Is your LBS full of employees whose idea of customer service is talking to you? Do they say things that even the casual reader of Bicycling know is crap? Does the LBS seem more like a place to hang out and get a paycheck rather than earn business? Do they say things like "we support the community and we are kore and we think your stupid for pricing gear? Do they bitch about customers on public forums?
Then by on-line!!! Don’t put up with crap if your LBS won’t do what it takes to get your business then go else where and if they fold then they should have cracked open a book on customer service.
I think what gets me is if you own a shop you had to work for it. You had to want one, get all the capital together, and get suppliers and all the one million things it takes to run a business. To me it says this is your dream and something you really want and that is great.
The problem I have is someone puts all that work in then runs the shop like a club. They forget it’s a business and get pissy when customers act like customers. All that money and effort and they couldn’t get a book on customer relations?
A shop is not clubhouse it’s a business and owning a business and not understanding how to treat customers floors me.
I haven’t gone back and looked, but one question that arises is who are the folks who bashing the customer on all those internet/LBS threads? I mean, who are the folks who criticize potential customers for coming in store and shopping, wasting store owners time, then buying off the internet, or otherwise not being nice to LBS. Seems like the complainers could fall into three categories:
LBS owners; 2) LBS employees; and 3) folks unconnected with LBS, but who are LBS supporters.
(Well, I guess there is a fourth category, smartasses (coaches or not) who are just just stirring the pot, but let’s ignore them for now.)
Now if the complainers about customers fall into the first two categories, then clearly those folks are in the wrong business. If it is the last category, then perhaps they are just exercising their free speech right to tell us how they would run the world if they were in charge of it.
I have been to some bike shops with great owners and great employees and great customer service. I wish I could say that they were in majority, but sadly they were not.
If I had a dollar for every piece of vastly incorrect or incoherent piece of info I (and friends of mine) have gotten from employees of various local bike shops, I would be a rich man indeed.
In general, I feel like LBSs are analogous to auto dealer repair shops. They charge a premium for their products and services. For somethings I don’t mind paying a premium, but in general I try to avoid being sodomized as much as possible.
Is your LBS full of employees whose idea of customer service is talking to you? Do they say things that even the casual reader of Bicycling know is crap? Does the LBS seem more like a place to hang out and get a paycheck rather than earn business? Do they say things like "we support the community and we are kore and we think your stupid for pricing gear? Do they bitch about customers on public forums?
Then by on-line!!! Don’t put up with crap if your LBS won’t do what it takes to get your business then go else where and if they fold then they should have cracked open a book on customer service.
Nobody owes you or him or her anything!
Why would I waste my time dealing with 16 yo BMX bandits who no shit about triathlon or road for that matter. I have been in triathlon for 13 years and done ALL my own work builds design etc. I refuse to buy from my LBS when its easy to just go online to ebay and get what I want not what some punk thinks I need. Too many times ive walked out of the LBS laughing and shakeing my head.
I spent my college years working in a shop … and I was one of the pukes that now piss me off. If the me of today, were to meet the me of 1993, I would kick my own ass.
I can barely stand to step in most bike shops now. the attitude is so thick, you could cut it with a Campy peanut butter wrench. Plus, the majority of the people working in shops in my experience are not knowledgable about the sport. I would venture to guess the average Slowtwitcher is more knowledgable than the average LBS employee.
Example. I went into a local high end road shop that specializes in Euro clothes, and usually has a bunch of Calfees on the floor, as well as various Euro frames. The 2 employees never acknowledged my presence, despite the dirth of customers. Consequently, I didn;t buy my bibs from them.
LBS should take a lesson from Tiffany’s. Over the summer I bought my wife a necklace from tiffany’s for her birthday. I went in to the store --which is located in the Bellagio – wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The salesperson treated me as if I was the only customer in the store, and I was buying the most expensive item he had sold. Despite the fact I was spending $500, a relatively trivial sum in tiffany’s.
