Happily the odds that you would shoot yourself instead of somebody else are quite probable.

^^^ This.

So do you all go to the doctor for your yearly check up and say, well I'm not sick, why should I have to pay? Just checking to see if I'm all ok.

You are paying a $1 for his time and $9 for his brain. When you get an xray the film costs $0.75 but the rest of the payment is for the radiologist's brain.

Learn how to "check your bike over" yourself or stop complaining. Anyone who walks into a bike shop just asking to "check it over" deserves to get raked over the coals

Reminds me of a joke:

An engineer worked for a long time for a company and had become an expert on all the machines the company used. Eventually, he retired. A couple years after his retirement one of the machines stopped working, and no one at the company could figure out why. Desperate to get it fixed, they called the retired engineer. He came back, looked around for an hour or two, then pulled out a piece of chalk, put an X on a part, and said you need to replace that part. He then sent the company a bill for $100,000.00. The owner of the company asked for an itemized invoice, to which the engineer replied:

Piece of chalk: $1
Knowing where to put the X: $99,999.00

I would pay it, I think its a good idea to get a good look over and that 10 bucks would go to the repairs seems ok to me but im not a cheap ass.

So how long does it take to "look over" a used bike?

Shop mechanic time is roughly $60.00 / hour. I don't think that $10.00 is a fair price - it's probably too low.

It is a business, it is their policy. If the patron is not agreeable with the terms, go somewhere else that provides free check-up service. Mouthing off will not get you a paid service for free. Heck, showing no respect and bad manners will not get you anywhere!

You pay for people's time, knowledge and experience. You don't expect people to come into your business and get whatever is you provide for free, don't expect others to give away their time, knowledge and experience.

Who told you that one? Methuselah?

I think charging $10 is completely reasonable. For those wanting free advice, try walking into any law firm wanting free legal advice.

Re-quoted for posterity.

Since when in the USA did people open small businesses to work for free? The guy walking in wasn't even buying the bike from the store!

No, but it could save your life.

YMMV. I also wear a helmet while on a bike/motorcycle, seat belt while riding in a car, and carry sufficient health, life, and auto insurance.

****

The rate at our shop, which is the cheapest in town, is $65/hour. And that barely keeps the lights on. We'll do free estimates however, because we assume the person is interested in a repair. Never personally had to check over a bike that someone was looking to buy, so I don't know what we charge for that.

My thoughts exactly.

I don't see a problem with charging $10 to give the bike a lookover. I do see a problem with the internet-age aholes that expected free service.

Edit: Just to add to LBS loyalty vs. Performance prices, I got screwed on housing/cables by the foot from performance, while my LBS will give me everything for 16 bucks + tax.

I was in a shop recently. A man brought an old bike in saying it's his mothers and she wants to get back to riding. He asked the store to check it out. The mechanic put it on a stand, cleaned and lubed the chain, adjusted the cables, took one of the brake levers off and oiled it, and inflated the tires. He then said it's fine for short rides and getting back into riding.

The man asked how much and the mechanic said "oh we don't charge for things like this." Now that's the way to run a shop!

I'm willing to bet that the man was a regular customer that the mechanic recognized. Just one of the benefits of shopping locally. I'd do a lot for a regular, but when you give away that kind of service all the time, you go out of business real fast.

what kind of gun?

That's one of my favorite engineering jokes. My other is this one (because I am an ME)....

Mechanical Engineers make weapons
Civil Engineers make targets

There are two kinds of men in this world my friend: those with bicycles in need of repair, and those with guns.
http://bravata.files.wordpress.com/2...-bad-ugly1.jpg

OP, this sounds an awful lot like a bike shop in Altoona, Pa. Right down to the "retired" owner. Am I right?

This

Expecting someone or a shop to take time to check over a bike and not get paid for it is a sign of a complete cheapass.

Pony up the 10 bucks or learn to do it yourself.