Am I being unreasonable??

Enormous Peanut

Purchased my new bike last Thursday after the LBS stayed open late so I could pick it up. Had a gentle ride home just getting used to riding with SPD pedals/shoes and didn't change up to the outer chain ring.

On my ride last night I decided to give it some stick so changed up to the outer ring but the chain didn't move. Got off the bike and noticed that the cable attached to the front mech had come out of the housing and was flapping around.

Anyway phoned the LBS that I bought it from this morning to see if I could bring it in and get it fixed and checked over. Now having spent the thick end of £1000 in the shop a few days earlier and now the bike doesn't work as it should I think they should have said no problem bring it in and we'll look it over and get it fixed. I had to almost argue with the guy to get him to agree to look at it today.

Now when I get to the shop I have a moan about the fact that its gone wrong, wasn't rude, offensive or blaming anyone specifically, and the kid in the shop said "not sure what you're moaning about I've had a break cable snap after 2 miles" and also "it's not our fault stop moaning".

Am I wrong in thinking that a cable working loose after 7 miles is not good enough and also thinking that the LBS should have a better attitude about it as well as making sure all bolts are tight before I picked it up. Put a deposit on it on the Saturday so they had 4 days to get it ready.

In addition the chain protector sticker on the chain stay is coming off already so I asked about buying a new one. Again his response was surprising as he said just keep sticking it back down and they do sell the tape to replace it but it would be better buying off the internet!!

Am I being unfair to the LBS in being unsatisfied with their service?

Grill

Which shop.

Sounds like you like a whinge. Surely a please and thank you without pretense would have gotten the job done without all the drama.

ShutUpLegs

Enormous Penis wrote:

FTFY

DefyGravity

Grill wrote:

Which shop.

Sounds like you like a whinge. Surely a please and thank you without pretense would have gotten the job done without all the drama.

Surely the op is entitled to good service?

No a gear cable should not have come off, smacks of a loose retaining bolt that should have been checked as part of a pre delivery inspection.

tiredofwhiners

Kid in shop, giving lip, you ask for the manager...... or his Dad if he's being really unreasonable.

I wouldn't have put up with the reactions you got.

Enormous Peanut

@Grill

When I first phoned the shop I did say I would be grateful if I could bring it in and when it was fixed I did say thanks.

@tiredofwhiners

It was a young lad in the shop as the owner doesn't seem to work on Mondays. The owner who sold me the bike and stayed open late so I could pick it up couldn't have been more helpful, hence why I bought the bike from them (wasn't that fussed about the actual make of bike just wanted to buy from someone who I felt would give me good advice as I'm new to it all).

cougie

A pair of pliers and an allen key would solve that in under a minute. Sure its annoying, but I'd rather do it myself rather than put myself out by taking the bike back.

mattshrops

Shop should have said yes bring it straight back.

Maybe the owner doesnt know one of his/her staff are arseholes?

PlymouthSam

Yes and no IMO

Yes a tad unreasonable, its only a small glitch and like others have said would of been fixed with an allen key in seconds even on the roadside. Its not ideal i appreciate but you do get teething problems sometimes.

No not unreasonable at all due to the shite customer service you got from that spotty little oik. Personally when you go in again next, maybe for your 1st service, id have a word with the owner and explain how aggrieved you were with the poor service etc, you never know you may get a free chain stay protector lol

slowbike

Personally - if. I ran a bike shop and had just sold u a £1k bike I'd want it back in ASAP to check it over - and ensure you feel you're receiving good service so you bring it back for the real work.
As its been said - prob a 5 minute job - but you don't expect a new bike to require that level of attention that soon after purchase - so for the shop it is a chance to check everything over.
Heck - I've taken a bike back with a user created fault and the shop fixed it for the cost of the parts - I was truthful with them about why the bike broke and appreciated their time and effort in fixing it. We went back a little while ago and spent nearly 200 on bts n pieces - and received discount (not asked for!) - ill go back next time I need something and definatey if I'm after a replacement bike

Grill

Enormous Peanut wrote:

@Grill

When I first phoned the shop I did say I would be grateful if I could bring it in and when it was fixed I did say thanks.

Fair enough. As others have said speak to the owner directly as he's probably not thrilled about having some douche with terrible customer service skills alienating paying customers. If it were my shop I'd certainly want to have a second look to be sure everything had been done properly.

meursault

No you are not, It's brand new FFS. Ask for a refund and then see how fast they fix it.

Bozman

Slowbike wrote:

Personally - if. I ran a bike shop and had just sold u a £1k bike I'd want it back in ASAP to check it over - and ensure you feel you're receiving good service so you bring it back for the real work. As its been said - prob a 5 minute job - but you don't expect a new bike to require that level of attention that soon after purchase - so for the shop it is a chance to check everything over.

