Bicycle tyres

[NMH]

Should said bike shop also extend the premises so they can get in these extra £20 puncture repairs too? Workshop space is at a premium, as is the space to keep all the bikes that need repairing, actually repairs will always take presedence. It is not just about the work that the individuals put in but also about how much of the footage of the shop is used for the workshop and how much that area is making. So we now have time and space constraints on which potential repairs will be considered. It is in a businesses interest to best serve their customers by repairing their bikes when necesary. What if he had to turn away a genuine repair because he was all booked out with puncture repairs?

Most bike shops will not reject customers just because they cannot be bothered, but simply because they do not have the people to do it. There are a shortage of cytech qualified mechanics in this city mainly because it does not pay well enough, so why should they accept a job that will not earn enough to be worthwhile. I am sure in your business you would not undertake a job that did not leave you sufficiently renumerated. This is what a puncture repair is to a bike shop unless they charge £20.

You also make a point about just tightening a bearing race, or just oil the bearings. These 'little' jobs are part of the reason why a bike mechanic cannot just take a puncture repair. The mechanic has to check these things, has to check the brakes, has to check the headset, has to check everything on every bike that comes in to his or her workshop. If a bike goes in to workshop then the brakes fail the bike shop is liable, even if the bike was just in for a puncture repair. You need to understand this and for once admit you are wrong.

What's to 'admit'? I didn't say that a shop shouldn't do the repairs I said they should. And hire another mechanic if necessary, and rent another floor space if necessary.
Tell the customer why and what they charge for. If a puncture repair takes as much as 30 minutes (for £20 plus parts! and that certainly is do-able with the other check-ups - that's £40 an hour just for labour charge!) they don't have to give the rest of the bike a full service into the bargain every time they replace an inner tube. They can also consult the customer and tell them what else needs attending to and what the cost is. It's an opportunity to make more money.
Yes I know people can be simple and say "since you fixed my tire the steering has been dodgy", as they often do with cars - maybe suggesting that the windscreen wiper replacement affected their exhaust manifold. Almost every business is exposed to that sort of stuff.
You are still exposed (even more so) when you do a full service for that £100 you mentioned - there will still be things not taken into account that can turn up, like stripped threads, fractured chain links, damaged gears and chewed cogs, bearing races that need total replacement, brake shoes worn out, cables splitting and fraying, handlebar wraps shredded..... and you aren't going to do all of those freely into a service package are you?

Nope, turning away puncture repairs in a bicycle shop doesn't make business sense. Charging £20 plus parts for a puncture repair does, but I ain't paying it and I ended up doing my own in ten minutes with makeshift equipment in a park down the street. Sans brake check-up, and the hub adjustment was done later when I got to my other tools. The shop still made money on the new tire and inner tube I purchased.

 

[Stat Brother]

What's to 'admit'? I didn't say that a shop shouldn't do the repairs I said they should. And hire another mechanic if necessary, and rent another floor space if necessary.
Tell the customer why and what they charge for. If a puncture repair takes as much as 30 minutes (for £20 plus parts! and that certainly is do-able with the other check-ups - that's £40 an hour just for labour charge!) they don't have to give the rest of the bike a full service into the bargain every time they replace an inner tube. They can also consult the customer and tell them what else needs attending to and what the cost is. It's an opportunity to make more money.
Yes I know people can be simple and say "since you fixed my tire the steering has been dodgy", as they often do with cars - maybe suggesting that the windscreen wiper replacement affected their exhaust manifold. Almost every business is exposed to that sort of stuff.
You are still exposed (even more so) when you do a full service for that £100 you mentioned - there will still be things not taken into account that can turn up, like stripped threads, fractured chain links, damaged gears and chewed cogs, bearing races that need total replacement, brake shoes worn out, cables splitting and fraying, handlebar wraps shredded..... and you aren't going to do all of those freely into a service package are you?

Nope, turning away puncture repairs in a bicycle shop doesn't make business sense. Charging £20 plus parts for a puncture repair does, but I ain't paying it and I ended up doing my own in ten minutes with makeshift equipment in a park down the street. Sans brake check-up, and the hub adjustment was done later when I got to my other tools. The shop still made money on the new tire and inner tube I purchased.

