A cycle store to rather leave alone....

[froot]

So I took my bike to Cycle-Fix at Silver Lakes for a service. Don't ask me why I didn't go to Hot Spots, it was a moment of bad judgement.

They said they would service my bike and call me when it's done. This was on Monday.
The owner had told me they'd clean my bike, check everything through and so-forth.

Come Wednesday, I got a call to say my bike is done. I fetched it, paid the R400 for the service and an extra tube and went home.

Thursday I take a look at my bike (I always do, just took me longer this time) and realised all they did was unbend my derailleur, which is the reason I initially took it in. My bike was still dirty, my brakes weren't checked and aligned nicely, my rear wheel had a little buckle in it so it wasn't trued, and my gears were still sticky.
As per invoice, my bike was given the "Fix 1" (https://dl.dropbox.com/u/21762292/cyclefix.png), which includes cleaning my bike, setting my gears and brakes and trueing my wheels. None of those were done.

The owner has since offered to fetch my bike to "inspect it" but I'm still pondering about whether I should waste my time doing that. I'd rather just ask for my money back.

In short, rather stay away from their obviously lacking service and support a cycling shop with a [good] reputation.

 

[Africaner]

Tell me, how did you manage to fetch your bike on Wednesday without looking at it? Did they put it in a bag for you or something? Are you female? WTF Don't tell me, you rode the bike all Thursday and only during a afternoon rest you realize it is all dirty I like you. I really do.

 

[Picard]

Tell me, how did you manage to fetch your bike on Wednesday without looking at it? Did they put it in a bag for you or something? Are you female? WTF Don't tell me, you rode the bike all Thursday and only during a afternoon rest you realize it is all dirty I like you. I really do.

Let me tell you ... you only really "check" your bike if you ride on it. Shops can easily BS you with cosmetic trickery.

 

[froot]

Tell me, how did you manage to fetch your bike on Wednesday without looking at it? Did they put it in a bag for you or something? Are you female? WTF Don't tell me, you rode the bike all Thursday and only during a afternoon rest you realize it is all dirty I like you. I really do.

Lol.
Half of the things to be done isn't something you just see. I didn't have time to look at it immediately so I left it for later. I don't make it a habit of prodding my fingers into all the "dirt collection" spaces either... having been a customer of Hot Spots for 8 years I've had the luxury of knowing that if they do something it's up to scratch.

 

[patrick]

Sadly after many years I've found the best serviceman for my bike is me. It's only for the stuff I don't have the equipment for that I take it in now.

 

[EnchanterG]

I think you'd best get over asking for your money back. You admit they did some work (the reason you took it in). Best you can hope for is that they'd agree to pick up the bike and clean it and align the brakes.

And let's be honest here, who's fault is it that you didn't check the workmanship when you handed over your money? I understand you were in a rush, but surely a poke and a glance at this buckled wheel would have alerted you that something was amiss?

 

[katie123]

I think the best serviceman for your bike is only you because only you know the faults in it.

 

[froot]

I think you'd best get over asking for your money back. You admit they did some work (the reason you took it in). Best you can hope for is that they'd agree to pick up the bike and clean it and align the brakes.

And let's be honest here, who's fault is it that you didn't check the workmanship when you handed over your money? I understand you were in a rush, but surely a poke and a glance at this buckled wheel would have alerted you that something was amiss?

It's more a case of I the the owner's son used to be a professional rider and I was expecting a good level of service from them.
With regards to the buckle in my wheel, it's not a buckle that you would expect to see just by looking at it. It's a 1mm thing

Anyways, I took my bike back yesterday, showed them what to do and said I'd be back to pick it up today. Had someone pick it up for me today (the owner treated me like an ********* yesterday) and I definitely won't be going back, ever. I can't really kick up a huge fuss over the whole thing because they do sponsor a friend's team.

I'm just sad to see that they really couldn't care less about attracting customers, and it's not like they don't need the customers or the money.

I think the best serviceman for your bike is only you because only you know the faults in it.

I disagree. I have a few of tools of the trade but a full and complete set costs in excess of R10k. Also, the knowledge that you need to do everything and to know what to look for doesn't come by servicing it yourself, it's a taught trade. Luckily I was taught by some of the best mechanics in the country, but I don't have all the tools to do it myself
If you service say, your bottom bracket yourself, you need to a) know what to do, b) what to look for with regards to wear and tear, and c) tools. If you don't know what you're doing you could end up with stripped threads or a cracked part, both which could have expensive results.