Bike shop immune response

[SimonC]

I've been merrily e-bike commuting for the last two or three months now on my Raleigh Dover Deluxe (I'll write up a review when I get to 1,000 miles). I had my first puncture last Friday and then this morning the chain broke!

These things happen, I thought, so I pushed the bike to the nearest bike shop to see if they could do me a quick fix. But I was met with: "we don't touch e-bikes here, other than the ones we supply"!

Since the chain repair/replace operation looks to me to be quite straightforward (no more difficult than for a non-e-bike) and the chain appears to be bog standard, what possible reason can there be for such a response?

 

[NRG]

None! Poor customer service that's what it is, you would think that being in sales they would see the opportunity to gain a new customer especially in today's economic climate...

 

[Barnowl]

Agreed though perhaps todays economic climate is the problem - bike shops are getting too busy.

 

[Mussels]

I've been merrily e-bike commuting for the last two or three months now on my Raleigh Dover Deluxe (I'll write up a review when I get to 1,000 miles). I had my first puncture last Friday and then this morning the chain broke!

These things happen, I thought, so I pushed the bike to the nearest bike shop to see if they could do me a quick fix. But I was met with: "we don't touch e-bikes here, other than the ones we supply"!

Since the chain repair/replace operation looks to me to be quite straightforward (no more difficult than for a non-e-bike) and the chain appears to be bog standard, what possible reason can there be for such a response?

That's a new twist, I wonder if there's a bit more to it than not being bothered?

 

[Alex728]

Unfortunately its quite common, as it is there are loads of small specialist shops (not just bike shops) which still feel they can cherry pick the business they want to do and in my town only one standard bike shop will repair e-bikes, the rest simply turn down the business...

 

[allen-uk]

I don't think it'll upset the lawyers if we start naming names here.

Which shop was it, and where?

And conversely, I'll add my high praise for Broadway Bikes of West Hendon, NW London, who will tackle anything, do it cheaply, and get it right, and are always busy, even though they have a major Halfords about 800 yards down the road. The owner said he wouldn't like to touch the electrics on my Wisper, but he was quite happy doing 'ordinary' maintenance and repairs, e.g. fixing the brakes, tightening the spokes, and so on.

Allen.

 

[eddieo]

Not new to me, motorhome dealers can be similarly short sighted if they have not supplied the camper in the first place, or if it is an import

 

[fishingpaul]

I've been merrily e-bike commuting for the last two or three months now on my Raleigh Dover Deluxe (I'll write up a review when I get to 1,000 miles). I had my first puncture last Friday and then this morning the chain broke!

These things happen, I thought, so I pushed the bike to the nearest bike shop to see if they could do me a quick fix. But I was met with: "we don't touch e-bikes here, other than the ones we supply"!

Since the chain repair/replace operation looks to me to be quite straightforward (no more difficult than for a non-e-bike) and the chain appears to be bog standard, what possible reason can there be for such a response?

I would think the blame culture probably puts off attempting the repair,replacing the chain would be a straightforward low cost job, if for some reason the electrics on the bike did not work after the chain had been replaced,i am sure the repairer would feel they could be held responsible,(the bike was working when i left it now it is useless).having little knowledge of the bikes electrics and the possible risks,i can see why most shops would turn down the repair.

 

[JuicyBike]

Appalling, but not un-typical, unfortunately.

When customers buy our bikes remotely we ask if they would like the bike delivering to a bike shop near them and have it assembled. Often it takes a couple of calls to source a willing shop, but rarely more than that.

We explain what's required and that's usually enough for those with no prior experience to take on the job. No bike shop approached with this proposition has ever had any problem and all have delivered happy customers, who then return to the shop for services.

With patient explanation of what is (or rather, what little is) involved, the fear of the unknown can easily be overcome.

 

[Bandit]

If it was a puncture on a hub-motored wheel, you could understand why a regular bike shop might be nervous, but the Dover is a Panasonic-powered bike, isn't it?

