Unethical or Ethical LBS Behavior?

Triathlon Forum
1

OK. I bought a Cervelo P2k in the beginning of April at a particular bike store. The fitting was free and they knocked $75 off the bike price just to be nice.

Since I had such a good experience, I took my friend there this weekend and had her buy a Cervelo Dual. The fitting was done by the owner and took 3 hours. He did a very thorough job and swapped out a few parts (stem, bars) to accomodate my friend’s petite build.

When we got to the register, the invoice showed:

$195 bike fitting (with $90 credit).

$25 for swapped parts

$1599 bike price ($100 off retail)

So the immediate question is, why on Earth does the bike fitting cost $195??? He claims he did mine for free b/c I took advantage of the winter sale when they were doing free fittings.

Fine. But why didn’t he ever say, “By the way, this fitting will cost you $195”. We certainly would have passed. He did a good job, but for $105 ($195 - $90 credit), I could have done it elsewhere and cheaper. It seems he did this to get back the discount on the frame.

In the end, despite our objections, he was firm on the price. It’s not the worst situation, b/c we ended up paying a little over retail, but the whole principal of his business practice is what upset us.

And the kicker, when we got home, we discovered a huge, deep scratch that he attempted to cover up and didn’t do a very good job patching.

Thoughts? Are we pissed for no reason? If not, what can you do?? He wouldn’t even throw in a bottle cage, so I’m guessing he won’t make amends.

2

Why say “particular bike store”?

If you are honest and sincere and have told us the story truthfully (it seems like you have) and you are not happy with what happened, why do feel obligated to hide the name of the shop?

3

B/c if I’m being unreasonable, I don’t want to defame the bike store. Plus, Dan had a freakin hissy fit the last time I mentioned the name of an LBS on this forum.

4

I would definately suggest raising your concerns with the person at the store who assisted you. Your concerns are valid IMO and worhty of some explaination.

My guess:

-When you buy a bike in the off season you save money. While it may not be apparent to all consumers, that seems so reasonably obvious to me that explaining it could border on insulting your intelligence. Truthfully, I doubt I would have mentioned it.

-Bikes arrive with cosemetic damage pretty frequently and that is a shame. IMO the best way to handle it is to point it out to the customer and allow them to suggest an apporpriate course of action.

My guess (or hope) is that if you stop in the bike shop and mention your concerns they will be pleased to assist you in resolving them.

Let us know how it works out…

5

I don’t think ~$100 is such an unreasonable amount for a good fit, but I agree he should have been up front about the charge.

Covering/no disclosing the scratch seems a little shady.

6

Wait a minute. How is that you are unreasonable in your observations?

Maybe some will disagree with your conclusions, but how can someone dispute your cool OBSERVATIONS? Unless they say you are a liar or “not all there” upstairs.

Why did Dan have a hissy fit?

7

I’ve seen quite a few cases where a fitting is free with a high end bike, or in the off season(because there’s nothing else to do). $195 for three hours of someone’s time seems reasonable if they are expert and do a very good job(although, to be honest, I’d probably balk at anything over $150 unless it involved a Computrainer). I don’t understand the $90 credit part. If the guy gave you a three hour fitting for $105, and did a good job, that’s money well spent, and a good deal at that.

So while I think that it should have been made clear to you that there would be a charge for the fitting, if you walked in there and said, “I want to help my friend buy a bike, and I want a custom fitting,” they may have assumed you had been there before and knew the fee schedule.

The thing I would be pissed about is the scratch. I’m Mr. “Yeah, the display model is nice, but I’d rather wait a few days for you to build me a new one.” If I noticed it before I left the store, I probably wouldn’t take the bike. But since you didn’t notice it until you got it home, I don’t know what recourse you have. I guess I’d see if you can get the scratch repainted so it doesn’t show up so much.

Good luck. If nothing else, your friend has an awesome new bike that fits her well. I hope she can enjoy it.

8

I think you assumed the fitting was free, and never clarified. I would say the blame is on you. Nothing personal, just my observation.

9

That’s my take on it. I have no qualms about the quality of his work. The only thing is that if you’re going to charge as much as he did, it would have been reasonable to state that up front.

There are so many other ways he could have done it without having the customer feel taken:

  1. If you pay $1699 (retail), we’ll do a thorough custom fit.

  2. For $1599, we’ll sell you the bike, but the fitting will not be included.

10

That’s true. but I’ve NEVER heard of a bike shop charge this much for a fitting without at least stating up front that there would be a charge.

11

That fitting should’ve been free. Period. The biz is way to competitive to be pullin’ stunts like that. If I’m not mistaken, even John Cobb’s store offers a free fit with purchase. I would’ve never paid it. There’s alot of other places to buy that bike.

