The Bicycle Entrepreneur

«I have been screwing up the courage to write this review for three months. It has taken that long to get past the shock of the disinterested, then dismissive, then downright aggressive and threatening interactions I had in the Nedlands store. *****Forgive this being a saga; I do not wish to ill-represent an interaction without providing context. If you're interested in the punchline only, scroll down to where the asterisks are again shown. I wandered in on a cheerful spring morning to be informed that there was a three week wait on quotation, then another week to ten days for a bike service. I took this in stride, given covid-enforced extended overwintering and renewed enthusiasm for outdoor-ing; fair cop, and good to be up-front about. Deciding that every bike shop would probably be the same, I accepted this, and explaining my particular concerns to the storeman, left the shop happy enough. This bike was a new acquisition, I explained; a second hand, to be my daily drive and only means of transport. I drew attention to rust on front forks, possible problem with the gear cassette/derailleur, and a chain that needed a good clean and re-grease, as it was clumped and dry, caked with grit and grime. I asked for a 'special birthday' for my new 'wheels'. This was noted by the storeman, who pointed out in addition that brake pads were deteriorated and cables would probably need replacement. In three weeks I was duly contacted by a service department who made a $180 quotation, we discussed my particulars again and agreed I could pick up in 1week-10 days. When I was contacted, I raced down (thoroughly ready to embrace life in two wheels instead of on foot everywhere again), and was disappointed to be greeted by a still-dirty, grimy, rusty bike, with no evidence of anything being done in fact, apart from the new cables and pads. I asked the shop assistant about the service notes, and he said there were none; I asked if the mechanic was still on site; and was told they weren't; I asked whether the service personnel had received my particular requests and a printout of these was begrudgingly produced. I pointed out that the rust issue had been documented, but the rust was still present; I was dismissively told that surface rust wouldn't do any harm, and that removing rust would be unhelpful. Fair enough, I accept that, but I hadn't had this information explained by the serviceman... I asked about the dirty chain, and was disinterestedly told that it looked fine. I pointed out the sand and grit and got a shrug - I was not speaking to the mechanic, and the mechanic had gone home. I asked if the problem with the derailleur and the missing gears had been addressed and Mr Disinterested shrugged and again said that perhaps I could return another time to find out. I then noticed my taillight was no longer working. When this was pointed out as a definite reason I couldn't leave the store (it wasn't yet dark, but I like knowing that my newly serviced road vehicle is legal, after all), it was again begrudgingly pronounced to be 'probably just a battery's. When this seemed to be the extent of the assistance I was going to get, I politely asked if a battery to replace the one that had died since I brought the bike in could please be fitted, I was told 'we don't sell batteries, you can get one from home and put it in; we don't do electrical stuff on bikes, it's just mechanical servicing'. I pointed out again the legal side of things, this being my vehicle that I needed to ride home, and again I got the shrug. I decided this wasn't going to get me anywhere, so I paid my money and left the shop in good grace. 100m up the road,the chain derailed as I changed down gears. I turned back to complain, but turned around again as I felt I would be met with more shrugging and 'i'm not the service guy, take it up with them on your own time' treatment. The next morning, in a break at work, I called and really unemotionally and simply explained that I was unhappy with most aspects of the service I had had performed, and that I wished to discuss a refund for the service, paying only for the parts and time for fitting of the new brake pads and cables. I was transferred to speak to the service manager of the store. This person was quite calm, but explained that without looking at the bike in person, he couldn't verify anything that I was saying, so wasn't going to enter into any discussion about refunds. I explained that I understood, but that I had already attended the store and had a storeman see my concerns, then detailed my complete chain slip less than 100m away from the shop on the way home, and how crestfallen and cheated I felt when I'd paid over four hours' wages to ride away on a non-legal bike which let me down straight away, where I had pictured a happy, spiffy trip home on my fab, 'singing' machine. I agreed to attend the shop and meet with this person with the bike when our work schedules next made this possible (the next day). During this discussion, I was introduced to a website explanation of the service levels; it was pointed out to me that a cassette degrease was only included in the highest level of services, and this was over $250. I explained that I felt a basic service of a geared machine should include at the very least the removal of a layer of grime, and application of fresh grease where it was dry and crusty; as I had done as a young girl to my bike every spring with my father. We agreed to disagree on this point, and the website was again held as fair and up-front explanation. I replied that yes, had I had the benefit of this excellent tabulated service chart in store, I would have made note of the standard service and purchased accordingly, but that this was not the case, and I had thus explained the kind of riding I was doing, frequency of riding, described the kind of service I wished for this bike, explained that I wanted to give it a 'fresh eyes' service, and had expected that to be translated when I spoke to service tech prior to accepting the quote. I pointed out that my requests as noted on the service computer detailed things that were not in the basic service schedule, but that when I had asked whether they would be addressed (blind to that schedule at this point as I hadn't gone online at that stage), I accepted the quote recommended to me by the mechanic who made the quote. Again, it was agreed that we could have another chat in person, and while disinclined to recognise any failure on the service team's part, there was token recognition of my unhappiness potentially having a basis in fact, and potential for some improvement to the current situation. I got off the phone not too unhappy, and pleased that I would be able to have a fair hearing in person. *********My issue******* Less than ten minutes later, I got a call from a person whom I believe to be the overall chain service manager (they have a central depot for servicing, I later learned). They introduced themselves as *first name* from Bicycle Entrepreneur, and proceeded to launch into an attack on my personal failings, an outright refusal to consider any possible failure or reason for anyone to complain about anything being missed in any service conducted by their (busy!) technicians, absolute refusal to enter into any discussion about refunding any portion or making further repairs to address my concerns on initial presentation to the shop. His manner absolutely caught me off guard, making me speechless. When I said that I had approached the shop directly rather than make a social media fuss, and was not trying to be a problem, but was expressing a genuine disappointment with the service, this person retorted that he didn't care and was not interested; I said that ai would be unable in that case to bring mine and my boyfriend's specialist trail bikes in for their parts, repairs and servicing in that case, he further expressed a complete disinterest in any further business with me and that he would be happy for me to disappear elsewhere at my earliest convenience, then hung up on me. I have never been treated with such disdain and obvious lack of respect. It really shook me up, as a person in her own in a new city, far away from support from friends or family, to feel so attacked. I am only glad I did not encounter this individual in person, as I would likely have called the police or needed trauma counselling.»
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