Experience of my first (and last) time in an Evans store. Am I just a grump?!

I cant understand that some people think a brake mount is a ‘special product’ and that it wouldnt be stocked.

I’m not talking about having rows and rows of brake mounts but christ this is the standard fitment now for almost all new bikes. They had several bikes for sale in there running 203mm front rotors with this mount.

Now what happens if one of their staff strip a mount when building for a customer? Instead of grabbing one and replacing it, its held in the workshop till one is delivered- great for that customer too.

I just think its shocking that these places sell all sorts of stuff and dont even have some actual bike parts that people may need. I literally have more spares in my personal stash of bits boxes than this whole 100m2 store!

Aside from anything else it was the attitude of the staff that got me. Christ, i used to work in Halfrauds bike hut (there were actually a pool of VERY knowledgeable part-time cycle staff at that time as we were all at uni/riding together) and if i was so dismissive the manager would have lost his sh!t, i would have been told to at least try and sell something else! ha ha

Evans, great shop – Well the one on site at work is. Corporate discount, free servicing and £1/day to spend there when commuting. And better still, they lend me their tools for my own jobs when needed 😀 .

Other stores may not have quite the same service.

kbrpro

Rearly annoyed at this I rang their customer relations department, the lady at the end of the phone could tell the distress I was in at this time

You got rearly (sic) annoyed and distressed over some brake pads? FFS listen to yourself.

They aren’t a custom builder though, they just assemble stuff delivered to them in kit in a box with all the bits they need. It’ll have the mounts already on the frame & fork. If someone wants brakes upgraded it would be a book in job and they’ll order the stuff, but generally I doubt they do much of that business. Most of the workshop work is going to be stuff like fixing gears, adjusting loose bolts and bleeding brakes (though I’ve heard of them sending them off to be bled!).

I went in asking about full face helmets to try on which they stock online. “No, don’t stock them because there’s no demand, we can order in to try though”, ok, “you’ll have to pay full price up front for each of them to try however”, goodbye.

Hicksy – Member
I went into my local Evans (Guildford) to get a power-link. They didn’t have any 10 spd Shimano ones in stock but the sales guy led me over to the workshop area and asked one of the mechanics. He gave me one of the workshop ones and when I went to pay for it they said it was free of charge!

Exact same shop in Guildford, same request for power link, they led me to the workshop and the guy had one in his draw, probably used, and offered it for £8. Walked away.

Evans Cycles has become a massive operation with £100+ million yearly turnover and 50+ stores

They won’t stock every item, but will stock what sells based on their sales data.

As a company, its certainly way beyond a “local bike shop” since becoming a chain retailer.

If you look how their stock ‘range’ has changed in the past year, they are stripping the high end bikes and components from their stores in favour of selling entry level and mid level stock; that is where they make their money.

The high end and niche stock is held in their warehouses and shipped to store as needed.

The range plan is not under control of either the store staff nor the store manager, its done by their head office staff and area management.

I would not expect them to hold a disc brake adapter in store, but know I could order it “click and collect” and it would be in the local store within 48 hours – probably the most useful function of Evans.

I won’t be giving them anymore of my money after an incident with a ‘used’ wheel set missing some hub parts, sold as new and then I was fobbed off for 8 days, but that’s another story

Evans Cycles are what they are – and know their place in the UK bike market

YETIboyJAY – Member

I cant understand that some people think a brake mount is a ‘special product’ and that it wouldnt be stocked.

I’m not talking about having rows and rows of brake mounts but christ this is the standard fitment now for almost all new bikes. They had several bikes for sale in there running 203mm front rotors with this mount.

Now what happens if one of their staff strip a mount when building for a customer? Instead of grabbing one and replacing it, its held in the workshop till one is delivered- great for that customer too.

I just think its shocking that these places sell all sorts of stuff and dont even have some actual bike parts that people may need.

Sorry but you need to see this from the other side of the fence. A shop like Evans is trying to please everyone but it can’t, so it will stock to please the mainstay of its customers and a little more. I don’t think I’ve sold a 203mm mount in my store in the last 18months – you think I should stock them and everything else that is as (un)likely to sell?…when I can get one in in a 1-7 days, and most folk are ordering from CRC anyway? (when they know they’ll need it, not after their frame has arrived!)

I literally have more spares in my personal stash of bits boxes than this whole 100m2 store!

No, you can’t possibly know this.

Aside from anything else it was the attitude of the staff that got me. Christ, i used to work in Halfrauds bike hut (there were actually a pool of VERY knowledgeable part-time cycle staff at that time as we were all at uni/riding together) and if i was so dismissive the manager would have lost his sh!t, i would have been told to at least try and sell something else! ha ha

That is fair – but with prices and margins being hammered, many staff are on minimum wage, you can’t expect stellar levels of knowledge/service.

