Charging for having tyres pumped up?

[Cyclopathic]

Should bike shops charge for this if someone comes along and that is the only thing they need?

When I get a bike in to fix I will pump up the tyres as a matter of course and do not even think about charging for it. However there have been a few times people come along and just want air in their tyres. I've been doing this for free but it pisses me off. Any suggestions?

 

[ianrauk]

Give them the pump at let them do it.
Just a bit of goodwill after all.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Give them the pump at let them do it.
Just a bit of goodwill after all.

This. What goes around comes around

 

[HLaB]

Never heard of a bike shop charging for letting you borrow a track pump and if they did tbh it would put me off that shop; might not have bought anything that day from the shop but I might have seen something I liked and came back for it another day knowing it was a friendly shop. If they charged I certainly wouldn't be back.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Provide the pump not the sweat.

 

[djb1971]

Chain the pump next to a charity box with a polite donation notice.

 

[HLaB]

Also a second thought, anybody who needs you to put air into their tyres will probably be innept enough mechanically they will come back to you for minor things like new brake pads; best to keep them sweet IMO.

 

[HLaB]

[QUOTE 3119131, member: 45"]Unless (ahem) they've just fixed a puncture but don't have a pump to hand.[/QUOTE]
I must admit if they never carried their own pump and had to get a mechanic to put air in, rather than just borrowing a track pump; I still class them as mechanically innept and potential future customers

 

[Steady]

I can see it being annoying, never done it myself from a consumer side but I can see it possibly as building a relationship, I guess only you know if any of them come back and purchase anything, I would feel obliged to out of appreciation.

Petrol stations now charge for using their facilities to pump up car/bike tyres so I don't see anything wrong in a 50p drop in with a little bit of leeway, or a donation box.

 

[Cyclist33]

I would provide the pump but not do the pumping, if I were you.

On another note, I had one LBS "reinflate" my mtb tyres as part of a standard service - in point of fact they hardly did any of the checks on the pre-check list but one of the things they did put on their "what we did" sheet was "inflated tyres". I don't think they charged me for this although it was a free service from Marin anyway. The point is though that having spent my own time and effort researching, testing and settling on my own PSIs for both front and rear, I was a bit ****ed off with the shop for pumping them up which I definitely didn't ask them to do.

So if you're running a shop, maybe it would be better to ask your customer before changing settings that they may have dialled in deliberately

 

[vickster]

Lbs near to me has one of those pump things like at petrol stations, they charge a quid for its use if not paying for other services, stuff

Seems fair I guess, sure they don't charge regular customers, and they have a charity tin for donations for other small non charged jobs (like when they managed to straighten the handlebars for me on a bike bought online as I was too feeble to budge the bolt)

 

[4F]

Charge them £ 2.50 but then give them a voucher to spend in the store for the same amount to tempt them back in. What would happen for example of you lent someone the pump and then they broke it ?

 

[fossyant]

Just have a customer pump available. Offer to sell them a nice pump whilst they are at it !!!

 

[Spinney]

[QUOTE 3119248, member: 45"]Waitrose offers a free hot drink per day to loyalty card holders. Our Waitrose how has 4 coffee machines as a result. They all cost money.

Takings at the store have increased significantly since the free drinks were introduced.

You chooses your business model...[/QUOTE]
Our nearest waitrose (quite new) has a bike 'station' outside, with track pump and various tools on the ends of wires (so they don't wander off!). Never tried it, though. And proper sheffield stands, not wheel benders.

 

[Cyclopathic]

I may have come across as a bit of a tight wad in the o.p. I had just been up to my elbows in grease, right in the middle of something when I was called away to see a customer who wanted his tyres pumped up. I suppose it just got to me a bit that he didn't even ask if there was a charge.

For all of the very good reasons mentioned I do pump up tyres for people with no charge and good grace (or I like to think so) and will probably continue to do so for the same reasons. This one guy just got to me and I think I needed to vent.

I am loathed to put a track pump outside because people who have not got the experience to know that they need a pump are not likely to know how to use a track pump. It may seem simple but it is important not to over estimate people. Firstly I'd worry that my pump would get very quickly knackered. People would use the wrong adapter or force it, or cover it in jam or whatever. Secondly I would probably get called out just as often to have to show people how to use it.

I could I suppose put a couple of ordinary pumps outside as these are more familiar to people and cheaper to replace when they do inevitably get full of jam or used to hammer something with.