Tequila Joe

I don't beleive it was my fault... I've only banned one LBS, incidentally they went out of business.

I went into a bike shop and asked the owner to order a rear shock for my mountain bike. He looked it up, told me his cost from the distributer and asked me how much I was willing to pay him to order it. I offered $50 bucks & I would cover shipping costs. He refused to order it because "it wasn't worth his trouble"

LBS Banned.

atomship47

how so?


you call shops. they either have time to do it by then or they don't. i wouldn't expect them to say "yes" if they didn't have the time.

Camilo

You are right on. All of the LBS's I deal with gladly accept any work. One, in fact, has a table of published prices on the counter (wheel true, basic tune up, etc. etc.). One of the prices listed is complete road bike build, "you provide all parts". My guess is that that any parts that aren't provided (lubes, cables, etc.) are billed at normal shop rates. Another guy, the shop I use most, frequently builds and/or adjusts bikes that are shipped into town for whatever reason.

Any shop owner who doesn't totally accept the newest commerce models involving such easy mail order purchases is just denying reality. Being a twit will absolutely not help the shop becuase as the poster above said, the alternative is either to get the $700 they can get, or get nothing. There is NO WAY in this example they'll ever get the whole bike sale anyway.

TO OP: I would keep my mouth shut until the build is done - get it done. $100 seems a fair price to me. After that, I'd try to have a reasonable conversation with the manager or owner and tell them where you're coming from, that you plan to give them all the business that makes sense, but you won't give them any business unless they accept the reality and don't give you a snotty attitude.

rlim

Gosh ... you spent $600 on components from his store. He should be grateful you're a customer. I just completed a bike biuld with "everything" purchased off the web.... Gureciotti full carbon, campy chorus. Similar bike would run about $5K at the LBS.

I misplaced a lock washer for my Chorus brake and went to the LBS to purchase one ... I got ripped ... charged me $2 for a freaking washer. I needed the part urgently and paid the price.

Little Darwin

Since most people commenting here are not from Japan (including myself) I would say we are guessing at best.

I have recently discussed some other societal norms with a friend, and in certain areas of India/Pakistan, it is not unheard of for a jeweler to not make a piece of jewelry for you one day because they aren't in the mood... but if you ask the next day, then there may not be a problem. The same is true for other retailers.

Where Japan's culture is heavily slanted toward the employees being very devoted to their employers (historically not changing jobs as frequently as in US society) I could envision it could be expected that customers show loyalty as well.

My point isn't that this is the case in Japan, since I don't know... just that it may be different than the US.

When I was on Okinawa for a year back in the early 80's, I bought some artistic items a few times from a local sales person who came to my door about once a month, and I asked him how much the piece was, he would tell me for example $50... and he insisted on payment in yen (which made sense) so I just asked him how much in yen... he asked what the exchange rate was that day... If he had simply said 12,000 which was a little higher than the exchange rate, I would have gladly paid it, but for some reason he was compelled to get paid $50 worth of yen at the current exchange rate, which varied day by day instead of getting a constant 12,000 yen. The same thing happened for many sales people selling to the US Military people... they insisted on selling at a fixed dollar amount based on the current exchange rate, in yen. Even though they often would trust us to give them the exchange rate... I bought a couple of custom tailored suits the same way.

RoadToNowhere

^^^^^ in bold.

It seems to me that you're getting exactly what you asked for. So where's the problem?

Consider what you're asking of them. They're in the business to sell bikes and bike stuff. You come in there with your frame you've bought elsewhere (which is obviously your right), pick out some components, and expect that they will have a build done for you. . . in THREE DAYS. And they're charging you a whopping $100. Perhaps you should consider that they have you by the *****.

But then again, after re-reading your initial post, you know that already. And you know you're getting a pretty good deal. Why people think they should get something for nothing and a kiss-***** attitude is beyond me.

Beth

Gsin

Here's what you do. When you pick up the bike, after you've checked everything out, on the way out, punch the owner in the nose as hard as possible.

Just kidding. But it would feel good, wouldn't it?

That's terrible customer service/sales. His bottom line will suffer in the long run.

kesa101

oh.

the price for the build was much more than $100. i`m too embarassed to say how much. suffice to say my japanese language skills failed me. and that i am even more pissed than before...

PunkMartyr

My family frequented a chinese restaurant in this town for several decades. After having the cashew chicken one night I got violently ill throwing up. I said thats it never again I'm convinced it was food quality (In my mind you know when you are serving someone old / bad food). My parents decide since they have been longtime patrons they have to give them a chance. Sure enough they get food below acceptable quality. It didn't make them ill but it was obvious it was not fresh.

