Cost of servicing rant...

BoardsMember

Is it just me, or are a lot of bike shops taking the p1ss when people walk in looking for stuff to be fixed on their bike?

I just got a call from my wife, she had an issue with the crank on her bike, and she's no brakes - the cables need to be replaced. I know, I know, I should be fixing it for her, I was planning to get her one for Christmas, I hadnt realised it was in such bad nick (he says defensively).

Anyhow, €95 is what they charged her. When I found out I told her to call them straight away and tell them to cancel it. They had it done already. It just seems a total rip off. I dont know if its the taking advantage of a damsel in distress, or if they'd have charged anyone this much. The work cant have taken them more than an hour, and the parts cant have been that much. Not to mention you'd get a much better bike for a couple of hundred quid - the bike is a heap of cr@p! She asked them had they any second hand bikes when she was exasperated by the price and she got the "ah no, nothing like that, sorry luv"...

Rant over.

hardCopy

Some are better than others.

I recently got my clipless pedals swapped for a cage and strap pair for a race. After the race I went back to swap them over again, no charge for the second visit.

When you find a good shop, keep going back.

saa

Well you gotta just ring around
I wanted a wheel replaced and was told 50 where i bought the thing,
50 plus labour in a place in dundrum (plus extra charges for holding it over night )

and finally 35 in Tallaght, grand.

Haven't got my bike serviced wondering how much should I pay??

BostonB

The problem is they are so busy. If there wasn't the demand they couldn't get that money.

Also they've got to pay their time and vat, and premises etc. Its a business after all.

The answer is to do it yourself.

Icyseanfitz

over here in london the prices go full service (full strip and rebuild) = £100 without parts, general service (external adjustment without striping the bike) = £50 without parts, bb service = £25 without parts, headset = £25, things add up in a bike shop, tools are expensive, and to fix one thing you may have to fix another

Holyboy

I once heard a storey of a large chain in the uk,they charge labour by the clock,anyway someone brought in a fully enclosed drivetrain bike to get a rear tube,i guess the mechanic ran into problems or didnt know what he was doing but they charged the customer about £100 and wouldnt budge when they kicked up a fuss,i think a usual tube change was £18 at the time which is a bit steep anyway!

Icyseanfitz

yeah fixing a puncture over here is around £15, shops wont charge less than that for anything, it makes me realise how sound my lbs is

london is a great place if you want a bit of bike mechanic work though

C3PO

I have to say this type of thread really bugs me!
The OP doesn't say what parts had to be supplied - he mentions cables but did the bike need other parts as well? What was the problem with the crank - did it need a bottom bracket perhaps? How much would he consider to be reasonable per hours labour in an equipped workshop - €35+ would seem reasonable to me! And then VAT has to be added!
He also seems to feel that, because his wife's bike is a piece of sh*t, somehow that should make the shop charge less for the job - why should that be?
There seems to be a feeling abroad that bike shops shouldn't charge properly for their service! As a consequence, in my opinion, this often leads to shops hiring mechanics because they are cheap rather than competent! I would much prefer to pay a bit more and get a really good job done!

Now ..... that feels better!

Beasty

RPL1 wrote: »

Now ..... that feels better!

Another satisfied customer - you see - Boards is good for you

Icyseanfitz

well said RPL , if the cranks where bad it either needed a new bb, new crankset or a bb service, which should be around 20-30 without parts, you then said she had no brakes, so thats brake installation and setup which very well could mean truing the wheels and making sure the other hub is running right as well, that would be around 20-30 as well without parts.

things add up when it comes to bikes, saying you have one problem could very well mean you have two or three

doopa

Was idly waiting outside Harry's Bikes in Clonskeagh and they have a breakdown of the costs for all serviceable items on your bike. I'd been thinking of getting a service done anyway and I initially baulked at the price of a full service until I read the breakdown of prices for the individual components. Checking and repairing all those little things takes time. Upshot - by being upfront about the pricing in advance and having said prices clearly displayed it makes it easier for me the consumer to make an informed choice about whether or not to go ahead and have an item fixed or wait and risk it. I wish all bike shops clearly displayed fixed prices (at least ball park anyway), and then I'd actually be more likely to get this sort of thing done.

Crow92

Just on the mention there of HARRY'S BIKES in Clonskeigh.
I do some repair work for friends bikes over in ucd (i'm on the clonskeigh side) Started going to harry's bikes at the start of the year if I needed cables or tubes or housing...ect.. Have to say, great bunch of lads in there, do me a bit of a deal because I come in a good bit and I'll definitely keep going back to them.

BoardsMember

RPL1 wrote: »

I have to say this type of thread really bugs me!

Well touché, this type of response really bugs me

RPL1 wrote: »

The OP doesn't say what parts had to be supplied - he mentions cables but did the bike need other parts as well? What was the problem with the crank - did it need a bottom bracket perhaps?

I dont know, and neither did they when the gave her a fixed price when she asked them about it, not having opened the thing up to review and assess the issue. How can they give this when they dont know what the issue is? If they do they should be providing a breakdown of costs. This is what gives them a bad name, as a subsequent poster points out. And they had it cixed within an hour of it arriving in.

RPL1 wrote: »

And then VAT has to be added!

No VAT invoice provided, cash in hand

RPL1 wrote: »

He also seems to feel that, because his wife's bike is a piece of sh*t, somehow that should make the shop charge less for the job - why should that be?!

Eh, no I dont, that would be ridiculous, but I will tell you something, if someone brings something into me in my line of business, the first thing I do is assess whether it is worth repairing, and discuss it with the customer. There is absolutely no point in spending nearly 100 euro on that piece of crap, and anyone with any decency would point that out, and perhaps make a sale for doing so.

