How much to inspect a freehub?

fletch

I dropped my bicycle into a LBS as the freehub pawls were worn down and as such when I pedalled they didn't engage so the bike would go nowhere. They rang me a while later to say I needed a new wheel as the freehub couldn't be replaced. They told me the price for the wheel which when I checked online I discovered I could get a front wheel AND a rear wheel for the same price and fit it myself. I rang back to say that I didn't want them to fit the wheel (that I couldn't afford it at the moment). When I went to collect the bike, I was charged €20 for the inspection. :eek:
Now call me tight, but that seemed like an extortionate amount of money for a job that couldn't have taken more than 10minutes for a professional mechanic (I'm no pro and did it the night before in a few minutes)
It strikes me that the shop was just p#@sed off that I didn't pay for the new wheel.
So do people think I overcharged? I suppose I should have agreed a price beforehand.

TinyExplosions

A lot of places have a base charge, or charge 1hr minimum, so to even look at it for 10 seconds could easily cost you 20 quid, so no, I don't think were overcharged

fletch

TinyExplosions wrote: »

A lot of places have a base charge, or charge 1hr minimum, so to even look at it for 10 seconds could easily cost you 20 quid.

Wow, I didn't realise that. The usual LBS I use will sometimes just throw me my bike back if I decide not to go ahead with a job and charge me nothing (I suppose they know I'm a regular customer and get a fair amount of jobs done).
Having changed jobs recently, I've changed my LBS but luckily theres a second bike shop close by so I can use them for future jobs.

hardCopy

In fairness, lots of people could fix most issues themselves once a bike mechanic has figured out what the problem is. They should probably make it clear from the outset what their minimum fees are though.

seamus

As above, it's not really worth charging people for ten minutes of time, so many places will have a base charge for inspection work, which they waive if you get them to do the remedial work which may follow on from it.