Well known chain informed my son that his front mech couldn't just be checked/repaired, it had to be booked in for a service. Cue bill for over £100. 😯
Not impressed and said chain has lost a customer.
Do you do work for free?
It's understandable why a chain would have that as a policy.
It didn't need a service, bike only a few months old. He wasn't expecting charity!
If my car brake light didn't work would I need to book my car in for a service just to get the light fixed?
Edit: zilog - why?
Do you do work for free?
Did she ask them to?
Do you ever make a useful comment?
b r - MemberDo you do work for free?
If you want a small thing done, I wouldn't insist you get a big thing done. (though I might advise it). Nobody's being asked to work for free here
Took me a little while to comprehend the OP.
It's not that the bike needed to be booked in, it's that they insisted on giving the whole bike a service. Or am I wrong, again?
@cinnamon_girl:
Because otherwise you could have a bike going out which was a deathtrap for another reason. You can imagine the local headline "I took my bike into so-and-so and the next day the brakes fell off going down a steep hill!". Obviously this chain does not want to take the risk.
Suggest DC Cycles if in Southampton.
I reckon a bike shop should have staff qualified to know whether the brakes were going to fall off a bike or not, without going to the expense of a full service
So by all means refuse to work on BSO sheds that are falling apart. Thats fair enough. But forcing a £100 full service for the sake of adjusting a front mech? doesn't seem remotely reasonable to me.
I certainly wouldn't be going back there. Sounds like CG won't be either
Because otherwise you could have a bike going out which was a deathtrap for another reason. You can imagine the local headline "I took my bike into so-and-so and the next day the brakes fell off going down a steep hill!". Obviously this chain does not want to take the risk.
Utter BS.
Never heard a LBS come out with anything like that.
As noted , except by the trolls, its not a great business model to refuse to do the work the customer wants andunless they pay for something they dont want
Is a service really that much 😯
If they are busy enough to implement a minimum workshop charge - which is what this appears to be to me, dressed up as a service, then good luck to them.
Other bike shops / mechanics have alternative business models and are available.
It's these £100 incentives that should inspire people to buy a few tools and learn to tinker..
It's a brilliant model though if you get every customer to pay £100+ rather than say £20its not a great business model to refuse to do the work the customer wants andunless they pay for something they dont want
tbh last time I took my bike in for a "service" was about 6 years ago and they charged me £60 so maybe. I had no real clue what they had done and if it was necessary so that spurred me on to learn/do everything myself!Is a service really that much
The liability thing is often discussed, and especially with kids' bikes. I know people on here buy their kids decent bikes and look after them, but lots of parents don't - when I did normal repairs, the number of variations on "I don't want to spend much, it's only for the boy" was incredible. People happy for their kids to ride about on bikers without working brakes, etc.
So the problem from the shop's POV is a child brings a bike in and asks for one little thing to be done - does the shop now have a duty of care towards that child, to make sure the rest of the bike is safe? If so, who pays for that extra safety check?
+1 on the "how much??"
Considering it's being done by somebody who's probably barely above minimum wage that's a nice markup. And I thought there was no money in the bike trade.
They charged you £100 for "booking" it in?
As noted , except by the trolls, its not a great business model to refuse to do the work the customer wants andunless they pay for something they dont want
If they're busy enough to be wall to wall with servicing then why waste time doing little things instead - it's basically a way of saying "we don't want the job". He's chosen to go elsewhere. Done.
Utter BS.Never heard a LBS come out with anything like that.
*blows raspberry at chakaping*The liability thing is often discussed
I interpreted the OP as the service had been done and the £100 had been paid tbh. (With the proviso that they aren't going back!)He's chosen to go elsewhere. Done.
CG, have they actually said it'll be £100 or are you just assuming they'll rip you off?
What SHOULD happen is the bike should be looked over and quoted when it comes in. If it's a decent, safe bike, then yeah I'd do one small job. I might make some suggestions as to other stuff that needed doing at the time, because that's my job! If I find something wrong, I'll call you before I spend any more money.
But if you came to me in a busy period, then yeah, you might have to leave it with me for a few days. There's a queue you know....!
As for 'booking in' well, every single bike needs to be booked in doesn't it? That's just being professional. I've then got it on the computer with the relevant info typed down so I know what to do when I get to it.
