Evans at Victoria...

DonDaddyD

For me the difference between stores like Evans and privately owned LBS is that I treat Evans like a self service shop and only purchase things I actually need immediately - like an inner tube. I go into 'proper' local bike stores (like DeVer and Luciano Cycles) with my heavy duty questions or when I need my bike serviced. I don't expect 'proper' LBS service at Evans or similar stores (that's not to say you can't get a superb service, it's just that I don't expect it).

With most privately owned bike shops you know there is going to be a certain amount of passion behind the service you recieve from a person who has made selling/servicing bikes/bike parts a vital part of their life and ability to live life.

In DeVer and Luciano Cycles case there is a certain level of reassurance knowing that advice given and the service recieved is coming from a guy who once raced professionally (DeVer) or a guy who has his TT Bike and Kebel race bike hanging from the walls (Luciano Cycles). - Get to know them and they might just start throwing discounts at you as well.....

KnightofCydonia

stuarthop wrote:

Anyone know of a decent LBS in Nottingham or Derby? (anyone got any thoughts on samways in Derby) as i need my forks servicing and the rear hub replacing.

Leisure Lakes which is a couple of miles off the A52, just outside Long Eaton. When I was buying my bike, I went into samways and they stood around talking to each other, I went up & asked a question about a model, they shrugged their shoulders and told me they didn't have it in. As I was ready to spend nearly a grand, I thought they might've offered to get it in for me but they didn't & went back to nattering with each other. I then went upto LL and the guy spent a good hour talking to me about stuff, giving me good advice and I knew then that they'd be the ones I used. Since then everything has been excellent.

s_works87

im intrigued as to what you were trying to order ??

s_works87

leisure lakes have been good to me in the past

amnezia

I've never had any problems with Evans. They serve a purpose but I wouldn't go in their searching for advice.

spark303

Nifkin wrote:

To quote the Guardian article:

"a culture change brought about in no small part by the rise of chains like Evans and Cycle Surgery, who, while condemned by some as soulless and ubiquitous, understand newcomers make up a big part of their customer base and train staff accordingly"

This approach to training clearly explains the experience I had earlier; now you can guarantee that, if you ask the shop staff anything more than an elementary question, they will stare back at you open-mouthed like a complete novice...

They seem to struggle with even the elementary questions sometimes. I was in Evans at Ludgate Circus at lunchtime and asked an assistant if they sold stems (as they didn't have any on display). He picked one out from under the counter and asked me "is this a stem?" I left at that point.

On the flipside, another branch of the illustrious chain managed to undercharge me £150 for a Brooks Swallow titanium :shock: To my shame, I didn't point out the mistake...

tardington

Even in the good shops, you can be unlucky with specific staff.

In Edinburgh Bikes ( good while back) I was looking for a quill/aheadstem converter,and was told smugly "we don't stock 'em"... Though I did get to say "Um, could you pass down the one on wall behind you then?" 8)

soy_sauce

tardington wrote:

Even in the good shops, you can be unlucky with specific staff.

In Edinburgh Bikes ( good while back) I was looking for a quill/aheadstem converter,and was told smugly "we don't stock 'em"... Though I did get to say "Um, could you pass down the one on wall behind you then?" 8)

i guess its all just base on luck that if you ask the right person with the right questions.
it like you won't go into PC World asking the sale floor staffs for advice of building a water cooling system for your PC or over-clocking your PC.

roger_merriman

soy_sauce wrote:

tardington wrote:

Even in the good shops, you can be unlucky with specific staff.

In Edinburgh Bikes ( good while back) I was looking for a quill/aheadstem converter,and was told smugly "we don't stock 'em"... Though I did get to say "Um, could you pass down the one on wall behind you then?" 8)

i guess its all just base on luck that if you ask the right person with the right questions.
it like you won't go into PC World asking the sale floor staffs for advice of building a water cooling system for your PC or over-clocking your PC.

or ask about anything that isn't windows say, not unless you like the staff to do their goldfish impressions any way.

LDN-Flyer

I was actually discussing with a friend how a cycle shop with the same attitude as an apple store could be very good. With Genius' for certain types of bike etc. I thought the old Zavvi location on Ox Street would have been perfect. Room for a little test track downstairs too.

spasypaddy

Gazzaputt wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

+1

well i for one am not a monkey.

My store for example has a wide range of knowledge and ability. If you get served by me i am incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and good at my job. But there are other members of staff who leave a lot to be desired.

I am a cyclist that works in evans, i am not an evans staff member who rides because i work there.

Maybe some of you should stop generalising the whole company and come see me in my store and i'll be able to answer any of your questions and help you out more than you can ever imagine.

Unfortunately some of you are looking to attack us and declare your hatred over one bad experience. Yes we are a chain and yes we employee alot of people that wouldnt be out of place working in maccy d's but some of us take pride in our job and the company that we work for.

Stuey01

spasypaddy wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

+1

well i for one am not a monkey.

My store for example has a wide range of knowledge and ability. If you get served by me i am incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and good at my job. But there are other members of staff who leave a lot to be desired.

I am a cyclist that works in evans, i am not an evans staff member who rides because i work there.

Maybe some of you should stop generalising the whole company and come see me in my store and i'll be able to answer any of your questions and help you out more than you can ever imagine.

Unfortunately some of you are looking to attack us and declare your hatred over one bad experience. Yes we are a chain and yes we employee alot of people that wouldnt be out of place working in maccy d's but some of us take pride in our job and the company that we work for.

to be fair to you, and to Evans, I do use the store in Wandsworth and the MTB specialist one opposite Waterloo and have found some of the staff to be excellent. I've also blown a significant chunk of change in there on a couple of very nice mountain bikes, mainly because of the service I received.

spasypaddy

Stuey01 wrote:

spasypaddy wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

+1

well i for one am not a monkey.

