pp

what i said was ‘you sell stems mate, you have them on your website, but i need one today’
he said ‘ errr, i will ask’
i said ‘ do, please’
so he did, and they did not have any in stock.
in a national cycle chain store, they did not have 1 stem in stock.
i did buy some bar tape, lightweight overshoes, lightweight gloves, and a new water bottle.
i bought these just to show no hard feeling like, cos they did not have a stem.
when i got home i found a shorter stem, which i put on my stiffee, from which i robbed the thomson 70mm non o/s stem for my tourer.
so in a round about way i got sorted
saved me 25/50 quid which i wanted to spend in evans on a stem…..bastids………..

So, the OP didn’t tell the whole story? I thought as much.
Why?
To get a rection. = Troll.
Why?
Beacuse it’s Evans.

I maintain that if the little LBS didn’t have a stem, you’d never have posted this…….

😉

Hmmmm, very good. So, a shop that ignores customers, that is rude to customers, that fails in their mechanical duties, that overcharges people, etc. etc. etc. is talking shite?

Oh do grow up, please.

I’ve seen and heard far worse in several other independent bike shops including some that are constantly bigged up on here but becasue it’s Evans it seems fashionable to slag them off, the same people trotting out the same stories every time.

CF, Im sure i have read on here that you have NEVER even been in Evans, so stop talking SHITE, and commenting on something you dont know about, your right, you should grow up, your a TROLL

First of all, shop that ignores people, not in MY experience
rude to customers, again, not in MY experience
fails in there mechanical duties, not in MY experience
and over charges, again, not in MY experience

Like most people on here, i comment on something i have experience of, unlike you, get a life, or here is a thought, maybe go in a branch of Evans and get YOUR experience, loser.

FYI crazy-legs has worked for Evans sporadically…

and what does that have to with his opinion?

fellas, not slagging em, i just thought a national bike chain would of had a stem in their shop.

not asking for something out of the ordinary was i????
hand built wheels
650b tyres
29r tyres
tubs
leather bar tape
no, just a simple straight forward stem…….. 🙄

Trev, your illiteracy is touching, as is your interest.

I go to Evans often, as it happens, out of a morbid curiosity. As yet, they have never failed to disappoint. Nothing to do with it being the “fashionable thing to do”, as fashion is of no interest to me, but good bike shops are. I used to run one. I know a **** of a lot about running bike shops and the bike trade in general. Evans are not deserving of your money, unless of course you work for them.

Oh, and as to “loser”? Well, I’m just back from a nice day on a yacht on the Solent, and am now back in my well appointed flat in one of the finer parts of London, eating good food and drinking good beer. Loser? Nah, not me.

flash, stop showing off 😉

trev, city lost today????? 😉

and what does that have to with his opinion?

I think he should declare an interest. Circumstances alter cases.

ton, I couldn’t help but bite! 😀

Evans ? selling bike stuff ? the last time I went in there they sold blouses and skirts for tubby ladees….

i was lookinfg for some size 20 panties……… 😳

Tony, city won on Saturday…….. ;0)

and CF, those who talk about, don’t usually have it in my experience.

Nobody cares about what you think about Evans, someone always says so when your talking waffle on a post when its to do with Evans, maybe just for once, keep your opinions to yourself, please……..

ton – Member
i was lookinfg for some size 20 panties………

Do not post THAT picture. Please? PLEASE don’t post it….! 😉

I think he should declare an interest. Circumstances alter cases.

I have, in the past, worked for Evans Cycles. I have also worked in several other shops, mostly P/T or as a temp mechanic when they’ve been short staffed.
I’ve seen and heard bad staff in most places (not just Evans by any means), equally I’ve seen and heard some of the most experienced people in their particular cycling discipline offer expert advice and opinion even when they know that no sale will be forthcoming.
Equally it should be stated that some of the customers that have to be dealt with would test the patience of even a saint… 😉

Trev, why keep my “opinions” to myself? They are a factual evaluation of a situation which I feel could help other riders avoid bad service and a bad shop. Why hide that? Nobody cares? Oh well, nor do I. I care about giving good advice, however, and this I believe to be the case here.

