Re: Bike shop employees: nightmare customers

Joe LoBuglio wrote:
Phil, Squid-in-Training wrote:

There was this mom/son couple who came in and were looking at
entry-level hybrids for college commuting. After having said
everything he could, my coworker ended up standing there for 10
minutes in silence. The young man was completely unable to make a
decision, and the mother wouldn't make the decision for him, and yet
doesn't mind wasting her precious time waiting for a response. Even
though I wasn't dealing with them, it was painful to watch.

What is the appropriate time a customer should have to make a
decision? 10 minutes to spend several hundred dollars isn't the worst
offence I can think of.

Absolutely. I need to clarify: the 10 minutes consisted of the young man
looking around, staring at the floor, obviously not attempting to make a
decision. She would say, "What do you want to do?" He would reply, "I
dunno." Repeat this for 10 minutes. They weren't even discussing... she
wasn't even offering ideas. It was like a scene from a bad movie. One
would ask themselves, "Is this really happening?"

If the shop were busy, your coworker might
have said "let me give you some time to think" and helped another
customer.

That's the exact idea I had suggested to my coworker right afterwards. It's
something I do on a regular basis so that I can get a little bit more done
in the meantime.

Your coworker told this customer "everything he could";
maybe that was a lot to digest. Or maybe the son had special needs
and the mother thought it was important to give him the time and
experience to make his own decision. I think you are way off base
here calling this a "nightmare" customer.

Yes, I was using hyperbole. He may have had special needs... otherwise I
suspect he simply did not care.

Then there was the older guy trying to work the system, claiming he
was being told 3 different things between the two hybrids.... the
wheel sizes are 26" and 700c and that's all that different. But he
couldn't comprehend this and tried to weasel out a closeout 2005
price on a 2006 bike. And he just kept talking about the same thing
over and over and over... I don't mind working with a customer, but
when it's blatantly obvious he trying to get a pity price, my
willingness to tend to them goes way down.

I'm not sure about this one. If he was being dishonest then yes, you
have a gripe. If he was haggling, then that is a pain too, but I don't
see why a nightmare. Not all shops work the same and consumers know
some places have firm prices and others will bargain with you. Again,
I don't understand how he was trying to bargain, but if he wasn't
being deceiteful, it sounds OK to me.

It was the incessant badgering of the point when myself and the store owner
had clarified the situation in no uncertain terms. He simply was not
listening. Each time he would bring up the same point, I would reply again
with the same appropriate response/clarification. It were as if I were to
tell you that you can't use mountain bike wheels in a road bike because they
wouldn't physically fit. And then you would ask 10 seconds later if you
could put MTB wheels in a road bike.

And then there was the wacko who brought in a bike that hadn't been
ridden in 12 months, left in the rain. He claimed that we had done
a flat change last week and that he deserved another flat change for
free. Upon seeing frozen rust on the chain that had dripped onto
the tire, we sent him out with a stern warning.

Here it seems the customer was lying and I will agree with you that he
got what he deserved.

I wouldn't like to go into a LBS where I felt time pressure to make a
fast decision or where the salesperson was frustrated by my not
immediately understanding the difference between two bikes. When a car
salesman asks me "what will it take to get you to sign the papers
today", I walk out.

Absolutely: I wouldn't want to, either. That is how the shop worked under
previous ownership. I've always taken my time with customers, even if
inside I wanted to make it all go away. I never pressure customers and
never even say the word "today" in any sales pitch. In fact, we always
recommend them to visit other shops in town because we invariably see them
come back, sometimes in the same day, when they know they can't get a better
bike/service deal.

Aside from price, this is one attraction to buying
online or at a big-box store. With these methods I can take my time,
do my research, and I don't have to feel someone is judging my
choice. I perceive some LBS as friendly and understanding of my
ignorance I do my shopping there when I can, but never at the ones
who make me feel like I'm wasting there time.

You would have hated the shop at which I work under its previous ownership;
I definitely did.

--
Phil


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