RPL1 wrote: »

There seems to be a feeling abroad that bike shops shouldn't charge properly for their service! As a consequence, in my opinion, this often leads to shops hiring mechanics because they are cheap rather than competent!

I wouldnt know about that, but in Ireland there is a very prevalent cute hoorism trend in these types of things and this absolutely stinks of it - cash in hand, job done incredibly quickly, no breakdown of costs, no info on what was done

RPL1 wrote: »

I would much prefer to pay a bit more and get a really good job done!

Well, we agree on something

velo.2010

I think its a case of choosing a bike shop and sticking with them for the long run. Over time they get to know you and might discount a repair/parts or better still do it for free if its something very quick to sort out. Switching round shops means your always new, you'll never really get to know them and they'll likely always charge you the full amount.

Luckily I can service my own bikes but did have an issue with a new Mavic hub and wasn't familiar with the bearing type. Guy in the LBS I frequent did the job and showed me what I needed to do for future reference. All for free!

Holyboy

BoardsMember wrote: »

Well touché, this type of response really bugs me


I dont know, and neither did they when the gave her a fixed price when she asked them about it, not having opened the thing up to review and assess the issue. How can they give this when they dont know what the issue is? If they do they should be providing a breakdown of costs. This is what gives them a bad name, as a subsequent poster points out. And they had it cixed within an hour of it arriving in.

No VAT invoice provided, cash in hand

Eh, no I dont, that would be ridiculous, but I will tell you something, if someone brings something into me in my line of business, the first thing I do is assess whether it is worth repairing, and discuss it with the customer. There is absolutely no point in spending nearly 100 euro on that piece of crap, and anyone with any decency would point that out, and perhaps make a sale for doing so.

I wouldnt know about that, but in Ireland there is a very prevalent cute hoorism trend in these types of things and this absolutely stinks of it - cash in hand, job done incredibly quickly, no breakdown of costs, no info on what was done

Well, we agree on something

I haven't posted on this tread all night for various reasons but this post has annoyed me some what, firstly, I don't think there are many shops out there(either good or bad) that would carry out unnecessary work on a bike, secondly, most bicycle shops in this country don't give a VAT receipt or break down of costs unless specifically asked but I'm sure if they were asked they could produce one, thirdly, the OPs wife obviously agreed to the repairs to be carried out so the shop went ahead as would any other shop.
As for the question of "to get it repaired or dump and replace" I always think it's better to repair, yes it may cost a little more but it saves the planet with regards to landfill and the likes, also, most shops will upgrade components when repairing a bike so it will last longer.
TBH I've come across this situation a lot and every time it is a wife or girlfriend that happily agrees to repairs and then you get the phone call from a heated up spouse asking why your're taking advantage of a woman!
I can only presume most bicycle shop staff treat a bike as a bike no matter who brings it in, if there are things that need to be repaired then that's what needs doing,and not stating the obvious but I think that's why it was brought to the shop in the first place.

mp31

doopa wrote: »

Was idly waiting outside Harry's Bikes in Clonskeagh .....

Shouldn't you have been inside drooling over all the new season bikes, checking out the latest LED light technology etc etc

C3PO

So in summary OP:

Your wife walked into a bike shop with a broken bike. She asked for a quote to fix the bike. She was given a quote and told the shop to proceed. She collected her bike which had been fixed (apparently to her satisfaction) and paid the agreed price.

.......... and then you get on a forum and accuse the shop of "Cute Hoorism" and VAT fraud!

As I said in my first post, this sort of thread really bugs me!

dooverylittle

RPL1 wrote: »

So in summary OP:

Your wife walked into a bike shop with a broken bike. She asked for a quote to fix the bike. She was given a quote and told the shop to proceed. She collected her bike which had been fixed (apparently to her satisfaction) and paid the agreed price.

.......... and then you get on a forum and accuse the shop of "Cute Hoorism" and VAT fraud!

As I said in my first post, this sort of thread really bugs me!

I agree, If you can’t do the job yourself it must be skilled, How much do you expect to pay per hour for skilled labour. If it isn’t skilled do it yourself. I only ask bike mechanics do to what I can’t. I find the rates I am charged very reasonable.

coolbeans

Shagged brakes - that's new cables, new cable housings and new pads plus straighten wheels to make them run with the pads.
Crank fell off - potentially new bottom bracket @ c. €20. Then you've got the labour and as the bike is a POS it'll likely have been a bastard of a job. In my experience fixing cheap bikes is a ball breaker especially when they've been neglected and removing a bottom bracket is probably the thick end of bastard jobs on a cheapie bike. While €95 does seem a lot it can very easily add up.

Hungrycol

coolbeans wrote: »

removing a bottom bracket is probably the thick end of bastard jobs on a cheapie bike.

Not just cheap bikes, on all bikes IMO. I've never swore so much at a bike as I have trying to get a BB off.

happytramp

You were ripped off man! I would have done it for half that. I have the necessary skills and both the tools you need to fix a bike (hammer and bottle of Absolut voldka)

coolbeans

Hungrycol wrote: »

Not just cheap bikes, on all bikes IMO. I've never swore so much at a bike as I have trying to get a BB off.

You clearly haven't had the pleasure of changing an external bearing BB. No fecking about, just twist it on and twist it off.

godihatedehills

hardCopy wrote: »

Some are better than others.

I recently got my clipless pedals swapped for a cage and strap pair for a race. After the race I went back to swap them over again, no charge for the second visit.

When you find a good shop, keep going back.

They charged you for changing your pedals?

Holyboy

happytramp wrote: »

You were ripped off man! I would have done it for half that. I have the necessary skills and both the tools you need to fix a bike (hammer and bottle of Absolut voldka)

SNAP! Theyre the exact tools I use but you forgot the hacksaw for cutting cables;)