Evans are, in all the experience I, and my friends and colleagues, have, utterly rubbish. Sorry that you disagree.

some of the customers that have to be dealt with would test the patience of even a saint.

I probably fall into that category 🙂

so Manchester Trev, how long have you worked for Evans? 😉

Anyway, as much as id love to stay and chat, Ive just fueled up the Learjet, and im off to my luxury aircraft carrier in the Med, where i will try and sell one of my many flat’s ( all in the finer parts of London ) before eating the best food and drinking the best beer…… instead of trolling on here.

😆 @ rOcKeTdOg!

Trev, did you not learn how to use an apostrophe?

I popped into an Evans store to look at some Specialized Pro road shoes. A very helpful assistant asked if I need some help and I asked her if she could tell me something about the different type of footbeds available and how to select the correct one. She said she didn’t and proceeded to ask all the other Evans employees. Up until this point I thought what a great service but then she came back and told me no one new anything about the footbeds and that I needed to take a look at the internet then come back. Is this the service you expect when you are looking at road shoes around £150? Stunned I walked out and certainly never to darken their door again.

I know that its not possible to know everything but to tell a customer to check the internet then come back, what is that telling me about how important they feel I am as a customer. There were 5 if not more staff and none new anything about there own stock or were prepared to help find the information I wanted.

No shop is perfect and good staff are bloody difficult to recruit and retain but come on where is the staff training or customer service? How hard would it have been to call Specialized or another shop etc.. for some help.

RD, about 2 years, why?

and CF, apparently not.

………sent from international gold-plated blackberry……….

There may well be branch’s that these issues have happened, but i honestly think, if you have a problem, with the staff, being rude, or unhelpful, you should highlight it with whoever is in charge ( instead of posting on here ), be it on the day or by correspondence, it is the only way to rectify these situations, i would welcome it in the branch i work at, even if i’m sure we don’t need it.

please can we draw i line under this, it is getting boring.

Trev, why should we not post on here to tell fellow mtbrs how crap a certain branch is???

There may well be branch’s that these issues have happened, but i honestly think, if you have a problem, with the staff, being rude, or unhelpful, you should highlight it with whoever is in charge ( instead of posting on here ), be it on the day or by correspondence, it is the only way to rectify these situations, i would welcome it in the branch i work at, even if i’m sure we don’t need it.

please can we draw i line under this, it is getting boring.

That’s fine but if you don’t like it on an open forum then that really is tough. If you want to speak to your branch in Bristol regarding my experience then that’s also fine but TBH I thought that its crap IMO and I am free to voice it.

Tony, because the branch in question doesn’t get to hear, and the problem doesn’t get rectified, if your voice your feelings here, and not in the store.

and Hopster, if you feel so strongly about Bristol, say something, its no good anyone else doing it.

RD, about 2 years, why?

i hardly need to state it explains your responces, i think you should have stated your interests even if it does seem plainly obvious

trev, of course they got to hear, i told them….
shit service is shit service mate.
like when i bought the forks off you.
i told everyone on the forum that you were good, and hopefully you might have sold more cos of that.
if you had been poor i would have done the same and hopefully people would have been put off.

To be fair, most bike shops carry f*ck all stock. That’s why that bike warehouse sale I went to last week was like Alladin’s cave. Every part under the sun in every size you wanted. Why more bike shops aren’t like this I dont know. Size isn’t an excuse. The warehouse sale was laid out on a floorspace about the size of two badminton courts. Not exactly massive. The market’s crying out for a bike version of TK Maxx! 😉

To be fair, most bike shops carry f*ck all stock.

Why more bike shops aren’t like this I dont know. Size isn’t an excuse.