That's the way it [i]should[/i] work...
EDIT
I will refuse to work on a bike when the owner won't pay to make it safe. I won't fix a puncture, for instance, when a bike has no working brakes, unless I fix the brakes too. That's just common sense and I'd be ripping you off taking the picture repair money rather than turning you away.
As above, if they're busy enough to need to book work in to manage the workload, good on 'em!
£100 bill? Sounds very steep, and makes me wonder if we're getting the full story.
The liability thing is often discussed*blows raspberry at chakaping*
Often discussed by people with too much time on their hands and overactive imaginations.
Thanks for the er, mixed, responses. He didn't expect any repairs to be carried out for nothing, he explained that the road bike wasn't shifting and thought it was the front mech. Whilst he's not been riding that long he didn't expect a newish bike to need a service.
Brake pads (front I think) were replaced, as was a chain and some adjustment to the front mech. £130.
Of course if he didn't live in London he would use my lbs who don't insist on servicing a bike just to sort out a minor repair.
Fully appreciate that bike needs to be safe and in a roadworthy condition, how many miles would a set of brake pads last for?
So the shop wont do any repairs outwith a full service? Seems a daft policy.
Why didn't you/your son just walk when told this, rather than incurring the cost?
edit...£130 quid! im in the wrong business! What chain are we talking about btw?
How old is he, might be time to book him on a bike maintenance course. Abigale tells me there is no greater satisfaction than fettling your own bike. She also tells me I have to sort out fitting my warranty replacement forks on Sunday as its below minimum working temperature in the garage for her to do them.
Road pads commuting in London in the rain? A month!
Of course if he didn't live in London he would use my lbs
I work in a West London LBS......
Just saying, like...... 🙂
t's a brilliant model though if you get every customer to pay £100+ rather than say £20
Is this really what you think will happen?
@ njee why not just be honest?
£100 bill? Sounds very steep, and makes me wonder if we're getting the full story.
Flashy - If its the same chain I'm thinking of, a mate went in to see about getting a new drive chain fitted on his commuter hardtail
3 Deore rings, cassette and chain, fitted? That'll be £260 please sir. 😯
He nearly had a coronary. I think he'd only paid about £400 for the bike (Boardman hardtail)Needless to say, we ordered the parts off CRC for far less than £100, and fitted them in half an hour, while having a beer.
If you consider what a big chain are going to be paying for parts, and how long it'd take a proper mechanic to fit them, thats one hell of a mark up!
Pete - I did think of you cos I know fine well you're honest and trustworthy! Will take a look at a train map. 🙂 Other thing is that he needed somewhere he could take it to over a weekend.
He knows that he needs to learn how to fix things, not easy when he takes after me for mechanical incompetence! Perhaps he could attend a maintenance course somewhere? He's an adult btw.
Indeed, binners. Fixing bikes costs time or money. If you haven't got the time, give someone else your money!
The bigger worry for me would be lack of communication. In the some instances, the shop(s) should have quoted before carrying out the work.
Chain's name begins with the 5th letter of the alphabet.
Brake pads (front I think) were replaced, as was a chain and some adjustment to the front mech. £130.
Hang on. Did he just give it to them and say "sort it out" or did he say (as anyone who has had anything serviced should know) "Sort the front mech, if it's anything else, call me". That said, it still seems a bit of a piss take price as I guess the parts would cost 30-40 quid at most.
Evans does have a big list of their servicing costs on site and on their website. Did he get the gold service? If so, for a small tweak they saw him coming
Caveat emptor, innit?
Shouldn't have knocked on Evan's door.
He needs a front mech on a bike in London? 😉
Depends what was done and what needed done.
Not uncommon to just need seized front mech "adjusted" as it's not shifting right.
Actually requires new mech, chain, chainrings, cassette and cables and outers.
Add that up + labour (internal fidly) cables and the service could be a bargain.
Obviously I'm not saying this is the case in this example but I bet there is more to it than made out. No offence meant to the op but perhaps you are only hearing half of one side of the story?
Clearly the shop should have called the customer to advise of the extra costs involved.
cinnamon_girl - Member
....Will take a look at a train map.
you can see the shop from the platform of Isleworth BR station or Hounslow East is nearest tube, about 1-2 miles ish
Have a look at the breakdown to see what was actually done, if its a gear service plus a brake service plus new chain and pads then that wouldn't come to much less than a £100. Should have been called before extra work was done but I do always iike to hear both sides of a story before placing blame.