 

[Marchant]

The electrical shop in my father's nearest small town is equally unwelcoming; despite him being 84 and obviously needy of assistance, they are unwilling to undertake servicing any any equipment they didn't supply or install. I can only think that they are either snowed under or they don't charge enough for their servicing to make it profitable. Whichever it is, it strikes me as a pretty poor business model, customer service aside.

 

[Mussels]

Is it because someone may take a bike with broken electrics in and pretend the bike shop did it, then the shop is stumped as they can't repair it or prove otherwise. Some people would do this without a second thought and maybe bike shops are correct to be suspicious.

 

[SimonC]

Is it because someone may take a bike with broken electrics in and pretend the bike shop did it, then the shop is stumped as they can't repair it or prove otherwise. Some people would do this without a second thought and maybe bike shops are correct to be suspicious.

That's a possibility - but then the bike shop could simply put a note in its terms and conditions to the effect that their guarantee (other than that that applies under the law) is restricted to the non e-motor bits. Couldn't they?

Anyway, the bike has gone onto my local bike shop (Haxby Cycles) this morning. They seemed much less frightened of the prospect of an e-bike!

Lesson learnt: keep spares at home and at work and learn a bit more about bike maintainance

 

[BBB]

Try finding a fault on some cheap ebike bought off the INTERNET. Could take you two hours and still no joy, so you ask the customer for £50 for your time, but the bike is still not working. If you do get it going after finding some poorly soldered wire, after dismantling half the bike, for sure as eggs are eggs that he will be back the following week telling you his bike has broken down again and he has already paid you £50 to fix it last week so sort it.

Which is why I carefully choose the electric bikes I sell and repair. Yes we have some repairs that cost us a lot more in time than we charge the customer for, but that is par for the course, you win a few you lose a few.
With overheads being as they are, you cannot affort to waste time sorting out problems for internet suppliers.

Once you lay a finger on someones bike it them all of a sudden becomes your responsibility, the same goes for cheap bikes in a box sold on the internet for £75, sometimes even we cannot get the gears working without new parts.

Ok a chain and a punture seems simple enough and sorry for the rant, but you have to look at both sides of the coin.

 

[JuicyBike]

Which is why I carefully choose the electric bikes I sell and repair.

Which is why I feel that BEBA is so important to the eventual success of e-bikes making a real impact in this country.

Bike shop owners need to be able to predict what level of quality any electric bike brand has, in terms of manufacturing standards and after sales support. BEBA offers this level of confidence to both purchasers and retailers.

It is so important that BEBA makes itself more widely recognised amongst the bike business in general.

 

[SimonC]

Try finding a fault on some cheap ebike bought off the INTERNET. Could take you two hours and still no joy, so you ask the customer for £50 for your time, but the bike is still not working. If you do get it going after finding some poorly soldered wire, after dismantling half the bike, for sure as eggs are eggs that he will be back the following week telling you his bike has broken down again and he has already paid you £50 to fix it last week so sort it.

Which is why I carefully choose the electric bikes I sell and repair. Yes we have some repairs that cost us a lot more in time than we charge the customer for, but that is par for the course, you win a few you lose a few.
With overheads being as they are, you cannot affort to waste time sorting out problems for internet suppliers.

Once you lay a finger on someones bike it them all of a sudden becomes your responsibility, the same goes for cheap bikes in a box sold on the internet for £75, sometimes even we cannot get the gears working without new parts.

I thoroughly sympathize with what you've said here - there are plenty of crooks around on both sides of the counter!

But what you've said surely applies to the case of accepting a bike for servicing (presumably arranged in advance) and if a bike shop feels unable to deal with an e-bike, they are perfectly within their rights.

Ok a chain and a punture seems simple enough and sorry for the rant, but you have to look at both sides of the coin.

