Little pissed about getting sold a "demo"...

nternal1

I just bought a Giant Defy 1 and, after ascertaining the size, the salesman at the Giant store told me I was in luck because they already had one made up. It turns out that the "made up" one was the one on display. It sort of rubbed me the wrong way that they were selling me a "demo" but I dismissed this because, having never bought a bike before, I figured this was how it was done . After all, there's not really much damage that people can do just touching a bike is there? Later on, I was in the store (for some maintenance) and another guy was just returning after a "test" ride of a Defy 0 Advanced. It occurred to me that my bike had quite possibly been used for "test" rides as well. This really sort of pisses me off since, in most other types of retail, selling a "demo" entails a discount. Is it common practice for bike stores to sell the bike right off the floor?

giant_man

No it isn't common practice; if it was a demo bike, you should have got some kind of discount, especially if there were any signs of use, surely. You didn't try and negotiate anything when you saw it?

smidsy

Big difference between on display and demo.

If it was the former then no issue, if it is the latter then you have a justified gripe.

nternal1

giant man wrote:

No it isn't common practice; if it was a demo bike, you should have got some kind of discount, especially if there were any signs of use, surely. You didn't try and negotiate anything when you saw it?

It looked completely new to me at the time. Later at home the only thing I noticed was some scuffing on the seat post which I assumed was made when the seat being fitted to my dimensions. Other than that there were no signs of wear. Like I said, I'm new to buying a bike. When I buy a car or piece of stereo gear I always negotiate because I know how much room they have to move. Before buying the bike I read somewhere (here I believe) that there is little to no wiggle room on bikes and just assumed that the "value" of buying at local retailer came from the service and support. Maybe I got it wrong.

taon24

There is always room for negotiation.
At the very least ask for freebies/extras. Bottle cages, lock, lights, saddlebag may come to £50-100 retail, but are likely worth much less to the shop. If they aren't discounting the bike, and you aren't too fussy over extra components, they might chuck some useful stuff in.

I would quite happily buy a display bike as new from a LBS, saves them getting it in and taking more time.
I always regard the tire rubber flash as a good sign the bike has not been ridden out of the shop, as well as the tyres being underinflated on the stand.

antfly

You should always negotiate when buying a new bike and you should get 10 % off a thousand pound bike just for asking IME, and plenty more if it's ex-demo.

nternal1

taon24 wrote:

There is always room for negotiation.
At the very least ask for freebies/extras. Bottle cages, lock, lights, saddlebag may come to £50-100 retail, but are likely worth much less to the shop. If they aren't discounting the bike, and you aren't too fussy over extra components, they might chuck some useful stuff in.

I would quite happily buy a display bike as new from a LBS, saves them getting it in and taking more time.
I always regard the tire rubber flash as a good sign the bike has not been ridden out of the shop, as well as the tyres being underinflated on the stand.

I think the obvious "freebie" (which I will go after next time) would be the pedals.

nternal1

Ps. I should have gone for some throw in's but, based on other threads on this topic, I bought a current model at the peak of the season so I probably wouldn't have done a whole lot better. No question though... I won't make that mistake again. I have an adequate bike now so next time I'll be in a position to take or leave it. My experience is the that the only way to negotiate is to be fully prepared to buy or walk. This time around I needed to get a bike and that doesn't allow one to negotiate from strength.

markos1963

I bought an ex demo bike once and had no problems but I was lucky as the retailer was totally upfront about it, offered a big discount and a warranty. In the end I paid £750 for a £1400 bike.

spasypaddy

so you expect a retailer to have possibly 2-300 bikes on the shop floor for people to sit on and test ride but aren't for sale. what a waste of stock.

im confused.

there are very few demo bikes in shops, the only two that spring to mind are the ones sent out by shimano and campag for people to try out di2/eps on.

Bikes on shop floors are there to be test ridden and bought.

nicklouse

nternal1 wrote:

I just bought a Giant Defy 1 and, after ascertaining the size, the salesman at the Giant store told me I was in luck because they already had one made up. It turns out that the "made up" one was the one on display. It sort of rubbed me the wrong way that they were selling me a "demo" but I dismissed this because, having never bought a bike before, I figured this was how it was done . After all, there's not really much damage that people can do just touching a bike is there? Later on, I was in the store (for some maintenance) and another guy was just returning after a "test" ride of a Defy 0 Advanced. It occurred to me that my bike had quite possibly been used for "test" rides as well. This really sort of pisses me off since, in most other types of retail, selling a "demo" entails a discount. Is it common practice for bike stores to sell the bike right off the floor?

I dont see anything wrong with this at all.

CYCLESPORT1

Someone could have "Test Drove" your new car !

imposter2.0

CYCLESPORT1 wrote:

Someone could have "Test Drove" your new car !

in which case, it would have been 'ex-demo' - keep up.

Tenacious Doug

Imposter wrote:

CYCLESPORT1 wrote:

Someone could have "Test Drove" your new car !

in which case, it would have been 'ex-demo' - keep up.

So if someone had already tried on the jeans you bought, they would be ex demo too?

giant_man

markos1963 wrote:

I bought an ex demo bike once and had no problems but I was lucky as the retailer was totally upfront about it, offered a big discount and a warranty. In the end I paid £750 for a £1400 bike.

You see the difference here, in your case, the retailer was upfront about it, this wasn't the case with the OP ..

iPete

Pretty sure all the big retailers let you go for a spin on the stocked bikes, doesn't make them 'demo' bikes.

imposter2.0

Tenacious Doug wrote:

Imposter wrote:

CYCLESPORT1 wrote:

Someone could have "Test Drove" your new car !

in which case, it would have been 'ex-demo' - keep up.