He needs a front mech on a bike in London?
😀
Wearing his [s]mother's[/s] sister's jeans as well, no doubt!
cinnamon_girl - Member
If my car brake light didn't work would I need to book my car in for a service just to get the light fixed?
Many dealers will need the car booked in for the day just for a simple job, and they bill it like it's a mini service.
Chain's name begins with the 5th letter of the alphabet.
No surprise there! I was in the one in Brighton and a fella was audibly surprised at the £50 charge for removing a bit of play in rear hub. As this was happening next to me (whilst I waited an age for them to get my bike) I couldn't help overhear the shop assistant explaining that "we had to remove the rear cassette and then tightened the hub back up and refitted it all".
The bike owner looked in disbelief so I mentioned that it was a 5-10 minute job at worst.
but I do always iike to hear both sides of a story before placing blame.
Are you new here? Thats simply not the done thing old boy......
[img] 
[/img]
Just to be clear, was the bike supplied to the same chain shop who supplied originally?
If not, I can sort of see their point. One persons "it just needs a tweak" is another's "total rebuild to make it roadworthy".
If he's East London/Shoreditch way check out these guys, they come highly recommended:
[url= https://cyclelabuk.wordpress.com/ ] Cyclelab[/url]
Why the cautiousness with regards to naming Evans? You're not making up slanderous stories, just recounting an experience.
The policy of fixing things the customer didn't want done is not on. Point them out by all means, but if they want 'a' done and you're looking for the work, then don't try and also do 'b' and add it to the bill!
This is called the Kwik Fit model.
Chain's name begins with the 5th letter of the alphabet.
They have form you know...
cinnamon_girl - MemberFully appreciate that bike needs to be safe and in a roadworthy condition, how many miles would a set of brake pads last for?
I suspect the brake pads on my road bike are particularly hard, as they don't stop me very effectively at all, but they are over 2000 miles old now and still plenty of meat left on them....
Swisstop Blue.
They'll last you about 10 years.
They may or may not stop you on ally rims though 😛
So Evans don't have a Service Writer banging out small repairs (like front derailleur adjusts, tube changes etc), while the mechs are hiding away doing the big scheduled jobs? :facepalm:
I can see both sides to this. As a customer you expect the odd 5 min job to be possible while you wait. When i worked in bike shops a long time ago this was easily possible.
However, before i left the bike shop trade we were so understaffed. Drastically understaffed. (another big chain). Senior management wouldn't listen to us as we were trying our best to meet targets and keep as many customers happy as possible but still had a backlog of bikes to build and service. The worst i remember was when we had a 3 week waiting list of service repairs due to the volume of bikes we were selling and having to build. I miss the fun times of working in a bike shop but we had so many rules and policies to stick to that made no sense.
If Halfords were any good they could dominate the market overnight.
Sorry I'm with the OP and Junkyard on this.
Ridiculous. OP complain to head office. They were trying to rip off a 'unsuspecting' member of the public.
Evans only this month charged me £11.50 to cut a steerer and fit a SFN. Its a rogue store/member of staff.
Damnit, just spent ten minutes thinking up who make chains beginning with 'E'. All I could think was 'egg' which makes no sense.
Well they have to boost sales as much as possible as the private equity owners want to flog it. At a 10 x earnings ratio that service just earned them about £970. Nice work if you can get it. (Ps that's not a joke)
Dodgy store/branch? Had a few jobs done at the Evans NCC store and apart from being slow/busy had no reason to complain and priced fair IMO. Stripped wheeled and re built with new hub for £23 labour and spokes, full frame prep and headset fit for £26.50. Sounds like a piss take by someone in store that they got away with. At the NCC store at least they have a price list on the wall for workshop jobs and everything else is charged at £11.50 per 30mins iirc (might be less time tbh but never used it).
Think I'd be complaining to head office or store manager for an explanation/justification of cost.
Evans only this month charged me £11.50 to cut a steerer and fit a SFN. Its a rogue store/member of staff.
Not sure I disagree with your outrage.
