Hey there,
This might help you if you still need a hanger:
http://derailleurhanger.com/cannondale.htm
I usually buy from them.
Good luck!!
Dittos.
I got a LBS to price match a $300 pair of shoes to $200 and a $250 set of pedals down to $150. Some play, others don’t.
And guess where I go for my servicing?
*What will you do when you need a tire TODAY only to find there is no LBS around…at all. *
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That’s why you keep a supply of spares. At least two.
LBS pays local and state taxes, internet companies don’t.
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No, I pay the taxes that get passed along by the LBS. And I’d rather the gov’ment have less money, not more. F em both.
- LBS employees most likely live local, spend local. They could be YOUR next customer, but sadly they moved on.*
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Yeah, same with the secretary typing pool, the telephone operators who were connecting my phone calls, and those people working the checkout scanners before you could scan yourself out, and the milk man. And the network TV journalist.
Of course, rather than ‘disapearing,’ they could have instead found something more productive rather than bitch about economies of scale and advancing technology.
They have waved fees when I was broke
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Who is running your LBS? Jimmy Stewart?
Small claims court + story in local newspaper/tv/radio
Will destroy their reputation.
Don’t get mad. Get Even.
“Damn, I think our parents all read the same book!”
I thought I had the opportunity to give my son the same lesson a few years ago at target. I used 2 coupons, 1 for $5 and the other was $2 but the 16yo rang them up as $5 each. I handed tried to hand the kid $3 and told him of the mistake. He argued with me that there was no mistake and called his manager who did the same thing. After at least 5 min of this I just threw the $3 on the counter and said you will figure it out at the end of the shift and walked out pissed. My son had no f’ing idea what the hell had happened.
Dave
Your story sounds familiar.
I shop at my own favorite bike shop. My garage. I keep more stuff than my closest shop keeps on the shelves. They are worthless. I keep extra tires, cables, housing, the little cable ends, even the bottom bracket cable guides. It is so much less hastle to fix my own stuff and just keep an inventory of the needed items. I even help out my buddies so they don’t have to deal with the drama in the local shop. I still have “stuff on order” from two years ago. They apparently don’t want my business. The have showed me that too many times. They have trashed a carbon fork on my bike i brought in for a BB change. They are very helpful to anyone that shows up with a mountain bike. When i need something i drive right by and head down the road to someone who wants my money and helps with a smile.
you should take that back and get your money
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“Damn, I think our parents all read the same book!”
I thought I had the opportunity to give my son the same lesson a few years ago at target. I used 2 coupons, 1 for $5 and the other was $2 but the 16yo rang them up as $5 each. I handed tried to hand the kid $3 and told him of the mistake. He argued with me that there was no mistake and called his manager who did the same thing. After at least 5 min of this I just threw the $3 on the counter and said you will figure it out at the end of the shift and walked out pissed. My son had no f’ing idea what the hell had happened.
Dave
That’s funny, my 5 year old walked off with a small part he was playing with at the trailer store and I realized it when we got home, so I drove all the way back and made him walk up to the counter and apologize and pay for it. He was mortified, but the people at the shop were really decent to him and supported what I was trying to get across.
I just don’t want to raise my kids to act like slobs, even if it costs me a little training time.
Indeed this is an unfortunate situation. However, you are painting with a pretty broad brush here if you think that all LBS’s are like this. Obviously we are just seeing your side of the story, but if we just work from those details, what has happened here is a failure of the shop to be flexible to your needs. In my experience, there are several different kinds of bike shop customers.
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Total DIY-Guy. The come into the shop for basic needs only. Will do almost all work/repairs on their bike themselves. May buy some stuff on-line or elsewhere, but may also buy from the shop.
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Part-Time DIY-Guy. They come into the shop for help and more importantly information on certain things. They will purchase P & A that they can install themselves either from the shop or elsewhere, but on other things, they will need the shops help/advice and are happy to have it.
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Knows-Nothing-About-Bikes-Guy. They come into the shop for everything. They check the bike in for work on even the most minor of things( fixing a flat . . etc). They buy almost 100% of what they need from the shop.
The important thing is that each of the above is a valuable customer. The problem is that many shops treat each customer the same - they don’t adapt their postion and attitude to what the customers needs are. You sound like you are Part-Time DIY Guy, but they are treating you like Knows-Nothing-About-Bikes Guy, which from your perspective can be annoying.
It amazes me that these basics of Business-101, in this case being flexible and truely understanding the customers needs, are not understood.
