Holland and Barrett – no bikes allowed.

Today, wheeling my commuter bike into a nearly empty Holland and Barrett to pick up some energy gels, I got told by a shop assistant that it is company policy not to allow bicycles into the shop.

I was told that I would be able to see this policy on the website, which, needless to say, I can’t find it.

When asking for his details and questioning the policy, I got told by the supervisor who had come over that I was being aggressive and rude (I was not, I’d not even raised my voice) and was asked to leave the shop.

I have wheeled my bike into many shops in the past, this is the first time that I’ve had the slightest problem.

WWSTWD?

Tbh it’s pretty arrogant to expect a shop to accommodate your bike imho.
They take up a lot of room and are an unstable liability.

So I’d, err, not do it again, and in the future pop my head in and ask ‘is it ok if I bring my bike in?’ and if they say no, then leave it outside, or if you want, find another shop that will.

WWSTWD?

Shop elsewhere? Maybe write to H&B’s main customer service / complaints people in a non-aggressive way saying how disappointed you were with the attitude of the staff in that particular shop? Start a thread on ST maybe.

The bigger problem, of course, is that we don’t routinely provide the infrastructure bike parking in shopping areas.

Fwiw I don’t think it’s that unreasonable not to allow bikes in a shop, but if the staff were as rude about it as you say, that seems poor, then again it’s all quite subjective and we’re only hearing your side of the situation.

WWSTWD?

Assume I can’t, ask nicely if I can.

WWSTWD?

Not assume that I can wheel my bike around a shop without asking nicely first. And if they say no, not make a big fuss about it.

WWSTWD

Hammer frozen sugar pills into their carpet?

It’s odd that you’d think it was reasonable to bring a bike into a shop, particularly one that sells food. I’d never have assumed that it was ok and if I absolutely needed to do it I’d at least have asked before I did.

Fair enough. Seems as if I was in the wrong then.

I’ve left my bike hidden round the back of shops when I’ve forgotten my lock before, as I’d never assume it okay to wheel it in.

I do see scrotes doing it in Tesco quite often though ;-p

+1 on I wouldn’t take a bike in a shop.

+1 on crappy lack of bike locking/parking.

(I was amazed how many shops on Belgium had a couple of bike racks outside earlier this year)

If it makes you feel any better I regularly see people wheeling their n̶o̶n̶-̶r̶o̶a̶d̶-̶l̶e̶g̶a̶l̶ ̶e̶l̶e̶c̶t̶r̶i̶c̶ ̶s̶c̶o̶o̶t̶e̶r̶s illegal motorcycles around my local Aldi.

I’m honestly surprised, as I thought as long as it wasn’t causing any problems for anyone it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

But hey, ho we live and learn.

Assistance bikes are allowed

Unless it’s a bike shop this is a very odd behaviour

Is Holland & Barrett actually Lebanon and you are the IDF?

You took fitness equipment into a lifestyle shop of course they didn’t want you in there 🙂

Ha ha, I think that this thread is proof that we’re aware of everyone else’s madness but our own.

I may be going and eating some humble pie tomorrow.

I’m so clumsy in shops it would  financially bankrupt me paying for all the stuff my handle bars knocked off the shelfs

I’ve done it once in my local photography shop when I forgot a lock but I’d not do it routinely.

However, it seems more reasonable that letting a dog in. Why would you let a dog go anywhere near a shop that sells things for human consumption?

I heard Holland welcomed bikes. Strange that they’d barr it.

Y’see … I’m not sure there’s a right/wrong answer about bikes in shops.

Filthy, muddy MTB? Nope. China/glassware shop? Nope. Very busy and/or small shop with narrow aisles. Nope.

Commuting home, without my lock, popping into the supermarket to pick up something for tea? Maybe. Bike-packing, no lock, petrol station or convenience store? Probably would ask to leave it just inside the entrance and in sight. Hardware/DIY/Sports shop – probably would.

I don’t think wheeling a bike around a shop is very much different to wheeling a pram/buggy/wheelchair in terms of its physical presence and impact on other shoppers.

Mainly, it’s about rule #1 and being polite/asking/not being an entitled dick about it.

We had a proper roadie girl bring her bike into our shop and lean it against one of our display stands. We have a bike stand directly outside our door and a lock for people to use. I offered it to her and she said “no it’s alright”.
Very bloody odd.

Most H&B shops I’ve been into have had precisely 1 person in besides the staff….me. I would suggest that assuming the OP is telling the truth the only person breaking rule No. 1 here is the supervisor. If he had said excuse me sir, its not really ideal to have a bike being wheeled around the shop, perhaps you could leave it at the till and I’ll keep an eye on it for you whilst you complete your purchase then I’d have agreed with him…but to ask you to leave seems not in the best interest of the business or the customer.