12

As an LBS owner, what is a reasonable resolution to the scratch issue? Personally, I didn’t think it was a huge issue, but my friend was hysterical b/c it’s her first expensive bike and it’s scratched.

I’m guessing they can’t do much aside from applying some touch-up paint. I don’t mind paying some money to get it fixed (I feel guilty b/c I made her drive an hour and a half to patronize this bike shop). What’s the best way to fix a deep scratch?

13

Yeah, but the fit basically was free if the bike was purchased at retail price.

14

…and the bike was scratched! No way man. Take it back and demand a refund on the fit or they get the bike back.

15

Fixing a deep scratch in the paint, as long as it is a small deep scratch, is possible but a little time consuming done correctly. It takes a few coats of paint, meticulously applied and then either wet sanded or use rubbing compound of diminishing grit levels. Given the appropriate equipment, supplies and patience you can do a fine job. We do it here occasionally. I enjoy doing paint work.

16

Unfortunatley, there aren’t a lot of other places to buy the bike. There are only 2 authorized Cervelo dealers within a 2.5 hour drive of the city. We’d been waiting since April for a 48cm dual, and when it finally arrived, we had to drive 1.5 hours to get it.

17

If I noticed it before I left the store, I probably wouldn’t take the bike. But since you didn’t notice it until you got it home, I don’t know what recourse you have

Yeah. That’s my take on it. It’s hard to prove they did it. Even though it’s pretty clear someone tried to touch it up. The problem was, they were closing the shop and turned off 1/2 the lights when we were checking out so we didn’t get a good look at it.

18

OWEN_MEANY,

I have to say that I would agree with jmorrissey. I would never think of purchasing a bicycle without getting a proper fitting done first! In my experience, this is true at all levels of cycling. Without it, in my opinion, you are potentially compromising your future cycling experience all to save a buck or two. I would also get the best fit available and pay whatever it cost. Its worth it to have your bicycle fit you properly. The cycling experience is much more pleasurable and rewarding when the fit is correct.

As far as the scratch is concerned, I would explain the discovery to the shop employee/owner who sold you the bicycle. I would indicate that he did not point this “defect” out to you when you picked the bicycle up. Remember it is always a good idea to fully inspect your bicycle prior to completing the sale. I would ask him to obtain a free bottle of matching touch up paint for you and you will repaint the scratch, the paint will come in handy in the future too. Remind him that you paid full price for your bicycle and it was not discounted because of the scratch. Try not to be accusatory, like he intentionally tried to slip it by you. He probably missed it too. Scratches of this type are frustrating for bike shops too. If you are reasonable about this, they will be reasonable too.

In my opinion, you didn’t get screwed. You trusted this shop enough as a result of your prior experience to go there to purchase a second bicycle, although it was for someone else. This is what a bike shop wants. To increase its customer base and sell more bicycles. You and your friend were helping the bike shop and owner achieve one of his goals. You shouldn’t have to remind him of this. If anything, perhaps there was a misunderstanding on your part regarding the terms under which your bicycle was purchased and the terms under which your friend’s bicycle was purchased. You can’t expect the terms/sale prices to always be the same unless it is specifically indicated that they are or that there are “special” terms in effect at the time of the sale. This would be unreasonable.

Give it up. Get over it. It is not worth getting upset about believing that you were “screwed” when you were not. Go ride the bikes and focus on enjoying that experience! You will also benefit from having a shop that respects you for being a good and reasonable customer. It does make a difference when you need to get something fixed or need something that is above and beyond. Believe me.

Good luck.

19

Wants2RideFast hit the nail on the head.

20

I do not object to paying for a fitting. I object to someone throwing a client on the trainer for a fitting, and only after ringing it up, saying “Oh, by the way, the bike fit was $195”. Read the post. It’s not the cost that’s at issue. It’s his lack of transparency.

Try not to be accusatory, like he intentionally tried to slip it by you. He probably missed it too.

Not likely. As i stated above, he tried to cover it up. Unfortunately, I couldn’t give it a thorough inspection b/c he turned off 1/2 the lights in the store b/c he was closing shop.

The only reason I feel so Shi**y is that I made the recommendation to my friend to drive 1.5 hours to get her bike, and this is what happened. And she was hysterical when she saw the gouge they tried to cover up.

I’m going to write a letter to the store, and state that I’m upset with how things were handled. I’m not going to demand anything and I’ll only ask for some touchup paint. But sadly, based on this experience, I’ll never buy my bikes from them again (their loss…I have 5 bikes) and I’ll never recommend them to my buddies.