When would you kick off if your LBS was charging more than they estimated for the work done on your bike.

We had a guy in at the weekend and i offered a killer discount on some parts and estimated £250 on the work, the price came to £280 but that is still discounted from £390.

when would you be annoyed? should I just stick to the quoted price.?

depends if you gave him an “estimate” or a “quote” surely

Dont know.

From my seat “estimate” is a ball park guide subject to change and “quote” more immutable – but in the real world a 10% change on such a small number is no big deal if the job is done properly (i.e. it sounds perfectly reasonable).

Always best to communicate these things directly with the customer == no suprises. I guess the suprise is what caused the problem here – not the fact that x,y,z cost 10% more today – than it did yesterday (but I must say your original post was too vague to accurately understand the particulars in sufficient depth to enable anyone to accurately assess).

Sancho – Member

When would you kick off if your LBS was charging more than they estimated for the work done on your bike.

Yeah mate! I’d proper kick off …

That’s definitely the way to get good service 🙄 Most muppets dropping a bike off for spannering presume to know what’s wrong and expect a cheap fix. That’s the reality of it sadly.

when would you be annoyed? should I just stick to the quoted price.?

I’d be annoyed if they carried out additional work without clearing it with me. More often than not though, on a bike it’s like opening pandoras box….

what was the reason for the estimate being lower than the actual ?

where I’m going is if it’s your mistake you should probably carry it, if it cost more as something unexpected cropped up then that’s a lot more agruable.

we didnt do additional work, it was my estimate of the cost of the cassette and chain and mech that was low thats the problem.
in fact we did a lot of extra work like tightening spokes, sorting a rounded bolt, and indexing gears as well as cleaning the bike for free.
we were fitting a crank including rings new chain and cassette and front mech.

If i popped into lbs and they estimated it i would expect a quote when i brought the bike in to have the work done, if they couldn’t quote i would hope they would give me a figure t best case and a figure at worst case and ask for a number to phone to ask what to do. this might seem like i’m asking a lot but i think its reasonable.

I wouldn’t want to leave a bike with the idea of not knowing the cost or maybe at a massive push the top end.
I realise there might be things crop up without you knowing but really i would expect you as the professional to account for such things.

I see no reason why you would not be able to get the cost of parts right.

The only justification for a difference in my eyes would be an unforeseen problem requiring extra parts or additional labour. Even then I’d expect a phone call first.

Its not typical that I dont give a full quote writtend down but he was in a hurry and I guessed the prices.
I guess giving him a ring before finishing the job would have been prudent, except Id bumped him up the queue as he wanted the bike urgently today, so was keen to get it done.

If i had to use a lbs to service my bike and was expecting a 250quid bill, then an extra 30 odd quid on the top of that is not the end of the world is it, as long as it is for a unforseen snag. I wouldn’t blink if my local garage said this when they were doing a cambelt or whatever. However, i would expect them to come back to me with a cost for the parts before they started, and they always do.

I think Ill give the guy a call and give him back the £30 and hopefully he wont be too pissed with me that he may come back in the future, and Ill learn a lesson on more detailed quotes before working rather than estimates.

Over estimate , dont underprice, you can give money back, but trying to get more is asking for greif.

Next time say, its an estimate and I need to check – do you still want me to do it – or shall I call with a better idea?

I’d have charged £15 for the work and taken the hit otherwise.

NO excuse for getting prices wrong. You could have called him?

I think Ill give the guy a call and give him back the £30 and hopefully he wont be too pissed with me that he may come back in the future, and Ill learn a lesson on more detailed quotes before working rather than estimates.

Sounds like a very reasonable solution, probably make him a valued customer going forward. Like the others I wouldn’t be happy at forking out the extra £ 30 but it’s not the end of the world. in this case I think you shot yourself in the foot by guessing the parts costs. If it had been something else, bearing mashed in a hub or BB welded into the frame through lack of maintenance I think it would have be fine to charge the extra.

Under promise and over deliver, makes life a lot happier for everyone.

If it should have cost him 390 quid and he’s paid 280 then I reckon he’s still got a good deal (30% OFF) You’ve a business to run haven’t you?

You could give him the 30 quid back but it won’t guarantee he’ll come back in the future. People need to understand if they want stuff and can’t do it it themselves it costs money to pay someone else to do it for them.

Lots of people using lbs expect internet prices but expect tbe all the extras for free such as truing wheels cleaning their bikes they couldn ‘t be arsed doing themselves etc. An estimate is what it says an estimate,you gave the customer a good discount carried out unpaid extra work and moved hlm up the pecking order, seems like good service to me.

the fact that you are worrying about it shows you are a straight up kinda guy. carry on!