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repost: worst bikeshop experience
reposting this...I am still pissed about this experience...if anyone else ever had such a ludacris experience, please feel free to post. This guy who owNote: This is my own personal experience ...your experience may vary.
Last Thursday, I was looking around for a size small full suspension bike for a birthday gift. I didnt want to buy a super
high end bike, nor a cheapie Wal-mart full suspension either. So I stopped by a local shop, Glendale Cyclery. Its a very small
quaint shop that sells Trek and Specialized. On the floor I spotted a used Kona Stinky, size small. It was in fair condition and the best part, it was a size small. Great for beginners, has tons of suspension and is easily resellable if necessary.
So I asked the shop owner how much and asked for a test ride. I took a spin in the parking lot, just noticed a either bad left pedal bearing or perhaps a crank problem, but no biggie I can fix that. The shop owner said the bike was on CONSIGNMENT and the owner was asking for $900. I said OK, I'll take it.
The shop owner said, well you can't until he contacts the owner. I said, what does that mean? I have the money, cash if need be. He said he will call back Saturday. So I left my name and number. Never called back. I called Saturday and he said he couldnt reach the seller, I said OK.
Tuesday comes along and I call back, eager with $900 cash in hand. The owner said that he couldnt reach the seller of the bike. Great. I told him I needed to buy it for a Wednesday birthday gift. I told him I have the money.
Here's the weird reply: "better get one somewhere else"......WHAT!?!!!!? You have something on the sales floor for sale
and you don't want sell it?
I said when will you be able to contact him.
He said, I don't know.
I laughingly said, oh he's a slug, eh?
He said, no not really. Look he's probably busy.
I said, what? Youre kidding, right?
He said, people are busy.
I hung up.
ns this shop needs a vacation or something.
Posted by Mongoose  a 67 year old riding a Bullit from Hwy 2 on 10/23/07
Responses: (1) (2) Post Reply 
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- Re: repost: worst bikeshop experience
Actually, sounds like the shop was being pretty professional.
Consignment is when someone wants to sell a bike, but instead of dealing with classifieds, etc, they take it to a shop, and the shop will sell the bike for them, for a percentage or fee of course.
Often, the owner of the bike will establish some sort of expected price.. but who knows what the low end is.
Perhaps the offer you made was at or below minimum asking price for the owner.. Perhaps he specified to the shop to contact him with the price before the sale was finalized... we don't know.
When you said you were in a rush to get this as a present, it would make sense to not hold out for something the shop owner couldn't guarantee you'd be able to get in time. If there's a deadline soon, then it might be smarter to buy something else, or new, or, etc. than wait for something specific that might not be timely.
As for calling the customer a slug, well, what would you expect??? The shop owner was being VERY PROFESSIONAL and not name-calling another customer.
If you were the person selling the bike on consignment, would you want the shop owner name-calling you?
Don't know how long that bike was sitting there... but it might not be the guy's priority.. or maybe he had family emergencies... who knows?...
But the real lesson is:
If you want something, and want it NOW... be prepared to pay for it.
Posted by POS71RS a 29 year old Weekend Warrior riding a 06 Iron Horse Azure Expert from Oxnard on 02/24/08
Responses: (0) (1) Reply (to this)(main)
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- Re: repost: worst bikeshop experience
The seller gives the retailer a min. price to sell it for, like a Reserve Price on Ebay. If the price I stated was too low (which it wasn't)
he'd tell me, but he didn't. Bottom line, he shouldnt say it was for sale. Business is business, if you saw a used car with a sign off the street and really wanted it but the guy was jerking you around about how much and was wishy washy about selling it you'd probably tell him to take off the sign. Thanks for your input though.
Posted by Mongoose a 67 year old riding a Bullit from Hwy 2 on 02/25/08
Responses: (0) Reply (to this)(main)
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