Some LBS really annoy......

mobilekat

Mutter

Having not ridden for a while (ill health mainly!) when I went to jump on my trusty steed I discovered my rear brakes were not behaving, so after a quick diagnosis of 'probably needs bleeding' I thought simple, go to LBS, buy bleed kit, sort brakes.
Also being a bit of a girl (literally) had the back up of if it all goes wrong can book bike in for service to get it sorted.

Enter LBS, locate most of the kit required, and try to buy it.
Yes they were quite busy- which is good for a Bank Holiday Monday, but after 20 minutes of being ignored (and other people had come in and been served before me- having been greeted by name) I replaced bleed kit on shelf (having briefly considered shoving up nose of one of the staff members) and walked out.

This is not the first time I have had the same issue from the same shop, but this will definitely be the last time...

Have phone another local shop, and booked bike in for service- but as they are bloody busy (because they are good) have a 2 1/2 week wait, so have ordered bleed kit etc online and will have a go.

I know we all want to be treated well when we are 'regulars', but when will people twig that if you ignore the woman with £20 worth of kit in her hand she will go elsewhere when she buys a new bike, and thus you loose lots of money. (
I want to support my LBS as they are within 10 miles of me and open nearly all the time, but if they are such numpties I will go elsewhere!

So instead I drive a 40 mile round trip to The Bike Shed in Exeter who have always been much nicer, much more helpful and thus I have spent over £1800 there in the last few years!

Rant over.......

danlikesbikes

Its a fair point you make & is very true.

I'm lucky in that I have a few LBS's near to me that all offer pretty good service.

There is one that whilst a good shop with great bikes their service does let them down more than a little so much so that I doubt that I would ever buy a bike from them.

Mental Mickey

Bike shops can be very cliquey, a bit like music shops - where the staff also ignore you in favour of preferred customers.

Anonymous

Some their focus is purely on the people looking at buying a new bike or a popular item like a helmet. I find (*cough* Evans, for starters) are a bit like car showrooms where they're all over you if you want to buy a car, but if you want to book a service, or buy a spare part, they're not interested (or at weekends they say they don't have the correct staff on to help you!).

A good LBS will of course be booked up for services. Though they should pay attention to you if you just want to buy something small there and then. Generally though it will be far cheaper online and often the good LBS are smaller shops and won't stock everything.

Still - go in the week. Quieter and more likely to have knowledgeable staff on.

diy

I've always had good service from my LBS and evans for that matter, both treat me like royalty and I spend hardly any money with either.

Bleed kits are probably best sourced from the online e-tailers or ebay, between now and getting it done, insert the pad spacer and wrap some old tights, or a scrunchy around the brake leaver to squeeze it up, then leave it a few hours. It helps restore the brake's bite on a temporary basis.

Cyclists, particularly those who work in bike shops are basically geeky nerds who are socially akward and were probably building up the courage to talk to you - you being a bird and all.

stanny_uk

my lbs are not to name names fairly high up high end bike sales/kit pecking order.. and if i'm honest they are all a little opinionated when you want to buy something you get the why do you want to do that or need that!! i'm all for help and advice but it gets a bit condescending in the end.. and my company must of done £30000 with em in cycle schemes in last twelve months!! we've all got em!!

Rushmore

ummm did you actually go to the till with the stuff you chose to buy?

I can kind of see where your coming from, but in the same light... some people like to be left just to browse.. as most people who need help will actually go and ask for what it is they need.. if you just stand there looking at bottles of mineral oil, i'd just leave you to it personally..

Anonymous

A certain popular branch I've already coughed at leaves the till empty whilst they serve some attractive girl looking to buy a helmet, or someone after a commuter bike.

Spent ages in said place before just trying to get someone to answer a simple question about helmets. End result eventually was they don't stock the helmets I wanted because there wasn't demand (after a full face) and I'd have to pay up in full to order one in and try one on! The place is geared towards cycle-to-work and family bikes that will be ridden once and stay in the shed/garage (only to be then nicked).

IT66T

Well my lbs's are none existant as far as i know of the nearest places are 2 miles away and are called Cough Halfords and Decathlon so you can guess which i'd be going to out of the 2 as theirs only the one place where i can receive decent service .

sigorman85

Mud sweat and gears in Weymouth is ace I went in today to book in a service as the botem bracket was lose and gears. Needed sorting but was a 2 week wait so the women said do u have a few mins and fixed the gears and bottom bracket for me and was free of charge might have to spend some money in there tomorrow I think

mobilekat

Sounds like LBS's are very variable.

I was sadly stood by the till, with items clutched in hand, and could hear the various conversations going on, and while I know we all want to look after our regulars the phrase, 'Can you hold on a moment while I quickly serve this person' will rarely offend a regular you are chatting too about the ride you went on last week!
Having worked behind counters in the past even the effort of making eye contact with a person who is waiting is enough to make them realise you have noticed and do care that they are stood there!

I would not normally go in at the weekend, as I know they will be busier, but wanted to get bike fixed ASAP so I could ride it, being in South Devon its tricky to find anywhere flat to ride and I do rather like functioning back brakes!
And have tried to give business to the local shop for that reason- I want there to be the option of nipping in when something breaks to prevent a weekend being wasted!

Sadly this shop are repeat offenders, and also do talk rather a lot of bull, and will do whatever they can to make money out of people, (I know this from some of the junk they have tried to sell me in the past!) we have some really good shops in the area, and thus tend to travel further to get to them, but there still is a bit of me that really wishes the shop within 20mins bike ride was better!

nicklouse

strange the staff ignoring a Girl. normally they will stop what they are doing to talk to the ladies.


it sounds like a staffing issue. as busy times they should really have a person dedicated to taking the cash.

lostboysaint

Very odd. I have one very good LBS which doesn't resemble any of the descriptions here in that they will actively engage new customers (having politely asked us regulars for a moment) rather than alienate them and also will provide all the service and product help you could ask for.

There is another within 400 yards which is very cliquey and can fuck right off as far as most of us are concerned.

MountainMonster

Rushmore wrote:

ummm did you actually go to the till with the stuff you chose to buy?

I can kind of see where your coming from, but in the same light... some people like to be left just to browse.. as most people who need help will actually go and ask for what it is they need.. if you just stand there looking at bottles of mineral oil, i'd just leave you to it personally..

If I don't get the service I want, I don't just stand there, I say something. If they have left you to the side, just speak up and ask if you can pay, rather than just standing to the side waiting.

.blitz

Would like to recommend Swinnos on the Chase. Mark, Jack & the staff always have time for customers even if they're just cluttering up the shop. Have impressed me on a number of occasions by getting hold of quality kit (ODI, Fox, Mavic) from the distributors that the online shops have decided not to stock. Very reasonable prices for brake bleeds, wheel rebuilds etc