Bad Business practices (was Performance Bike still SUX)

[Kerry Nikolaise]

Saint Dan had some valid points about being jerked around by Performance. Some of you don't seem to
understand the basis of the complaint, which was that, yeah, stuff was backordered, but he was
misled over time about the status of that and/or replacement order.

The post is more about bad business practices than anything else. Personally, I haven't had a
problem with Performance or Nashbar, but it only takes one time (especially the first time). For
those of you who may say "should have gone to the local LBS" - read on.

Back in the mid to late 1990s, my wife and I went to a local LBS to look for a mid level mountain
bike for her. We were willing to spend about $300 US for a mid-level (at that time) bike. There were
numerous mechanics and sales people in the store, and only one other customer. I tried to get
someone's attention to help us, but to no avail. By the types of bikes in the store, it was obvious
that they catered to an upscale clientele (high end road/mtn).

My wife was so ******, when we got home she called up and asked for the manager, and reamed him.
Since then, we have no problem telling everyone we know that Maplewood Bicycle in St. Louis is not a
friendly store to deal with (unless you want to blow alot of jack).

The lesson here is, it doesn't matter where you shop, or what you shop, customer service and first
impressions go along way.

Kerry Nikolaisen

 

[Roger Zoul]

Kerry Nikolaisen wrote:
:: Saint Dan had some valid points about being jerked around by Performance. Some of you don't seem
:: to understand the basis of the complaint, which was that, yeah, stuff was backordered, but he was
:: misled over time about the status of that and/or replacement order.

I agree.

 

[Q.]

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote

> The lesson here is, it doesn't matter where you shop, or what you shop, customer service and first
> impressions go along way.
>
> Kerry Nikolaisen
>
I have to agree as well ... I've been burnt a couple of times in the past when I didn't listen to
that one guy. I give companies a chance but when they "play the game" then I say good bye ... well,
for at least 5 years. After 5 years they might get a second chance, but if I get burned again then
I'll never go back. I'll definitely keep an eye on Performance Bike now.

Customer service is important, but these days the bottom line talks as well, even if you NEVER end
up getting that "cheep" part. Some shoppers just don't care enough ... thankfully in the bicycle
world those people end up at Wal Mart.

I hate to say it, but when I was younger, I've been the guy paid to jerk the customer around. Some
managers love to do this, seemingly at random, but often the customer just rubs them the wrong way
without doing anything specific. "Hey, our old pal is back ... want to tackle this guy? Let's see
how long we can keep this guy going!" With smaller companies this happens a lot, with larger ones
sometimes it's policy ... try contacting AT&T wireless and speak to a manager ... it will never
happen, you'll just get sent form letter after form letter, all politely written and saying nothing
but "********, we're too big to care about you".

Sometimes companies learn though, and hopefully this will happen with PB. A few years ago Circuit
City charged me a 20% restocking fee for something I returned an hour after purchase which just
didn't work. I had to YELL "let me speak to the manager" before I was allowed to. Today, they
changed their policy and have no restocking fee. Recently, a friend of mine and her daughter had
their bikes stolen by the security guards at the mall, and their locks wrecked. The mall said "tough
luck" until she posted to a local bike group ... then the manager of the mall reimbursed them for
their locks (gift certificates for more than the value in fact), apologized profusely, and promised
to change their bike rack / parking policies.

Squeaky wheel right?

C.Q.C.

 

[Dennis P. Harri]

On Sat, 6 Dec 2003 08:28:04 -0600 in rec.bicycles.misc, "Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a
r t e r . n e t> wrote:

> Saint Dan had some valid points about being jerked around by Performance.

no, he didn't. he got rude with them, and got flagged as a troublesome customer. he brought it on
himself by being unreasonable. too bad.

 

[Matt O'Toole]

"Q." <LostVideos-AT-hotmail.com> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> Sometimes companies learn though, and hopefully this will happen with PB. A few years ago Circuit
> City charged me a 20% restocking fee for something I returned an hour after purchase which just
> didn't work. I had to YELL "let me speak to the manager" before I was allowed to. Today, they
> changed their policy and have no restocking fee. Recently, a friend of mine and her daughter had
> their bikes stolen by the security guards at the mall, and their locks wrecked. The mall said
> "tough luck" until she posted to a local bike group ... then the manager of the mall reimbursed
> them for their locks (gift certificates for more than the value in fact), apologized profusely,
> and promised to change their bike rack / parking policies.
>
> Squeaky wheel right?

Squeaky wheel indeed. It's your duty to squeak, lest they run roughshod over us:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/04/technology/circuits/04stat.html?ex=1071205200?en=47fc7b5edbcf56b4-
&ei=5058&partner=IWON

Sorry for the long URL.

Matt O.

 

[Q.]

"Matt O'Toole" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> Squeaky wheel indeed. It's your duty to squeak, lest they run roughshod
over
> us:
>
>
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/04/technology/circuits/04stat.html?ex=1071205
200?en=47fc7b5edbcf56b4&ei=5058&partner=IWON
>
> Sorry for the long URL.

Next time, try http://tinyurl.com/ the same URL turned into this: http://tinyurl.com/xqof

Yeah, this stuff happens all the time, why do you think companies want to do away with paper money?
I've worked with cable companies for years ... trust me, it is a planed scam.

This is the most telling part of the article:

"I see dozens of accounts every month where we have made a mistake," wrote an 800-number agent for
retail-store credit cards. "But because the way our jobs are structured, we are basically encouraged
to ignore the mistakes and make the customer go away.

Sound familiar?

C.Q.C.