Bad Bike Shop Manners??

The Wogster wrote:


I am sure some shops wouldn't mind building one out of the box, if it
makes the customer happy, and the customer is willing to wait a few days
for it....

That's what I'd figured! So I'm asking here...is this really some
industry-standard practice, then? As a kid I want to walk out of the
shop with my brand-new toy, but now I can wait another day or two or
more. I mean, even when I buy magazines in the bike shop I try to get
the "freshest" looking copy.

They do keep water and dirt out of the valve, and dirt could lead to a
valve failure. Thst's rare though, my bike is missing one, and the car
is missing 3, no ill effects.

Okay. Still don't know why Evan keeps them outside the shop on the
sidewalk.... ;-)

W

It's amazing how people see what they want to see.

He was the one doing ~85% of the talking.

(Now how many times do I have to say that before I'm accused of being
repetitive?)



ellis wrote:



Thirteen minute conversation? The longest I've ever talked to a bike shop
on the phone was a minute. A bike shop owner is not a bartender.

"Do you have this in stock? OK, good."
"How much?"
"What time you open until?"
"Thanks. See ya."

I buy lot of stuff online and do all my own work.

Major thanks for the ref! I often go that way, either towards Coney
Island or off to the Rockaways. This shop is very centrally-located!



Steven M. O'Neill wrote:


I just came from there -- it's Bicycle Station on Vanderbilt
Ave. in Brooklyn. The owner, Mike, is friendly, knowledgeable
and refreshingly competent. Prices are even very reasonable.

(I'm not related, just a satisfied customer.)

Here's the info in Google local:
http://bicyclestation.notlong.com

--
Steven O'Neill
Brooklyn, NY

In article . com,
says...

....

Presta valve caps serve no reasonable purpose that I can see. They certainly
aren't air-tight. The best they might do is keep the area clean so you don't
blow grit into your tube, but I've never seen that cause any trouble.

Hmm, okay. I just thought that everything had a purpose when it comes
to machines, down to the smallest detail (and decal)!

The caps are pretty important in bad weather to keep the area clean and
usable. I've seen them get pretty well iced up in cold weather, and
jammed with grit in wet weather. Those of you in San Diego, Miami or
Phoenix may not have to worry about, but in New England we do...

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

Yes, I did say The Big Fella!

What, you didn't know that THIS is the afterlife and we're in Hell??



Tom Keats wrote:


Ya but don't recumbents emanate from The Dark Side? ;-)


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

Tom Kunich wrote:
Let me tell you a little about bad bicycle shop manners.

1) Someone who calls on the telephone and wants a dozen questions answered
most of which have to do with what parts cost. Well, to anyone that has had
experience in a small shop they'd know that they can't tell you what most
parts cost because they try to buy them from the cheapest source at the time
they;re ordered and sometimes the difference in price can be 100%.

He should have said that, then. And if he thought I was the
competition or something like that, he could have said it wasn't his
policy to give out prices over the phone.

Etc.

2) Someone who calls on the telephone and wants a dozen questions answered
and apparently doesn't know that small shops only have one or two people in
them and walk-in money-in-hand customers have priority over time wasting
phone callers.

Did you actually read what I wrote??? I'm begging him to take my
$3K!!! Part of the call was to determine whether options might cost
another $1K!!!!

3) Someone who calls on the telephone and wants a dozen questions answered
and doesn't know that small shops make most of their money off of labor from
repairing bicycles and time spent on the phone answering questions for
someone they're in all likelihood never to see is taking money directly out
of the till.

I guess I forgive The Bicycleman...after all, he only *heard* me over
the phone, whereas even you, who has my words in writing, doesn't know
a sale when it stuffs money in your mouth!!

4) Someone who calls on the telephone and wants a dozen questions answered
and whines to everyone else that the bicycle shop was rude to them without
mentioning how rude they were to take up valuable time and then complain
that they weren't satisfied with the answers they got or that paying
customers should have been made to wait by someone who will never enter
their shop but loves to take up their time.

Of course, you're not whining here? Or am I keeping you up?

You can try ALT+CTRL+DEL or my new Usenet Reader Satisfaction Hotline
at 800-GET-LOST.