If you think your actions were justified and correct, all I can say is that you have a serious ethics problem.
Spot
If I may attempt to get you down from your high horse…
In the past I always would point out mistakes - I then thought about it and decided that it was not the right thing to do. A store’s bottom line is making money - why can’t mine be too?
When a store makes such a mistake you pay and leave: It’s their mistake and they should pay for it… The price of ignorance if you will.
I think this is a microcosm of society as a whole. Customer service is forgotten and being nice to people and businesses is gone. Everybody is out to get what they what and forget about the people they have to walk on to get it. I am a pediatric dentist and I always tell my staff that it isn’t hard to give great customer service. Little thinks like saying hi using a persons name or saying thank you compared to what you experience on a daily bases seem like your at the Ritz. Some customers in todays world have no respect for people or themselves and tend to be rude and after dealing with this type of person over and over you can become that way yourself. So I see both sides of the story. But people have to just treat people like they want to be treated and the world would be a better place. Sorry for the rambling.
That is interesting. One point that might not work there is that the line item was missing. I fully agree if the price is supposed to be 200 buck and they ring up 40, tough luck for the reasons you gave. But with it totally missing, that may cloud the issue a bit.
Here is one: What if he went back now and said “Hey you forgot to charge me for the tire. Here, I will split it with you, but that is the only option” What then?
This happened to me just the other day. I ordered a sandwich at the grocery store, ate it, threw away the barcode thingy and did my grocery shopping. Usually I keep the wrapper/barcode and just pay when I check out. It wasn’t until I got home that I remembered that I didn’t pay. I went back that evening and paid for it.
This whole “screw me, screw you” thing is so lame. So is the “price of ignorance” claim. What stupid arguments for selfishness.
Thanks! The hanger is there.
Customer service is forgotten and being nice to people and businesses is gone.
Agreed. What’s nice about this is that it does not take much these days to really stand out in the crowd by doing that little bit extra for your customers.
How long does a retailer have to catch this kind of mistake? Is there a statute of limitations or something?
Fleck I think you pretty much got it. I realize that my order may have been inconvienent since it’s a small part without much labor costs, but they are a cannondale dealer and I am a regular customer who has spent money in there before. And I didn’t need any of the part they were going to force me to buy. I have wondered, if I had my bike dressed up with everything minus the hanger and didn’t even bring in the RD, said it was at home, would they have done the work?
I have been to some nice shops and met some nice people, but more often then not I feel taken advantage of and the old pride I used to take in spending my money at the local shop is lost.
This shop is near my school where I live 3/4s of the year. In the summer when I was at home I crashed in a local TT and one of the guys that ran the race brought my bike to the shop (where he worked) when I got a ride to the emergancy room and basically gave my bike a tune up (wheels true, aerobars adjusted, cables tightened, cleaned). I went to go pick it up and was really thankful about all of that. Never got asked for a penny. Since then the guy has quit along with some others becuase of the new management. With this ordeal I feel like those days are over.
I think one reason why some people don’t experience good service at shops while others do is that many shops have their
own community and culture. Service for those on the “outside” can be hit and miss and will vary depending on the shop, who’s there, how busy they are, etc. Maybe not the best business plan/practice, but often jsut reality. But for those on the inside, service can be great.
I do most of my business with the local shop that sponsors our USAC club/team. While I do it in part out of thanks for the sponsorship, I also know I can get same day service at discounted or somtimes no cost. I’ve bought enough from them over the years that they have no problem if I bring in something that I bought elsewhere. It’s also fun to just hang out there – like I said, it’s part of the community. That being said, I’ve seen them provide good service to the dad looking to buy his kid a cheap bike for Christmas or helping the guy out who doesn’t know how to change a flat (with no charge for the 5 minutes service).
There’s a somewhat closer shop that caters more to mountain bikers. I will still go there if I don’t have time to drive to the other shop. I realize that I’m unlikely to get same day service, but they’re still pretty good about giving an accurate time frame for getting the work done. I used to get somewhat of a cold shoulder there, until they realized I knew a little more than they initially thought. I stuck it out, and just the other day, they really came through in a pinch when my drivetrain jammed up in the middle of a ride (a 5-minute downhill coast to the shop). And they didn’t even charge.
I can see someone not immediately fitting in at some shops and sometimes getting the cold shoulder. While it shouldn’t be that way, there’s still merit to making the effort to establish a relationship.
Sure, but did you pay for the 2 grapes that you “sampled”?
Nope. I deserved those grapes because I paid full price for some tubes the other day. You know how it is.