£11.50 seems VERY reasonable for that, given it requires the fork to be taken out (including brake to be removed normally), use of cutting guide and hacksaw, then files, and then the tool to set the star nut. Then the front end of the bike has to be put back together. All for just over a tenner, that's pretty bloody good.
Edit: just re-read your post. Are you actually pissed off at £11.50 for that job, or have I got the wrong end of the stick?
I think what hora was trying to say is that same chain did a wee job for him without servicing the bike/fork, suggesting what was sold to cg's son may not be policy after all (or hora got lucky).
I did the same double take originally 😆
CG, which branch was it? I work with two ex Evans employees.
I understand that 'upselling' is a fact of life and many retailers do this either subtly or blatantly. It was not repaired on the premises, was sent to a repair centre presumably in London.
Bike purchased online, he's done around 600 miles on original brake pads in all sorts of weather as he commutes daily. I don't know if that's reasonable, I've suggested that he regularly checks the rims for wear.
Lol at his mother's jeans, his other bike doesn't have a front mech and it just so happens it needs a new hub. Guess where he won't be taking it!
To take something positive from this experience is that it will encourage him to learn and understand the mechanics of a bike, hopefully progressing to carrying out basic repairs.
Thanks again for the replies, pretty good selection I'd say. 😉
Pete - sorry but would rather not say. 🙂
A lot of the London shops don't have workshop space so all bikes are collected by van and taken to a central workshop,repaired and then returned to the shop...it doesn't make sense to do this for a small adjustment/repair(not saying it's right like) so everything is upsold to a service level...that doesn't mean all branches of that chain behave like that,just the London one's.
I've been in today to have a wheel adjusted after someone had give it a good kick while parked up near work 🙁
Same store "E" I was going to buy a Wheel Truing Stand but at £80.00 though may as as well get them to do it, it went for a few spokes to possible wheel rebuild and possible new hub so should be an interesting conversation tomorrow when they ring. 🙄
Especially as the other guy mr-up-seller was saying the spokes in spesh bikes have alloy threads on them that pretty much "turn to dust" when you try to adjust them just looking at the spec for the bike there Stainless, 2.0mm (14g) hummm it will be an interesting conversation my thinks.
badllama:
Specliaized wheels ofte do use alloy nipples & usually do fall to bits when you try & touch them.
They also appear to often be built with spokes that are slightly too short, so the nipple isn't properly supported & snap-sometimes meaning the only correct & safe way to repair the wheel is to either rebuild completely or replace the wheel.
This is another concern in that people often believe they understand the problem with their bikes, but when it really comes down to the underlying issues & causes they sometimes don't.
[quote=badllama ]
Especially as the other guy mr-up-seller was saying the spokes in spesh bikes have alloy threads on them that pretty much "turn to dust" when you try to adjust them just looking at the spec for the bike there Stainless, 2.0mm (14g)
The spokes are stainless. It's the nipples that are alloy. And yes, many folk avoid them because they are too soft and corrode.
I blame the parents for not bringing up their kids to have the gumption and backbone to just say no.
Reminds me of the worst part of working for a big chain.
"Two tubes and two puncture repairs, £35" I understand why it cost that much but Mrs. Ridgeback Commuter never did.
I blame the parents for not bringing up their kids to have the gumption and backbone to just say no.
That'll be the embarrassment that you feel 'is he really doing that to me'?
Thats how LBS's (nevermind chains) leek/lose alot of customers because you never go back after your one and only visit. Only the chummy mates (special rates because they are repeat customers now) who live in their clique seem to return.
CG, Evans won't just adjust a mech as there's a process for bike servicing they follow. For small tweaks like that an LBS can be a better bet, maybe similar, depends on the shop. Evans work on a service-level basis as a guide to jobs where the bike won't be let out with a fault that they know about, so they'll do a fuller job and the charges are pre-set. If you ask for a breakdown they should give it and it should all be there. It won't be the cheapest way to get a simple mech adjust done and it could have needed more than that, or if not then it would have done later (chain not changed in time then needs cassette, etc)
Benpinnick, you can say similar of anything done by any private equity owned business. Do you think PE investors would or could boost the sales over a short period to get a higher sale price, using things like workshop jobs to do that? Businesses tend to sell once they've grown to a size where they suit different levels of owner and have a number of years of solid growth, or maybe are failing and are bought at a knock-down price.