Moral of the story don't bother with this shop again unless the guy is your uncles best friend or something wierd. In that case have your uncle set up any deals you want. Unless you like blowing chunks.

roy5000x2

I was wondering why the complete bike build was only $100 and in three days. That sounded way too cheap for a full build in three days.

kesa101

so, does $400 sound more reasonable?

went in to the other shop in town today, the mechanic said they would have done the build in 4 days for $150... went back to the other shop and quietly and calmly stated what i`d just heard, and the guy just said `well here it`s different.`

me: `i understand that but that`s quite a difference [remember the `normal` price is $500 there, i got $100 off as i`m a team member!] - how can you justify a $250 difference?`

him: `here it`s different.`

me: `ok, i gotcha. thanks. by the way, i won`t be coming back here.`

him: `ok, bye.`

remember, the way the manager spoke to me the other day led me to believe that ALL shops in japan would be similar in price for such a build.

my friend went into the same shop with a toupe saddle that had split down the middle after 4 months, the owner takes one look and says `you crashed it.` my mate says `no, it just happened.` the guy refused to take it back. so my friend called specialized japan, they called the guy, then he called my friend and very tersely said `bring it back`, and he eventually got a new saddle. i know i know, i should have learnt my lesson, guess i`m either too forgiving or too stupid....

so, whatever, i love the bike but what a colossal rip off.

PunkMartyr

Just to clarify, you misunderstood how much he money he needed to do it because of language barrier?

kesa101

basically yes, i hold up my hand there. in japanese there`s often a little bit of sentences that are left unspoken, the voice kind of trails off when someone is trying to avoid saying something - that happened here. he said `it`s usually $500 for a build like this, but in this case, $100, we can... you know...`

i understand about 80% of the average conversation here, and thought i was sure that he was cutting it back to $100. i thought actually that he was just trying to make me feel grateful for the build, picking this $500 figure out of the air - sort of slapping my wrists. more like a punch in the face!

also, the $500 wasn`t because the build was done quickly, that`s just the standard rate, so he says. they have about 4 mechanics there so they do stuff fast anyway.

still, whether i got it wrong or not, you`d have to agree that $500, or $400, is just a tad expensive, no?

edogawa

Typical prices for complete builds in Tokyo seem to be from 15,000 yen to 25,000 yen. I suppose in less competitive markets the prices would be higher, but double seems excessive.

kesa101

typical builds even down here in the sticks i discovered today are 15,000 yen!

i got sucker punched, but, i needed the bike, got it now, so hey no more complaints... i`ll just have to kick their arses in the race tomorrow!

marqueemoon

Let's say you're a shop owner who has to decide between building up Internet Parts Guy's ride or that of a customer who bought an equivalent bike at the shop first.

It doesn't excuse the guy being a ****, but this combined with the timeline you asked for would make me cranky too.

kesa101

he said he could do it, i could have waited a few days, sure, i would have had to use the old bike for the race but no massive problem. at the time he said yes he wasn`t being cranky, he was smiling away - actually they were happy that my frame had arrived, as they knew i`d been waiting so long.

i never said he was cranky anyway, i said `condescending`. it`s just the way they are there.

unbelievably

My wife and I actually bought a couple of bikes from the OP's said bike shop.
The owner himself is not too bad. A bit of an egoist which is beyond his control,
he's a tri-athelete... It's his friggin staff.
What keeps me going back there is this,
One day, soon after I bought my first bike(from him) I stopped in.
I did not at the time have a pump, so I figured I'd ask for some air.
I rolled up to the back door and asked a staff member to help me with some PSI.
He looked at me looked at my bike and told me he didn't think I needed any air.
He was giving me side eye looks and sneers. I couldn't believe it!
I leave unhappy. Go figure.
I have a couple more stories of this bike shop...
Needless to say,
I no longer go there. He lost the sales of 2 complete builds

UniversalFrost

guys, just cut the cord and go elsewhere.

And for those complaing that you should have bought the frame from the shop, wake up and realize this is the internet age and a lot of shops are selling more over the net in a week then they would in a year at the brick and mortar store. So, you (the shop owner) need to adjust your way of doing business to accomodate the "new" internet age! Otherwise you (just like the owner in this thread) will be out of business eventually because your customers will go to shops that don't give an F___ where you bought the frame, and care more about giving you a quality build and maybe getting some business off you when you buy accessories (which have a greater profit margin than a frame). This is the same in the gun world, but too many shop owners never sat in a business class a day in their life and are too ingrained in their little niche sport.

Personally, I would make it a point to avoid that shop as long as possible and make sure to tell everyone I know what happened.

You live you learn and hopefully grow from it.

JOE

GernBlanston

The irony is, margins on bikes are so razor-thin, the guy almost certainly made more money off of the OP building his Internet bike than he would have if the OP had bought a bike off the floor, not to mention the fact he's off the hook for any defective/incorrect parts. From a purely business perspective, he should have welcomed the OP with open arms.

Before a buddy of mine bought a BikesDirect bike, he talked it over with his LBS. Said buddy had been a loyal customer for quite a while, rides for the shop-sponsored club, had a great relationship with the owner, had bought bikes there previously.

LBS admitted he couldn't come near the BikesDirect price, but was a very good sport about it. After the bike came in the LBS guy even looked it over, dialed it in, and pronounced it sweet.

So the LBS lost the sale of a bike, but guess who still brings his bikes in for service and buys his chains, tubes, tires, bottles, gels, and miscellaneous niceties there?

GB