Comments on: Customer Service – A Response

By: Dini

Dini — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:21:49 +0000

Yeah word does travel fast here. You really have to watch what you say and to who. People get there egos hurt and make a bunch of drama out of minor things. Too bad they cant just spend that time riding their bike.

Seems to be a hard balance in a bike shop to compete with the internet and still be able to pay people enough to make every customer feel special.

By: Nathan

Nathan — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:20:26 +0000

Dara – I completely agree. I think that is one of the underlying parts of the ‘ask first, inform later’ point as well. Assuming that you know anything about somebody just by looking at them is always a bad idea.

I hate to say it, but I also have seen too many times a gender bias in bike shops. They tend to be a bit of a ‘dude fest’ and can, unfortunately, be a tough place to overcome that horrible stereotype.

I actually had a female friend in college who was starting to get into biking, and insisted that I went into the shop with her at first because she felt like she couldn’t get any good service without a guy there. Eventually, one of the shops that we went to occasionally hired on a female who was incredibly knowledgeable about bikes. The first time we walked into the shop and she was working, she walked right up to my friend and treated her like a real person. That day, we walked out of there with a brand new bike for her, and I didn’t say more than 3 words.

Rhino – I haven’t been to too many shops in phoenix, but I’ll see what I can do.

Japhy – I hope that I was constructive more than destructive. Fortunately, it sounds like I may have been. I actually might just print out a copy of these posts and attach them to a letter to Frank. I know he’d be proud.

By: Japhyrider

Japhyrider — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 04:41:13 +0000

as my mom’s dad, Fred, used to say… “see this – instant death,” he’d wave his left arm at chin height. “see this – never been tested…” his right arm about level with your chest, still as a gun sight.

Fred was a veteran of the Korean War and one hell of a ornery old man that loved his family and friends. he little patience for shit heads.

it’s that kind of orneriness that kids these days call street cred. problem is, few of us walk the same walk.

bottom line is – ACTIONS SPEAK VOLUMES, THAT’S WHY IT’S SOOOOO IMPORTANT TO BE NICE TO EACH OTHER. like the golden rule. like karma, only harsher if you’re lame.

thanks for being so frank and constructive. Mr. Frank Maximus would’ve been proud. the world is a better place now.

By: rhino monkey

rhino monkey — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:18:37 +0000

Nathan…next time you roll through the Valley, please visit some of our bike shops. Many of them are in need of some “throat punching” and a “handlebar sandwich”. Thanks for the good read.

By: daralyn

daralyn — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 20:17:32 +0000

I would add to your list of customer service points: Don’t make an assumption of my knowledge base before speaking with me. This probably falls in line with your “don’t interrupt” point, but I have frequently been sized up upon walking in to a bike or gear store as a less-than-knowledgeable consumer. That is probably the bottom line on why we return to the same store over and over, and why employee retention is such a critical part of a business plan: once we know the employees and the employees know us, we are much more likely to have a good experience there, involving the exchange of information rather than the patronization of our knowledge/experience base.