Unless it’s a bike shop this is a very odd behaviour

This. I’d never expect any shop other than a bike shop to be happy with me taking a bike inside.

WWSTWD?

Scuttle off and whine to some internet strangers?

I’d still ask first even if it was a bike shop.

They probably have a policy cos someone wheeled a bike covered in mud in.
The correct response by the staff would be ‘I’m really sorry bikes not allowed in, but if you tell me what your after I’ll grab it so you can be on your way’.
Or ‘come on in I’ll watch your bike’
Or ‘I’ll pop it out the back’.
It’s really not hard, but if they haven’t got that sort of brain for customer service I wouldn’t argue about it, asking to see the policy is a bit of a dick move. I’d just leave and push a couple of displays over on the way out.

I did it once after I bought a cheap* CatEye set from Halfords which instantly broke trying to fit it in the dark after unlokcing bike and reattaching all my stuff to rear rack, saddle bag etc. Rather than lock bike back up and remove everything I feared my get stolen if left on my bike, I wheeled it into the Halfords store and lent it against a stack of something on a pallet while getting a replacement. That felt barely acceptable, never made a habit of it. I know, cool story.

*but not so cheap I expected it to instantly break.

When asking for his details and questioning the policy, I got told by the supervisor who had come over that I was being aggressive and rude (I was not, I’d not even raised my voice) and was asked to leave the shop.

They missed a trick really, could probably have flogged him some CBD oil on the way out to help him calm down about getting ejected.

I hope you told them to take their wheat grass suppositories and …….er….

but to ask you to leave seems not in the best interest of the business or the customer.

It doesn’t sound like the OP stepped into the shop and was instantly asked to leave and not come back.  They were asked to take the bike outside and then…

When asking for his details and questioning the policy, I got told by the supervisor who had come over that I was being aggressive and rude (I was not, I’d not even raised my voice) and was asked to leave the shop.

If he had said excuse me sir, its not really ideal to have a bike being wheeled around the shop, perhaps you could leave it at the till and I’ll keep an eye on it for you whilst you complete your purchase then I’d have agreed with him

sorry I disagree with this thought, do you think they should provide some sort of valet service for peoples bikes? Shop staff usually have enough to deal with and taking responsibility for someone’s bike while they have a mooch about ain’t in their remit. Fair enough if they want to but fair enough if they don’t. Our workplace no longer provides bike storage for staff as someone’s bike was damaged and they blamed the company for not making the storage secure enough etc so they just pulled the plug altogether rather than deal with further liability issues. As for the OP, maybe the shop were concerned about liabilities if they agreed to a bike on the premises and why were you asking for his name and questioning him etc, they said no bikes, it’s their shop, you didn’t seem to accept this so they asked you to leave. Fair enough in my opinion.

This is the first time I’ve ever thought that anyone would find it acceptable to bring a bicycle into a shop. I don’t find it acceptable.

I think it was pretty unfair to expect to take a bike into a shop without asking, then challenging them after being asked to take out outside, then coming on the internet presumably to smear them. I worked in a shop for years and the level of entitlement amongst the public with things like this just made every day difficult.

The entitlement is baffling, then questioning the policy instead of apologising and getting your bike out of there is another level, as is asking the poor sod for his details like you want him flogged by head office or sacked, I kinda think his supervisor was right, and you don’t have to raise your voice to be aggressive and rude. Time to ask yourself some questions, first one, am I being a …..

Hardly crime of the century though is it lol.

“asking the poor sod for his details like you want him flogged by head office ”

Considering head office is probably the Kremlin this may be more serious than you think…..

https://www.ft.com/content/26c015d4-1c4e-4ff4-b6c1-e1a958744888

Edit – non paywall https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/02/two-uk-based-russian-oligarchs-have-shares-in-22bn-conglomerate-frozen

whats the general consensus on taking a pram or buggy into a shop? or one of those wheeled shopping baskets that old people use?

This is the first time I’ve ever thought that anyone would find it acceptable to bring a bicycle into a shop. I don’t find it acceptable.

Depends on the shop. On my old commute I sometimes stopped off at the local corner shop so no chance of ever getting a bike in there.

But I also sometimes stopped at an Asda on the way and routinely wheeled the bike in, parked it near the entrance, bought my meal deal and went on my way. Never once had any issues (although it was early in the morning, maybe they’d have said something if I’d have tried it on a busy Saturday…)

I’d never expect to wheel a bike around the shop with me but – assuming of course that the shop is a reasonable size, and is not a stockist of expensive artwork / fine bone china / etc – wheeling it “just inside” and asking if it’s OK to just pop it there for a minute is seldom met with any complaint.

I used to do some food bank collection/delivery work on a community e-cargo bike, took that into the supermarket every time!

I heard Holland welcomed bikes. Strange that they’d barr it.

Deserves more credit!