So if someone had already tried on the jeans you bought, they would be ex demo too?

seriously?

Pkh72

I had this with Halfords when buying my Boardman Team Carbon the other week.
Was told they were getting me a brand new boxed one from their Peterborough store and because i had some suspicions (which are too long winded and boring to go in to here) i found out they had supplied me with the display model from another more local store.
They hadn't told me and been honest about it so i went in and had a word with the manager after i had found out and rather than giving me cash off he asked me if there was aby kit i wanted instead, i had an £80 helmet as an apology.
Put togther with the 10% road bike offer and the 10% british cycling discount i accepted it as being one of those things.
But i wouldn't use Halfords for a bike purchase again.

A bit contradictory bearing in mind the above statement but all forgotten about after my first ride, love the bike.

jordan_217

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

nicklouse

jordan_217 wrote:

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

i think the OPs understanding of Demo is not the same as most other peoples.

spasypaddy

nicklouse wrote:

jordan_217 wrote:

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

i think the OPs understanding of Demo is not the same as most other peoples.

i think he got a shop floor bike which might have been ridden around the block once or twice by someone else.

that is not a demo bike.

keef66

Any minute now there'll be somebody else along complaining that their LBS don't offer test rides...

chris_bass

jordan_217 wrote:

Have I missed something or do you categorically know your bike was used as a demo?

yeah, i dont get this, how do you know it is a demp now and not at the time?

leodis75

I bought an ex demo from Evans IMHO, the size they kept telling me was out of stock until I asked one guy a few weeks later who said they “had one in Manchester”. I ordered it and they sent it from Manc to their depo and then to Leeds, after 10 days it turned up, got my paper work done on Cyclescheme and off home I rode, the weather had been bad so didn’t use it for two weeks, then when I did take a closer look it was obviously seconds, the downtube had a dint in it, a chip of paint off the front and the cassette see some wear, so I took it back and their answer was “prove it was us”.

I have had nothing but issues with the rear derailleur in 2000 miles and 2 services, replaced the rear cassette and chain and still the same issue, obviously I cannot be 100% it was the amount of use it got as demo but the shipping around the country cannot of helped.. Anyway that’s my moan out of the way.. My bad.

I am not sure why people are defending bike shops selling used goods as new, I had a similar issue with a driver golf club from American golf, the club had been used on the indoor range, there was sky marks and obvious damage and when pointed out they offered 10% discount, I said no thanks I want a new club which they ordered.

carrock

I think Specialized have defined best practice here.

I bought a new Roubaix some years ago which was built up and on display. I rode it round the block before buying, and had I not bought it someone else may have ridden it round the block and bought it. I got 10% off not because it was a display bike but because it was August and the next years bikes were out.

At the same time my bro in law bought an ex demo roubaix. It was a unique colour, bright purple, and had test bike stickers on it, so was clearly a demo bike. He paid about 50% of retail for it.

What the OP has bought is a built up display bike that someone else's arse may or may not have sat on and been ridden a couple of hundred yards.

Patently not the same as a demo bike which may have covered a few hundred miles before being sold off at the end of the season.

That is my understanding.

spasypaddy

leodis75 wrote:

I bought an ex demo from Evans IMHO, the size they kept telling me was out of stock until I asked one guy a few weeks later who said they “had one in Manchester”. I ordered it and they sent it from Manc to their depo and then to Leeds, after 10 days it turned up, got my paper work done on Cyclescheme and off home I rode, the weather had been bad so didn’t use it for two weeks, then when I did take a closer look it was obviously seconds, the downtube had a dint in it, a chip of paint off the front and the cassette see some wear, so I took it back and their answer was “prove it was us”.

I have had nothing but issues with the rear derailleur in 2000 miles and 2 services, replaced the rear cassette and chain and still the same issue, obviously I cannot be 100% it was the amount of use it got as demo but the shipping around the country cannot of helped.. Anyway that’s my moan out of the way.. My bad.

I am not sure why people are defending bike shops selling used goods as new, I had a similar issue with a driver golf club from American golf, the club had been used on the indoor range, there was sky marks and obvious damage and when pointed out they offered 10% discount, I said no thanks I want a new club which they ordered.

no what that means is it was sitting on the shop floor or workshop in manchester. and was either damaged on a test ride, or damaged in transit from one store to another (im going to go out on a limb and say transit)

evans do not have demo bikes (apart from the ones brompton have donated for people to test ride for 24hours, which are not for sale)

leodis75

So how many test rides are acceptable? For all the buyer knows it is shipping around the country from store to store for test rides by punters. I can understand the LBS doing this but a chain I would have thought would sell unused stock first and then a reduced price for test bike.

smidsy

TBF the OP has made assumptions.

OP - did you speak to the LBS? Have you raised your concerns with them? Do you know for a fact that it has been ridden?

From you initial post I believe you have a bike that was sat in the showroom. This is no different to a tin of beans on the shelf of the supermarket.

spasypaddy

leodis75 wrote:

So how many test rides are acceptable? For all the buyer knows it is shipping around the country from store to store for test rides by punters. I can understand the LBS doing this but a chain I would have thought would sell unused stock first and then a reduced price for test bike.

as many as it takes to sell it i guess is the correct answer.

evans only ship bikes around the country when there is no stock left in the warehouse.

leodis75

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

spasypaddy

leodis75 wrote:

So in truth (as devil’s advocate) you could be buying a "new" bike with your hard earnt cash which has 500-1000 miles on it already for the same price as a brand new one?

how long do you go on test rides for?