Bike Shop Problems....

[Nuke Bowel]

Right, took a childs bike to be fixed, bought new cabels but there were bits and bobs missing.

a noodle and the left break leaver bolk and spring needed replacing...

So yerr.. they put it back together for £ 30

And they dont even work... i can pull both brakes on and the wheels just spin...

Is there anything i can do?

same as the other guy... the old man picked it up, if it was me i would have told him to feck right off.

But yerr.. in another topic on here I was reading that its illegal to allow bikes to leave the shop if the brakes arent correctly working?

True?

Luke/

[TheMunn]

Just take in there and explain your problems, you payed for the work to be done, if it's not done properly then get them to sort it. Don't speak to anyone but the manager when you go in there either.

[F-Stop Junkie]

I'd say it's not illegal to fix a bike to a poor standard, though it could be argued that a bike sold with defective brakes doesn't meet British Standards, but that's a different matter and still - I think - not illegal.

If it ain't right, take it back.

Maintenance charges are high, £20-£30 an hour or more depending where you are, and it may not be worth it for cheap bikes, but then what price do you put on safety? Plus some kids bikes have appalling brakes even when they're set up as well as can be. Why parents buy them in the first place I don't know...

[Nuke Bowel]

Just take in there and explain your problems, you payed for the work to be done, if it's not done properly then get them to sort it. Don't speak to anyone but the manager when you go in there either.

true. Spoke to the guy on the phone and explained I wasnt happy and he just put the phone down on me and said 'I have better things to be doing'

So yerr. Thats not really an option..

[Waynio]

id take it back and just explain that you feel the charge of £30.00 for work that is un acceptable needs correcting. (hopefully!!!!) if its a well established shop they will repair their error.

we quite a well known shop for our service and quality of service to customers, and we look at the "labour" figures month in month out and see where we can make things better? or if we cna charge more.

for example shops down in london will charge you approx £12-20 for a puncture repair!!!! most include new tubes too.

theres a new "POS" workshop system thing coming out, the mechanic puts in the time it takes and the machine works out the labour costs. we WERE working on £25.00 "hourly labour" rate. its now gone upto £40.00, for people that want top of the line machines servicing this price will be paid. for example look at a BMW service cost, for an M3 is approx £800.00!!!! now thats NUTTS!!!!BUT if you own an M3 if it needs servicing you need to pay the price, i agree with a kids bike it shouldnt be AS expensive as it doesnt take as long, we do have a kids "service" charge. which is cheaper than an adults bike with gears etc etc.

Waynio.......................

[mat hudson]

ha, thats my bos who put the phone down on you luke. 30 quid is well excessive, i cant understand why you were charged so much

[PaRtZ]

putting the phone down on someone is rude as hell anyway

Id be furious at that, and Id march in and go schiz with them. to pay £30 too for a crap job go in and say that you're angry because your little brother / sister tried to brake and it didn't work and they fell off a curb. Simple enough story (you could say they got mowed down by a juggernaught but you wouldn't really be in the mood for polite words with the shop)

really don't take it lying down, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!

[Jamie_Neal]

You paid for a service you didn't get. They shouldn't have charged you at all IMO

[F-Stop Junkie]

Shop labour is one thing that too many shops charge too little for. Also a lot of customers are unwilling to pay for work to be done properly by qualified mechanics with the proper tools for the job. What we as enthusiasts forget is that a bicycle is a toy for a lot of people. Why spend £100 on a bike for their kid when you can get a halfords special for £70? And if the bike is only £70, then why spend half that again in servicing?

If I can't do the work myself for whatever reason, I'm happy to pay decent rates for someone who knows what they're doing (Such as TF Tuned for suspension servicing, Tarty for wheelbuilds...). Same with car servicing, I'd rather pay more for a good mechanic so I don't have to worry about my car.

BTW, some BMW and Landrover garages are now upto £100 an hour for labour. Can you imagine having a major engine component replaced that takes 5 hours to do, plus parts, plus VAT...

[anzo]

Trading Standards, simple as. Ring them, they'll probably assign you a dedicated expert and he'll ring and ring, if they hang up on them, they'll probably take legal action on your behalf.

I know its only £30, but they didn't do what you paided them to do, you could have bought a magura off the For sale forum for that! At least if you don't get anywhere with Trading standards, you can sleep tight in the knowledge you've given the bike shop a lot of hassle.

Personally, If I were you I wouldn't ring them, please act differently on the phone because theres a barrier. Go there in person, with the bike and a few mates (witnesses). Explain the problem and what you want to be done, don't swear and be an arse about it all because it'll get you nowhere, hes in the wrong...do don't turn it the other way around.

First off, get the yellow pages and ring your Trading Standards office for your area (usually in the 'Council' section) and they'll tell you what do to first...more than likely what I've just said. And make sure you tell them everything, including him putting the phone down on you, and don't bend the truth! lol.

Good Luck.

[Nuke Bowel]

Cheers for all of the reply's lads.

It's been great having your advise.