The LBS must learn all they have is customer service … if they screw that up, they have nothing. Consequently, most have nothing to offer me and i’m more than happy to give Excel my business.
Another pet peeve: offering to ‘order’ me what I want and at a premium on my time, money or both. If I want it i want it now, and I can order it myself.
LBS should take a lesson from Tiffany’s. Over the summer I bought my wife a necklace from tiffany’s for her birthday. I went in to the store --which is located in the Bellagio – wearing cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The salesperson treated me as if I was the only customer in the store, and I was buying the most expensive item he had sold. Despite the fact I was spending $500, a relatively trivial sum in tiffany’s.
The LBS must learn all they have is customer service … if they screw that up, they have nothing. Consequently, most have nothing to offer me and i’m more than happy to give Excel my business.
You’re not the first to make that comparison - Tom D has a Tiffany’s story as well, which might explain why people are willing to fly over from Europe just for a fitting, and why we all wish he’d pack up and move his shop to our town. If I had an LBS shop like Bikesport nearby I’d never buy anything bike related on-line again, save specific frame builders and the few online only retailers that don’t market their product through the traditional channels.
Hey Tom - don’t you think Bikesport Vancouver has a nice ring to it?
Tibbsy, I changed my LBS because although the staff were good to me, the owner came across as a stuck up prig. My new LBS has this one mint employee who fit me on my bike properly, says ‘hi there Patrick’ when I walk in, looks after me, treats me professionally, doesn’t laugh at my stooopid questions, and in all ways treats me like a man with some money who would be worth hanging onto as a customer. I like his attitude and the store he works in, and I keep going back. But I am hearing you about the ‘club’ thing.
actually I think we’re not too bad off in this area, Greg at tri-action is really, really, really nice and definitely knowledgeable as well: I’ve been using him exclusively for my purchases for a while and I’m definitely happy (after trying several other local bike shops with varying results).
I mean, to give you an idea, I got a 2nd hand p2k but was unsure about sizing (if it would fit me or not) and I ended up going to tri-action to ask Greg for his opinion (I was not a customer back then, never ever set foot in the store). I offered him to pay him for his time but he didn’t want to be paid and ended up spending like 20-30 minutes with me talking about things I should be looking for and sizing issues related to the type of races I was planning to do and so on and on. Very extra super classy and didn’t once imply I should buy a new bike from him instead.
Needless to say, after I got the p2k 2nd hand I went back for a fit, training wheels, tires for my race wheels, misc apparel, hrm, sent some friends his way etc. etc. etc. IMHO he definitely understands that a happy customer is a returning customer, even if I could save maybe 10-15% by ordering stuff online I don’t bother: I like his service and I definitely want him to stay in business so I’m supporting him with my $.
In general I’ve found that most bike shops have poor lighting, but so do most businesses. Most of the shops I’ve been to also have a strange and uncomfortable warehouse feeling to them; they feel hollow and without substance. To further stereotype, bike shops almost without fail suffer from clutter; some don’t care, some don’t know, and most don’t care that they don’t know that clutter makes customers uncomfortable and employees inefficient. Generally there is at least one, if not several, employees on the floor that are not customer service type folks. They aren’t bad people, it’s just that customer service isn’t their deal and they should not be on the floor. Also, they ought to have an espresso machine in any respectable bike shop, with an employee that knows what the hell they are doing. There is something else that all respectable shops ought to have, but I’m saving that for it’s own thread.
Oh, I like Greg (Tri-Action) very much. It’s just unfortunate that his store is less than easy for me to get to, and Demerly’s store is the epitome to which all others should aspire. I’m also a big fan of Campione, and have had good luck with La Bicicletta as well.
Why combine the threads? If we do then my name wouldn’t be visible on the main page and I wouldn’t get the attention I need.
Which also would mean that my name wouldn’t be visible through Tibbs sig line and I wouldn’t get the attention my family never gave to me as a child.
