Denny Koll

The bike shop employee should never have opened the door if he wasn't prepared to help. If you are too busy just ignore the self centered person who can't wait until you are open. Then when the door does open you won't be grouchy and the customer won't bad mouth you because you opened the store early for him and did him a special favor.

What nerve...! It's not enough that the impatient customer gets special treatment...he has to complain because his "emergency" wasn't handled nicely enough to suit him. Who needs a customer like that? Just don't open the door unless it's a regular and you want to hel him/her.

Paul Barnard

I feel the OP's pain. I can't imagine the horror of having to wait 30 minutes to get a new tube. How precious his time must be.

alanfleisig

To me, a bike shop isn't an investment bank or a doctor's office. There's an inherent difference. And a retail store should be open when it's open. Period. I don't define "stranded" as having to wait 1/2 an hour two miles down a suburban bike path.

But then again, I don't think retail stores should be open Sundays, or at 5 am the day after Thanksgiving either.

daver42

Well OP here. We always ride prepared when at home. Threw caution to the wind this time. Lesson learned. As for the LBS; we politely asked and the guy immediately treated us like punks. We'd already spent some time huffing it to the bike shop and needed to get back to home base in Montecito so there was some urgency. Some LBS folks are nice, some aren't. Lesson learned. Have a good day you all and enjoy the ride.

GP

I never ride prepared on my cruiser. Hope I didn't jinx myself by typing that.

Who knows what happened to the employee before he spoke to you. Maybe he fought with his wife, the boss didn't promote him or he didn't like the color of your shirt. Or maybe he's always a jerk. There's worse places to break down than Santa Barbara.

Denny Koll

The urgency was caused by your lack of preparedness...I think you should consider sending the LBS a thank you note for going beyond the call of duty to help you out. That way at least they will feel good about it.

cyclezen

since you saw fit to name 'names', your perspective shouldn;t be the only one tied to any of these shops...
'catering' is a way to differentiate oneself in any business where a difference makes business happen.
Fastrack cycles, owned and run by Dave Lettieri, is clearly one of those special places which makes SB different. Both from Dave's extensive Palmarès and his love of the sport and lifestyle. He does 'cater' to the addicted, and there are enough highend buyers for Fastrack to get from one day to the next. Dave remains a really nice guy who 'caters' to everyone who enters his door. Wanna stop and browse, sit in the sofa and watch cycling videos? no problemos! Even though I'm not a 'regular' at Dave's place I always get A+ attention and service for my stupid and arcane requests.
Lightyears on the other side of 'jerky', Fastrack and Dave are special, we're lucky to have them.

Same can be said of Hazards, as service and shops go. Also staffed by 'enthusiasts' who go out of their way for every customer.
yes, both enthusuastically support local racing, Tri and other organized events - how could that possibly be a negative? They are enthusuastic and treat you like gold whether you're a racer/poseur (like me) or just hooked on ridin the bike (like me).
Attitude - only the best from what I've seen.
If someone feels intimidated, it certainly can't be from the shop side.

Open Air - I haven't been there in some time, mostly a geography thing. But the few recent times, they've been busy and harried and still willing to deal with my small-time requests.

I've pretty much used all the shops and their location in the SB/Goleta area (don't really get into Carp for bike stuff, and I carry a repair kit and Tube when I ride... ) and can say the same about all the shops.
Rarely I run into a tired employee and if its important to get something, I slow down and let them get sorted. Often I see the person working the counter handling 2 or 3 customers at a time, and they seem to do it pretty well. Sometimes they're not as knowledgeable as I'd like them to be, but if they get an A for effort, what else can you ask? Often enough I get 'educated' on something I don't know and is a good reason to stay humble.
SB shops, especially the ones named - you go into them with a reasonable attitude, you prolly won't be treated better anywhere.

webist

I have worked and managed retail operations in the past. I always took some delight in sending unreasonable, demanding, nasty, beligerent and unprepared customers to the other shop. Sometimes it is necessary to an effectively functioning business, and to the welfare of the employees that a business be able to occasionally fire a customer.

daver42

Yes, as noted above, I was not prepared. It was my fault and it caused our situation. After he sold us the tube we told him how really appreciative we were and thanked him several times. I also accept the fact that us being polite isn't always going to equal polite in return.

sygyzy

cyclezen - We'll have to agree to disagree. I am not surprised you would be a fan of either shop.

I think it's a little silly to blame the OP for not being "prepared." He was on vacation, on a rental (?) bike, on a leisurely beachside cruise. I saw a random bike in the garage of the house we were staying at in Hawaii. I rode it around the block. GASP - I didn't carry a spare tube, patch kit, co2 pump or tire levers!

Sasquatchula

Really.

You can tell him Sasquatchula said he can stuff it.

Or,you can do what you're asked to do and get paid the overtime, as you've "clocked in" 15 minutes early. If your chosen vocation doesn't allow that, well, what can I say?


If I have a customer in the shop and something needs to be resolved, then we stay until it all gets sorted out. If they just want to yak about stuff, and they're not there to buy anything, then I'll usually float them a few minutes to tie-up the conversation. At which point I let them know we are finishing up for the day, if they need something I'll ring 'em up. If not, then they're welcome to call or return at some other time to continue the conversation.

Denny Koll

So if it's not his fault...who is at fault?

rbart4506

Sounds fair enough to me....