Forum menu
Feel the need to comment her, I went to my lbs quite recently and bought a new xt rear mech and asked them if they would fit it for free, they said no but it would only be a charge of £5 to fit and set up seeing as I bought it from them, fine I thought.
Went for a walk round town for an hour as there were people waiting before me for the workshop.
Came back to collect and pay to find that they had charged £12 fitting!!!!
I challenged them about it and they looked at me like a zombie, I wouldn't back down and after the guy went in the back and whispered to his mate (very rude) he came back and said ok this time we will only charge you £5.
This has caused me to not trust my lbs anymore as before they had always been good to me but if the credit crunch is making people non trustworthy then i'm afraid all my custom will go to merlin and crc.
Local Bike Shops can be very good!
i brought a king headset off ebay, rung up the LBS to see if he could fit it, he said he was busy but might be able to do it that day.
so i went there, he fitted it to my frame there and then and didnt charge me. couldnt believe it!
the chap only said 'just tell people where we are' as he'd jus moved to new premises.
needless to say i use their services a lot more now, fitting components for free i think is a very good way or bike shops to keep up their trade, but at the same time it isnt something we should automatically expect of them.
I guess factors are how much you're spending, how much you've spent before and are likely to spend in the future, how much of a faff the job is, how bored/busy they are, whether they want their lunch, whether the guy before you spent £££s, etc.
I'd be disappointed if, say, I was buying some £300+ forks and was charged to have them fitted but away from the extremes they're basically doing you a favour and you can't really complain if you don't get it.
One bike shop I worked in, we all got a sliding scale bonus if our monthly sales were up on the same time last year, so it was in our interest to make as much money from people as possible. We did try to sort people out if it were an easy job, though, or they were decent regular customers. something like if it were a new wheel/one without a cassette fitted, and they'd just bought a new cassette off us, then of course we'd fit it for nowt; takes a few seconds. But if it were a matter of swapping over the old one, or they bring in bike for new cassette and chain to be fitted, then maybe charge. Gotta eat! Gotta buy new shiny bits...
It's a business, not a charity. Anyone who thinks the shop should do stuff that takes more than a few minutes, for free, is having a laugh.
We would lend people basic tools, for simple jobs, and ask they did it outside/in the corner if it were raining. Lending someone an allen key to tighten something up, so's they can get home, is just common courtesy.
I snapped a chain once, walked about a mile to a nearby shop, and asked if they could help. Shop was quiet, bods just standing around chatting. The mechanic was 'on lunch'; sitting there stuffing his fat face with chips. Ok, shall I come back in half an hour or so? 'No, bike has to be booked in, won't be done for a couple of days. Will cost £20 for new chain and fitting'. OK,so can I borrow a chain tool for 2 minutes then, as I need to get home? 'No, but we can sell you one for £15'.
As I walked out, I asked them if they'd 'ever heard of Customer Service'. Din't get a reply.
Strangely, I've never been back there.
PS; the next shop, another couple of miles away, the mechanic sorted me chain for me, FOC. I stuck a fiver in his tool tray, as he din't even want owt for the job.
Hmm, wonder which shop had the right approach?