I wouldn't be in such a hurry to excuse crap shop staff attitudes. I've been there and done that and I did what I was being paid to do with good grace. When I got fed up with it I went off and got something better.
I mean I understand all the reasons why people might not be super-motivated but while you're there you might as well be professional, rather than sulking about thinking you're too good for it.
But it's true that customers with bad attitudes deserve nothing but bad attitude in return!
dasilva - a brand such as Colnago is not available to everyone who has an account with Windwave. To be a stockist of a high end road brand such as that you have to sign up and show support for the brand, not just phone up and order one whenever you want. So that could be why the sales lad probably didn't know much about Colnago.
Sometimes the customer isn't 100% right.
Couple that to £4.97 an hour, sh*t hours, horrible customers with worse attitudes, no career prospects, and having to work for some prick who probably hates cyclists and you by extension and you're on your way to figuring out why some *might* lack enthusiasm from time to time.
Oh boo-bloody-hoo.
I'm with Mr Salmon on this.
I worked in Halfords in my yoof and whilst at uni for some extra cash. I could've got a job somewhere else for the same rate but chose Halfords as it sold bikes and I liked bikes. I think the range of customers you get in somewhere like Halfords is probably wider than most shops. But I did my job and did it well, no matter who the customer was (engineer or otherwise - but being an engineer myself this was no issue). I openly told people how crap £80 Apollo bikes were and they usually bought something more expensive, thanking me for my honesty.
There's no excuse for poor customer service if you work in any retail environment. If you asked for the job, knowing full well what the wages & conditions are, you do what's expected of you. Simple.
i agree with mr salmon aswell. professionalism costs nothing. if a customer is being an arsehole the best reaction to that is professionalism, not being an arsehole in return. makes you as bad as them in my opinion.
if you dont like your job, leave. if you cant leave, then suck it up.
i agree that julies used to be a good shop. went downhill about 8-9 years ago. coincidentally around about the time i stopped working there!! 
Thanks jimjam, what a nice man!!
And no not Julie's or Websters, it wasn't actually in Leicester
There's no excuse for poor customer service if you work in any retail environment. If you asked for the job, knowing full well what the wages & conditions are, you do what's expected of you. Simple.
I was paid £3 an hour only 14yrs ago in a music shop full time and I always gave the best service. No excuse for it. I did 12 years in retail and wouldn't accept poor service from my staff. No excuses.
If I get rubbish or even indifferent service from a shop I just don't buy anything at all, no matter how cheap it is.
Many moons ago I worked in a ski and climbing shop, first part time and then for 18 months I was full time. I won't pretend I was perfect 100% of the time (is anyone?) but the fact of the matter was that I loved talking about the gear we were selling. The fact I was earning a pittance was neither here nor there because I got to talk to like-minded individuals day-in-day-out. I loved it and it was probably the happiest time of my working life.
There's no excuse for poor customer service if you work in any retail environment
This may be true, but the reality is that there is far too much poor service in retail. We are a service-industry nation aren't we? Sometimes I wonder.
My (eventual) point is that it's sad that any bike shop can have unenthusiastic and unhelpful staff, because there must be no shortage of keen cyclists who would love that job.
I used to turn up at my LBS every xmas with a crate of beer.
For the next year after that, I was pretty much guaranteed a worthwhile discount on everything I bought, not to mention priority service when I just rocked up off the street.
Dropping off a large supply of jaffa cakes while they fixed my numpty maintenance failures also helped too.
Have never had a bad experience in a bike shop. While me and the staff don't exactly hold hands and skip off into the sunset, I am going in to buy something or get something sorted, not start a war.
Just chill FFS and leave the attitude at the door.
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