David Kerber wrote:


The caps are pretty important in bad weather to keep the area clean and
usable. I've seen them get pretty well iced up in cold weather, and
jammed with grit in wet weather. Those of you in San Diego, Miami or
Phoenix may not have to worry about, but in New England we do...

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).


Great point! I was just about to give up my valve cap fetish, too,
until you installed visions of myself freezing over trying to fix a
flat, only to find out that I can't pump 'cause of an ice-sealed
uncovered valve!

max wrote:


In this instance, a meta-analysis based on the dimensions of a) message size

What, you never heard of broad-band?

and b) explicitly naming the LBS's and owners

Is that unusual for a customer complaint?

is sufficient to approximate
an answer: yes.

Glad you don't build bridges or time machines.

Dial your time machine to 1979*, travel back to score a bucket of 'luudes.
return, take some and revisit the shops in question. Theory predicts a more
satisfactory outcome.

Wow, didn't know this was like finding a good doctor or car mechanic.

.max
*i lost my TGIF soundtrack album, if you could bring me a copy i'd be
grateful

Sorry, but I can do you the 'luudes, dude.

Mike Rice wrote:


Hi NYC. Hope your purchase experience goes smoothly for you from here
on out (maybe this is already too late?).

Hello, Mike! Thanks for the well-wishes -- I think I'm helping out
someone going out of business soon, NorthEast Recumbents. It was
amazing riding that SMGTe!! What an introduction to recumbent bicycles
-- I can't remember feeling the potholes which I would riding an
upright!!! I could almost fall asleep on that thing!!!!

Just wanted to thank you for the way you posted in the above quoted
text. It was easy to follow the 'conversation' when the points you
were responding to were included above your reply. In some (seems like
roughly half today) of your posts you have been typing your message
above the older ones, it really is somewhat more confusing to follow
that way.

You know, if it's a short sentence or two, something like that, I just
dash off whatever -- hence the top-posting. Also, some don't like
scrolling down just to see a few sentences. And I often prefer a
"bottom-heavy" visual in many contexts -- just seems to look more
"appropriate" to have "the cherry" on top, as it were.

Watch out or Ed D. might call you an idiot. He normally gets
set off by those who top post.

Why, is he a cranky bike shop owner?

Of coarse he is glad to have you in the group and might refrain from
exressing his more normally combative nature when responding to you.
Most of the rest of us aren't so lucky, and have learned to ignore his
more incoherent tirades. You haven't been here long enough to have
witnessed that side, good for you.

Oh, he tried to tickle me too, but I think I placated him with some
pin-ups.

Again, welcome to the group(s), and good luck with your two wheeled
ventures!

Hey, thanks! Here's hoping God's sense of humor doesn't run out on
me...I need to get that self-supported know-how.

Indiana Mike

I am sure some shops wouldn't mind building one out of the box, if it
makes the customer happy, and the customer is willing to wait a few days
for it....

That's what I'd figured! So I'm asking here...is this really some
industry-standard practice, then? As a kid I want to walk out of the
shop with my brand-new toy, but now I can wait another day or two or
more. I mean, even when I buy magazines in the bike shop I try to get
the "freshest" looking copy.

But again, that just may not be practical. The dealer may already have his
entire stock built up, with none in reserve. And depending upon his order
cycle, it may be several weeks, perhaps even a month, before his/her next
shipment of bikes. With freight as expensive as it is now, you can't afford
to ship out just one or two bikes anymore. You need to build an order large
enough that the manufacturer gives you a substantial freight credit.

--Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

"NYC XYZ" wrote in message
oups.com...

The Wogster wrote:


I am sure some shops wouldn't mind building one out of the box, if it
makes the customer happy, and the customer is willing to wait a few days
for it....

That's what I'd figured! So I'm asking here...is this really some
industry-standard practice, then? As a kid I want to walk out of the
shop with my brand-new toy, but now I can wait another day or two or
more. I mean, even when I buy magazines in the bike shop I try to get
the "freshest" looking copy.

They do keep water and dirt out of the valve, and dirt could lead to a
valve failure. Thst's rare though, my bike is missing one, and the car
is missing 3, no ill effects.

Okay. Still don't know why Evan keeps them outside the shop on the
sidewalk.... ;-)

W