After I posted the thread my dad told me he paid by cheque, So we have cancelled the cheque.

Maybe not the best of idea's, But im not being ripped off.

Cheers again guys!

[future orange 660]

yeh but then you can your dad in the shiz.

i always make sure i check stuff now.

i have had wheels built and stuff wrong spoke patterns etc.

once i bought an xtr crankset. kept in box until new frame arrived and then found they were different tones of grey! wtf. so i had to take them back and get a new pair.

always go there yourself.. and agree a price first.

they should have phoned to confirm any extra cost though.

[Guest]

hahaha f**king great. I was going to say go into the shop with some cable cutter's and tell him you'll 'fix' each bike's brakes at a rate of one/minute until you get your money back.

They seem like SERIOUS arsehole's there regardless, and for them to hang up a call its totally unprofessional and out of order. I'd be spreading the word that they are fanny's to mate's and such.

EDIT: regarding what future blah blah said, I used to HATE bringing my bike to a shop because it allways came to cost more than I was quoted, and they would never ring me to let me know of the extra charge, I think it's just being decent to inform a customer that they will need to pay more money than anticipated.

Were you given a quote in the first place?

Edited December 21, 2006 by jake1516

[Nuke Bowel]

hahaha f**king great. I was going to say go into the shop with some cable cutter's and tell him you'll 'fix' each bike's brakes at a rate of one/minute until you get your money back.

They seem like SERIOUS arsehole's there regardless, and for them to hang up a call its totally unprofessional and out of order. I'd be spreading the word that they are fanny's to mate's and such.

Lol, that would be funny.

He's known to be a twat, you can tell it's just been a side job for him.

I know of someone who is taking him too court...

So that says it all.

[mat hudson]

give neil a ring luke, he's mega sound and he'll handle it profesionally. clives a bit of a hot head i think but he's usually a nice enough guy, i cant understand him putting the phone down on you, thats well wierd

[Simpson]

After I posted the thread my dad told me he paid by cheque, So we have cancelled the cheque.

Wrong thing to do IMO.....

Just becuase everyone on here can fit a new gear cable for 6quid doesn't mean that a shop can....

Once you have added labour costs..... 15pounds a hour?

enough to be able to rent the premises.... insurance........

i admit 30 maybe excessive.

but

6 pound cable

15 pounds labour?

I mean hes taking libertys but cancelling the cheque...... you havent even gone into the shop and tryed reasoning with them - i just think youve gone too far

next time just do the work yourself

[Guest]

He hasn't gone into the shop fair enough, but he has had the phone put down on him without the issue being resolved on the phone. that sort of level of service deserve's to be f**ked about. That is NOT how to run a business.

The point is that this shouldn't be an issue in the first place.

Had the work been perfect, I could see you point simpson, but he's charged £30 for shite work. Hasn't it been said that when the lever's are pulled in the brakes do not function?

You could probobly get a fully working deore v-brake set up for close to £30.

Local bike shops complain that's it's hard to stay in business with online retailers, is it any f**king wonder?

[Sponge]

I don't ever let a bikeshop touch or even dare to keep my bike for 'a few days'. I don't trust them one bit, for obvious reasons. So I do all of my servicing by myself, or for the tricky stuff, get a trusted friend who works in a bikeshop to do it on the spot, or at his place.

What the topic starter posted is quite typical of several bikeshops, as they don't give a shit about customer's bikes, and just want to take it easy themselves. (some places are an exception however) In most shops' cases, I'd rather throw my bike down a set of stairs then let them keep it in their 'workshop' for a few days.

[paolo]

I wouldn't have cancelled the cheque, or would have at least went back to the shop and have them make it work. He hung up on you ?!? I mean, dude, your'e repairing a freakin' children bike Also 30 pounds is outrageous...

Damn I'm glad to have the best shop in the world, you just walk in, ask if you can borrow a stand, go get your parts yourself in the basement, work on your own bike, ask for help if you need or actually get it done pretty much free...

[Brisa]

Sounds a bit shit that you didn't get the job done right but as far as price, that sounds spot on.

Bike shops have to make money like everyone else, the shop I work in would be probably one of the best quality bike shops in Belfast and therefore have cytech mechanics and all fully shimano service centre certified. This doesnt come cheap and the end result is the workshop price is now up to £36 an hour.

I thought this was excessive when I started there and only when you see the break down of the costs you actually realise that from £36 the shop owner gets VERY little of.

I can't see how some shops can get away with charging so little, for example a tarty wheelbuild must take about an hour of his time, where I work that is £36 a tarty build is £10 or something, I don't understand how that pays for itself really.

Saying that if a bike can not be brought up to a good standard that the mechanic would be proud of letting out then the customer is notified of any extra parts/labour needed or the bike is given back to the customer with no charge. As you can't charge for work that wasn't completed right no matter how many times I have seen people do it.

"theres you laptop reformatted, that will be £30 oh and your keyboard now doesn't work" that was one my mum got stung with lol