Be My Moral Compass Here Please...
 

Here's the situation...

Guy orders a great custom bike from LBS in october. LBS says should be in by mid december. Everything is in by that point except the wheelset(mavic ksyrium elite). Guy asks LBS 'when do you expect to have the wheelset in?'

LBS says 'any time now, mid jan. at the latest'

Well days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, and still no wheelset. LBS shop is contacted a few days ago and replies that ONE of the rims is in.. which guy thinks is very strange. Many tales about how Mavic has only one canadian distributor and is extremely backordered, and as a result other wheel is still delayed. Guy begins to get frustrated. Although not really a huge deal because guy couldn't be riding outside anyway(very cold here still...was -40 last week) however he would like to use the bike with a trainer soon. What should he do?

Guy considers just buying a damn set on ebay for cheaper than what he'd be paying at the LBS anyway, and could have them in a week. But then he doesn't want to damage LBS relationship. Difficult situation but sick of waiting. What would the higher bikeforums.net beings do?

Well this isn't the first time I've heard of Mavic not getting folks wheels to them quickly, a tri guy at my local shop tried to get Carbones and after a month and a half of waiting a Reynolds rep came by and offered him Stratus DVs which came the following week. The Carbones showed up a month later...that being said if this were truly riding season you should do anything to get the damn wheels as the case is its winter, I'd wait and see, see if you can use an old wheel on the trainer (why bother using a Ksyrium on a trainer?)

What I would do is ask the LBS if they have a wheelset they can loan me until the Mavics are both in. If not, then be ready to take the bike as-is and then go wheel shopping; I think you (err... the guy) have been patient enough and the LBS ought to understand. It's not as if you aren't already paying a lot of money for the rest of the bike.

Good idea. I'd ask the LBS to loan or give you a used wheelset for the trainer. Sounds like Mavic is just getting more business than they deserve at this point...I like the idea of Reynolds, Velomax or others too.

Or, if the LBS has Mavic OP hubs in stock, you could ask them to build some up for you at a discount. Then, you'll always have a spare set for trainer or bad-roads.

Serves you right for being sucked into the whole Ksyrium farce ;-)

Your LBS should just advise you that they have no idea when they're going to get stock, rather than string you along. I wouldn't worry about hurting their feelings - it's you're money.

I would ask for loaners. If they say no, get them elsewhere.

A friend of mine had exactly the same problem. He gently insisted on loaners (exactly the same wheels, but in the 'wrong' colour), got them and still has a decent relationship with the concerned LBS.

How you plan to use those loaners, is not relevant, IMHO. You should be comfortable with riding them as if they were your own wheels and the LBS should not make a fuss about this this either.

My rear rim was shot, I went to LBS, he said no prob. I have several of the exact rim in stock, Mavic 317X for $70.00, included hub body and cassette. He said he can get most any mavic wheel in a week.

I would be suspicious of the cash flow of the bike shop and of their financial viability and financial realtionship with Mavic.

These kinds of things start happening when companies (Mavic, for example) are owed money by dealers, and refuse to send things unles the bike shop (or whatever business) pays in advance.

Whether or not you have paid for the bike makes little difference - if you have, the money has probably already gone to some other dealer, or to pay back taxes, or whatever.

Sounds highly suspicious to me. I bet the shop will be out of business before long.

Maybe I am wrong, but it is a distinct possibility.

Step 1:
"Guy" should let LBS know that he will give them "X" amount of time to produce a finished bike otherwise "Guy" will be forced to spend his $$ elsewhere.

Step 2:
"Guy" should consider the reaction he would get from LBS if he kept them waiting for their $$ for this long.

Unfortunately most LBS's don't "excel" in customer service. The downfall of the LBS is that they are "usually" run by a guy who likes biking but has no business sense. They ***** and moan that the "big box" stores steal their business, but do nothing to change their service practices to retain that business.

What other industry would you put up with stringing you along like this. If this was the company that delivered your Oil or Gas would you just accept this behavior?

Step 3:
"Guy" should try building up his own bike. It's shockingly easy and a whole lot more satisfying than waiting for other to do it. A Lot less aggravating as well.

I can get any part I want for my bike in under a week and at 10-50% less than I would pay at the LBS, yet I still have a good relationship with the guys who run the shop. I give them the business that makes sense for me to and get the rest for myself.

All good ideas and the last point may be an overstatement. My understanding is that most of the smaller bike shops opperate on a shoestring and probably don't have a large credit established with distributors and such. The larger ones Performance etc. are big enough to get almost anything they want FAST because the do so much business with their suppliers.

If it were me I would say to the LBS, "Look, I have waited a long time. What are you prepared to do to make good on this sale?" If you want "training wheels" ASK! If you want a comperable wheel, ASK! If you can be patient, let the Owner of the LBS know you are going to wait (and how long) and see what he is willing to do in the way of giving you free services or other stuff you need (that won't bankrupt him).

The other question that occured to me is this:

Why can't he get a set from another shop in the area?? Most of these guys know each other well and he probably could get them if he asked (and that way you wouldn't be forced to do the shopping). Have you asked him to see if he can locase a set from someone other than Mavic??

I work at a LBS and we've had problems getting things from Mavic in the past. It isn't because we don't pay them or that we're too small of a shop (3 stores, largest in the region) it's mostly just because Mavic is hard to deal with. It isn't the LBS's fault, though they should do something to take care of it. We had a set of SSC SL's ordered for a customer for months before we finally got them, Mavic kept telling us it be "2 weeks". I don't think asking for a loaner set of wheels is out of the question at all, we would be happy to do that for a customer if we were having trouble getting wheels for them.

LBS shold have offered that a long time ago. Take the bike and they should understand and if they dont,to bad.