opinion on this crap

jinka

Drove up to Lurgan to test ride and buy 2x treks-was told in no uncertain terms no test rides allowed. Now bearing in mind one of us will stay in shop while the other is testing the bike and even hand our car keys to the bike shop guy I believe this is crazy and downright silly. Needless to say we left and wouldn't ever touch the place again. When I say test ride I mean 5 mins around the bloody car park. There was a decent saving buying here and as I live near the border it made sense.

thebouldwhacker

Frustrating no doubt, depending on the model (hi spec or every day run about) why not go to a different shop which sells the same bike, test the bike, if you like it return and purchase in the cheaper shop.

I know of one shop where recently they lost a bike, €1000 outa the salesmans wages I reckon:mad:

Lumen

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

why not go to a different shop which sells the same bike, test the bike, if you like it return and purchase in the cheaper shop.

Because good service deserves to be punished?

walshkvn

Lumen wrote: »

Because good service deserves to be punished?

+1

Definitely do not return to the cheaper shop, if you did not like the service why support the feckers.

thebouldwhacker

I know, I know, I know. I have walked from shops for less, but in 'these times' if the price is right and is a large factor in dealing with the shop, sometimes thats what rules the decision. I wouldnt be happy about it at all, its like buying a sound system without being allowed listen to it first, buying a car without driving it, buying shoes without trying them on....

OP whatayagonado.... if price isnt a major factor go elsewhere, but tbh if your going to move your custom email them about your experence.

ROK ON

Just coming at this from the shops point of view.

1. They dont know you,
2. While it is a trip round the car park what if you fall/scratch the bike, damage it in some way.
3. A test ride of 5 minutes is absolutely useless to you even if the bike is the correct size for you.

I know we would all like to test ride bikes before we buy them, but if I was a shop owner, I would be concerned more that the bike would be damaged versus it would be stolen.

jinka

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

I know, I know, I know. I have walked from shops for less, but in 'these times' if the price is right and is a large factor in dealing with the shop, sometimes thats what rules the decision. I wouldnt be happy about it at all, its like buying a sound system without being allowed listen to it first, buying a car without driving it, buying shoes without trying them on....

OP whatayagonado.... if price isnt a major factor go elsewhere, but tbh if your going to move your custom email them about your experence.

I've strong opinions on bad service etc and like to shop where the price and service is good. Therefore will be giving Lurgan a wide berth and going local where a bit o haggling might come into place:)

Limestone1

If you are anywhere near Dublin,try build-a-bike in D1 or 2wheels in Sandymount, both sell Treks and will let you go for a spin. Prices open to discussion - as good as online.

buzzingnoise

no reason they couldnt throw it up on a turbo for you

RMD

Shop I worked in offered test rides around the block on any bike as long as you left photo ID and a credit card. I think that's more than reasonable, if you damaged the bike / had it stolen while riding it the customer held full responsibility for it. Hence the credit card requirement.

gman2k

There used to be a bike shop on the Main St in Maynooth run by Brian ____ (can't remember second name now) and he got stung bad by a tester one time (Late 80's)
This bloke had ordered afaik a Dawes Galaxy touring bike - quite expensive for the times.
Brian's shop was an outlet for Dawes, and I had bought one off one myself.
Anyway, the guy turned up for the Galaxy, and asked could he take it for a test spin first before he settled up, so he left the keys of the car with Brian and off he went.....
after a while Brian noticed the keys were actually a little rusty - probably like the Galaxy now!

finners01

Hi all,
went shopping at eurocycles today on long mile road.
Tested 2 bikes, one a focus at 500 then a felt at 640. My father was with me, he was on one and I was on the other, no problem to the fella working there for us both to have a spin around the car park and down the road . We were on the bikes for ten minutes or so.
Ended up buying the felt because it felt (sorry!) sturdier and better.
I thought they were a decent crowd to buy from.
Just my 2c

PS I have nothing to do with this place other than i bought a bike there today!!

griffin100

I bought my Trek from a shop in Lurgan last year (in an industrial / office park off the main street;)) and had no problems doing a test ride. If its the same shop he may have been stung since.

blorg

Any decent shop will allow you a test ride. If they don't know you, they may require a credit card authorisation for the price of the bike, which is perfectly reasonable. Remind me what the point of buying in a local shop rather than the internet is again?

RMD

blorg wrote: »

Any decent shop will allow you a test ride. If they don't know you, they may require a credit card authorisation for the price of the bike, which is perfectly reasonable. Remind me what the point of buying in a local shop rather than the internet is again?

Eventually you'll take a spin down to your local shop to buy something small and inexpensive to realise it's now closed because everyone is using the interwebz.

blorg

RMD wrote: »

Eventually you'll take a spin down to your local shop to buy something small and inexpensive to realise it's now closed because everyone is using the interwebz.

Maybe the ones that survive will be the ones that offer the customer service and test ride opportunities the internet doesn't?

My point is that I wouldn't see the point in buying from a local shop at a premium that won't even let you spin around the block on the bike.

The vast majority of local bike shops in my experience will allow a test ride. Good luck to those ones.

2 Wheels Good

Hate that, seems to be an Irish thing, from both sides, customers and shops. If you go into a shop in the UK just a 1p swipe of a bankcard will cover you for any bike. Tested some nice machines over there without any hassle. On that note, also got free rein test driving a Porsche 911 when over with a friend buying a car (not worth anything close to the Porsche) last year!