My store for example has a wide range of knowledge and ability. If you get served by me i am incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and good at my job. But there are other members of staff who leave a lot to be desired.

I am a cyclist that works in evans, i am not an evans staff member who rides because i work there.

Maybe some of you should stop generalising the whole company and come see me in my store and i'll be able to answer any of your questions and help you out more than you can ever imagine.

Unfortunately some of you are looking to attack us and declare your hatred over one bad experience. Yes we are a chain and yes we employee alot of people that wouldnt be out of place working in maccy d's but some of us take pride in our job and the company that we work for.

to be fair to you, and to Evans, I do use the store in Wandsworth and the MTB specialist one opposite Waterloo and have found some of the staff to be excellent. I've also blown a significant chunk of change in there on a couple of very nice mountain bikes, mainly because of the service I received.

I am the road specialist in my store, my colleagues and managers all send customers to me when they want a road bike or any road information assuming im not already dealing with someone.

I'm not pushy and i wont sell something that i personally wouldnt use myself or thats not necessary for the purpose.

I have alot of very good personal customers who only come back to my store to deal with me. Ive only been there 3 months.

boneyjoe

Not sure if this has been mentioned above. At St Paul's store (and I asssume elsewhere), a whole bunch of new people have been brought in for the summer, who currently don't know much and are being trained up (which takes up much time of the more experienced people). Unless you have a very basic query, suggest you go in at a quieter time, and specifically seek out the store manager or one of the more senior people. Their on-line sales people are also pretty helpful if you go that route.

I don't work for Evans btw!

s_works87

i still dont think nifkin has explained himself very well, what did you try an order ? what did the staff member actually say to you ?

its a shame we can't here more than one side to the story......

I agree with others in depends who you get .. but i think this is common in retail not just the bike shops

Nifkin

s_works87 wrote:

i still dont think nifkin has explained himself very well, what did you try an order ? what did the staff member actually say to you ?

Now then S-Works87, I didn't think it was absolutely necessary to provide a transcript of my actual conversation; it wasn't as if the staff member shouted at me, used a string of expletives or anything else as sensational, it was more their extraordinarily obstructive manner, in which I had to suggest a list of options that may or may not be available to them, like playing a game were one person questions and the respondent can only answer yes or no. Add to that that they wouldn't look me in the eye, with communication finally dwindling until they moved away without saying a word, I'd say it was a rather discombobulating experience. And, as I said in my original post, this is not the first time I've had an experience like this at this branch.

Oh, and the part in question was an alloy faceplate with allen bolts for a Spesh stem, which can hardly be gold dust. Nonetheless, the availability of the Item I required was simply not the issue; my gripe was about the apathetic service I received (I have since contacted Specialized directly and they have been more than accommodating; one wonders why the bother with dealers in this circumstance).

s_works87 wrote:

its a shame we can't here more than one side to the story......

Oh yes! What a shame it is! Life would be so much less complicated, eh? *Yaaaaaawn* :roll:

s_works87 wrote:

I agree with others in depends who you get .. but i think this is common in retail not just the bike shops

No shiznit Sherlock???! You don't say? lol! Of course poor service is a malaise of the retail industry in general, but this is a cycling forum, and it's fair to say out of the 37,815,039 (and counting) posts on this site, a fair few are gripes about service that's been received (or not, as the case may be) from bike shops by punters... EDIT here's a fine and recent example right here: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12629972

Anyway, you do seem to be rather interested in the details of my particuilar experience, even though the subject of the thread has spun out to a wider topic; I'm going to have to put you down as Evans Cycles Staff Champion for June I'm afraid.. which branch do you work in? I'll pop in for a chat! :P

Gussio

Nifkin wrote:

I have since contacted Specialized directly and they have been more than accommodating

Would you mind posting the contact details? I have been trying to track down an old Specialized rear mech hanger, so far without success.

Nifkin

Gussio wrote:

Nifkin wrote:

I have since contacted Specialized directly and they have been more than accommodating

Would you mind posting the contact details? I have been trying to track down an old Specialized rear mech hanger, so far without success.

Off their website:

SPECIALIZED UK, LTD.
29 Barwell Business Park
Leatherhead Road, Chessington Surrey
KT9 2NY
Great Britain
Tel: +44 (0)20 8391 3500
Fax: +44 (0)20 8391 3501
E-mail: sales@specializeduk.com
E-mail: customerservice@specializeduk.com

Gussio

thanks

Gazzaputt

spasypaddy wrote:

Gazzaputt wrote:

Stuey01 wrote:

Pay peanuts, get monkeys.

+1

well i for one am not a monkey.

My store for example has a wide range of knowledge and ability. If you get served by me i am incredibly helpful, knowledgeable and good at my job. But there are other members of staff who leave a lot to be desired.

I am a cyclist that works in evans, i am not an evans staff member who rides because i work there.

Maybe some of you should stop generalising the whole company and come see me in my store and i'll be able to answer any of your questions and help you out more than you can ever imagine.

Unfortunately some of you are looking to attack us and declare your hatred over one bad experience. Yes we are a chain and yes we employee alot of people that wouldnt be out of place working in maccy d's but some of us take pride in our job and the company that we work for.

Sorry I didn't mean to offend. My point is with the wages that can be paid you won't knowledgeable staff. It'll take time to train and the Evans stores that I have visted at Spitalfields, London Bridge and Waterloo staff had a really couldn't be arsed attitude.

I have bought 2 bikes from Evans with excellent service from the customer support team and would recommend buying a bike online with no hesitation.