Doesn't the second paragraph completely underline Pantani's point, and totally contradict your own?

 

[NMH]

Doesn't the second paragraph completely underline Pantani's point, and totally contradict your own?

How?
My point(s) are that it's expensive to have a shop change a tire. Pantani is sayting it's a part of that business worthy of turning away, which I cannot see.
The second paragraph acknowledges that all business are open to claims from simple people or chancers trying it on - that won't change and has always been an issue.

Why don't you let Pantani answer it, rather than trying to have a stab at it, eh?

 

[Acker79]

Pantini isn't saying they turn the business away. He's saying they charge a lot for it because it's a small job that comes with other responsibilities. He isn't saying people come into the shop and they say "No, go away!", they're saying "it's a job you could do yourself. it's effectively beneath us, so we are going to charge extra for it being a nuisence job, still want us to do it? OK, give us your bike".


I would also say that it builds a good relationship with your customer base if you are willing to help them save money. I would trust a bike shop that has said "really, you'd save money if you do this instead" when they tell me I need to spend £X to get a repair. I would feel like the bike shop is more interested in quality and reputation than fleecing the customer for every penny they can get, and I would return to that shop for future purchases and services.

 

[Pantani]

Pantini isn't saying they turn the business away. He's saying they charge a lot for it because it's a small job that comes with other responsibilities. He isn't saying people come into the shop and they say "No, go away!", they're saying "it's a job you could do yourself. it's effectively beneath us, so we are going to charge extra for it being a nuisence job, still want us to do it? OK, give us your bike".


I would also say that it builds a good relationship with your customer base if you are willing to help them save money. I would trust a bike shop that has said "really, you'd save money if you do this instead" when they tell me I need to spend £X to get a repair. I would feel like the bike shop is more interested in quality and reputation than fleecing the customer for every penny they can get, and I would return to that shop for future purchases and services.

If only I was this eloquent, this is exactly what I was trying to say. In fact on a quiet day I have even taught people how to repair punctures (as some people don't know). If we were busy most of the time in the last shop I worked in (and they knew how) we would lend people the tyre levers and pump so they could fix their own puncture then and there.

 

[Badger]

I'll be honest, when this thread first came up I gave it 5 replies max.
65 responses and 3 days later it is still going strong, you just can't predict thread popularity with any kind of confidence these days.

 

[Acker79]

The wonders of NSC.

 

[NMH]

I just helped in putting together an electrically assisted folding bike.
Tbh it looks a bit crap, weighs a lot, and the Chinese instruction book mentions "gears" where there only appears to be one gear and certainly no way of changing speed.
Small wheels though, and a fairly compact size when folded means it's handy for carrying on a boat or in a car (to the outskirts of a city then unpack and cycle in).

 

[NMH]

Pantini isn't saying they turn the business away. He's saying they charge a lot for it because it's a small job that comes with other responsibilities. He isn't saying people come into the shop and they say "No, go away!", they're saying "it's a job you could do yourself. it's effectively beneath us, so we are going to charge extra for it being a nuisence job, still want us to do it? OK, give us your bike".


I would also say that it builds a good relationship with your customer base if you are willing to help them save money. I would trust a bike shop that has said "really, you'd save money if you do this instead" when they tell me I need to spend £X to get a repair. I would feel like the bike shop is more interested in quality and reputation than fleecing the customer for every penny they can get, and I would return to that shop for future purchases and services.

I knew what he's been saying. He did mention turning away puncture repairs but not full services (which must consume about 4 to 5 hours I would imagine).
Personally I feel that the labour cost of replacing a tube was too high, and sending such a repair away would not be good business. Clearly we differ in opinion on that front.
A shop should have an apprentice who can do these kinds of job, or else the regular mechanic if or when he's got some down-time.

 

[Nottseagull]

Just when you think NSC is getting old and stale you get a little beaut like this on bicycle inner tube valves.

Don't you just, but you and I have discovered this little gem despite it being cleverly disguised as a tyre thread