They've tried to "book me in" for a service a couple of times in the one in Manchester.
I just ask to speak to the mechanic, explain what I want him to do / ask his advise and then ask how long it will take him. If it's a 30 min job he will charge me for the parts (obvs) and a minimum labour charge, about £11 I think.
There's a couple of gems out front in that store, but there's also a few who know naff all about repairing a bike!
[quote="RDL-82"]...everything else is charged at £11.50 per 30mins iirc
Really ? That is VERY cheap.
Should it be BMW workshop hourly rates then?
Its a bicycle shop. I think alot of people seem to forget that. They don't use carbon tools, or a ti press, a Kashima hammer, etc.
When I rounded a stem bolt and couldn't get it out I was charged the same. Evans didn't say 'I can't touch your bike unless its booked in for a full service'. They just did the bolt extraction. And very well/fast.
So how much should you expect to pay a professional mechanic for his time and the many £1000's of tools we have to purchase (and replace) ?
£11 for half hour is very cheap. Most places are around £40/h so £20 for half
Hi. How many jobs do you think will run upto half an hour? How many are 5min jobs?
Really ? That is VERY cheap.
As I said it may have been a shorter time however they price things at scales. Bronze service was £26.50 at that's what they stuck the frame prep down as. I enquired about possibly having something else done and was told it would just come under a standard £11.50 as it would take under 30mins.
Can't comment on other Evans stores but the NCC store has the workshop area on show and its easy enough to speak to the mechanics so I always just speak directly to the guys doing the work and they book it in at what they think is required. For clarity though I've never taken them a full bike to work with. I've only taken them a wheel for rebuild a frame witg some isis cranks and bb i wanted removed but couldn't be bothered buying tools for and a frame and headset for prep and fit. They may be a big corporate chain but they are 5minutes from me and as such are my lbs. That particular store might be roadie/track biased due to its location but always found them helpful, even thrown a couple of freebies in when I went in fully prepared to pay. (Nothing major, star but and chain pins).
Ultimately though I agree that £100 for a mech adjust is scandalous and I'd personally have walked away.
Difficult call isn't it?
I've worked in a few bike shops (inc Evans) and the number of customers coming in with “can you just…?” enquiries is staggering. Can vary from a puncture repair to a full strip and rebuild!
We’d always have some flexibility in the schedule to fix punctures but there comes a point when the mechanic simply hasn’t got time to do any more work or the workshop physically can’t accommodate more bikes. You can’t tell a customer who booked a bike in 3 weeks ago for a service that it hasn’t been done as a string of random folk kept coming in asking “can you just…” do this, that or the other. And from experience, a large number of those "it'll only be 5 minutes" jobs turn into 2hr nightmares of trying to free seized bolts or finding secondary and tertiary problems that you can’t ignore as they’re safety related.
A shop would much rather take in a bike for an allotted time slot to do a specific list of checks/repairs, it's more efficient for them and (usually) better value for the customer.
goldenwonder thanks for the info, learn something new everyday.
Even m beloved LBS has tried that on a few times - there's a very 'salesy' one that mans the service desk who's replaced "Hello" with "Needs a service does it?"
I personally don't care for the phrase, it's a bit to vague for my slightly obsessive nature - they do have a menu now which explains what each does - frankly the most basic £60 one is just a lot of basic checks that we really should all completely before every ride - really basic like wheel bearings - For £60 do I assume they remove the wheel, partly strip the hub and inspect them, or do they just give the wheel a spin and a wiggle like the rest of us?
Anyway, they take no for an answer so I'm happy - if they change their policy and want to start every job with a 'service' I'll stop using them.
I feel for them, I know the market it hard now - the experienced / enthusiast whatever is buying 90% of their stuff online because it's mostly dead easy to fit anyway - after all the rider who can't fix anything on their bike is going to spent more time than they'd like walking their bike home.
I reckon if youa re smart enough to know what the bike needs so that you can tell the guy to do it, you ought to be smart enough to do it yerself.
reckon if youa re smart enough to know what the bike needs so that you can tell the guy to do it, you ought to be smart enough to do it yerself
And alas I'm not.
I'm smart enough to know my garage has been smashed into and the door needs replacing, but I'll be damned if I can do it myself. Repeat ad naseum for about every task I pay someone else to do (plaster ceiling, fit kitchen....)