This was what happened here: I'd broken the chain and was stuck several miles from home. I would have been perfectly willing for them to bodge a get-me-home repair. I would have been philosophical about an answer along the lines that their workshop was too busy to fit me in. But to be refused a simple repair in these circumstances, for the reason given, seems bizarre. I will certainly never put any future business their way, for example.

and sorry for the rant, but you have to look at both sides of the coin.

No problem with rants; I rather enjoy them myself. They often clear the air

 

[Alex728]

Anyway, the bike has gone onto my local bike shop (Haxby Cycles) this morning. They seemed much less frightened of the prospect of an e-bike!

Isn't York supposed to be the "Cambridge of the North" with regard to cycling, presumably there are a lot of bike shops there and so they can afford to cherry pick customers..

I understand to an extent the counter argument against internet sold e-bikes with poor construction quality and BSO's, but I've got an interest in unpowered bikes too and seen many reports of out of the box and other catastrophic failures on expensive racers and their associated components, as well as stock problems and poor service to the trade from the big Japanese companies..

with regard to fraud prevention, they could always ask the customer to switch on the motor (even with a busted chain it should still go round) or make them sign a disclaimer...

Also I find it hard to believe the LBS staff know everything about every bike.

In most of the better ones I've gone to there's a mixture of different ages, genders and personalities, its surely a matter of staff training? I wonder in the late 1970s/1980s how many chaps in LBS's said "no one will bother with these American "mountain bikes" in England?

In my town what happens at present is that only one LBS and another local mechanic will take on e-bikes out of about 5 shops. There are a fair few e-bikes around, and this means the mechanics shops are overloaded with work and so customers get the impression e-bikes take longer to repair more because of the backlog of work than reality.

I think BEBA can and should help - perhaps it could also provide free PDF's for download for the trade explaining the main points of popular UK ebikes and contact numbers?

 

[NRG]

I will certainly never put any future business their way, for example.

Exactly, lost customer. I sympathise with BBB view but dealers need to be flexible, adaptable to survive. A friend runs a TV repair business, he's authorised for repairs and warranty repairs on some major brands, on those he is not he charges a minimum fixed investigation/fix fee to cover his time.

He will not turn business away and try's to give honest advise unless it is very obvious that there is no milage to be had in the repair, consequently his customer retention rate is very very high.

In Simons case all he needed was a repaired chain, not electronics or any other part unique to his bike, it's beyond belief how somebody in business is prepared to turn away customers like this....I think I'm more annoyed than Simon

 

[flecc]

We only have a fraction of the number of independent bike shops that we once had many decades ago, partly due to the interim decline in cycling and also very much due to multiple discount traders selling cheap bikes squeezing the small guys out of the market.

As such many small dealers are always overloaded with repair work and need to limit what they accept to ensure their own customers get a reasonable service. Taking on more staff often isn't an option, suitably qualified people are difficult to get and often cost more than the very limited margins from bike repairs.

As such, I see nothing wrong in a shop picking out particular repair groups to exclude in order to contain the amount of work they can support. Bikes not sold by them and the ease of identifying an e-bike as one of those makes them an obvious candidate. Attempting to cherry pick according to the nature of a repair will only result in angering further those still excluded by that means.
.

 

[SimonC]

Isn't York supposed to be the "Cambridge of the North" with regard to cycling?

Ah well, there's another story! The first thing is that York is pretty flat - I only have a half mile section of slightly hilly bits on my commute. So from that point of view it's very conducive to cycling.

The second thing is that there is quite a lot of off-road cycle lane as well as on-road compulsory/advisory cycle lane. Excellent!

However (could you see that word coming?!), the cycle lane system simply doesn't join up at at many key points, so after a pleasant mile or two, you get turfed out to battle with motorized traffic with little cycling provision. Also, the state of the cycle-lane surfaces varies from adequate to ploughed-field. (There is, of course, the usual sprinkling of broken glass left around by the local yoof and not-so-yoof after key drinking-session nights; but I take that to be common to all areas of our fair land).

Mustn't complain, I suppose