Cyclelogical - wow

Chips Lovell

At least you weren't called a paedophile.

thebouldwhacker

I went into a lbs in Cork, wont name it but I was surprised when it happened in this shop as I always had regard for it. I brought in my mtb, I wanted to buy brake pads for it and the front wheel was just not in line with the handlebars and I couldn't get them right so showed it to him and he said 'we dont have the pads here but I'll have them tomorrow, leave the bike, call back tomorrow and we'll have it done'. 'How much?' I asked, '€60' he said 'no way' I said '€20' he said:eek:
left the bike, returned the next day, he couldnt get the pads but sorted the alignment. I cycled it home, all seemed good till I took it out on the trails, it was still off:(


Haven't been back since, he can keep my €20 and best of luck to his business....

jill_valentine

I went in there once - and never again - for a chain. I had a crappy old bike, but I wanted to invest in a decent chain since I was about to move up in the world. There were two or three dudes in there, all of whom ignored me to focus on another customer they evidently figured was going to be a high roller. When they did bother their arses to grace me with their attention, they managed the difficult trick of being absolutely disinterested and furiously rude all at once.

Needless to say, I bought my chain elsewhere. And when the time came to put it on a better bike, I got that from elsewhere too.

Lumen

I have merged this latest story in with the previous "Cycleogical - wow" thread.

There are lots of accounts of good experiences amongst the slagging, and I think the criticism needs to be taken into context with those.

hinault

Yeah, I've had mixed experience going in to that shop.

I'm city centre based so if I can't get out to Joe Daly's, Cyclelogical is my fall back.
To be honest I try to give all my custom to JD's because I trust them and they're good.

During my lunchbreak I might meander down the Quays and take a look in there.
A few years back, they had a beautiful gold Trek bike in their window and I remarked to the owner/manager (squat lad with blonde hair) if the bike was for sale.
He said I could have it for € 8,900.00 : limited edition.
Seeing me in my suit and tie he probably assumed that I might be interested in buying it.

Last year I went in there to buy some stuff for the W200 : just some tubes and odds.
One chap ahead of me in the queue, was waiting to be served also.
We struck up a conversation which the assistant overheard.
Looking at the chap I was talking to he said "and you're hoping to do the W200?" with a big guffaw.

I did not find the comment very pleasant, I have to say.
It came across as condescending and patronising at the very least.

People working in shops need to remember that the customer is always right (even when he's wrong).

ROK ON

It seems to me that people love or hate this place. No middle ground. I can't think of any other store that elicits such emotion.

Lumen

ROK ON wrote: »

It seems to me that people love or hate this place. No middle ground. I can't think of any other store that elicits such emotion.

Ryanair!

iregk

Daily Bread wrote: »

That said, since the Bike2work scheme most bike shops couldn't give a toss about parts/service.

Was in a new and well known shop over liffey valley direction last week and while there (for about 1 hour) I'd say they sold about 15-20 bikes. The chap I was dealing with said the bike to work scheme is the best thing thats ever happened to him.

A lot of shops are making far too much money selling bikes now that they don't care about the after sales. As soon as this bike to work scheme ends though it will come back to bite them.

tunney

iregk wrote: »

A lot of shops are making far too much money selling bikes now that they don't care about the after sales. As soon as this bike to work scheme ends though it will come back to bite them.

I've thought this too - a sort of "bike bubble"

TinyExplosions

fran oconnor wrote: »

I heard from someone,that the place is about to go t!ts up,I wonder why??.the compleat shower of tards..for the sake of a few bob they could lose out on a lot of money..Never liked that shop myself,superstore for me..

me@ucd wrote: »

the staff are one thing [some are sound], the owner is a complete wanker though and always has been.

Wouldn't surprise if the place did finally go under, as they've lost all the decent staff they ever had... 2 of them are now in EuroCycles, and after Cliffy left, another 3 or 4 quickly jumped ship, so there's really no point in going in there anymore IMO, just head up to EuroCycles!

Bluefoam

When Eurocycles opened on South William St, it looked kinda temporary & makeshift (admittedly I havent been in in a couple of years) but it seems allot of people are talking about it now. Has it a good rep?

mloc123

Glad Cliff left, he's a nice guy and Eurocycles now resembles a bike shop and not a pram shop that sold cheap bikes.

BostonB

Be curious about Eurocycles as its a handy location. Anytime I'm been nosing around they've been friendly. Last time I was in they had a couple of road bikes downstairs, but it seem more family/commuter focused than enthusiast. They do prams and buggies etc. I've never actually bought anything so I can't comment on the service.

Cyclelogical I've kinda avoid too adverse comments about it. Only time I went in, I could have been invisible, and I was trying to get to talk to someone about something.

chakattack

To add some balance to this, I've found cycleogical to be (for the most part) very good to deal with and any time I've been there I've seen newcomers buying entry level bikes and seasoned roadies buying bits and bobs getting good treatment and sage advice.

