Purchased 2 inner tubes couple of weeks back from my new lbs and paid 9.99 per tube, didn’t think much of it as I was in a rush (and i’m just getting back into riding and couldnt remember how much tubes were) and was told they were heavy duty freeride tubes (specialized 2.3) looking today I see on speech’s own site similar tubes are 5.99.

Have I been had or do other lbs charge this much?

lol

Had, if they’re just in the black boxes they’re nothing special.

Name names 😉

Definitely been had. £9.99 for two is more like it.

some dh tubes are that price

Thought so 🙁 won’t be going there again and for reference I live in amersham and there’s not many shops to choose from!

@ Jedi these are def standard large spesh inner tubes!

Amersham weighting.

4.99 in my lbs for spesh innertubes. Could be an honest mistake though? Still, I wouldn’t be going back there either.

Bummer, take them back and abuse said shop worker lol (not sexually)

maybe they charged you for 2 twice by mistake. ask them

maybe shop guy made a mistake? perhaps go in next time you’re passing and ask? maybe he thought he gave you teh DH tubes? . . .

Check the receipt. £9.99 per tube is extortionate.

I get mine from Tesco for £1.85. I fill them with Stans liquid and they seem to last me months. Unless you’re DHing and need reinforced tubes, or are an xc racer when you’ll more than likely go tubeless, a £1.85 inner tube is good enough for anyone.

The guy new, it’s the owners son, I asked him for some heavy duty tubes and that’s what he produced. Tbh most people in the shop are very decent it’s this one guy who seriously let’s the side down!

A lot of bike shops charge £10 for DH tubes don’t they?

You get get them a lot cheaper online of course.

No, that sounds like a pretty standard price. Your LBS is in Morzine, right? 🙂

I always veer towards forgiveness until it becomes obvious that I’m being taken for a ride. Then you mention it.
If they react well then you know that you’ve reached an agreement, if not then you know not not buy anything there again.

Being had by the LBS seems to be the thing, that and assuming you know nothing about bikes.

No wonder people prefer to buy from bigger stores on the internet.

LBS tubes and tyres are always pricy. I buy them online usually.

evans were knocking out specialized for £2.99..

there are crap – the valves leak

I think the worst thing about this is i’m all in favour of supporting the lbs, I know that may sound old fashioned, but by conducting themselves in this fashion I’m just not going to buy anything from them.

Both me and the wife have bikes and I have a bit of a thing for shiny bits of expensive metal so potentially there’s lots of money to be had from my pocket through both upgrades and repiars. I was planning on upgrading my brakes to Hopes which I know they stock but I’m not going to bother now in fact I remember the same guy quoting me £80 for a set of slx shifters plus £30 to fit them.

When I commented that another staff member had quoted £55 I was told “he’s old and doesnt have a clue”.

Oh well at least I’ve learnt early on I suppose

Cheers

Think I can guess the shop and possibly the guy who served you. I remember calling in once and watching in amazement at how he spoke to a woman who had brought in her kid to look for a bike.

It was so bad I could almost imagine him as a Little Britain character!

*edit* as my comment was harsh – young guy with distinguishing features?

i always found those spesh ones pretty poor

double bitchslap!

I paid €13.90 for a freeride tube in Andorra. 😯

^ouch – you win 😆

So have you discussed this with the shop an given them a chance to maybe resolve the situation? Or just chosen to come on here and tell us how crap they are?

he’s had you over the counter!!
phone them up and ask about the inner tube prices as if you were thinking of buying some new ones, if he gives you a lower price than what he charged you bring it up and ask why he charged you so much and tell him you’ve got the reciept to prove it then go down get your money back and stick him over the counter and spank his botty hard!!

Am I not allowed to ask questions?

If you read my original post Mister P I hope that you will be able to see that I was asking a genuine question as I didnt know being new to the wolrd of bikes.

Maybe I will go in and have a chat but unfortunately the experience I’ve had doesnt exactly ecourage me to do so. Additionally I also pointed out that all the other employees are brilliant and the shop is let down by one individual.

*edit* gonzy thats actually what I was planning on doing 😉

shops are not charadees they have some high bills to pay they are there to make as much s they can some use differnet models to achive this.. some charge what they can get away with others give great service others charge nowt and close

So do you feel it is right and just to over charge a customer for a small item putting said customer off returning to the shop and purchasing larger more expensive items?

I fully understand the costs of running a shop it is expensive and as I stated I am all in favour of supporting my lbs but there is a point.

On the flipside, my LBS had a regular lady customer with a taste in high end Trek full suss bikes. She looked the part too, so every time she came in for something there would be a rush of testosterone fuelled chaps racing to help leaving the shop floor like the Marie Celeste.

Yes, of course you are allowed to ask questions but I think naming (or as good as naming) them before finding out if it was a genuine mistake or not is a bit off personally. If I sold something and the customer wasn’t happy I would hope they would let me know first so I could try to resolve the situation before my name was sullied and I am sure you would hope for the same. People do make mistakes from time to time.

totalshell – Member
shops are not charadees they have some high bills to pay they are there to make as much s they can some use differnet models to achive this.. some charge what they can get away with others give great service others charge nowt and close

And some charge rip off prices for consumables and lose the customer who later may buy a complete bike/lights/helmet/jerseys……….

Seems pointless just to make a few pounds on a one off sale?

Or maybe Amersham has lots of customers who enjoy being ripped off, if if that is what actually happened?

I wouldn’t bother phoning & asking how much tubes would cost in a ‘secret shopper’ fashion.
I’d just go in, ask to speak to the manager and ask why the tubes were so expensive, perhaps explaining that you are new to cycling and prior to looking into it further thought that this was the going rate for a pair of tubes.

Depending on his response, either go there in future or find a different shop.

Mister P granted and point taken when I posted last night I was extremely miffed and posted in haste which I wouldn’t normally do.

In this day and age however why should I, as a paying customer, have to suffer because an individual tries to take the piss, there are other bike shops and if I have to traval a bit further afield to get something I have to travel.

People do make mistakes and if I felt this had been the case then I wouldnt have posted on here, this guy pulled out 2 tubes and said “£10 each as they are heavy duty downhill tubes” He made no mistake I can promise you that.

Come on, you could have called them and demanded an explanation in the time it took you to write that.

Pull your finger out and get this thread moving forwards.

😉

Can I also point out before this gets into “LBS rips off new rider” content etc etc.

Other individuals who work in the shop have been very very helpful this single individual (who is always there) has put me right off and while yes I should go and have a chat tbh I just cant be arsed I would rather strike up a relationship with another shop rather than have to dodge said individual just to go and buy something.

it doesnt matter if he does the mystery shopper tactic or just goes down to the shop and confronts the owner/manger about thier pricing policy…so long as he gets some answers and a refund or goodwill gesture of some sort.
whether its £10 or £1 is beside the point…the fact is they have overcharged him and are trying to get away with it….that lad who sold the tubes should get his comeuppance….20 lashes with the said inner tube me thinks….(where has this whipping fetish come from…..??)

Now I’m not sure you were overcharged, rather taken advantage of
If they’d short changed you or got you to pay more than a ticket price that would have been overcharging

I had a bottle of water from a mini bar last week and the bastids stung me £8, they weren’t overcharging just taking advantage of someone on an expense account