Dear LBS,

If you’re website has an email address in the contact us section, then why not take 5 minutes at some point during the day to check your emails?

In a modern world where most people seem to do their shopping online and the impression we get as customers is that LBS’s seem to be in a constant battle against the big online retailers (CRC, wiggle and such); you’ve obviously realised the importance of having a website. If that website is not for selling stock through but for making your LBS’s presence known then why the devil don’t you realise that people are just as likely to email you (for free) through the very email address you’ve put online instead calling (costs money) or visiting (distance and again, costs money).

I remember reading that some LBS’s are making their money through servicing and fitting parts instead of selling bikes/parts due to the heavy online competition and buying power of CRC/Wiggle and co… so when someone emails you asking about your highest level and priced bike service it might be in your interest to respond 🙂

yours sincerely,

mr philip ‘not even a real rant’ consequence

kissy kissy xx

Takes time and money to respond.

maybee they post on here and realised who you were and realised you are more trouble than you are worth ❓

i refuse to call them, they can call me as i included my mob number in my email 😉

Phone’s fine but if they put an email on their site then they should check it.

Takes time and money to respond.

i’m pretty certain they’d make more money from doing the service than it would cost to call me, otherwise they wouldn’t offer the service.

maybee they post on here and realised who you were and realised you are more trouble than you are worth

maybe, their loss.

is it unreasonable of me to assume that a shop that encourages people to get in contact via email on their website would check their email?

no but it is unrealistic to not expect sarcasm on here

is it unreasonable of me to assume that a shop that encourages people to get in contact via email on their website would check their email?

No, but it’s a bit pointless to moan about it on the internet.

if it encourages a LBS person to check their emails and they make some money then i’ve not wasted my time 🙂

if they are not checking emails, they are hardly likely to check every bike website on the internet to see if you’ve posted a question about them

😆

if i expected them to check bike websites i’d have mentioned their name in the thread title or the post

are people so used to rants on here and angry people that they read into everything as being angry? my post has a smiley face and kisses 😀

I’m totally with philc on this. Well known fact in the marketing world that dealing with customers via email or web is about 1/10th the price of phone interaction.

For small businesses like bike shops, dealing with customers via email which can be handled without interupting shop work, seeing to customers etc, should be a godsend. Also very simple to e.g confirm that parts have arrived, bike is ready etc.

Once a shop has a customer’s email, they can use that to alert them to special deals, new stock etc.

Why on earth would they not encourage email use?

How long did you wait for a response?
XX
😀

I have emailed 18bikes several times and they always responded in a timely fashion (less than an hour). They have always answered the phone quickly and helped with my stupid questions patiently too. So i bought a new heckler from them.

Actually can you post this on a Spanish bike forum as well pls Phil?

I’m still waiting for a shop in mallorca to email me back about holiday biek hire and they could do with a nudge.

How long did you wait for a response?
XX
🙂

lol i emailed them yesterday morning, just a little surprised that at some point yesterday they didnt check the email or if they did they didnt email back with a quick “that’ll be 50billion squid and we can do it thursday”… i’m really not fussed, angry or upset about it… just a little surprised 🙂

Name and shame?

I’m usually the first in the queue for pitchforks, but not replying to an email for a day is hardly shameful.

I’m still waiting for a shop in mallorca to email me back about holiday biek hire and they could do with a nudge.

If you don’t get sorted, I can highly recommend these guys in Port de Pollenca – http://www.procyclehire.com/

I busted a shifter and they got me sorted within the hour. Truly excellent service.

What’s more shameful is the pedantic ned for putting up a tag. 🙄

For small businesses like bike shops, dealing with customers via email which can be handled without interupting shop work, seeing to customers etc, should be a godsend

How does that work then? Depends on the query, but unless you are not expecting a response e.g. Your part is in stock, then email conversations can drag on and on. Its often quicker and cheaper (in terms of staff time, which is where most of comms cost is) to use the phone.

i refuse to call them, they can call me as i included my mob number in my email

🙄

thanks geoff but they are sold out

they did reply to my email query really quickly to tell me that though

🙁

they did reply to my email query really quickly to tell me that though

😆

lol where have i said its shameful?

CG, no need to name and shame as (and i’ve tried to make this point) i’m really not upset or worried about it 😀 its just a gentle non-ranting PSA to bike shop people that some people like to send emails if that shop advertises an email contact address 8)

geoffj, considering you wrote “Its often quicker and cheaper (in terms of staff time, which is where most of comms cost is) to use the phone.” why the rolling eyes smiley and quoting me joking about refusing to call them?

I’ll prob call them in a couple of days if they haven’t got back to me, or pop in on my way home and ask them in person.

i refuse to call them

Eh?

lol where have i said its shameful?

CG said name and shame

of course you are talking about an email here….

there’s no guarantee it’s actually been delivered, or not ended up in a spam filter somewhere, or that the shop internet connection is working…

much as it pains people to be reminded, you should treat emails the same way as you would a real letter, for non-urgent, non-guaranteed (special/recorded delivery excepting of course) communications, you tend to just forget about it because it works ok 99% of the time.

to be honest if you refuse to pick up a phone and won’t wait a day for an answer to an email, i’d say its your loss, not theirs.

this is fantastic, stw really cant understand when someone isn’t angry 😆

CG said name and shame

good point, i apologise for assuming you directed it at me

you should treat emails the same way as you would a real letter, for non-urgent, non-guaranteed (special/recorded delivery excepting of course) communications

agreed, hence my post 20 minutes earlier saying “I’ll prob call them in a couple of days if they haven’t got back to me, or pop in on my way home and ask them in person”… i’m not treating this urgently 🙂

to be honest if you refuse to pick up a phone and won’t wait a day for an answer to an email, i’d say its your loss, not theirs

😀 25 minutes before you wrote that i wrote my post saying “I’ll prob call them in a couple of days if they haven’t got back to me, or pop in on my way home and ask them in person”

i’m not treating this urgently

Then STFU. Why on earth are you moaning about it on the internets? This bandwidth could have been used for something important, like pictures of decking or another one of molgrips’ mid-day crises.

sorry 3Xfish, to redeem myself here’s some decking:

and molgrips:

I laughed; and you are, indeed, redeemed. A well-balanced response.

lovely that – the decking 😳

(is that really molgrips?)

the sexy beast himself.. although i’m under the impression he was meant to have uploaded some new photos by now to show him progress on the i(love)Dave diet 8)

why the rolling eyes smiley and quoting me joking about refusing to call them?

Aaaah the Edinburgh defence.

They say you should never meet your heroes.

Other side of the coin – phoned a nameless bike shop here in Edinburgh. Spoke to staff. Discussed my requirements with them in detail. Very helpful. 15 min discussion. Took all my details. Promised to phone back and guess what? Nowt.

So sometimes even the phoning option is a waste of time. Any wonder people just shop at CRC.

Apologies phil! I was just repeating the standard phrase on here, it’s on my list along with such nuggets as ‘think of the children’ etc.

In some ways I reckon e-mail is a victim of its own success and companies just get snowed under. I’m sure it wasn’t anything to do with you regularly crashing into trees. 😉

Eighteen months ago I saw a bike advertised on a bike shops website which I wanted to buy. I phoned them several times. No answer. I emailed them several times and even got “read-receipts” from them, but no answer.

Eventually I bought the bike elsewhere. It was only a £3.5k bike though, so I can understand them not being bothered.
🙄