Evans take the piss; hold the front page!

[subaqua]

They aren't turning it away though are they.

They are pricing it to make a profit.

Sweetpea99 is a competitor undercutting them, without their overheads, probably not paying tax or business rates.

no, its putting in such a silly price for such a ball ache of a job that if the customer does accept then it makes it worth the aggro.

i do it all the time when people ask me to put an extra socket in or move a light. if i don't want the hassle then i put a silly price in.

all jobs need to make a profit otherwise the business model doesnt work.


as for the "shock horror LBS tries to sell customer new bike" comment, would you expect a car dealer to try that if you took your car in for new brakes ?? No didn't think so.

 

[Rapples]

I do it all the time when people ask me to put an extra socket in or move a light. if i don't want the hassle then i put a silly price in. all jobs need to make a profit otherwise the business model doesnt work.

FTFY

Its putting in such a silly price for such a ball ache of a job that if the customer does accept then it makes it worth the aggro

Supply and demand of electricians in Leytonstone might be the reason you can afford to take the piss, but as Yahuda Moon has pointed out the quote isn't that outrageous.

as for the "shock horror LBS tries to sell customer new bike" comment, would you expect a car dealer to try that if you took your car in for new brakes ?? No didn't think so.

Very true, just remind me what's the going hourly rate for a main dealer to perform a ridiculously easy task like changing brake pads?

 

[black'n'yellow]

as for the "shock horror LBS tries to sell customer new bike" comment, would you expect a car dealer to try that if you took your car in for new brakes ?? No didn't think so.

I would, if the car was properly-shagged and beyond economical repair....not unlike the bike in question by the OP's own admission.

 

[subaqua]

FTFY


Supply and demand of electricians in Leytonstone might be the reason you can afford to take the piss, but as Yahuda Moon has pointed out the quote isn't that outrageous.



Very true, just remind me what's the going hourly rate for a main dealer to perform a ridiculously easy task like changing brake pads?

no you didn't fix it . you just thought you did.

the quote might not be outrageous for what was quoted for. but if the guy wanted brake pads and a wheel true then its crap. I don't work in Leytonstone. I don't bother with weekend jobs anymore as they are far more hassle than they are worth. when i am asked in work to provide a tender i tender what is asked for and what is required to meet the current regulations for electrical installations i.e. upgrade earthing if needed, not what i think the customer wants.

the bike that my LBS tried the "oh you need all these parts" when i went in for a freewheel change 2 years ago is still going strong and still changes gear perfectly despite "NEEDING" a new chainset ,chain, shifters, deraileuers etc .it doesn't get used full time and is the nip to the shop beater.
I went and bought the tools to change the freewheel not long after as i realised 3 of the bikes in the household have freewheels.


Hourly rates depends which main dealer you go to. Audi , VW and Skoda dealers have very different hourly rates and parts prices for the same part from the same box . the dealer will replace and advise on further works not just say "you HAVE to have this done as well " unless it would seriously affect safety. do you want it as a percentage of cost of new vehicle ??

in the OPs case changing chainset etc isn't neccesary safety works is it ?

 

[Rapples]

the quote might not be outrageous for what was quoted for. but if the guy wanted brake pads and a wheel true then its crap.

That's the point I made. I guess he could have said how much for just the wheel true and blocks?

The OP admits the rest of the things are needed, he's just griping about the cost.

Shiny High Street 7 days a week staffed premises cost money.

 

[Bigsharn]

One of the local bike shops in York tried charging one of our customers £180 for a new chain, freewheel and fitting (on a basic Ridgeback hybrid).
1. There was nothing wrong with the current setup, apart from it needed a good clean
2. Most respectable places would charge maybe a third of that.

The cheek of some places is just beyond me

 

[swee'pea99]

That's the point I made. I guess he could have said how much for just the wheel true and blocks?

The OP admits the rest of the things are needed, he's just griping about the cost.

Shiny High Street 7 days a week staffed premises cost money.

Er, that's exactly what he did say.

I don't 'admit' anything. Part of what was quoted for does need doing, but by no means all of it. Two new wheels, for example. The front one's fine, the rear needs a spoke and ten minutes with a spoke key. There's £170 right there - completely unnecessary, and, in my view, dishonest.

As for this being a knackered old jallopy that's beyond economical repair, that's just bullshit. It's a good bike, with a few worn bits. That's the great thing about bikes - you can change the bits.

Of course shops cost money. And of course they can't be expected to do stuff for nothing. All I'm suggesting is that it's beyond good business practice to trade on people's ignorance and try to scare them into a decision that's against their best interests but makes the shop easy bucks.

If my friend had gone in and said 'how much to get this bike back into showroom condition?' and they'd come up with that quote, I still would have had grumbles. On account of, eg, proposing the need for a new wheel when without question, he doesn't need one. But broadly, a query like that invites a response like that.

But he didn't. He went in because his brake was rubbing and he was after honest advice. He didn't get it. What he got was disingenuous hucksterism. Personally I think it stinks. A lot of people hereabouts seem to think it's ok. We'll have to agree to differ.

 

[sandman]

Evans have a duty to the customer and what they want. Not give some bollox about the bike being unrepairable and quote some figure out of thin air just becuase selling a bike gives them a bigger margin.

If the OP's mate wanted a new bike then he would have bought one. It would have been interesting to see the breakdown of that quote.

Because doing what the OP's mate wanted in terms of parts would not have cost a lot and it don't take a lot of labour to be a fitter.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

Evans have a duty to the customer and what they want. Not give some bollox about the bike being unrepairable and quote some figure out of thin air just becuase selling a bike gives them a bigger margin.

If the OP's mate wanted a new bike then he would have bought one. It would have been interesting to see the breakdown of that quote.

Because doing what the OP's mate wanted in terms of parts would not have cost a lot and it don't take a lot of labour to be a fitter.

Err, no. He doesn't become a customer until a contract is entered into. Up until then they are a supplier and a potential customer negotiating the terms of a possible future transaction.

Neither party owes the other anything nor do they have any duties to each other. That's capitalism folks.

 

[sandman]

Err, no. He doesn't become a customer until a contract is entered into. Up until then they are a supplier and a potential customer negotiating the terms of a possible future transaction.

Neither party owes the other anything nor do they have any duties to each other. That's capitalism folks.

I think you are confusing customer with consumer.

 

[screenman]

Evans are better at business than most of us on here. There are 2 sides to this story and we are only getting one.

 

[400bhp]

They aren't turning it away though are they.

They are pricing it to make a profit.

Sweetpea99 is a competitor undercutting them, without their overheads, probably not paying tax or business rates.

They are turning it away implicitly - they price it at a level that you would be a dumbass to fix. You either go away, or look at purchasing one of their bikes.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

I think you are confusing customer with consumer.

one of us is confused, certainly.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

They are turning it away implicitly - they price it at a level that you would be a dumbass to fix. You either go away, or look at purchasing one of their bikes.

precisely.

 

[Rapples]

precisely.

So do you think they should price it a level that the customer can afford and make a loss?

I'd imagine that their policy is to replace anything at all worn in order to guarantee the repair, to avoid the

" Ever since you changed the brake blocks, and messed about with the back wheel, my gears keep skipping, you must have broken it"

It's a throwaway society we live in at the moment where labour costs exceed, material costs, especially mass produced goods.

I'm not saying it's right, but throw in consumer rights and the cost of bad publicity from unreasonable disgruntled customers, high rents and business rates, and this is what you get.