Is bike shop and customer service an oxymoron?

[Magpiegifts]

Good to see 26" again, I knew if I stuck with it for long enough my stuff would come back into fashion. I do nearly all my own work but both of my two LBS are very good old school shops, they are in East Devon and South Somerset so some way from the OP but they are out there.

Hi,
Where abouts in South Somerset exactly?

 

[was8v]

If anyone is a decent mechanic, they have far better prospects than a LBS

There's simply no money in it.

The easy money is in margins on new bikes, they are also easier to fix and keep stock for.

 

[BlackCat]

If anyone is a decent mechanic, they have far better prospects than a LBS

There's simply no money in it.

The easy money is in margins on new bikes, they are also easier to fix and keep stock for.

Yeah.. but how about flogging pretty but expensive RBs to the well heeled as “wall art” for their Canary Wharf appartment at 100 percent mark-ups. The model works for the retro roadie shops..

 

[Tootyred]

The pay is crap in most shops.......the equation is pretty simple...

Good pay....happy worker...mostly many f@€#$ given

Bad pay....poorly motivated worker...no f@€#$ given

If your lucky and you find a shop where the owner cares and the staff are genuinely interested, your winning..

Sadly the likes of halfords, crc and evans are not those places in general.

Also, frankly, give the average retro mtb to a 17 year old yoof and the only parallel they can draw is with their mums bike she uses once a year on holiday. It looks nothing like a "good bike" in their eyes! So bung it in with the spanners!.....who cares......its tat....right?

 

[Rotorhead]

I’m near Greenwich, so Chelmers is a hike! Have found another shop that I will give a try. I do have a couple of options but they are a drive away. Defeats the purpose of an LBS!

I take your point on buying a few incidentals, Greencat.. but I had also already discussed them replacing my worn out LTS bushings with a painfully tracked down NOS set, so hopefully they could have envisaged a reasonable stream of new business. Plus two sets of wheels needing built, come to think of it.

Oh well.

If I thought there was anything other than guaranteed penury at the end of it or we had more of a scene on this side of town, I would genuinely consider taking out a local unit for a year, hiring a mechanic and opening something retro focused. Hipster roadie shops survive on expensive coffees and heavily marked up vintage Italian frames. Maybe a retro MTB focused shop could wash its face in London. Hmmm.

Greenwich Cycle Workshop, Trafalgar Road. Father and son business. Super-hard working and very nice guys.

 

[BlackCat]

Greenwich Cycle Workshop, Trafalgar Road. Father and son business. Super-hard working and very nice guys.

Thanks - they are on the list. Last time I called there was a two week wait. Guess that’s probably a stamp of approval!

 

[Mark Manley]

Hi,
Where abouts in South Somerset exactly?

Wheels in motion Chard, Andy is a great mechanic but a one man band so is busy, slightly further afield Soanes cycles in Colyton.

 

[markoc]

A couple of times I used a mobile guy for a service on a recommendation from a friend, and he was very good. He'd pop round with his van, which had proper bike holders in the back so they were transported well rather than just lobbed in. Bike came back spotlessly clean, indexing bob on, brakes fettled and chain lubed. Sadly he's recently retired.

I can't help but think there's a gap in the market - but that this is likely for a reason as I can't see it paying its own way. Maybe a retirement project but that's a good few years off. Do the required courses etc and build up a home workshop. My problem is I can work on my retro's until the cows come home, but I get right out of my depth when I try to tinker with my new stuff - and the thought of taking a new set of forks to pieces fills me with dread.

 

[d8mok]

The issue is that everyone wants top level service but then don’t expect to pay top level prices which drives anyone decent onto other jobs and leaves the ones just collecting a wage.

The ones doing it who love the job tend to be far and few between.

 

[legrandefromage]

The brief time I worked in a busy shop (rhymes with 'Jutland'), it ended up with customers that would only come to me.

The service turnover went up by 10% too bumping up the figures and making the shop look good in the group. I refused to turn anything down and for 6 months it made a nice little community.

...except when Craig was in the workshop. He didnt like it one little bit and dripped poison into whatever and wherever he could. He was passed over as workshop manager and I was given the task of running it when he wasnt there, 2nd to the actual manager

That spoilt everything, I didnt earn much but it was a fixed monthly income as opposed to the previous self employed generated random amount. I was a happy bunny until Craig decided enough was enough. When he wasnt in, things were great and it was a laugh. I got incredibly fit commuting in (leading me to ace that years Peaks RB meet) and all was good. Until the days where the dark cloud of Craig would leave everything a wasteland in his wake. I was also fitter than Craig plus I was a good ten years older - something that came to a head on a staff cycle ride (a near 20 year old Zaskar holding its own against much younger stuff)

I got the sack in the end and the company tried to put the frighteners on John (the owner of RetroBike) to stop me from posting about it. That guy from their head office was later convicted of credit card fraud.

A new general manager took over and Craig promptly left as the new lady simply wouldnt put up with his tantrums, only one original member of staff was still there when I last visited and he was now assistant general manager, something he'd earnt while we all tittle tattled (its always the quiet ones).

So, that was just six months, and they really were not interested in my old kit or at least appeared not to be. They wouldnt entertain the projects that I took on and even though this was 10 years ago, even back then, they would always try to upsell parts and services, even if they were not needed.

So, staff? Some are passionate, many are not and its just a job. If you find the passionate ones, look after them.