I think you just need to have a little patience and not expect to be waited on hand and foot the second you walk in the door. Have a browse (drool) over some of the bikes and frames while you wait.....

petethedrummer

Bluefoam wrote: »

When Eurocycles opened on South William St, it looked kinda temporary & makeshift (admittedly I havent been in in a couple of years) but it seems allot of people are talking about it now. Has it a good rep?

They have a small servicing area now and more cycling gear than they had before.

daragh_

I've had a few small repairs done in Eurocycles on South William Street over the last 2 years and they have always been really sound... with free advice etc. Nice blokes. Last time I went in they were out the door putting together Bike to Work bikes.

I've only ever bought small parts in Cyclelogical but never picked up any negative vibes.

TinyExplosions

BostonB wrote: »

Be curious about Eurocycles as its a handy location. Anytime I'm been nosing around they've been friendly. Last time I was in they had a couple of road bikes downstairs, but it seem more family/commuter focused than enthusiast. They do prams and buggies etc. I've never actually bought anything so I can't comment on the service.

There's an area downstairs (could be staff only) that is full of nice, drool worthy high end felts and stuff... very nice!

Am very glad Cliff is there now, as it's even handier to pop into

BostonB

chakattack wrote: »

.....
I think you just need to have a little patience and not expect to be waited on hand and foot the second you walk in the door. Have a browse (drool) over some of the bikes and frames while you wait.....

LOL. This is Ireland. Have you ever been waiting on hand and foot or been served the second you walked in, in any store, company in the country.

Lumen

BostonB wrote: »

LOL. This is Ireland. Have you ever been waiting on hand and foot or been served the second you walked in, in any store, company in the country.

Patrick Guilbaud's. They'll even wipe for you, if sir requires it.

BostonB

Would they have the lend of a pump along with pigeon for €50?

lillysforsam

I had one and only one experience with the "bike mechanics" in this shop, left a Mtb in for brake service, told the guy call me if it needs anything else. Went in five days later to collect he hadn't repaired the brakes and put new block and chain on, charging me 240 yo yo's. Told him brakes weren't right he said it's not my fault you bought s**t bike. The bike cost 3500 12 mth ago. Long story slightly shortened left it wit them agian no joy. Brought it to Staggs in Lucan and hey presto a proper real life bike mechanic fixed it. Would not darken their door again and would not reccomend the shop to anybody.

littleredspot

mr board wrote: »

Here is a heads up for all you cycle heads!

Let me paint a picture & you can decide upon yourselves whether you want to shop at or give any business to cyclelogical ever again.......

I have a lovely road bike that needed a bottom bracket replaced & wanted to give it an overall service. I dropped the bike into cyclelogical & asked how much was it to replace the bottom bracket, fit it, & give the bike a full service. Quote given was €90 all in. So I said, thats fine, I will collect in a few days. After a few days I rang up to see if the bike was good to go & I was told that it was & was quoted €150 for the work. Of course I didn’t understand the reasoning behind the €60 hike in price, to which I was told that extra work needed to be done at an additional cost of €60, which was never authorised by me. The conversation on the telephone got heated, very quickly (not instigated by me, might I add). In no time I was told to f*!K off & to service my bike myself & that I was not getting my bike back until I paid up. I decided to write cyclelogical a letter & it went a little like this:

“I am writing to you with respect to the issues involved with my road bicycle, which I left into Cyclelogical on Saturday 15th May 2010 for repair.

Our conversation on the 15th May 2010 stated that the repairs were to cost as follows:

·Bottom bracket - €30.00
·Fitting of bottom bracket- €20.00
·Bicycle service- €40.00
·TOTAL- €90.00

In stating such, it is considered by myself & confirmed by the National Consumer Agency that this is a verbal contract, which you have subsequently breached.

I telephoned Cyclelogical on Tuesday 18th May 2010 & I was told that the total cost of the repairs was €150, due to additional works been carried out on my bicycle, which I did not, at any point agree to.

I am willing to pay the agreed fee (€90.00) for the works that were carried out & demand that the parts that have been removed from my bicycle be replaced & fitted appropriately, as these are legally my property.

I will give this matter 5 (five) working days for you to resolve. If I have not heard from you or Cyclelogical within this time frame, I will issue proceedings & take this matter to the small claims court as advised by The National Consumer Agency.


Regards”


Needless to say, I didn’t get a reply or even an acknowledgement. So I called back into the shop on Saturday to try & resolve the matter in a civil fashion to which I was treated like I was criminal. The guy wouldn’t even let me see the work that he had done on the bike until I had paid him the money. I had to pay the inflated price to get my bike back & now find that the bottom bracket is still making noise!!!