This is the situation that is created when everything is driven by price.

I’ve had two experiences in the Edinburgh store that make me think that they don’t ever train their staff.

Most recently: I’ve been looking to buy a fatbike, so asked if I could part-pay for one with the Evans vouchers from Tesco, and the rest on interest-free. I was told that this was fraud!!
Next, I decided to change my tactic and asked if they would instead discount the 2015 bike by the value of my vouchers, in exchange for those vouchers, and I’d put the rest on interest free. Not so – this was illegal!!

Apparently it is against the law for Evans to discount any new bikes for six months from release.

I decided at that point that I’d be better off going anywhere else that wasn’t Evans, although unfortunately it seems the only retailer I can use for that bike is them.

A few months ago, another member of staff gave me the most patronising service I’ve ever experienced, it was pathetic to say the least. I asked a ‘mechanic’ for advice on a replacement tyre sealant for Stans as they didn’t have any in stock. In short, the replacement was crap and didn’t work, they refused to do anything despite me buying something on their advice, quoting the Sale of Goods Act incorrectly etc.

Idiots on power trips on both occasions.

I cant understand that some people think a brake mount is a ‘special product’ and that it wouldnt be stocked.

A new brake mount is needed (basically) when changing rotor size. I hardly ever do that. I don’t know how often the average Evans customer changes the size of their rotors by themselves. I’m guessing it’s really, really not common.

A product that you need for a specific operation that almost none of your customers do is fairly special, isn’t it?

The thing about the brake mount is that I would not expect a chain retailer to carry them in store?

My store has brake mounts simply because we sell mainly Shimano disc brakes and they don’t come with a brake mount in the box.

I am responsible for stocking the “service parts” and so make sure we have what I believe we will need if a customer coming into the store and wants a new brake fitted on the spot.

We also sell the cheap Avid DB1 brake, which again does not have a brake mount in the box, so I made sure to get some mounts when we stocked the brakes.

Also, I can order a brake mount from Madison or Fishers and have it in stock the next day.

Staff working at Evans (or Cycle Surgery) cannot do this, as they don’t have any access to the Madison / Fisher B2B sites or authorisation to make purchases.

Different setup, different scale..

Apparently it is against the law for Evans to discount any new bikes for six months from release.

Odd interpretation, but I can see where he’s got that from. (item must be sold (may just say ‘advertised’, now i think about it) at full price for 180 days at x number of stores before dicounting, to stop people quoting a massive RRP then 90% ‘discount’ straight away)

Popped into the Guildford store last week as a visiting friend’s 5 10’s had suffered a catastrophic failure!

He was prepared to pay full price for any decent pair of flat mtb shoes in his size as we were riding again the next day. Unfortunately Evans did not have any flat soled mtb shoes whatsoever. Approximately 25 various pairs of road and mtb spd’s but no flats.

Very disappointing!

How does a pair of shoes have a catastrophic failure?

They explode?

Evans Gatwick are so so IME. I only pop over there if they 100% have stock of something I need urgently.

Evans Victoria were brilliant the one time I went in (about a year ago). Think it was a mech hanger I was after and the bloke searched high and low through his store room and found two. Needless to say I bought both.

They explode?

Only if they’re laced with something.

Bored, of Kwik-Fit.

I cant understand that some people think a brake mount is a ‘special product’ and that it wouldnt be stocked.

I can’t understand why some people (you) would expect Evans to stock parts like that. Occasionally they do surprise me, but It is simply not their business model.

went to Evans Bristol. Service was so-so. Went to independent LBS. Service was so rude I’ve stuck with Evans ever since. Evans win by default! And because they’re open til 8pm obvs.

The sole came off. Fairly catastrophic for the shoe. I’ll try to use smaller words for you next time. 🙂

I cant understand that some people think a brake mount is a ‘special product’ and that it wouldnt be stocked.
I can’t understand why some people (you) would expect Evans to stock parts like that. Occasionally they do surprise me, but It is simply not their business model.

Don’t stock brake mounts but stock brakes that come without mounts (Shimano) yeah why would I expect them to stock them?!

tomhoward – Member
Apparently it is against the law for Evans to discount any new bikes for six months from release.
Odd interpretation, but I can see where he’s got that from. (item must be sold (may just say ‘advertised’, now i think about it) at full price for 180 days at x number of stores before dicounting, to stop people quoting a massive RRP then 90% ‘discount’ straight away)

Not splitting hairs (and totally OT now) but it has to have been made available for purchase at the higher price (not just advertised) for 28 days, not six months for price comparisons…

My experience is they treat experienced cyclists like newbies, no qualifying questions of any sort, they just role out the same lethargic patter regardless (Gateshead). I know most on here won’t be their target market though so we really shouldn’t expect much more…

both Evans and Cycle Surgery have experienced an exodus of good staff since they changed their business model to the mutiple outlet, chain retailer style

the old saying in retail, “Don’t worry about the staff leaving, worry about the ones left behind.”