Cos it costs a FORTUNE. Have you any idea how many different “standards” and options there are out there? Consider something like seatposts – most people want one for about £20 while a few folk will want a Thomson/RaceFace etc for £70-100 or so.
ALL the different models in ALL sizes, in ALL the lengths and ALL the colour options – that’s thousands of ££ of stock which will probably not sell, it’ll take up loads of space and look a mess. Same with BB’s, 5 different “standards” in all possible axle and shell widths, cranks in every common length and colour, bikes in every single size along with sometimes 2 colour options and (for road bikes) often a triple or compact option as well as the normal 39/53 setup. It’s just not possible and as an aside to that, NO memeber of staff in ANY shop can possibly know everything about all the stock.
It’s just not economically viable to stock all sizes of all stock all the time.

Should have gone to cyclesense in Tadcaster instead.
A mate of mine used to work out back at Casleford Evans and they would only let him loose with a rubber mallet! They are as thick as him!!!!

CF you may have had some bad experiences with Evans but you are tarring every shop and member of staff with the same brush, some of the guys working will bend over backwards for customers but it’s always tricky when someone walks in with a chip on their shoulder and the opinion that the shop is sh*te and all the staff know less than him etc…..
If you’re unhappy with service speak to someone about it, complaints are always dealt with and taken seriously, piffle on forums isn’t.

My local Evans (600m away) which is the only reason i go.. Had a SS convertion kit… (last one)…. How good is that !!!

I do not like the staff or the shop.. I always get told to order on-line and pick up in store.. WTF is the point in having a shop!…

To be fair the staff probably do not like me either.. I feel dirty and ready to be told no we do not have it every time i walk in… I keep trying though, as today i was really supprised!!!

Does this type of thread realy need to be hear?

I signed up about a week ago, and tbh i dont give a shit about your bike shop woes.

just **** ride?

x

Sometimes I think that the CF login is being used by multiple users- sometimes it comes across as mild, humourous, knowledgable and erudite, but often, as now and originally, as the front for a tosser.

Case in point- Evans- some of the shop staff may be interchangeable with those at Curry’s Dixons et al, but in a lot of the shops the staff are cyclists as enthusiastic as any of us. I do find it difficult to believe that CF could have been into either of the Waterloo shops and come out thinking that they were total rubbish, and both are very well stocked, especially considering the breadth of market they were aimed at. As somebody who has managed a shop he will be well aware that the physical stores do not as a rule sell products at less than rrp- there’s no call for the overcharging claim, unlike another well known London bike shop I can name which regularly charges rrp plus for stuff.

CF, I occasionally wonder whether you were ever connected with Dirt & Dreams?

Cos it costs a FORTUNE. Have you any idea how many different “standards” and options there are out there? Consider something like seatposts – most people want one for about £20 while a few folk will want a Thomson/RaceFace etc for £70-100 or so.
ALL the different models in ALL sizes, in ALL the lengths and ALL the colour options – that’s thousands of ££ of stock which will probably not sell, it’ll take up loads of space and look a mess. Same with BB’s, 5 different “standards” in all possible axle and shell widths, cranks in every common length and colour, bikes in every single size along with sometimes 2 colour options and (for road bikes) often a triple or compact option as well as the normal 39/53 setup. It’s just not possible and as an aside to that, NO memeber of staff in ANY shop can possibly know everything about all the stock.
It’s just not economically viable to stock all sizes of all stock all the time.

If it costs a fortune, how can a travelling warehouse afford to do it and a bike shop fixed in one location cant?

Evans just don’t cater for the customer who builds their own bikes, they get bikes sent in bits and build them up as needed. In this time of recession it would be bad business sense for a shop like evans to stock parts like stems because it would be a waste of money.

no, at castleford xscape….

hehe great aren’t they, the York ones no better either although it did only take 5 mins to get me a rear mech there 🙂 and they stock a few stems

York does employ a nice looking lady on friday nights too 😆

“I had the exact same experience asking for a stem at an Evans in London. Asked next if they knew anywhere that did sell them so the guy recommended another Evans a bus ride away. As it happens there was another larger MTB shop (with stems!) 100 yards further down the street. “

London Bridge?