i find it had to believe that a bike shop with that level of service would stay in business for a week unless (a) this was an isolated occurance, or (b) it was a pretty low-end shop with a mostly unbdemanding and unknowledgeable clientele.

Umbra

Is it necessary to post anything on these forums? Not really. Good place to vent though.

Don't like threads bashing incompetent LBS sales people?? Then don't click on threads with titles that say things like "tired of incompetent LBS sales people"!

Problem solved.

rockstar

i know its hard to believe but thats pretty much how it went.

2manybikes

If the guy says the Ti King cages are steel then tell him the price should be $4.95 and take them all. Pleas send me two. I'll pay double.

baj32161

rockstar

operator

Come on guys. This is part of the natural cycle of bikeforums road cycling.

TheKillerPenguin

When I was liek 5 I was in the bike department at some department store I heard a mom getting frustrated that she couldn't tell the difference between a road bike and a mountain bike. So I walk up to her thinking I know the difference and say "Mountain bike tires have those fuzzy little rubber things that stick out and road bikes dont!"

hooo boy...

Retro Grouch 

[QUOTE=UmneyDurak]Is there really any point to threads like this? /QUOTE]


It's a variation on the all too common "I beat a guy who was wearing a full professional race kit complete with matching bike" thread. In this case the object is to show that the poster knows more about bicycles and the guy who works in the bike store is a poser who doesn't deserve his job.

TheKillerPenguin

As long as they are pretending they know everything when they obviously don't, what's the problem with LBS employees not knowing absolutely everything?

I'm gonna be trying to get a job at LBS over the summer, and I'm sure as hell not gonna know everything right off the bat.

It takes time to learn.

roadwarrior

Absolutely....Serotta. Outstanding bike, but I like the extra stiffness and responsiveness of my Six/13, my optimo, and my old CAAD4. Would I buy a Serotta steel? Sure, but I'd have the frame tuned more to my liking. The ones I have ridden all had a bit of a longer wheelbase. Ridden CIII, Fierte, and CDA frames, so I've not only done full steel, but steel with carbon stays. Great rides.
Regarding Cannondale, I just get a kick out of people that you can tell really would not be able to tell the difference if I blindfolded them and put them on different bikes. They parrot this "harsh" word becasue they read it once. You can buy the exact same CAAD8 frame that Cuenego's riding right now in the Giro.
Having the opportunity to take and ride a lot of different bikes really helps when you are trying to help a customer decide which way to go.

biker7

Well said. Horses for courses to be sure...some like yourself simply prefer a nice light stiff aluminum responsive frame like the Canondale variants you mentioned. Was curious what your perspective was as someone who knows bikes and sampled a wide range of frame materials and geometries.
Cheers,
George