Poor Service Or Am I Just Impatient

I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

I stopped at my LBS on the way home and got a good deal on a 2006 Kona
instead

Given that the shops website states online orders are delivered within
48 hours I thought it a bit slow that I couldn't try out an in stock
bike for 4 days. There you are though, sale lost for them and sale
gained for LBS.

Iain

"iarocu" wrote in message
ups.com...
I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

I stopped at my LBS on the way home and got a good deal on a 2006 Kona
instead

Given that the shops website states online orders are delivered within
48 hours I thought it a bit slow that I couldn't try out an in stock
bike for 4 days. There you are though, sale lost for them and sale
gained for LBS.

Iain

Not the dreaded Ev**s was it?

"iarocu" wrote in message
ups.com...
I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

I stopped at my LBS on the way home and got a good deal on a 2006 Kona
instead

Given that the shops website states online orders are delivered within
48 hours I thought it a bit slow that I couldn't try out an in stock
bike for 4 days. There you are though, sale lost for them and sale
gained for LBS.

Iain
Is that large as in lots of space to put stuff on display built or large as
in well known and popular?

If their mechanics had 20 bikes in to fix over the weekend and the bike you
were wanting wasn't built up then i wouldn't be suprised they couldn't have
it built for trying before monday.

One of the disadvanatges of carrying more stock than you can have (built
and) on display is that some requests will require building and therefore
raise the potential of loosing the sale because of this, where as if you can
have everything in stock (or at least publicising as in stock) built and on
display its there for someone to walk in, take a liking to and buy it.

I don't think its particularly poor service or you being impatient in such a
circumstance.

Nicholsons in Dundee lost a potential sale of a Raleigh drop bar (thank god
i didn't) because they didn't have a large frame in store and the guy in
leuchars had a seemingly better dawes for the same price, built and ready
for testing along side a 2nd hand custom built specialised frame for the
same price. I tested the dawes and got it.

The plus side was I did get to sit on a Bianchi for 30 seconds for a rough
frame sizing check in Nicholsons.

If the LBS hadn't had a bike you liked woudl you have gone back on Monday to
try out the one they woudl ahve built up for you to try?

Niall

I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

Definately poor service. I suppose it shows that they give priority to
existing customers rather than chasing the sale, so could be worse. Also
shows that they're not offering their mechanics a good enough overtime
rate.

On 12 Apr 2007 10:27:50 -0700, "iarocu" wrote:

I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

I stopped at my LBS on the way home and got a good deal on a 2006 Kona
instead

Given that the shops website states online orders are delivered within
48 hours I thought it a bit slow that I couldn't try out an in stock
bike for 4 days. There you are though, sale lost for them and sale
gained for LBS.

Opposite experience here.

Two weeks ago I emailed Islabikes for a quote for six Beinn 26s for
delivery on 24 April.

They requested I place the order immediately as they have a container
of bikes arriving on 19 April and they wouldn't have the wharehouse
clear to prepare my order on 24 April.

In article . com,
iarocu
says...
I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was interested
in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their website. They
confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure of work they
would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to try for size
before the following Monday.

I stopped at my LBS on the way home and got a good deal on a 2006 Kona
instead

Given that the shops website states online orders are delivered within
48 hours I thought it a bit slow that I couldn't try out an in stock
bike for 4 days. There you are though, sale lost for them and sale
gained for LBS.

You can't blame them for being honest about their mechanics being busy.
Or would you rather that they shunted existing work commitments down the
queue so you could look at a bike? Bike shops usually have a load of
bikes to prepare for the weekend, because that's when most customers go
in to pick them up.

Mark Thompson wrote:
I phoned a large bike shop in Glasgow 9am Thursday as I was
interested in a 2006 Rockhopper their offered for sale on their
website. They confirmed it was in stock. Then said due to pressure
of work they would be unable to get it unboxed and built for me to
try for size before the following Monday.

Definately poor service. I suppose it shows that they give priority
to existing customers rather than chasing the sale, so could be
worse. Also shows that they're not offering their mechanics a good
enough overtime rate.

Do you want your bike set up at 10 o'clock at night by some poor sod who's
been working since half eight?

Because of the good Easter weather it will be their busiest week since last
summer, if it had rained over Easter they would be kicking their heels.


--
Andy Morris

AndyAtJinkasDotFreeserve.Co.UK

Love this:
Put an end to Outlook Express's messy quotes
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On 12 Apr, 16:24, Rob Morley wrote:

You can't blame them for being honest about their mechanics being busy.
Or would you rather that they shunted existing work commitments down the
queue so you could look at a bike? Bike shops usually have a load of
bikes to prepare for the weekend, because that's when most customers go
in to pick them up.

No in general I am happy with the shop and bought my last bike from
them. I just thought that as the bike was a sale special and only
available in 1 size they might have had a display model built up for
customers to try for size even if I then had to return in a few days
to pick it up one built for me from stock. There is plenty floorspace
at the shop with maybe 50 or more display bikes.
When there wasn't a built bike in the shop I thought it odd
that an online customer would get a bike in 2 days but someone
actually going in to the shop had to wait 4 days.

Oh and to answer Clodhopper and Nialls points...

It wasn't Evans and I don't want to name the shop as past experiences
have been good..

If my LBS hadn't had a good bike and a better deal I would have gone
back on next week to try the Rockhopper. I'll phone them back tomorrow
to cancel the build up. On this particular occasion I got the
impression rightly or wrongly that my purchase wasn't that important
to the big shop. In the big scheme of things it isn't but it's a fair
slab of cash for me.

Iain

"iarocu" wrote in message
oups.com...
On 12 Apr, 16:24, Rob Morley wrote:

You can't blame them for being honest about their mechanics being busy.
Or would you rather that they shunted existing work commitments down the
queue so you could look at a bike? Bike shops usually have a load of
bikes to prepare for the weekend, because that's when most customers go
in to pick them up.

No in general I am happy with the shop and bought my last bike from
them. I just thought that as the bike was a sale special and only
available in 1 size they might have had a display model built up for
customers to try for size even if I then had to return in a few days
to pick it up one built for me from stock. There is plenty floorspace
at the shop with maybe 50 or more display bikes.
When there wasn't a built bike in the shop I thought it odd
that an online customer would get a bike in 2 days but someone
actually going in to the shop had to wait 4 days.

Oh and to answer Clodhopper and Nialls points...

It wasn't Evans and I don't want to name the shop as past experiences
have been good..

If my LBS hadn't had a good bike and a better deal I would have gone
back on next week to try the Rockhopper. I'll phone them back tomorrow
to cancel the build up. On this particular occasion I got the
impression rightly or wrongly that my purchase wasn't that important
to the big shop. In the big scheme of things it isn't but it's a fair
slab of cash for me.

I don't really see what you could expect them to do if they were busy.
Pushing people down the line who've already brought bikes in to be fixed
isn't really on. OTOH I'd expect a vaguely clueful shop bod to be able to
build a boxed bike - it ain't exactly rocket science.

On 12 Apr, 17:18, "Doki" wrote:


I don't really see what you could expect them to do if they were busy.
Pushing people down the line who've already brought bikes in to be fixed
isn't really on.

You are correct of course. I was just slightly annoyed that a bike was
advertised as being on sale but I couldn't see one at the shop for 4
days. I wouldn't for a moment suggest other customers jobs get put
back. On the other hand if something is advertised as a sale special
can it not be anticiapted people might want to look at it and
therefore it might be a good idea to have an example built up on the
shop floor?

Iain