+1

A couple of minutes to fix a minor issue or a couple of minutes of arguing that will cost the shop a customer.
A shite LBS or employee but either way it could cost them tens or thousands of pounds, it's good to develope a relationship of trust with an LBS.
That atittude drove me to use the internet and to learn how to maintain/build my own bikes, i have got a good LBS now though and always throw work their way so folk don't get caught out by others.

Mikey23

No you're not being unreasonable. Your lbs want your continued custom ... I think it's called the goodwill of the business. I wouldn't get such crap advice in mine and I'm always in there and always finding stuff to buy. A quiet word won't go amiss

Pross

Definitely not unreasonable to take it back and get it fixed, it should have been checked over before they handed the bike over. However, by your own words you had a moan about it when you took it back. I would have just pointed out what the problem was and let them fix it and only moaned if they showed any bad attitude to rectify a basic fault. From your wording it sounds like it was your comments that triggered the bad attitude from the staff member although there's no excuse for poor service like that.

Bustacapp

meursault wrote:

No you are not, It's brand new FFS. Ask for a refund and then see how fast they fix it.

This. It could have been easily fixed but that's not the point. You just spent 1k on a new bike and you get some jumped up little shit giving you lip.

Ask for a full refund and don't relent unless they give you some freebies.

Also - name and shame the shop?

mikeouk

ShutUpLegs wrote:

Enormous Penis wrote:

FTFY

FTFY = FIXED THAT FOR YOU?

FAIL = FAIL

dont think OP is being unreasonable, sounds like the kid in the shop has an attitude, shouldnt be a reflection of the shop though. If it was me Id have a quiet word with the owner and tell him your happy with the service apart from this incident and you thought it was fair to let him know. If I was a shop owner Id want to know if I had an employee who was upsetting customers.

solosuperia

I was at a seminar a few years back, there were some guys from Ford there and I have no idea why the subject came up.
Somewhere it was found that :
If you have a minor fault on your new car and it is put right quickly with no fuss etc.
You are more likely to buy from that manufacturer again.

Perhaps the owner of the LBS was aware of the findings above and had implemented it without telling the lad!

I hasten to add when asked if Ford induced easy to fix faults on purpose, it was vehmently denied

Mikey23

Could be a family member ...

Enormous Peanut

Thanks for the responses, when I go in at the weekend to pick up my old bike after a service I'll have a chat with the guy who sold the new bike to me who I assume is the owner. I think the lad from yesterday was his son so will be respectful of that.

Just to clarify the only reason I had a moan when I got to the shop was the attitude when I phoned up to report the issue and to ask if I could bring it in for them to check over. To me it should have been a "no problem, sounds like a quick fix, we'll get it sorted asap and get you back on the road and sorry it's happened" kind of response.

I'm aware that these things happen and could easily have fixed it myself but being new to things I wanted someone who knows about these things to check it over to make sure nothing had been damaged.

iampaulb

id find another LBS

jimmies

I'd find another one too.

I bought a bike from Planet X last week and early on during my first ride when going down hill to a roundabout and braking on the hoods the bars slipped forwards a far bit.....almost went into the back of a car! I pulled over and tightened up the bolts. I decided that I was going to ring them and just let them know that they are sending bikes out as 'ready to go' when they are not.

Near the end of my ride the shifter (Scram Force) stopped going on to the big ring on the chainset and I started to think I had bought a bad bike. When I got home I saw that the driveside chainset had worked itself loose from the BB. I rang up Planet X and they said bring it in and they would do a straight swap for a new one as it should never leave the showroom like that. This is more than I expected from them and I will use them going forward because of it

When you spend a fair wedge of cash on anything a LBS should be completely willing to sort out any problems straight away FOC in the early days. If they start getting ar$ey about it to a point that they make you feel like you are the problem.....I would never use them again.

Bhoy1888

iampaulb wrote:

id find another LBS

Wouldn't it be worth letting them sort the problem. This may have been a one off with one employee, hardly a reason to tarnish the whole company. Allow the original seller/owner the opportunity to deal with it.

top_bhoy

Bhoy1888 wrote:

iampaulb wrote:

id find another LBS

Wouldn't it be worth letting them sort the problem. This may have been a one off with one employee, hardly a reason to tarnish the whole company. Allow the original seller/owner the opportunity to deal with it.

I'd be inclined to agree with this view otherwise everytime a LBS makes a mistake and you run away, you'll end up running out of LBS's to go to. If you get the feeling that the the mgt is dismissing your concern as trivial, then is maybe the time to reconsider finding another LBS.

il_principe

No you're not. The fact that you could have fixed it yourself is moot.

If LBS's want to thrive ATM then customer service is key. Ultimately you want to trust them to look after your bike when it's serviced etc. If they can't offer good, friendly service then they don't deserve your business. I'm always amazed by people who work in retail and have no idea how to treat customers.