Let your own judgement stand on this matter, but I can advise you if you are thinking of giving them business, think again, there are plenty of very good bicycle shops in the city that they value & treat their customers with respect. Cyclelogical is run by a complete robbing cowboy!
And to top it all off, in these recessional times, when money is tight, the bike shops have never been busier, with bike to work incentives etcetera.

I rest my case & anticipate that you will do the right thing when thinking of going bike shopping!

I was gonna post after visiting this shop a couple of weeks ago. I was just in browsing (thankfully not needing a pump) I've never heard so much swearing in my life. Now before you go thinking I'm Mary Whitehouse's son, you'd be wrong. I've worked on building sites for years, and will f 'n blind with the best of them, but I always adjust my language to the company I'm with and would never curse ( a lot ) in front of random people/customers. This put me right off shopping there but then I heard the following.

The staff were discussing how much to charge for a customers repair to a bottom bracket (sound familiar) I wasn't paying to much attention but the memorable quote was "F@$k him, he didn't buy it here, roast him, €60" The really weird thing was that this conversation was being shouted across the shop as if myself and another customer weren't even there.

I voted with my feet and left.

bbosco

I'm curious as to the legality of the shop's actions described in mr board's post. This idea of witholding the customer's property until the bill is payed in full is a bit dodgy I think.
My mother-in-law had a similar situation with a vet and a cat and some unsolicited x-rays. She called the gardai who ordered the vet to hand over the beast upon payment of a nominal amount (I think the advertised amount for a standard check up) and they warned the vet pretty strongly about future behaviour.
Anyone on here know the ins and outs of this?

fran oconnor

it seems they called mrboard's bluff,and unfortunately he gave in and paid the full price.if it where me id have taken one of his bikes out of the shop,and said you'll get it when i get mine at the price we had agreed for the service and so on..

BostonB

bbosco wrote: »

I'm curious as to the legality of the shop's actions described in mr board's post. This idea of witholding the customer's property until the bill is payed in full is a bit dodgy I think.
My mother-in-law had a similar situation with a vet and a cat and some unsolicited x-rays. She called the gardai who ordered the vet to hand over the beast upon payment of a nominal amount (I think the advertised amount for a standard check up) and they warned the vet pretty strongly about future behaviour.
Anyone on here know the ins and outs of this?

Its called "Lien" I have no idea about the legality of it. Its not uncommon.

the term lien refers to a very specific type of security interest, being a passive right to retain (but not sell) property until the debt or other obligation is discharged

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lien

CramCycle

BostonB wrote: »

Its called "Lien" I have no idea about the legality of it. Its not uncommon.

I thought you meant Lying but with a weird accent

To keep the bike for the 90euro payment like this Lien thing is not illegal AFAIK but is open to a court date if there are disagreements. It would be illegal to hold it for the 150 though as that was not what was agreed and the OP would have had to confirm his acceptance of the change in contract verbally or written.
Unless he got a written receipt/quote from the shop it's very hard to prove. In a perfect world a quote for the work would have been handed to the OP and they would have taken his name and number. If there were any issues they did not forsee they would call him and point out the issues and ask was it OK to proceed, if he did not want it then the bike would be returned as was or with the work initially stated done for the 90squids.

My only advice is to learn that you never leave your bike in any shop without a written document confirming price and work.

Maybe mail them or go in with a letter linking to this thread to show them the damage being done to their business through lack of customer service, not that it sounds like they care

BostonB

I've heard of mechanics and garages doing this with cars. I had this with main dealer who did extra work on a service without asking and I refused the extra work, and insisted on the extra work being undone. I don't think they ever did the work tbh. They made me sign a wavier that the car was released unsafe. Which it wasn't. My dad had the same problem with a different dealer. Though they did change parts, and he did make them change it back.

mr board

Unfortunately I had to pay up because I was not willing to wait a few months getting the case into court. My impatience was probably my downfall.

If all you disgruntled people posting up could get together & bombard the consumer agency with complaints, maybe something could be done?

I have just read what "littleredspot" has posted up & my blood is about to BOIL! F!*kers
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=66173932&postcount=263

CramCycle

Just e-mailed the NCA to get their feedback on appropriate action, hopefully they'll get back soon and I'll post it up gfor you, gave them links to a few of the posts, to give them a better view of the situation,

DirkVoodoo

Over 24,000 views on this thread. Even with all the same people viewing that's still an awful lot of bad press.

I am almost reluctant to say my last venture out there for a headset cover I had not been given was all to friendly. I was given the cover and they fixed my loose cleat free of charge (cross threaded, took a while for them to work it free).

I think the full club kit and race bike might have helped, there is definitely a "one of us" vibe that goes on in there. It's a shame as I think they are their own worst enemies.

Still, better than the treatment I have had from CRC recently, they are simply ignoring my emails after they sent me a replacement stem when I checked "refund" on the form. I now have a brand new stem I don't need and they don't want to hear about it. I'd prefer to be told to "feck off" rather than just being ignored.