Working for a bike shop

Tevans

Anyone else on here work for a bike shop?

I' really want to know whether the conditions we work under are standard.

1) Cr** pay. Actually I'm sure that is normal, but you'll be on minimum wage and no contract for years (according to the people whove been here longest) before they offer you owt else. No suprise they have a very high turnover of staff...
2) No proper discount schemes in place. You get 25% off RRP which still makes money for the company. We get a yearly staff purchase of 2 brands and that's it. Everyone here knows that EVERY brand we sell is keen to get the staff cheap stuff, but teh manager just want to make money off the staff. I (naievly) assumed that working in a bike shop would at least help me get cheap inner tubes...
3) Hardly anyone ehre rides to work. Staff of 30 odd at the head office, about 25 of whom drive 2 miles to work everyday...

Tredz by the way.

Am I in the wrong business, or just the wrong bike shop?

Kerguelen

No contract of employment? I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Odd, the govt. website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ ... G_10027905 says it doesn't even have to be in writing.

minardi

Sounds like you're being exploited. It's quite normal though. I think they call it 'capitalism'.

pangolin

Can you send me the headset spacers that I ordered in early January, and said they were in stock online

DonDaddyD

Kerguelen wrote:

No contract of employment? I'm pretty sure that's illegal.

Odd, the govt. website http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ ... G_10027905 says it doesn't even have to be in writing.

There is something known as an implied contract.

DonDaddyD

Sounds like you're in the wrong bike shop. A local bike shop, maybe? Even Evans Cycles?

veronese68

It does sound very poor. Not a bike shop but I get stuff at cost plus a 5% handling fee.
I would take the name out of your post in case the choice of wether or not you leave is taken out of your hands.

london-red

Veronese68 wrote:

It does sound very poor. Not a bike shop but I get stuff at cost plus a 5% handling fee.
I would take the name out of your post in case the choice of wether or not you leave is taken out of your hands.

agreed

alfablue

you are entitled to a written statement of particulars (not something you even have to sign). After working for them for one year you are entitled to the same conditions of any other employees doing a similar job regardless of whether there is a contract. Likewise you are "employment protected" after 1 year (Con-Dems want to make this 2 years like it was pre-labour, so employers will in future be able to sack people without reason, even if unfairly, for 2 years in future, this will undoubtedly resolve the nations economic difficulties!).

Mr Plum

Tevans wrote:

Tredz by the way.

Am I in the wrong business, or just the wrong bike shop?

Just the wrong shop. I know that full-timers at Wiggle get decent discount and fairly decent pay/bonus for the job. This is personal experience from about 3 years ago though so may be out of date.

What job is it that you do there?

bonkstrong

I used to work at Evans and if you're young free and single it's not the worst place to work at all, I really enjoyed it for a while but working there with young family commitments just doesn't work. Cycle-centric the ethos is,it's unfortunate that the chains are no more than supermarkets for bike stuff these days. If you go in them and expect LBS service you simply won't get it every time, the targets and KPI's that they are run to (supermarket style) mean there is actually little time for customer care. Part of the problem is the customer base that expect the shop to have the efficiency of Tesco's and the personal service of a high class escort - "No Mr. Customer it's really not our fault that you’ve got a puncture twice in a week. I could contact Cannondale to complain about the shoddy workmanship that’s gone in to their tyres but it’s perhaps not the correct course of action for now, it’s winter, a bad time for punctures on the glass strewn towpath of the canal. Let’s see if we can help you avoid getting punctures in the future…” “HOW DARE YOU, I KNOW MY RIGHTS, I’M CONTACTING TRADING STANDARDS”.

The amount of people that assume they’ll get discount because it’s a bike shop is astounding. People would just walk up to the counter, put two inner-tubes on the counter and their opening gambit would be “how much discount do I get for buying two?” Sorry, come again?? – “this is a bike shop, you’re supposed to give me discount!” My usual retort was along the lines of “does that work in Tesco’s? I think I’ll try that next time I get to the tills to pay for the weekly big shop!!” It was either met with humour or disgust, but rarely with a valid reason for demanding discount.

Repeat regular customers would indeed start to get discount, there were measures in place on the till systems to stop discounts been given but there are always ways around the system. But to outright ask for it on cheap items just because it’s a bike shop was a sure fire way to not get any discounts.

/Rant

spasypaddy

Tevans wrote:

Anyone else on here work for a bike shop?

yes

1) Cr** pay. Actually I'm sure that is normal, but you'll be on minimum wage and no contract for years (according to the people whove been here longest) before they offer you owt else. No suprise they have a very high turnover of staff...

minimum wage.

2) No proper discount schemes in place. You get 25% off RRP which still makes money for the company. We get a yearly staff purchase of 2 brands and that's it. Everyone here knows that EVERY brand we sell is keen to get the staff cheap stuff, but teh manager just want to make money off the staff. I (naievly) assumed that working in a bike shop would at least help me get cheap inner tubes...

depends which company you work for but evans do trade discount + VAT, cyclesurgery do differing levels depending on your experience/job role/LBS is normally trade price

3) Hardly anyone ehre rides to work. Staff of 30 odd at the head office, about 25 of whom drive 2 miles to work everyday...

thats a little bit weird, but to some people working in a bike shop is just a job, not everyone works there for the pleasure of working with their hobby

Greg T

Can I borrow an Allen Key?

Whoa Carbon Wheels

Do I need these?

What does this weigh?

okgo

You've just described retail. Why did you think it would be any different?

If you want the opposite of all of what you have said, yes you're probably in the wrong business. Retail is not a good payer, you're never going to get a bike at cost, and like said above, most people don't give a shit what the shop they work in sells, they just want their £6 quid an hour or whatever it is now.

ThanksBye

Tevans wrote:

Anyone else on here work for a bike shop?

Yes

1) Cr** pay. Actually I'm sure that is normal, but you'll be on minimum wage and no contract for years (according to the people whove been here longest) before they offer you owt else. No suprise they have a very high turnover of staff...

Above minium wage +Bonus

2) No proper discount schemes in place. You get 25% off RRP which still makes money for the company. We get a yearly staff purchase of 2 brands and that's it. Everyone here knows that EVERY brand we sell is keen to get the staff cheap stuff, but teh manager just want to make money off the staff. I (naievly) assumed that working in a bike shop would at least help me get cheap inner tubes...

At cost price +VAT

3) Hardly anyone ehre rides to work. Staff of 30 odd at the head office, about 25 of whom drive 2 miles to work everyday...

Most Staff ride to work, have showers to acomodate this