In other words, ’employable’ people easily find jobs with other retailers.

‘Less employable’ people do not easily find jobs with other retailers, which means the retailer retaining those staff, suffers from an ever decreasing overall quality of staff, which has a measurable impact on customer satisfaction and sales

Which in a customer facing, technically orientated business like cycle retailing, does not bode well for the long term future of that retailer.

If you look at Evans and Cycle Surgery as examples, all appears well on the outside, from the inside you could perceive they have been “hollowed out” as part of an increasing drive to reduce staff costs by minimizing the numbers of full time salaried staff (i.e. knowledge) and increasing numbers of zero hour staff (i.e. inexperienced).

Most large retailers seem to operating this model, Maplin comes to mind as another example of a technically orientated business that has shed good staff over the years.

AlasdairMc – Member

I’ve had two experiences in the Edinburgh store that make me think that they don’t ever train their staff.

I think it would be wrong to assume that they do.

Most recently: I’ve been looking to buy a fatbike, so asked if I could part-pay for one with the Evans vouchers from Tesco, and the rest on interest-free. I was told that this was fraud!!
Next, I decided to change my tactic and asked if they would instead discount the 2015 bike by the value of my vouchers, in exchange for those vouchers, and I’d put the rest on interest free. Not so – this was illegal!!

The staff member has probably just chosen his words poorly, but I would imagine he’s refering to the T&C’s impossed by Evans finance partners which are generally pretty robust and sternly worded. A similar situation would be if you ask your local tax office whether you can buy a bike on teh cycle to work scheme over £1000 and just put cash towards it; they’ll tell you it’s tax fraud.

AlasdairMc – Member

Apparently it is against the law for Evans to discount any new bikes for six months from release.

First of all there’s this

iamtheresurrection
Not splitting hairs (and totally OT now) but it has to have been made available for purchase at the higher price (not just advertised) for 28 days, not six months for price comparisons…

also, quite a few brands have conditions of sale imposed upon them where they are forbidden to discount their bikes until a set period at full price in order to protect their brand. So the staff member may have been referring to either.

Ride-On Rawtenstall are great for spares like this

+1

‘Less employable’ people do not easily find jobs with other retailers, which means the retailer retaining those staff, suffers from an ever decreasing overall quality of staff, which has a measurable impact on customer satisfaction and sales

True in theory but not what I see in reality. I meet the staff at Evans at various times of year, there’s some really good people working in the shops and I know they’re making changes to make sure we can keep them and reward them.

from the inside you could perceive they have been “hollowed out” as part of an increasing drive to reduce staff costs by minimizing the numbers of full time salaried staff (i.e. knowledge) and increasing numbers of zero hour staff (i.e. inexperienced).

As far as Evans is concerned, not true of what they’re currently doing. Fair to say that adding a big chunk of budget to staff wage bills would help though, yes. Not always as simple as that though and not my area there.

Don’t stock brake mounts but stock brakes that come without mounts (Shimano) yeah why would I expect them to stock them?!

Our expectations of Evans are obviously a bit different. Yours are optimistic and mine are realistic 😉

only time I’ll use an LBS is for a repair I can’t do myself of if I was in dire need of a commonly used part. I’ll use evans with their click and collect service if the item is in store since they price match.

YETIboyJAY – Member
Don’t stock brake mounts but stock brakes that come without mounts (Shimano) yeah why would I expect them to stock them?!

We replace loads of ****ed brake calipers (Avids) with Shimano – no mount needed.

@jameso

I hope what you say is true because Evans have been through periods where good staff quit in droves. It can be impossible for people who care about their working environment, to continue working for a company that throws their staff under the bus on a regular basis.

Staff are everything in a customer focused business, it’s shocking how few big companies seem to understand this basic idea, under pressure from investors and shareholders.

a company that throws their staff under the bus on a regular basis.

Based on what I know of Evans that’s not happening. I’ve been there just over 3 years and I know it’s had ups and downs in the past so I can’t say much about things before then.

.. under pressure from investors and shareholders.

If you met the small group of people at the top level or who own Evans or knew a little about them you’d realise how much they do understand all of that. I wouldn’t have gone to work for them if they were that kind of profit-above-all company.

Lol, Edinburgh store has lots and lots of parts.
But no inner tubes.
Or staff to ask about the elusive inner tubes.